The HUB Restaurant and Ice Creamery reopened Friday after a summer of renovations! The pre-opening festivities over the two preceding nights acted as an appetizer for the months to come, whetting the appetites of those in attendance with satisfying entrees, specialty cocktails and, of course an array of ice cream flavors ranging from Nutter Butter to Pistachio Orange.

The updated menu features a spread of appetizers, including calamari, hub wings and several varieties of mac and cheese. Vegetarians will enjoy the selections of salad, as well as a hearty veggie burger option, while carnivores are likely to enjoy the hub shank, the chicken enchiladas or the fish of the day.

Visit hubdowntown.com to learn more and to see the full menu.

Hi, I’m Bob!

I am a 3-year-old male cat looking for the purr-fect home! The nice veterinarian here noticed I was in a lot of pain. It turns out I have entropion which means my lower eye lids fold inward. They did surgery and I have made a full recovery!

They also found out I am FIV positive. Don’t be scared though, it only means I will have to be an indoor only cat and cannot be around feisty cats. Living without either of those sounds good to me!

If you think you have the pur-fect home please come meet me at HSSA Main Campus at 3450 N. Kelvin Blvd., or give an adoptions counselor a call at 520-327-6088 x173!

Lots of love,
Bob (840516)

Each Labor Day weekend, Club Congress hosts the HOCO Fest, the city's biggest musical bash. It runs Wed. Aug. 30—Sunday, Sept. 3. We here at TW HQ are so down with it that we're doing power previews like tequila shots of bands and artists performing. Here's Tucson gem Lando Chill. See him Wednesday, Aug. 30.


In a game ruled by being hard, former TW cover star Lando Chill refuses to conform. Yes, he writes from a place of vulnerability, without the (boring) posturing or (the even more boring) braggadocio. Instead of enslaving his vision to the form, whether sung, spoken or rapped, Chill's music is an organic extension of self. It is real and open-hearted, rivaling Brother Ali in clarity and sincerity, but instead of preaching, he asks questions. He'd never be so gauche to profess to have the answers. More reminiscent of a modern-day Maya Angelou than any hit-seeking rapper, on "Save Me" his feelings of abandonment by a lover uncover the true reason he feels lost; "My dad would've raised me, but God took him from us." In the African-American tradition of storytelling, he explores legends and personal struggles at once; he is the boy who spoke to the wind, and the kid who wonders, "Pops am I making you proud?" Confessional and sincere, Chill's an original, offering unironic glimpses of a gentle soul. A Tucson gem.

(Read more about Chill this TW Kurt Reighley piece here.)

Tucson singer-songwriter Katie Haverly and her band The Aviary played the Che’s Lounge patio last Sunday night, treating listeners to pleasant reverie. The group performed two sets of mostly Haverly’s songs, including new tunes from their upcoming album, and a pair of covers; Joni Mitchell’s “Coyote” and The Police’s “Synchronicity.” 

Haverly dove into “Natural Disaster” early in the set. (It’s from her ’15 album, Aviary). Her soulful voice functioned as a conduit for the song’s raw emotion. Ace guitarist Ben Nisbet went off menu, reshaping the parts, while nimble-fingered bassist Chris Pierce and trapsman Tom Beech furrowed deep backbeats. The mournful song expanded into a sweet jam.

The quartet left a sonic debris trail with uptempo rocker “Something.” “[Something] is going to be the first music video off our new album,” Haverly said. On the downtempo “New York” (another new one) Haverly ruminated on her life there, ghosts she’d left behind.


“Mess” was downright transformative. The heartrending, country-tinged beauty draws inspiration from a series of works by artist Manfred Bockelmann: Drawing Against Oblivion, a requiem to children murdered by Nazis. A lone couple rose to dance.

Veiled in metaphor, with its sophisticated jazz chords, the electric piano-driven “Pluto,” details our current political climate from Haverly’s songwriterly vantage. “Do you want to know a secret?” She says. “Pluto is metaphor for Donald Trump. Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun, in its own orbit.” Yet, Pluto has the power to wreak havoc should it break the order within our solar system.

As the set drew to a close, Haverly returned to the stage for an encore. Taking seat at the piano for the beautiful “Better,” the final sneak peek from her upcoming record. She introduced it: “I wrote this song when I was at the lowest point that I’ve been in years.”

When my mind can’t seem to rest/When my better is not my best/When the world feels dense, like it’s closing in/When my better's not my best

I think of you …

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Annabelle, the creepy doll from The Conjuring movies, gets her second standalone film with Annabelle: Creation, a silly movie that’s nevertheless enjoyable thanks to some deft direction and surprisingly competent acting.

The movie essentially holds together thanks to solid performances from Talitha Bateman and Lulu Wilson, the latter being the same child actress who gave incredible work in the also surprisingly good prequel/sequel to a so-so movie, Ouija: Origin of Evil.

Mind you, the film is full of good performances from the likes of Miranda Otto, Anthony LaPaglia and Stephanie Sigman, but it’s Bateman and Wilson who get most of the credit for pulling this off in front of the camera. The film is set many years before the first Annabelle movie, with orphans Janice (Bateman) and Linda (Wilson) on their way to a new home, a group of other girls and happy nun Sister Charlotte (Sigman) at their side. Once at their new home, the doll is discovered, and the resultant playtime totally sucks ass. Last year, director David F. Sandberg delivered a decent genre film with Lights Out, based on his terrifically scary short film. (Talitha’s younger brother, Martin Bateman, starred in that one.)

Sandberg continues to show he’s good with a jolt scare; there are many moments in this movie when you expect one, and it still jolts you. He also makes good-looking movies. The authentic Southern Gothic look of this film lends to its credibility and keeps you in the story.

Every drummer assimilates grooves into his body and mind. The more you listen, more you play, things begin to fall in line. Until you hear a thing that you can't grab hold of, it rolls through what you have heard before and you can't find a way in, so you start the song again but you can't go through it either. You pick up the needle and drop it on the wide lip of vinyl again and again. Close your eyes and in seconds Herbie Hancock plays a clavinet in this circuitous boomerang and it sets up a young Keith Jarret on electric piano fleshing out sound. (That's the same Jarret who, after his tutelage with Miles Davis, put out eight- and 12-album sets of what might be a grandfather to George Winston's over-the-top meanderings.)

This is "Honky Tonk" from Miles Davis' 1970 jazz-rock epic, Get Up With It.

You see, back then if you were in the rooms, under the lights, playing for Miles, and you made it through to cut a record or two with him, you were well on your way. That list is staggering.
(Even percussionist-drummer Mtume—which also happens to be a song title on Get Up With It—
got a record deal and went for the purse with pre-hip-hop chart-topper "Juicy Fruit.")

Anyway, "Honky Tonk" finds Billy Cobham cutting the tempo, half-digging into his hi-hat and kickdrum, and percussionist Airto Moreira is rubbing his hands over skin, bending the air
with wooden birds and howler monkey sounds. Hancock's theme moves in and out of air holes ... Man, Miles must've laughed to himself, mumbling, "Tropical baby, pretty fuckin' Tropical."

John McLaughlin plugs in, dirty-ass rock 'n' roll chords pulling down the bottom end, setting up Miles blowin' patient, sharp notes, hanging in the slapback for a second before arrowing to his target. A piece spliced from "Live Evil" ... you can almost hear Miles' producer from this electrified era (Ted Mareco) thinking, "shit, steal from the best, steal from Miles ..."

Yeah, Columbia studio E, man, that room heard some real paint drying.

Get Up With It, a batch of stuff recorded from '70 to '74, sees Miles on the cover, his face dominated by these huge glasses to see what Miles sees. He'd drop off the earth for seven years after this record came out.

LA-based French-Chinese-American gypsy-jazz chanteuse Jessica Fichot has made it her business to soak up the musical influences from all of her cultural backgrounds and add her own original spin. The results rather stun. The music is all her own. Fichot’s voice is gorgeous — delicate, expressive and hypnotic. It really doesn’t matter whether she’s singing in English, French or Chinese (and she might employ any of them), the listener can’t fail to get carried along. She’s also a classically-trained musician, and an accomplished pianist and accordion player. She plays Club Congress on August 26, so we spoke to her about her past, present and future…

Where were you born?
Upstate New York, which is pretty different than the city. I moved to France when I was two, so I don’t remember much about my life before that. I lived in the suburbs of Paris, then I studied in Boston, and now I’ve been in Los Angeles for over a decade.

Why did you choose to live in LA?
It was a little bit by chance. I wanted a change from Boston after I graduated. I went to Berklee College of Music and, after I graduated, I felt like Boston was becoming a ghost town. A lot of people go there to study and then they leave. I stayed for about a year after I graduated, and I was getting a little tired of it. A friend of mine happened to be moving to LA, and I decided that I would join her to try it out. More than a decade later, I'm still here.

Do you enjoy it? LA is very different to L.A. and Boston …
I do like it. A lot of me liking Los Angeles came because I didn’t have expectations of it. I think a lot of people who move to L.A. and don’t like it, they don’t like it because they either expect to be successful really quickly, or they expect to find a city like New York where you can walk around and see interesting history and architecture. You have to know your way around a little bit better, but I came not really knowing what to expect and I think, because of that, I actually liked it right away.

Tell us about your upbringing in Paris … You were then from the age of two till when?
I left France when I was 19. I did [enjoy being a teen in Paris] at times. I came from a family of engineers. My parents and my brother are all engineers. My parents have always been supportive. For me, music has always been there, and growing up it was really the thing that was different from what everybody else in my family did, and something that was fun. Especially singing. I did grow up playing music, but it didn’t surround me every single place I went. It was something I chose, because I liked it.

You wrote children’s songs in college—is that correct?
I started writing them in college and I’m still writing them now. I went to Berklee to study songwriting, and I actually have a degree as a songwriter. Now, it seems strange to say that, but I started writing songs for musical theater for children, and then I got these jobs writing songs for youth for education. So I wrote these songs that teach English. It’s something that I still do to this day. Once in a while I have clients that will call me and ask me to write 30 songs for a new program, and then these songs will be used to accompany books that children will use when they’re learning English.

Does that help your songwriting overall?
Definitely. There’s something much more technical than people think when it comes to songwriting. It’s easier to be inspired to write a little bit of music. A song has to be structured the right way. Writing all of these songs for kids, it’s made me able to write. When I’m stuck, it’s made me a better craftsman of songs. It’s been really interesting because, when I write songs for these programs I have deadlines, so it’s made me learn to produce songs because I have to, not just write the music but also record people and produce the songs. I’ve learned to do it just by actually doing it.
Your style is obvious drawing from a number of places. How do you describe it?
When I first started this project and released my first album, I told people that I do French chanson. People would ask what that is and I would explain that ‘chanson’ just means song, but it’s also a style of music. Kind of like when you say ‘singer/songwriter.’ Chanson means song, but it’s also a style of music. With me embracing other languages and also singing some songs in Chinese, it’s become harder and harder to describe what I do. The basis is French chanson — original songs in French. Lyric-driven. But also an eclectic mix of acoustic music. I don’t think I’m the only person who has a hard time describing the music that they play. But French chanson, Shanghai jazz, and an eclectic mix of multilingual folk music. Even though the styles might sound different, there’s something about the band playing them and also the similar influences that I think make the show move despite the fact that there are a lot of languages. The last music that I released was songs originally from Shanghai but that style of music was very influenced by European jazz, which influences my own original songs. So somehow it all fits together.

For those reasons, can it be hard to find musicians to play with?
Not necessarily. It just happens that right now, a lot of the people that I play with are French. There’s definitely a lot of international people in the band. But I don’t think that it’s a problem to find musicians to play that style. Most of the musicians I play with have a jazz background and I hope they’re excited to play something that’s a little different than jazz standards. You definitely have an advantage knowing how to play jazz when playing my music even though it’s clearly different.

Do you enjoy playing Tucson?
I’ve played Tucson many times before. This is my fifth show, possibly even more. It’s my second time at Congress. I’ve been playing regularly in Tucson—almost once a year for the past five or six years. It’s not too far to drive from L.A. and usually I’ll do a couple of shows in Arizona when I drive east—people there have responded to my music. The people promoting the shows have done a good job. I do seem to have a decent crowd every time I play. But I don’t want to jinx it!

What can we expect from this set?
The more I’ve progressed in my career, the more variety I have in my shows. First when I started, it was really French-focussed. Now it’s brought into other styles. Occasionally covers, sometimes in English, that people don’t expect to hear. The more I play Tucson, the more variety I have in the show. I haven’t made my set list yet, I don’t quite know myself, but hopefully people will like it.

When this run of shows is over, what do you have coming up next?
I’m working on new songs and I’m also doing a lot of work with video games. People are surprised when I tell them I’m a gamer of sorts, but I’ve been writing interactive music for video games. I’m also writing new songs and I hope to put out an album although I don’t want to put out a date yet. My next release will probably be the soundtrack to the game I'm working on, and hopefully shortly after that, an album.

At 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 26 at Club Congress; 311 E. Congress St.; 520-622-8848; $10, 21+.

“The audience makes this show,” says Tucson comedian Nancy Stanley. She’s referring to The Estrogen Hour, her project with Mary Steed to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The next Estrogen Hour is at 6 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 27 at Laff’s Comedy Caffe.

“The audience is always important to a comedian’s energy and confidence, especially when they’re testing material and developing a persona,” Stanley says. “But many in our audience come time after time because they like to support and cheer women on.” She’s even happy to name names. “I think Nikki Chayett has been to every one of them. Yolie de Leon, Candy Adams, Sandy Katz.”

The Estrogen Hour series is often credited with encouraging a nurturing climate for women who want to write, practice and perform comedy. Of the 17 Tucson women comics in Sunday’s show, several made their comedy debut as Comedy Virgins in an Estrogen Hour show.

Sunday’s Comedy Virgin is Jessica Stapp, a member of the Tucson Improv Movement who is trying standup for the first time. She will debut stories she’s been honing for just such an opportunity.
“The Estrogen hour following is a great first audience, because most people have never experienced the energy and love of a comedy show that’s primarily women,” Stanley says. “They celebrate your courage and attitude almost as much as your comedy.

“It’s always a little bit terrifying looking out into complete darkness. And then you hear a laugh you recognize, or somebody does a shout out, and you feel at home knowing you have support from the audience.”

Stanley hosts the show, which also will include sets from Amber Frame, Ann-Eve Dingell, Bethany Evans, Bridgitte Thum, Cindell Hanson, Corrina Eklund, Dawn Vandaveer, Edna Meza-Aguirre, Jennifer Finley, Katie Cocchi, Kathie Hedrick, Linda Ray, Mildred Ellison, Rebecca Tingley, Roxy Merrari, Stacy Scheff, and Steena Salido.

“Especially as we get older, women understand both the power of confidence and its fragility, Stanley says. “The Estrogen Hour audience loves the comedy part, but fundamentally they come to support the development of our confidence and courage. They’re right there pulling for you.”
As of last Monday’s ticket sales, the event already has met its goal of exceeding $20,000 in donations since the series began. Advance tickets are available online up to 24 hours before the show. Unsold tickets, if available, will be sold at the door for $15. Jewelry sales and a raffle boost the revenue even more.

After the Donald Trump campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center was over, there were clashes between anti-Trump protesters and City of Phoenix Police officers, who fired tear gas and flash bangs.

City of Phoenix Police Department released a statement which put the blame for starting the entire thing on a handful of activists whom they accuse of throwing gas canisters at police.

This photo seems to call into question that narrative. There appears to be no imminent physical threat whatsoever in the vicinity of the police officers in these photos, which have a .019 second gap between them.  The photos were taken by American Babylon photographer Jimi Giannatti.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton and the Phoenix Police Department have promised a thorough investigation of the police actions on Tuesday night.

Bryan Sanders is the producer of the American Babylon website.

Eccentric comedic actor Brett Gelman gets a much deserved starring vehicle as Isaac, a theater teacher going through some troubles with his blind girlfriend (Judy Greer). She starts getting antsy, and his behavior gets weirder and weirder, especially when it comes to student Alex (a very funny Michael Cera).

Let’s just say things don’t go well when Alex comes over to hang out, and that occurrence is one of the more normal ones in Isaac’s life. As his relationship and acting career (he’s the spokesman for Hep C) crumble, he tries to date others, and that ends with him escaping a party with his date’s grandma (again…Isaac is weird).

The film meanders a bit, and never has a true sense of purpose. Somehow, it all works just fine. Director Janicza Bravo, who co-wrote the script with Gelman, makes an impressively strange directorial debut, thanks in large part to Gelman being her star. Gelman is one of those character actors who basically shows up in everything, cracks you up, and yet you never remember his name. Maybe now we will start to remember him, because he’s been kicking mortal comedy ass for years.

Supporting cast includes Jeff Garlin, Megan Mullally and Gillian Jacobs, who costarred with Gelman earlier this year on Netflix’s Love.