Ghastly, The Fixx, Gregory Alan Isakov, Black Label Society, GWAR, Postmodern Jukebox, Igor & The Red Elvises are all happening this week. Read on.
Mark your calendars…
Thursday, Nov. 18
The Washington Post said of jazz guitarist Mike Gellar’s debut album Perdido (1998), “Yet for all the versatility and technique Gellar displays, what ultimately sets the album apart is the great delight he takes in playing jazz with musicians he admires, an enthusiasm that colors every performance.” Jazz guitarists Mike Gellar and Howard Alden are at Westward Look Resort... Soda Sun, Eugene Boronow, Sara Mohr, Little Cat and others show off their songwriting skills as part of Virginia Cannon’s monthly showcase. At Monterey Court... These local experimental/doom metalists say of their musical project, “We make a lot of noise because we love each other.” Kryge hit it hard. At Club Congress. With Demon Grass and Jupiter Cyclops...
Friday, Nov. 19
Their notoriety is etched in the history of a barren and hopeless planet. These shock rockers—whose onstage enactments of graphic violence result in the audience regularly being sprayed with copious amounts of fake blood, urine and semen—continue to spark controversy, challenging everything from politics, pollution and organized religion to fast food and factory farming. Their latest album, The Blood of Gods (2017), “is nothing less than a sacred text chronicling the rise of humanity against their makers, and the massive battle between GWAR and the forces of all that is uptight and wrong with the world.” Iconic heavy metal/art collective GWAR deliver a “God awful racket.” At Rialto Theater. With Napalm Death... Known for his schizophrenic mixing style, expect the unexpected from this Los Angeles DJ/vocalist. “Everything from hardstyle to Selena Gomez. Honestly, my playlists look like a cross between a 12-year-old and a mental patient,” exclaims Paz Dylan. “I want the 60 minutes you spend with me to be insane and exciting all the way through.” Paz will keep you on your toes. At Gentle Ben’s... Taking their name from a Velvet Underground song, these Austin psychedelic/garage rockers have been passing through The Doors of Perception since 2004. Trapped in the flashing lights of a Phosphene Dream, The Black Angels solemnly sing Death Songs. At 191 Toole. With L.A. Witch... Drawing inspiration from old-school thrash, groove metal and Māori culture—a number of their lyrics are written and sung in their native indigenous language—this New Zealand thrash-metal trio has been vaunted by British heavy metal publication Metal Hammer with the tagline “Meet The Future Of Metal.” Alien Weaponry are “taking the world by storm.” At Encore. With Tangaroa... Featuring saxophonist Autumn Dominguez, the After Hours Quartet returns. At Hotel Congress (plaza)... This L.A.-based electronic duo traffic in expansive songs. “Big, wide, cinemascapes,” as Mariana Saldaña puts it. “But they invite you in, swirling ephemeral beats with deeply human lyrical themes.” Darkly modern, BOAN ride the icy storm of coldwave. At Club Congress. With Body of Light and Touchy...
Saturday, Nov. 20
Heralded as one of the most innovative bands of the MTV era, 40 years after these Londoners hit the Billboard Hot 100 charts with “One Thing Leads to Another,” “Saved by Zero,” and “Secret Separation,” The Fixx announce the release of a fresh new single, “Wake Up, in advance of a studio album, Every Five Seconds (due out in 2022). With classic line-up intact, new wave/art rockers The Fixx continue to come upon Happy Landings & Lost Tracks. At Rialto Theater... Surrounded by literally hundreds of goats and cows, David Lee Crow (aka Ghastly) grew-up on a farm in the arid desert of Buckeye, Arizona. While a rural upbringing might seem atypical for a hard-hitting, forward-thinking, next-gen EDM DJ/producer, Ghastly’s trajectory is far from ordinary. Described by some as a “casually destructive,” and “partially insane” young man, when Crow found his calling, not missing a beat, he packed up and left town. He lived out of his van in Venice Beach, then in a Skid Row apartment. He showered in public restrooms, and was hired and fired from a long-string of jobs before finally landing a coveted residency at Exchange L.A. (a cavernous 4-level nightclub occupying the former L.A. Stock Exchange building). Rebranding himself, Ghastly began his ascent on the global dance scene. Escaping from the madhouse, Ghastly drops heat. At Encore... Igor Yuzov grew up in Russia when xenophobia spurred Western rock ’n’ roll to be banned in 1985. The intoxicating lure of this forbidden music prompted him to leave Russia for the States as soon as it became possible. In 1995, Yuzov dreamt that Elvis Presley told him to start a rock & roll band, thus sealing his fate. Better Than Sex, the Siberian surf-rock of Igor & The Red Elvises will have you Grooving to the Moscow Beat. At 191 Toole... Local sparkling rubies Heather Hardy, John Coinman, Eric Schaffer and a new trio of old vets going out for their first test-drive around the block The Tirebiters (comprised of Steve Grams, Gary Mackender and Lex Browning) perform in a fundraising event for Tucson Folk Festival. At Hotel Congress (plaza)... Swathed in patches of blue and fitfully an eerie sun-scorched melancholia, alt. country/folkies Tammy West & The Culprits (Mitzi Cowell, Matt Bruner, and Rebecca Horton) toast the release of Little Saint (2021). At Solar Culture Gallery... In fiscal year 2021, U.S. Border Patrol recorded 557 deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border. A congregation of local celebutantes, including The Pork Torta, Backup Brass Band, Golden Boots, Sleep of Eons and Floor Polish Dancers, perform an outdoor concert to benefit No More Deaths/No Más Muertes, a humanitarian advocacy group that seeks to end the fatalities of undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the Southwestern desert regions. At Steinfeld Warehouse (courtyard) on the Scott J. Kerr Memorial Stage... Emerging from an abandoned aerospace warehouse in 2018, despite the colorful flamboyance of their live performances, these synth-fueled glam rockers delve much deeper; exploring mental illnesses, addiction, and queer identity in their lyrics. Chateau Chateau display both their dusty and sparkly sides. At Club Congress. With Female Gaze... Late night ravers, dance to the sounds from the underground (midnight–5 a.m.). Galactic Knights: Cactus, Eliogold, Hart and others spin EDM. At Solar Culture...
Sunday, Nov. 21
What started humbly, when arranger/pianist Scott Bradlee began shooting music videos out of a basement apartment in Queens in 2011, soon turned into a viral sensation. To date this rotating musical collective have amassed over 1 billion YouTube views, morphing into a worldwide touring sensation. Postmodern Jukebox turn modern pop hits into the vintage sounds of yesteryear. At Rialto Theater... In a town inexorably steeped in Mexican culture, through art, education, and integration, Tucson’s own Ballet Folklorico Tapatío is committed to preserving a rich history and broadening the cultural traditions that live on today. Celebrating the troupe’s 24th anniversary, Ballet Folklorico Tapatío present ¡Puro Tapatio!—a program full of uplifting mariachi music and traditional dance in a festive outdoor event. At Tucson Convention Center (plaza). Con Mariachi Pueblo Viejo y Los Centenarios... Before being discovered by impresario Miles Copeland (Stewart Copeland of The Police’s brother) while performing in a Tupelo, Mississippi club, Paul Thorn was a professional boxer. After making Copeland’s acquaintance, a once-in-a-lifetime whirlwind touched ground. Thorn was swept up and brought to Nashville where he was booked to open for Sting and shortly thereafter was signed A&M Records in 1997. Americana singer-songwriter Paul Thorn Band performs material from Never Too Late To Call (2021), his 12th studio release. At Hotel Congress (plaza)...
Tuesday, Nov. 23
Similar to the trance-induced fury legendary Viking warriors entered into during battle, guitarist Zakk Wylde and crew wield their instruments like weapons, unleashing crushingly heavy riffage with animalistic passion. On the road in support of Doom Crew Inc. (2021), their latest studio release, Black Label Society: Doom Trooping Over North America Tour provides the soundtrack for sweat-soaked revelry. At Rialto Theater... The Good, the Bad and the Ugly ride again. Drummer/bandleader Arthur Vint celebrates his homecoming with a performance of his critically-acclaimed album Death Rides A Horse (2017) in its entirety. The Huffington Post called it, “One of the most refreshing, melodic, and successfully themed albums...this year.” Featuring an ensemble of local luminaries—Thøger Lund (bass), Angelo Versace (piano), Mamma Coal (acoustic guitar), Matt Mitchell (electric guitar), Marco Rosano (accordion), Mike Moynihan (bass clarinet), Brice Winston (tenor sax), Jason Carder (trumpet), and Ben Nisbet (violin)—with full-scale film projections in the background, Vint explores themes from the great Spaghetti Western soundtrack composer Ennio Morricone. Once Upon a Time in the West, Arthur Vint &
Associates make myths. At Hotel
Congress...
Wednesday, Nov. 24
Outside of music, this indie-folk musician labors on a four-and-a-half acre farm—several of the farm’s residents are also bandmates—growing heirloom vegetables and medical-grade marijuana for market. “I work on music and then garden for a few hours and come back,” Gregory Alan Isakov told Rolling Stone. It was here, in the barn, that this South African-born, Colorado-based singer-songwriter recorded Evening Machines (2018), his Grammy-nominated seventh album. And, from the same fertile grange came “The Stable Song”—from Isakov’s self-titled album with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, that is featured on the soundtrack for The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019). Horticulturist-turned-musician Gregory Alan Isakov will be “Raising Cain.” At Rialto Theater. With Israel Nebeker... Celebrate Thanksgiving Eve with the Winston & McGuinn Band. At Hotel Congress (plaza). With Billy Gunz...
Happy Thanksgiving. Until next week, XOXO...
