Soundbites

TAKE COVER

Calling all local bands! The eighth annual Great Cover-Up is exactly three months away, and we need your help to make it the biggest and bestest one yet. We're currently accepting submissions from bands and performers who would like to participate. (Full disclosure: The event is primarily organized by Weekly contributor Curtis McCrary and me, but because it's a charity event, neither of us profit from it.)

Just in case you're in the dark about what The Great Cover-Up is, here's the deal: Local bands that normally perform original material gather to perform a 20-minute set of songs by another band or artist. Simple enough, right? And best of all, every penny of the proceeds from the event is donated to Brewster Center, a local service organization that provides shelter, crisis intervention and advocacy for victims of domestic violence. Of course, that means that no band will receive any compensation for slaving away at practice for a month or two, only to learn a set of songs they'll probably never play again. But look at it this way: It's probably about the most fun you'll ever have doing charity volunteer work.

Since its inception, the event has gradually expanded; what began as a single-night shindig has for the last two years been a three-night extravaganza, and we're planning on doing the same this time around. This year's Cover-Up is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3 at the event's traditional home, Club Congress.

If you're interested in participating, e-mail greatcoverup2005@gmail.com with the following information: your band name, what type of music you normally play, your top three picks for bands you'd like to cover, and a contact name and number and/or e-mail address. Additionally, if you have a scheduling conflict with any of the three nights (legit ones only, please), let us know as far in advance as possible, as this sucker is always a scheduling nightmare. The deadline for submissions will be announced in a future column, so keep your eyes peeled, but the sooner we receive them, the better.

Oh yeah, there's also one more critical rule: Any band or artist that has been covered in a past Cover-Up is strictly off-limits, so don't bother asking. While a few folks have called for this rule to be abolished in recent years, we're being stubborn. Look at it this way: About 140 acts have already been covered, but literally thousands upon thousands haven't. Use your imagination, folks.

Here, then, is a handy reference list of all the artists whose music has already been performed in past years: 13th Floor Elevators, Abba, AC/DC, Adam and the Ants, Burt Bacharach, Banana Splits, Bauhaus, the Beach Boys, Beastie Boys, the Bee Gees, Black Sabbath, Blondie, Blue Oyster Cult, David Bowie, the Brady Bunch, Built to Spill, Café Tacuba, Cameo, Glen Campbell, Camper Van Beethoven, The Carpenters, The Cars, Johnny Cash, Cheap Trick, The Clash, Cocteau Twins, Concrete Blonde, Elvis Costello, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Culture Club, the Cure, the Deftones, Depeche Mode, Devo, Donovan, the Doors, E.L.O., Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, the Flaming Lips, Foreigner, Fugazi, Funkadelic, Gary Glitter, Sammy Hagar, Merle Haggard, Gordon Lightfoot, Guns 'N Roses, Hall and Oates, songs from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Billie Holiday, Interpol, Iron Maiden, the Jackson 5, Joe Jackson, Michael Jackson, Rick James, Jane's Addiction, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Andrew Lloyd-Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, The Jesus Lizard, Joan Jett, Billy Joel, Elton John, Journey, KC and the Sunshine Band, The Kinks, L'Trimm, Led Zeppelin, Huey Lewis and the News, Love, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Madonna, the Steve Miller Band, Minor Threat, Joni Mitchell, the Modern Lovers, Minutemen, Mountain, N.W.A., New Order, New Kids on the Block, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Gary Numan, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Will Oldham, Operation Ivy, Robert Palmer, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Pink Floyd, The Pixies, PJ Harvey, the Police, Elvis Presley, the Pretenders, Primus, Prince, Psychedelic Furs, Public Enemy, Queen, Queens of the Stone Age, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, the Ramones, R.E.M., the Replacements, The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack, the Rolling Stones, Run-D.M.C., Rush, Sex Pistols, Shoebomb, Simon and Garfunkel, Sly and the Family Stone, Smashing Pumpkins, the Smiths, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, T. Rex, Talking Heads, The Temptations, Tenacious D, Tina Turner, Velvet Underground, Violent Femmes, Tom Waits, songs from Walt Disney films, Ween, Weezer, The Weird Lovemakers, The Who, Wings, Wire, Stevie Wonder, X, XTC, Neil Young and Frank Zappa. Whew!

As always, you're highly encouraged to get creative--delve outside your usual musical genre, pick a band that will allow you to play dress-up, etc. In the meantime, we'll be eagerly checking our e-mail, waiting to see what fabulous ideas you have in store for us this year. Good luck to all, and thank you in advance for your submissions.


OPENERS' ODYSSEY

The Dave Matthews Band has never performed in Tucson--not that we're complaining--but there seems to be a bit of a surge of his opening bands playing in town recently. Last week saw a show by the John Butler Trio at Plush just two days prior to them joining the DMB's current tour. The band they replaced on that tour? Slightly Stoopid, who perform tonight, Thursday, Sept. 1 at City Limits, 6350 E. Tanque Verde Road. The band, a mix of California thrash, slinky-funk grooves, reggae and dub, and hip-hop, were once signed to the late Bradley Nowell's (Sublime) Skunk label.

This all-ages show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $16. If you go, be sure to hang on to your ticket stub, as it gains you free entry to a show the following night, Friday, Sept. 2, from horn-addled Tucson ska-punks Troy's Bucket. That one's at 8:30 p.m. and is also all-ages. If you don't have a Slightly Stoopid ticket stub, prepare to pay $4 at the door. Call 733-6262 for more info about both shows.


WHEN HARDCORE WAS HARDCORE

Miss the days of skating a ramp in your buddy's backyard while Youth Brigade, J.F.A. and Aggression tapes echoed out of the boom box? So do Denver's Frontside Five, who are on a mission to bring back skate-punk. They used to call this stuff hardcore back in the '80s (a far cry from what gets called hardcore now), and listening to it makes me feel like I'm in middle school all over again, rockin' the checkered Vans, Gotcha bermudas and Gator T-shirt. Now that the checkered Vans are coming back in style, it seems the only difference between then and now is that The Faction were never sponsored by Pabst Blue Ribbon. That and the fact that in the '80s, no girls were allowed in hardcore bands, while Frontside Five has a female bass player. Ah, progress.

They'll be at the Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. Fourth Ave. on Saturday, Sept. 3. The Absolute Fucking Saints kick things off at 10 p.m. Call 882-0009 for more 411.

(Holy crap! I just noticed on the press release they sent that Frontside Five is playing a show in Huntington Beach, Calif., the following night with none other than J.F.A. They're still around?! God bless 'em.)


THIS GRASS WON'T GIVE YOU THE MUNCHIES

Local bluegrass lineups just don't get any better than the one hitting Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., on Wednesday, Sept. 7 under the banner A Night of New Grass. The Determined Luddites, The Hot Club of Tucson, Kevin Pakulis, John and Jean Ronstadt, The String Figures, The Titan Valley Warheads and more will all take turns pickin' so you can grin. Best of all, the $10 you pay for your advance ticket ($12 at the door) will go toward the restoration of the Fox Theatre. This one-stop who's-who in Tucson bluegrass starts at 7 p.m. but is expected to go late into the night. Please note that this is a non-smoking show. Questions? They've got answers at 622-8848.


ON THE BANDWAGON

I've always had a soft spot for Jimmy Eat World, though I actively dislike most of the bands who sound remotely like them. If you're unlike me, maybe you should check out Acceptance and Augustana at Skrappy's, 201 E. Broadway Blvd., on Friday, Sept. 2. Both bands are clearly influenced by the Phoenix foursome, though Augustana add some Britpop elements to the formula. The Receiving End of Sirens and Panic! at the Disco are also on the bill. The all-ages show begins at 7 p.m. The number to call for further details is 358-4287.

If Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner had a Texas twang and fronted an alt-country outfit, that band would sound an awful lot like Austin's Eric Hisaw Band. Check 'em out for free at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6 at Plush, 340 E. Sixth St. Call 798-1298 for more info.

Athens, Ga.'s loudest co-ed duo brings its telepathic sludge-rock wall of sound (literally--when the band played at Club Congress last year, the entire back of the stage was lined with amps all the way up to the ceiling) to Plush, 340 E. Sixth St., on Saturday, Sept. 3. Openers are Sound of Birds and Tucson newbies Old Man, whose art punk has recently been garnering them quite a buzz. They'll start at 9:30 p.m. Cover is a five-spot. That number again is 798-1298.