Weekly Live Reviews's Blog (99)

Live: Tori Sparks, The Sugar Thieves @ Club Congress, Sunday 11/22

Tori Sparks is a combination of Ani DiFranco steeped in Nashville and the Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins hopped up on Red Bull.

Stepping onto the stage for the first time in Tucson, she intimated, "Some people leave when they see one female with a guitar on stage, so thanks for sticking around." She broke into "Cold… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on November 24, 2009 at 7:27pm — No Comments

Live: Hanson, Sherwood @ Rialto Theatre, Tuesday 11/10

Hanson were mere adorable kids, ages 11 to 16, when "MMMBop" launched an era of teen megastars, from Britney Spears to the Jonas Brothers. It was all but a foregone conclusion that they'd flame out and never attain credibility as serious, talented musicians.

In the dozen years since, they’ve all gotten married, had… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on November 18, 2009 at 4:15pm — No Comments

Live: Calexico and Friends, Molehill Orkestrah @ Rialto Theatre, Sunday 11/8

For the Dance of the Dead, Gary Patch and Amy Novelli turned the Rialto's interior into a shrine, topped by a colossal replica of a sugar skull, enormous papel picado banners, strings of giant marigolds and lights strung from the balcony to the stage. Everyone in the sold-out house was a supernumerary in a theatrical… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on November 11, 2009 at 12:48pm — No Comments

Live: Peaches, Men @ Rialto Theatre, Wednesday 10/28

If Peaches' latest album, I Feel Cream, represents a mellowing of her material—with less of an emphasis on pornographic shock-talk—Wednesday's performance was a jolting reminder that she's still got her edge.

Her stage show was evidence that Peaches is the performer Madonna always wished she could be, from… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on November 4, 2009 at 2:21pm — No Comments

Live: Lagoon, Umbrella Bird, Rescue Light @ Plush, Saturday 10/24

A core of avid fans clustered near the stage to celebrate Lagoon's homecoming on Saturday night. Their fist-pumping and singing along were rewarded with a host of new material and a passel of favorites from the band’s two previous albums.

At first, David Ziegler-Voll's voice seemed a bit unreliable, an affliction he sha… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on October 28, 2009 at 3:05pm — No Comments

Live: Junior Boys, Circlesquare, … music video? @ Plush, Saturday 10/17

From the general run of their press, you'd think you'd need to get your geek on for a Junior Boys show. The Canadian band is known for exploring the outer fringes of the dance music galaxy, where your passport needs to be stamped with the likes of The Postal Service, The Pulsars, The Blue Nile and distant ancestors in Ger… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on October 21, 2009 at 4:07pm — No Comments

Live: Dr. Dog, Jeffrey Lewis and the Junkyard @ Club Congress, Wednesday 10/7

When great acts play undersized venues, magic can happen. It's the kind of thing people talk about in the streets after the show, and the kind of experience you wish your friends could've witnessed. Aside from the bummer all-ages setup (corralling anyone with a beer into a fairly small area nowhere near the stage), this s… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on October 15, 2009 at 10:14am — No Comments

Live: Bon Iver, Megafaun @ Rialto Theatre, Monday 9/28

The increasingly acclaimed Bon Iver—aka Justin Vernon—brought his folkloric feel to a Rialto Theatre brimming with fans eager to hear what the buzz was all about. Vernon's former bandmates in DeYarmond Edison, who currently constitute Megafaun, had the charge of warming up the streaming-in crowd.

Three shaggy men,… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on October 7, 2009 at 2:03pm — No Comments

Live: Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks @ Plush, Tuesday 9/22

A kilt, maybe, or some other stereotypical emblem of Scotland would not have surprised the full house gathered to hear this three-band bill of brilliant Scottish power-pop purveyors.

But a Mexican wrestling mask?

Bassist Craig Orzel of The Twilight Sad set off a buzz with his black-and-silver headgear. Honor… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on October 1, 2009 at 12:04pm — No Comments

Live: Thrift Store Cowboys with Amanda Shires @ Plush, Sunday 9/20

From Lubbock, Texas, the Thrift Store Cowboys have dubbed their brand of alt-country as "ambient/gothic/roots music," and judging from the band's brief performance in the lounge at Plush, that description fits nicely.

The Cowboys shared the gig with fiddler-singer Amanda "Pearl" Shires, with whom they are touring.… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on September 23, 2009 at 4:48pm — No Comments

Live: The Thermals @ Club Congress, Wednesday 9/9

The Thermals are a case study in threes: three musicians, pouring their hearts into three-chord rock 'n' roll. The Portland, Ore., trio pulled into the Old Pueblo after hitting Phoenix the night before. I actually had just seen the band perform up in the big valley a few months before, at the respectable Rhythm Room. I as… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on September 16, 2009 at 1:45pm — No Comments

Live: Blondie, Venus Infers @ Desert Diamond Casino’s Diamond Center, Tuesday 9/1

Bridging punk and disco, hip hop and new wave, reggae and classic pop-rock, Blondie was one of the most commercially successful acts to spring from the legendary New York City punk movement in the late 1970s. And 30 years later, the band treated its fans to a terrific almost-90-minute performance last week at the Desert D… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on September 9, 2009 at 4:31pm — No Comments

Live: The Warlocks, the Morning After Girls, Gliss @ Club Congress, Wednesday, 8/26

Intense feedback, scintillating distortion, delicate chord-bending and heavy reverb: These are the elements that define post-rock and shoegaze sounds. The Wednesday, Aug. 26, show at Congress captured the idiosyncratic beauty and chaos of the genre to the point of making me weak in the knees.

Gliss, a Los Angeles trio,… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on September 3, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Live: Los Campesinos!, Girls @ Club Congress, Thursday, 8/20

The new Fourth Avenue underpass, acting as an architectural defibrillator of sorts, provided a much-needed jolt to downtown nightlife last Thursday. The structure reconnected Congress Street and Fourth Avenue, pleasing many who have been growing impatient for the downtown area to transform into a… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on August 26, 2009 at 1:38pm — No Comments

Live: Th’ Legendary Shack*Shakers, Bobby Bare Jr., The El Camino Royales @ Plush, Tuesday 8/11

A delightfully unholy racket charged out through the Plush back patio as the tormented wail of guitars segued into mad hoots and cheers. It gathered night people, ready to bust out of the frustrations of the day, the exasperations of the world and the constraints of normal life in general… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on August 19, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Live: Chuck “Wagon” Maultsby and His Same Old Band, Duncan Stitt Band @ Summerhaven, Sunday 8/9

Tucson is getting a bad rap due to the lackluster support of our arts community from the powers that be. One idea that breaks the mold is Music on the Mountain, a series of outdoor concerts presented by the Live Acoustic Venue Association (LAVA) on Mount Lemmon. Each Sunday throughout the summer,… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on August 12, 2009 at 1:51pm — No Comments

Live: The Handsome Family, Daniel Knox @ Club Congress, Wednesday 7/29

With easy beats, soothing harmonies and a twang brushed with plenty of Southwestern grit, the Handsome Family play a timeless brand of country music—if not exactly traditional, it's certainly pure, free of alt or rock hybridization.

Brett and Rennie Sparks, the husband-and-wife team fro… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on August 5, 2009 at 1:45pm — No Comments

Live: The Album Leaf, Terraformation @ Plush, Monday 7/27

Tucson said goodbye to Terraformation on Monday night at Plush. Mohadev, Ben DeGain's key collaborator in the desert Tortoise-like project, is off to seek his fortune in Austin.

But Terraformation made many new fans at the show anyway. A Saturday-night-sized crowd had gathered to see Sub Po… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on July 28, 2009 at 5:19pm — No Comments

Live: Steve Poltz @ Club Congress, Thursday 7/16

A modest crowd of devoted fans, several of whom he knew by name, gathered to witness the genius and unshakable honesty of Steve Poltz's songwriting. The rigors of constant touring don’t seem to have an adverse effect on him; he’s visibly energized by the steady schedule of gigs with his band, the… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on July 22, 2009 at 1:00pm — No Comments

Live: Harlem, Tambourines @ Hotel Congress Patio, Saturday 7/11

Any fan who arrived at 8 p.m. on Saturday had nearly an hour to wait in the outdoor heat, with no explanation, before any music started. A piece of pie or a couple of drinks can only go so far to appease a disrespected fan.

In fairness, there were only about a dozen people on the Congress patio… Continue

Added by Weekly Live Reviews on July 15, 2009 at 5:00pm — No Comments

• < Previous Post