CHANGE OF VENUE
Last week, I wrote about onetime Black Flag guitarist Greg Ginn playing tonight, Thursday, March 3, at the Red Room at Grill. Please note that the show has been moved to the Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. Fourth Ave. Princess Eater and BooBooKiss are now on the bill, which gets started at 10 p.m., and cover is $3. Questions? Ring 'em up at 882-0009. They're not really that surly.
GOOD SHOWS, GREAT CAUSES
Even if you haven't yet read Eric Swedlund's feature article in this issue yet, you no doubt know about the Benefit Concert for the Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding happening next Thursday, March 10, at the Tucson Convention Center Arena. But there are two other notable and worthwhile benefit shows this week to tell you about.
SoCal power pop/skate punk band Unwritten Law is touring in advance of its upcoming album, Swan, which will be released on March 29. But the Tucson stop on the tour, which takes place at The Rock on Friday, March 4, is unique. The band will donate all profits from the show to the Christina-Taylor Green Memorial Fund. Green is the 9-year-old girl who was killed in the Jan. 8 shootings, and the fund was, according to a press release, "established at the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona by the family to receive gifts in memory of Christina."
Radio station KFMA FM 92.1 is hosting the event, and in the same press release, Unwritten Law's Steve Morris says, "We are so honored to be able to lend ourselves and our music to this benefit show. We are all fathers, so this benefit is very near and dear to our hearts. And while the wounds are still very fresh, we hope to be able to bring some joy to the families (who) were affected by this tragedy, as well as honor Christina-Taylor Green and all the victims. Thank you to everyone in the city of Tucson, (KFMA program director) Matt Spry and KFMA, and especially the victims and their families for allowing us to be a part of this event."
Doors for the all-ages show open at 6:30 p.m. Also on the bill: The Gallery, the Endless Pursuit and The Foleys. Tickets are $10 in advance and available at all Bookmans locations and East Coast Super Subs. Additional donations are encouraged. Call 629-9211 for additional information.
On Sunday, March 6,from 2 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.,
Boondocks Lounge, 3306 N. First Ave., will be the site of a Musical Benefit and Tribute for Plato T. Jones, the Neon Prophet percussionist who passed away on Feb. 5 after a long battle with cancer. Heather Hardy will host, and the list of musicians who will appear is staggering ... and long. Among those schedule to perform are Neon Prophet, The Rowdies, the Morning Star Band, the Bryan Dean Trio, the Wayback Machine, Hans Olsen, George Howard, AmoChip Dabney and many, many others.
Suggested donation is $10 at the door, but no one will be turned away. All proceeds will be donated to Jones' family and his caregivers. For further details, call 690-0991.
A POWHAUS FINALE, OF SORTS
It's been a while since the freakazoids at Powhaus Productions put on one of their blowout parties at the Rialto Theatre, so this week's arrival of Foto Au Go-Go: A Photography Exhibit and '60s Mod Celebration at the Historic Rialto Theatre comes none too soon.
The evening begins at 5 p.m. with a "scooter enthusiast meet and greet" at GGR Scooter Club, just off of Fourth Avenue, and continues with a scooter ride from 6:30 to 7 p.m. At 7 p.m., the action picks up at the Rialto, where there will be a photo exhibit and screening courtesy of Curious Camera until 9 p.m. And at 9:30 p.m., the mod dance party begins, with live music from the Electric Blankets, The Modeens and The Tangiers; a fashion show by Paula Taylor; '60s dance music spun by DJ Dan Shapiro; and, of course, go-go dancers. Attendees are strongly encouraged to dress in '60s mod attire.
If all that weren't enough, there's another reason to attend Foto Au Go-Go: Powhaus ringleader Jared "Kitty Kat" McKinley sent Soundbites a cryptic e-mail saying that this would be the last Powhaus event of its kind. "Not THE last Powhaus show," he writes, "but any show in the future will be of a very, very different nature. We need to grow from here and don't wanna get stuck in a rut. ... We have been making lots of big plans that you will hear about soon, and that I cannot talk about yet."
Stay tuned, but for now, head out to Foto Au Go-Go on Saturday, March 5. The Rialto Theatre is located at 318 E. Congress St. Tickets are $5 in advance, or $10 on the day of the show. Anyone 18 and up is welcome, but you must be 21 or older to drink, of course. For more info, head to powhausproductions.com or rialtotheatre.com, or call 740-1000.
MONK ON MONK
It's always cause for celebration when a great jazz act comes to town—but when two great jazz acts come to town on the same night, at different venues, it's decision time.
Drummer T.S. Monk is the son of the legendary jazz pianist Thelonious Monk. After taking some drum lessons as a kid from the great Max Roach, he joined his father's band, with which he toured for a few years. After that came stints in R&B and fusion bands, and in 1986, four years after his father's death, he established the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, which sponsors music education for students in a variety of avenues.
The institute spurred Monk himself to begin playing jazz again. After touring with a couple of jazz bands, he put together his own band, whose membership has remained stable since the late '80s. Though he's released several acclaimed albums, he is perhaps best known for 1997's Monk on Monk (N2K), an all-star album celebrating his father's 80th birthday that featured such marquee names as Herbie Hancock, Clark Terry, Ron Carter and Wayne Shorter, among many others, and was named Album of the Year by both DownBeat magazine and the New York Jazz Awards. He'll perform this week with a 10-piece band in a show being billed as "Monk on Monk."
T.S. Monk and his band perform at 7 p.m., Sunday, March 6, at UA Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. Tickets are $15 to $46, and are available at uapresents.org or by calling 621-3341.
Though jazz guitarist Charlie Hunter has played with a number of outfits over the years, he always seems to return to his Charlie Hunter Trio, even as that group has endured numerous personnel changes over the years. In truth, it doesn't really matter with whom Hunter is playing at any given time; such is his mastery of his instrument. And it's not just any old instrument: Hunter performs mostly using custom-made seven- and eight-string guitars that allow him to simultaneously play bass notes with his thumb, and rhythm and solos with his fingers. As anyone who's ever seen him perform will attest, it's a pretty jaw-dropping sight and sound to behold—one guitarist doing the work of three musicians.
Charlie Hunter performs at 7 p.m., Sunday, March 6, at Suite 147 in Plaza Palomino, 2970 N. Swan Road, No. 147. Advance tickets are available for $22 at Antigone Books, all Bookmans locations, Grey Dog Trading Company, online at rhythmandroots.org or by calling 319-9966, the same number to call for more info.
ON THE BANDWAGON
Some other fine shows headed our way this week: Seashell Radio, Birds and Batteries and the Silver Thread Trio at Plush on Friday, March 4 (recommended); Japanther and Brass Tax at Club Congress on Wednesday, March 9; Silje Ness and Louise Le Hir at Solar Culture Gallery on Friday, March 4; Goldenboy (fronted by former Elliott Smith band member Shon Sullivan) at Skrappy's on Wednesday, March 9; Richard Marx at the Rialto Theatre next Thursday, March 10; Hymn for Her at Nimbus Brewing Company on Friday, March 4; Sour Soul at The Hut on Wednesday, March 9; Megan Slankard at Shot in the Dark Café next Thursday, March 10; Scale the Summit, Project Fear Bomb, Waging a War and others at Noise Venue on Monday, March 7; Optimist Club featuring Nite Jewel and ... music video? at Club Congress next Thursday, March 10; Guantanamo Baywatch, L.A. Looks and the Boogie Nazis at the Red Room at Grill on Saturday, March 5.
