Food
Syrian Sweets Sale, The Love Edition: Show a little love for Arizona's refugees and buy some sweets from Syrian women adjusting to their new homes in Tucson. All donations go directly to the women who are baking and will help them support their families. Bring Tupperware to take your goodies home in and stop by the ATM on the way because this is a cash-only event. 1-3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. YWCA Frances McClelland Community Center, 525 N. Bonita Ave.Roma Imports' Annual Italian Winter Feast: Go enjoy some of everyone's favorite Italian foods! If you're feeling like feasting on a Friday evening, this is the perfect opportunity for you. Roma Imports hosts a family-style dinner twice a year that features regional cooking of Italy. Occasionally, they have Italian music featured while people are getting a good taste of Italy! Doors open at 6:15 p.m. and dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. Roma Imports, 627 S. Vine Ave. Call to make reservations. $48 per person.
Romance
Valentine's Day Resort Dinner: Some of the options of this luxury menu include breakfast in bed, caramelized sea scallops, duck, bacon-wrapped veal, a whiskey pear tart or a chocolate hazelnut cake. Bring your sweetie to this relaxing venue and stuff yourselves with some of the finest dinner options in town. Wine pairings cost extra. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda Del Sol Rd. $98 per person. Valentine's Day Dinner: Looking for a place with that romantic ambiance for V-Day dinner with your love bug (or any other disgustingly-cute pet name you have)? Head your lovesick selves over to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for a relaxing dinner at sunset. Complete with three different wine pairings and an extensive menu of options, including one of a heart-shaped Beef Wellington, this is the perfect place to whisk your valentine off to. Call 520-883-3006 or email kat.mcintosh@rojohospitality.com to make a reservation. 5-9 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 14. 2021 N. Kinney Road. $89.95 per person.
Veg Speed Dating: Life's a little easier (and more delicious) when you like to eat the same foods as the people you live with right? Well, veg heads, look no further: Veg Speed is a nationally-organized speed dating night, only open to vegan and vegetarian love seekers. This particular event is pairing up men and women, but there are queer events scheduled elsewhere—maybe the Old Pueblo will be next on that list! Bonus: $1 of every ticket is donated to The Humane League. May there be many seitan tacos and Sonoran veggie dogs in your romantic future. 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb.11. Z Pizza, 11165 N. La Canada Drive. $40.
Love on the Avenue: Fourth Avenue is the place to be for Valentine's festivities. The avenue will have it all, from live music to street art and a grand prize giveaway. Whether you want a romantic candlelit dinner or a night out on the town with your best friends, Love on the Avenue will be a fun experience for everyone! 10 a.m. Saturday to 2 a.m. Sunday. Saturday, Feb. 11. Fourth Avenue. Bring money for food or shopping.
Valentine Floral Arranging Workshop: If you want to get crafty and pick out a cute DIY for your valentine, Alexis Muncrief of Alexis Grace Florals will be teaching guests how to create beautiful floral arrangements for any occasion. She will give you the lowdown on free form design style, including the processes of stripping flowers and using wet floral foam to create a table top design. And refreshments and snacks will be provided. What's better than food, drinks and crafting? Nothing. 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. Creative Tribe Studio, 236 S. Scott Ave. $55 per person. Tickets are available at http://www.creativetribeworkshop.com.
Science
The UA College of Science spring lecture series “Rethinking Reality” continues with UA Assistant Professor Physics Sam Gralla doing his best to explain how the vibrations of space and time create the force we know as gravity—and how scientists are able to measure those vibrations, in part, from observing what happens when black holes collide. “Space, Time and Gravity” is at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, at UA Centennial Hall. Free, but get there early if you want to escape the pull of gravity and get your butt in seat, as Centennial fills up for these lectures.Fitness & Philanthropy
Oro Valley Cupid's Chase: Community Options, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and employment support for people with disabilities, will be hosting this 5K or 10K at the Oro Valley Marketplace. More than 30 cities across nine states participate in this event, with strollers, walkers and wheelchairs welcome. All proceeds benefit the cause of Community Options. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. 12155 N. Oracle Road. $30 on or before February 10, $40 on event day.Fine Valentine Relay: Lace up your running shoes for a good cause! The Southern Arizona Roadrunners will be hosting this race, with all proceeds going to Ben's Bells. There will be a free post-race hot breakfast at Gentle Ben's for runners, with mimosas and Bloody Marys available for purchase. Costumes and tasteful PDA are encouraged. 8:30-11:30 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. 800 E. University Blvd. Register as a relay team for $50 or as an individual for $25.
Fun in General
International Gem and Jewelry Show Tucson: It's that time of the year again: White tents are popping up all over town and Tucson's tourism season is in full swing. The best treasure hunt ever takes place right here in Tucson with more than 40 gem and mineral shows across the city. Pick one (or 20) shows to stop in at, admire the jewelry, beads and foils and shop for some of the most beautiful rocks you'll ever see! Visit Tucson has the details on the locations, times and any entrance fees for the various shows. Times, locations and admission prices vary. Through Feb. 12.Old School Hip Hop Party: Mic check, one... two... For those of you who are still stuck in the past and love old school jams, this is the event for you. You can dress up in your favorite old school attire and DJ Jason will start spinning some beats at 2 p.m., so be there or be square! The Brewing Company is celebrating a 40th birthday of one of its brewers so go join in the fun and don't forget to bring your dancing shoes. Best part? There will be complimentary cake served at 4 p.m. 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Feb.12. 1912 Brewing Co., 2025 N. Forbes Blvd. Free.
Annual Heart Party: Visit the Reid Park Zoo for their annual heart party, where you can learn more about their special needs animals, interact with them and get a full tour of the zoo. At the end of the tour, families will receive goodies and treats to bring home. Space is limited so book your tickets right away if you want to learn more about wildlife and pet them too! 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. Reid Park Zoo, 3400 E. Zoo Court. This event is free for members and their immediate family, $10 for additional family. RSVP to Mlhmom@yahoo.com as space is limited.
Vintage Palooza Sale: Vintage Palooza will be selling clothing, jewelry, furniture and more for a reduced price alongside live music. To make the day even better, there will be a salsa tasting bar there too. 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12. Tintype Mercantile/ Peter Hawkins Photography, 2740 S. Kinney Road. Bring money to shop.
Retrolution: An ’80s and ’90s Dance Party: Bring out your leg warmers and chokers ’cause this is Tucson's 17th annual, longest and largest dance party of the year! DJ Sid the Kid will spin some beats but only the best of the ’80s and ’90s for four hours straight! While you boogie on the dance floor, you can drink the night away with great drink specials: 80-cent drinks from 9-10 p.m. 90-cent drinks 10-11 p.m., $2 wells (until 1 a.m.), $4 beer and a shot special (until 1 a.m.). 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Monday, Feb. 13. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
Rio Style Samba Dance Class with Samba Tucson & Racquel Call: Feeling like you want to shred some calories but don't feel like going to the gym? Dance it off instead by learning the samba, Brazil's most famous and traditional dance. Call is a professional samba teacher from Brazil who wants to teach Tucson how to move to the beat. What is samba, you ask? It's a Brazilian music genre with rhythm and dance style incorporated from Africa. It arrived in Brazil as a result of the West African slave trade and has stuck with the country ever since. Although there are various types of samba, it's mostly heard as a musical expression in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Samba also incorporates Brazilian culture and is featured in the country's annual carnival. Go check it out and learn some traditional moves. 7:30-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 15. Movement Culture, 435 E. Ninth St. $5 per person.
Music
Jesse Malin: When New Yorker Jesse Malin fronted 1990s major-label glam-punk blasters D Generation, his future singer-songwriter self reared on songs like “She Stands There”—a kind of yearning and sensitivity festered inside the of crunchy pop-blast and riffy bombast. Malin issued a number of great albums after D Generation fizzled, particularly ’04’s wholly underrated and brilliant The Heat (the album that made Bruce Springsteen a guest-appearing Malin fan) and ’15’s New York Before the War. Malin’s a master at penning punk-weaned folk-pop, the kind that worms it’s way into your heart because songs are populated with good-hearted but flawed characters, desperate addicts and lonely dreamers. It’s obvious he grew up on The Dictators and Midnight Cowboy, Paul Simon and Springsteen, and romanticized Max’s Kansas City since before he was even tall enough to see over the counter at Bleecker Bob’s (RIP). Love this guy. With the mighty Alejandro Escovedo on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. $20-$22. 7 p.m. 21+. Fred Thomas: This onetime indie wunderkind led Michigan’s subtly persuasive and super-prolific Saturday Looks Good to Me, a so-indie-it-hurt combo that showed Fred Thomas’ peerless ability to match deceptively mournful melodies to gently potent and sometimes experimental tunes. After a million basement shows and many Euro tours, Thomas has matured into a master songsmith and record maker, and in that time we were always rooting for this guy to make the records we knew he had in him. Now he is. On his brand-new solo album, the Drew Vandenberg-helmed Changer (a follow-up to 2015’s unignorable All Are Saved), his often-conversational wordplay rattles off like an innocent Jim Carroll—believable, touching and revealing. Songs like “Brickwall,” “Misrembered” and “Mallwalkers” work as strangely uplifting suburban laments; guitars, keys and (sometimes) violins soar, caress themes of daily repetition, longing, unacknowledged pain, and nostalgia. This guy Thomas is quietly becoming a little American treasure (even if he recently moved to Montreal). See him at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 14 with The Coathangers and Tyvek. Club Congress, 311 E. Congress. $8-10. 21+.
Freedom Hawk: The motor-speedway riffs and thuds are powerful enough to transport you back to some early ’70s suburban teen bedroom where black-light posters festoon walls and door-sized Peavey bass cabinets double as stereo speakers and Uriah Heep and Deep Purple albums lay scattered on the shag rug. Never mind the bong stuffed between the mattress and bedspring! The old man is absentee, mom works all the time and the neighbors are always calling the cops because the Black Sabbath was just “too damn loud.” Indeed, Virginia-based Freedom Hawk is a frighteningly great stoner/hard rock outfit—their ample riff-a-rama is steadfastly song-driven (the dudes can write songs!) and frontman T.R. Morton has the tenor of Ozzy but is twice the singer (yes, twice as good as Ozzy). It’s no wonder they signed to the mighty stoner label Small Stone back in 2008, just a few years after releasing their debut album. They got some Sabbath goin’ on, and their (lesser) contemporaries include bands like Dozer and Sheavy, so they will rumble the roof off the joint. With Irata and Fuzz Evil on Thursday, Feb. 16 at The Flycatcher, 340 E. 6th St. 9 p.m. $5. 21+.
Christopher Lawrence: If ever there’s a DJ who can transform a club’s sonic truth, reimagine the very idea of dance and how it shapes and shifts and rises up from the underground—and not hail from Detroit City—it’s this dude. In his two decades of work, he’s been a Top 5 DJ in DJ Mag’s Top 100, seen his Pharmacy Music label soar, and he’s even remixed U2, which says lots about his stature. Scores of EDM kids, trance brats and muso-journo nerds have called this guy one of America’s most influential DJs, just a godhead behind the decks and a master of throbbing bass and kick, and beastly melodies. Much of his wide discography as a performer and a producer is littered with unlikely hits—a triumph of art over commerce. We can’t spread on the grease on any thicker, but will add that this is his first Old Pueblo appearance in four years. With local support at The Underground, 111 E. Congress. $15. 10 P.M. 21+.
Tanesha: This Tucson–based soul singers Kevin Hamilton and his wife Tanesha have quietly been creating a neo-soul scene is Tucson, one gently infused with hip-hop, jazz and gospel, and inspirational messages, mainly through their company Southwest Soul Circuit and area churches. Through his Hamilton Music he’s an in-demand producer, bandleader and music teacher. Hamilton himself can croon like there is something’s coming through him, in a way like old Smokey, and Tanesha’s lilting voice touches on R&B, soul and jazz, the kind any fan of Erykah Badyu would love. She’ll be headlining this, and Kevin will lead the Desert Soul Marching band. Saturday, Feb. 11 at 191 Toole. $10-$12. 7 p.m. 21+.
