MASKING MY FEAR
I'll admit it: I have an unreasonable fear of people whose faces are obscured—like, with masks and face paint and stuff. Which means this time of year brings a lot of events that make me uncomfortable: the upcoming All Souls Procession, Halloween and so forth.
But for you brave souls who can bear that sort of thing, there's plenty to keep you busy this week.
OPTIONS FOR YOUR HALLOWEEN WEDNESDAY
Since Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, there aren't a whole lot of options on Wednesday, Oct. 31—but there are a few worth looking at.
There is, of course, the Red Fang show at Plush, which you can read about in our feature article this week. (And check out our companion feature on Black Tusk, also on that bill, which you can find here on our new music blog, We Got Cactus.)
There's also The Hut's Rise of the Zombie Party, which will feature two stages of live music. On the indoor stage, Clarice and the Lotion Baskets kick things off at 9:30 p.m., followed at 10:30 p.m. by Knock-Out, and the reggae-punk of Atlanta's The Bastard Suns at 11:30 p.m. The outside stage gets rolling at 9 p.m. with Santa Pachita, followed by Funky Bonz at 10 p.m., and San Diego-by-way-of-Flagstaff's Brothers Gow at 11 p.m. The night features costume raffles and giveaways, too, so dress to impress your fellow zombies.
Doors at The Hut, 305 N. Fourth Ave., open at 8 p.m., on Wednesday, Oct. 31, and cover is $10. For more info, head to huttucson.com, or call 623-3200.
If you prefer DJ'ed dance music, look no further than La Cocina, which will host its Halloween Dance Party featuring music spun by DJs Matt McCoy, Dewtron (aka Tucson Weekly contributor Casey Dewey) and E_Rupt. Dewtron will also be supplying the "Halloween horror video madness," and there will be a costume contest with cash and prizes.
Doors for the Halloween Dance Party at La Cocina, 201 N. Court Ave., open at 10 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 31, and cover is only $3. Questions? Head to lacocinatucson.com, or call 622-0351.
CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN A WEE BIT EARLY
There are several Halloween-related events going down on the weekend prior.
Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will be hosting its traditional Nightmare on Congress Street event on Saturday, Oct. 27. This year's scarefest will feature two stages full of action, including five live bands—Portland's Brainstorm, Los Angeles' Voodoo Organist, 80's and Gentlemen, RCougar and The Modeens—plus DJs, $500 in costume-contest prize money, face-painting courtesy of the folks at the Slaughter House, and a haunted house. This is traditionally one of the biggest All Hallow's Eve parties in town, so you'd be well advised to get your tickets in advance.
Doors for Nightmare on Congress Street open at 8 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27. Advance tickets are $8; they'll be $10 on the day of the event. For more info, head to hotelcongress.com, or call 622-8848.
The final Halloween event I'll mention will also take place at Hotel Congress. On Friday, Oct. 26, the hotel's Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will be the site of A Hip-Hop Halloween Party, which will be hosted by Black One and will feature performances by Ca$h Lansky, The Aces, Roqy Tyraid, Johnny Redd, Ty Beats, Saer Uno and Table Manners. This one's an early show, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Admission is free. Use the info above for more details.
A FRIDAY WITH CALEXICO
That same night, Friday, Oct. 26, at the Rialto Theatre, hometown heroes Calexico will stop in town in the midst of the first leg of their U.S. tour in support of their latest album, the fantastic Algiers, their ANTI- Records debut. They recently returned from a hugely successful stint overseas, so they should be in fine form. (When aren't they?)
Also on the bill are San Francisco indie-rock duo The Dodos, whose hook-filled songs come off great in a live setting.
Calexico and The Dodos perform an all-ages show at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., at 8 p.m. on Friday. Advance tickets are $22 for general admission on the floor, and $32 for reserved seats in the balcony. They'll be $2 more on the day of the show. For more info, head to rialtotheatre.com, or call 740-1000.
In case that's not enough great live music for you, head across the street once the show's over: Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will feature a late show with performances by Chicha Dust, a new project spearheaded by Brian Lopez and Gabriel Sullivan, and Verbobala. This one should get started a little before midnight, and admission is free. That info again is hotelcongress.com and 622-8848.
NEW-STUDIO CELEBRATION
The folks at Tanline Printing will be throwing a big ol' bash to celebrate the grand opening of their new studio on Saturday, Oct. 27. The studio, located at 2610 N. Stone Ave., will be the site of the party.
An open house runs from 4 to 6 p.m., with DJs including Little Gems starting up afterward. There will be live music from Golden Boots, The Wanda Junes, Happiness Machine and Treasure MammaL; also, Acorn Bcorn, hot off a mega-tour, will be performing in celebration of the release of a new 7-inch single. There will be lots of cool artwork by the likes of Donovan White, Danny Martin, Rich Rogowski, Joe Quarnberg, Jeff Collins and Peter Davidson; and beer from Dragoon Brewing will be available. And, from the event's Facebook page: "Donations will be accepted for musicians, and things will be for sale, and things will be given away."
Check that same Facebook page for more info.
LEAD-FOOT LIABILITY
Speaking of local bands just getting back from tour: The psych-punk-rock band Lenguas Largas racked up 6,000 miles in three weeks, which included an appearance at Memphis' famed Gonerfest festival, and was, by all accounts, successful—that is, aside from the monetary account. On the way back to Tucson, their borrowed van conked out somewhere in Texas, and one member has two speeding tickets to pay off.
Hence Saturday's show at The District Tavern: Get Lenguas Largas Out of Debt will feature performances by the titular band as well as Phoenix's Man Hands and Man Bites Dog. The night will also feature some raffles to help the band pay off The Man.
It all gets started around 9 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27. The District Tavern is located at 260 E. Congress St. Admission is free, but donations are obviously more than welcome. For more info, call 791-0082.
TWO STELLAR SUNDAY OPTIONS
I don't have the space here to give you a full rundown of who Brazilian singer, songwriter and guitarist Gilberto Gil is, and why he's important. But, please, do yourself a favor, and look him up. (A good place to start is a recent post on our We Got Cactus music blog.) His story is rather remarkable, and his music is even more remarkable.
It's quite the coup, then, that he'll be making an appearance at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St., at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28. Advance tickets range from $25 to $62. For more info, check out foxtucsontheatre.org, or call 547-3040.
Earlier on Sunday, Oct. 28, from 2 to 6 p.m., Hotel Congress will host a Get Out the Vote BBQ and Concert that will feature appearances by Rep. Ron Barber and Dr. Richard Carmona, as well as musical performances by The Dusty Chaps, Tesoro, The Cordials, Doug Johnson and—get this!—DJ Gabby Giffords. It all takes place on the patio of the hotel, at 311 E. Congress St., and admission is free. For more info, head to hotelcongress.com, or call 622-8848.
ON THE BANDWAGON
As usual, there's too much going on to cover here, so be sure to check out our listings, our online music calendar, and our music blog, We Got Cactus. For now, a few highlights: SSION, Maus Haus and House of Ladosha at Club Congress on Tuesday, Oct. 30; Spindrift, Connor Gallaher and Louise Le Hir, and Sunny Italy at La Cocina, next Thursday, Nov. 1; Hellyeah and We Killed the Union at the Rialto Theatre on Saturday, Oct. 27; Mark Mallman, Maus Haus and Tropical Popsicle at Plush on Tuesday, Oct. 30; Lost in the Trees at Club Congress on Sunday, Oct. 28; Colt Ford at The Rock on Saturday, Oct. 27; Taking Back Sunday and Bayside at the Rialto Theatre on Sunday, Oct. 28; Incendio at Plaza Palomino on Saturday, Oct. 27; Dark Blue Dark Green, Vox Humana, Stacy Clark and Courtney Robbins at Tucson Live Music Space on Monday, Oct. 29; The Mission Creeps and Scorpion vs. Tarantula at Surly Wench Pub on Friday, Oct. 26.
