I love the variety of musical talent and venues available in Tucson. I've already hinted at it in my post on Gaslight Theatre, but I've also enjoyed excellent live music at the Chicago Bar and Boondocks.
This coming Saturday the Retro Rockets will be performing at Lookout Bar and Grill.
With all of this local talent I had planned on creating a post for each of the places I discover here in Tucson. What I soon found out is there are so many places to experience great live music in Tucson, that there could be a Web site dedicated to nothing else but this topic!
And guess what? There is! It's called Tucson Music Scene, and one glance at the home page will give you a good idea of what a musically rich city Tucson is.
I'll still post about live musical events I attend, but for the heads up on when and where they are, check out Tucson Music Scene.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Monday, September 1, 2008
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Gaslight Theatre and The Retro Rockets
The Gaslight Theatre bills itself as “The Hottest Thing to Hit Tucson Since Sunshine!” offering Musical Melodrama Open Year Round.
True to its name, Gaslight Theatre is a venue for live performances from local actors performing plays such as Beach Blanket Bebop (or "That's for Surfin'!") and Frankenstein Lives! (or “The Jolt’s On You!). They also host a “Family Concert Series” once each week that offers live music suitable for the entire family.
It was a live music event that served as my introduction to Gaslight Theatre. Last Monday I attended a concert featuring the local classic rock band called the Retro Rockets, and their first set promised to consist entirely of music by the Beatles.
OK, this photo has nothing to do with either the Retro Rockets or Gaslight Theatre. I just had to take this shot of the sunset reflecting off the clouds. It made me hungry for pizza.
The Retro Rockets aren’t just a tribute band to the Beatles and don’t limit themselves to Beatles music but they did a great job of covering early Beatles hits. They had a great time doing it as well, and took turns bantering with each other and the audience.
The audience appreciated it, and at the beginning of the evening were singing along with parts of the chorus of songs. By the end of the evening people were loosening up, and most of the audience was singing along to entire songs.
The Retro Rockets made it easy to sing along. After performing the first set of Beatles music, they filled their second set with such recognizable and feel-good hits like “Pretty Woman”, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, “Long Cool Woman”, “I’m a Believer”, “Hang on Sloopy”, and “Do You Believe in Magic”.
The Retro Rockets (photo courtesy of their MySpace page)
Tickets for performances at the Gaslight Theatre are sold in advance, and the Retro Rockets appeared to have sold out the house.
The seating at Gaslight Theatre consists of two or three chairs around a small wooden table, and if you’re hungry waitresses will bring you food - mostly sandwiches, some desserts, as well as beer and wine. It’s the latter two that I really appreciated. By the middle of the second set, when everyone was singing along to classic rock and roll, and I was sipping on my third beer, it struck me how much it felt like I was back in the early 70’s, booze cruising in a friends car, singing along with the radio.
And guess what? After all these years it’s still fun to listen to great music with friends while sipping on a barley pop or two. And MUCH safer than drinking and driving.
I had a great time at the Gaslight Theatre and plan to be back to take in a play or two and I’ll DEFINITELY be back for the live jazz music coming up in October.
The Web site for the Gaslight Theatre is http://www.thegaslighttheatre.com/ (have patience, it takes a while to load).
The Retro Rockets are booked throughout the rest of the year. Their schedule is on their Web site at http://www.myspace.com/tucsonretrorockets.
True to its name, Gaslight Theatre is a venue for live performances from local actors performing plays such as Beach Blanket Bebop (or "That's for Surfin'!") and Frankenstein Lives! (or “The Jolt’s On You!). They also host a “Family Concert Series” once each week that offers live music suitable for the entire family.It was a live music event that served as my introduction to Gaslight Theatre. Last Monday I attended a concert featuring the local classic rock band called the Retro Rockets, and their first set promised to consist entirely of music by the Beatles.
OK, this photo has nothing to do with either the Retro Rockets or Gaslight Theatre. I just had to take this shot of the sunset reflecting off the clouds. It made me hungry for pizza.The Retro Rockets aren’t just a tribute band to the Beatles and don’t limit themselves to Beatles music but they did a great job of covering early Beatles hits. They had a great time doing it as well, and took turns bantering with each other and the audience.
The audience appreciated it, and at the beginning of the evening were singing along with parts of the chorus of songs. By the end of the evening people were loosening up, and most of the audience was singing along to entire songs.
The Retro Rockets made it easy to sing along. After performing the first set of Beatles music, they filled their second set with such recognizable and feel-good hits like “Pretty Woman”, “Peaceful Easy Feeling”, “Long Cool Woman”, “I’m a Believer”, “Hang on Sloopy”, and “Do You Believe in Magic”.
The Retro Rockets (photo courtesy of their MySpace page)Tickets for performances at the Gaslight Theatre are sold in advance, and the Retro Rockets appeared to have sold out the house.
The seating at Gaslight Theatre consists of two or three chairs around a small wooden table, and if you’re hungry waitresses will bring you food - mostly sandwiches, some desserts, as well as beer and wine. It’s the latter two that I really appreciated. By the middle of the second set, when everyone was singing along to classic rock and roll, and I was sipping on my third beer, it struck me how much it felt like I was back in the early 70’s, booze cruising in a friends car, singing along with the radio.
And guess what? After all these years it’s still fun to listen to great music with friends while sipping on a barley pop or two. And MUCH safer than drinking and driving.
I had a great time at the Gaslight Theatre and plan to be back to take in a play or two and I’ll DEFINITELY be back for the live jazz music coming up in October.
The Web site for the Gaslight Theatre is http://www.thegaslighttheatre.com/ (have patience, it takes a while to load).
The Retro Rockets are booked throughout the rest of the year. Their schedule is on their Web site at http://www.myspace.com/tucsonretrorockets.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Javalinas Coffee and Friends
One of the benefits coffee shops have is they can offer live musical performances in an intimate atmosphere. This is a great chance to experience local musical talent while enjoying the caffeinated beverage of your choice.
Two things need to come together for this to really work: good coffee and good musicians. I had a chance to partake of both of these recently at a place called Javalinas Coffee and Friends.
If you’re not native to the Southwest, a Javalina is a nasty looking wild beast resembling a wild boar. It has a mean disposition and will attack humans with no provocation. “Stay away” seems to be the most consistent recommendation when discussing javalina.
Fortunately, nature loves balance. For the yin of the nasty beastie that is the javalina, there is the yang of Javalinas Coffee and Friends. The service there was not only NOT mean and surly, but some of the friendliest I’ve experienced. And not once did I ever feel in danger of being attacked.
After ordering the house coffee and finding a table I settled in to listen to the night’s entertainment. This night it was provided by Amber Norgaard singing her original songs and playing keyboard. Amber was accompanied by Will Clipman providing atmospheric background and percussion with a variety of bells, chimes, and drums as well as a couple of percussion instruments I’d never seen before.
The small venue was packed, and it was easy to see why. Amber puts her heart and soul into her music and performances. She obviously enjoys what she does as she has recorded four CDs in as many years. Will is a four time Grammy nominee and two time winner of the Native American Music Award.
Javalinas is an excellent place to grab some after dinner coffee and entertainment. Because it is a small venue, the best advice is to get there early to ensure a place to sit.
Check out upcoming performances at Javelin’s Web site at: http://www.javalinas.com.
Amber's Web site is at: http://ambernorgaard.com/, and Will's Web site is at: http://willclipman.com/
Two things need to come together for this to really work: good coffee and good musicians. I had a chance to partake of both of these recently at a place called Javalinas Coffee and Friends.
If you’re not native to the Southwest, a Javalina is a nasty looking wild beast resembling a wild boar. It has a mean disposition and will attack humans with no provocation. “Stay away” seems to be the most consistent recommendation when discussing javalina.
Fortunately, nature loves balance. For the yin of the nasty beastie that is the javalina, there is the yang of Javalinas Coffee and Friends. The service there was not only NOT mean and surly, but some of the friendliest I’ve experienced. And not once did I ever feel in danger of being attacked.
After ordering the house coffee and finding a table I settled in to listen to the night’s entertainment. This night it was provided by Amber Norgaard singing her original songs and playing keyboard. Amber was accompanied by Will Clipman providing atmospheric background and percussion with a variety of bells, chimes, and drums as well as a couple of percussion instruments I’d never seen before. 
The small venue was packed, and it was easy to see why. Amber puts her heart and soul into her music and performances. She obviously enjoys what she does as she has recorded four CDs in as many years. Will is a four time Grammy nominee and two time winner of the Native American Music Award.Javalinas is an excellent place to grab some after dinner coffee and entertainment. Because it is a small venue, the best advice is to get there early to ensure a place to sit.
Check out upcoming performances at Javelin’s Web site at: http://www.javalinas.com.
Amber's Web site is at: http://ambernorgaard.com/, and Will's Web site is at: http://willclipman.com/
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