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All in all, it's a great week for local bands and indie out-of-towners. The details: Andy Gardner's name might ring familiar from some of the shows he's brought to town under the auspices of Umlaut Productions: Modest Mouse, the Geraldine Fibbers, Radar Bros., and Sugar Plastic. He might also be familiar to local music fans as a member of both Wise Folk Malcontent and Gradavole. In any event, Gardner has repeatedly put his best foot forward for the Tucson music scene, often with phenomenal results. Gardner had recently hatched plans for a Tucson Pop Fest, a four-day event with national and local talent appearing in four downtown venues, slated for mid-March. Ah, the best laid plans... Sometimes Murphy's Law is as unavoidable as the law of gravity. Due to a convergence of weird and unrelated circumstances, the Pop Fest devolved into two separate events at one venue. Although arrangements for an Umlaut Pop Fest of relatively epic proportions failed to pan out--I won't even bother to mention the bands who bailed--the remaining shows, both held at Press 101, are certainly nothing to sneeze at. And interestingly enough, they fall on a Friday the 13th that's the Ides of March. Friday's show is mostly local--on the roster is Hobart, featuring ex-Spill Blanket members, Wise Folk Malcontent, The Cassadines, and those fabulous Frenchmen Le Belhôm Duo. Mark your calendar--this show is at 8:30 p.m. Friday, March 13. Tickets are $4 at the door. The second show in the series, at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 15, is headlined by two San Francisco bands: P.E.E. and Track Star, with opening help from How to Build A Rocketship, Gradavole and The TOP Set, previously known as Taste of Peter. P.E.E. is the toast of Bay Area pop, a golden foursome including a shared member of J. Church and A Minor Forest. The release of The Roaring Mechanism, the much anticipated follow-up to their 1996 debut, is expected any day. Track Star, a bassless trio sporting the two-guitars-and-a-drummer line-up that seems to be winning favor these days, were recently on the road with Stereolab. They now happen our way headlining their debut release Communication Breaks, which is vaguely reminiscent of the Wedding Present with Pavement overtones. This weekend's two Umlaut showcases are also significant because they herald the proper inauguration of new performance space Press 101, 105 W. Fifth St. So close to downtown you could practically spit over the tracks, Press 101 is a collective art space and multi-use facility that includes a darkroom, mural workshops, and a performance space. It looks as though the building has functioned in several capacities over the past few decades--these two shows couldn't be a better opportunity to check it out for yourself. Call 884-0278 for information. And if the weekend passes and you're still ready to rock, head on out to Skrappy's: The all-ages epicenter of local punk and underground hosts the Murder City Devils on Monday, March 16. The Murder City Devils do break the "foursome with four chords and a grudge" unwritten rule of punk--these guys are a fivesome. I've never experienced them live, but if the 10 surly tracks of their self-titled debut are any indication of the show they put on, you'll want to get your ass down to 3710 N. Oracle Road. And remember, shows at Skrappy's start early, so plan to arrive around 8 p.m. Call 408-9466 for information. LAST NOTES: Austin-based Hammock is in town Saturday, March 14, arriving with the help and strong recommendation of Mr. Chick Cashman. Together with The Pork Torta, Hammock breaks in the recently opened Fourth Avenue space Mutt's, the storefront formerly known as Berky's Bar, at 420 N. Fourth Ave. The boys at Mutt's have done a fine job creating a club with wide appeal. In keeping with its namesake, the bar is an amalgam of styles--a sometimes sports bar, restaurant, and a little nightclub housing an abundance of blue furniture. Call 628-8664 for information.
BIG GOOF: In last week's Soundbites I included England's
No. 1 swing band, The Big Six, on the bill with Big Bad Voodoo
Daddy at The Rialto Theater. The British kings of swing are actually
headlining their own show at the Rialto Theater on Saturday, March
14, with Tucson's own Kings of Pleasure. Tickets are $6 in advance,
$8 at the door. Call 795-1490 for more information.
--Lisa Weeks
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SNAP, CRACKLE, SUBPOP: SubPop's subsidiary label Die Young
Stay Pretty will be well represented in the Old Pueblo this week.
The Seattle label, thought of by many as the gatekeeper of indie
alternative, is sending two bands two Tucson in the week ahead--Track
Star and The Murder City Devils. Both will be available to all-ages
crowds.
The Flapjack Cancer Co. arrives in Tucson from glorious Tulsa,
Oklahoma (spawning grounds of 