Puerto Rican star Chayanne here Friday
It’s not surprising that there are no more reserved seats for Puerto Rican pop-rock singer Chayanne’s concert Friday, Sept. 4, at the AVA at Casino del Sol.
In the dozen or more years since he started bringing his high-energy shows to Tucson, he has consistently drawn sold-out or nearly sold-out crowds to the AVA, a 5,000-seat venue that has proved to be a perfect stage for Chayanne and his cadre of dancers.
At an AVA show in 2004, his fans were so enthusiastic that a couple snuck past security and hopped on stage to steal a hug from the singer. Chayanne took it all in stride and didn’t seem to miss a beat, according to a Star review.
Chayanne’s bringing his “En Todo Estare Tour 2015” to us, a show that judging by videos posted on YouTube looks to be quite the hip-grinding spectacle.
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Not sure how he will dress up the AVA stage, but in earlier performances he created a multimedia show with gigantic screens behind him that showed close-ups of his dance moves as well as scenes from music videos.
Lawn tickets for the show, which starts at 8 p.m. at the AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road, are $41 at tickets.solcasinos.com
Legendary bluesman slips into Boondocks
Most of the time, you have to be at a big blues festival to catch legendary bluesman Joe Louis Walker live.
But next Thursday, Sept. 10, the Southern Arizona Blues Heritage Foundation and The Boondocks Lounge are hosting the Alligator Records recording artist in a KXCI Presents show. It starts at 7 p.m. and tickets are $12 in advance, $15 day of show with discounts available at the Boondocks, 3306 N. First Ave.
Walker’s show surely ranks as one of the most anticipated among blues fans. He is recognized worldwide as a trailblazer in blues, a “mesmerizing guitarist” and a “soul testifying vocalist” whose music is equal parts rock ‘n’ roll and passionate blues, according to KXCI personality Marty Kool, host of KXCI’s Marty Kool’s Blues Review show.
Walker’s show comes about a month before his album “Everybody Wants A Piece” comes out on Oct. 9.
“I’d like to be known for the credibility of a lifetime of being true to my music and the blues,” Walker, 65, said in a written statement. “Sometimes I feel I’ve learned more from my failures than from my success. But that’s made me stronger and more adventurous. And helped me create my own style. I’d like to think that when someone puts on one of my records they would know from the first notes, ‘That’s Joe Louis Walker.’”
Busy, diverse week at Rialto Theatre
Rialto Theatre staff have barely had time for a coffee break this week as the downtown venue hosts back-to-back events through the weekend.
- Three Days of Grace and Purity Ring played shows Tuesday and Wednesday.
- San Francisco rockers Primus bring the concert tour of their experimental 2014 album “Primus & the Chocolate Factory with The Fungi Ensemble” to the Rialto for a 9 p.m. show Thursday, Sept. 3. Tickets are $34 to $51.
- The 10th anniversary screening of “High And Dry,” a 2005 documentary celebrating Tucson’s eclectic music scene — among the artists featured are Al Perry, Rainer, Sand Rubies, The Supersuckers, Giant Sand, Calexico, Doo Rag, Machines of Loving Grace — will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4. Admission is $8. The screening repeats at 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6.
- Canadian electronica duo Zeds Dead (Dylan Mamid who goes by the stage name DC and Zach Rapp-Rovan, known as Hooks) play a show at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5. Tickets are $33 to $62.
- Screening of “One Man Breaking Bad: The Unauthorized Parody” by Dan Clarkson — he created and directed “Potted Potter” — will screen at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. It’s an all-ages show, but warning to parents: There’s a lot of adult language, i.e. four-letter words, so you may want to leave kids 16 and younger at home. Tickets are $18 to $30.
- Rialto comes full circle with Los Lonely Boys and Matt Andersen at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. The Texas Americana-rock band blends a little reggae and bluesy rock in its latest album, 2014’s “Revelation.” Tickets are $34 to $47.
Tickets to Rialto shows are available online at ticketfly.com or at the theater box office, 318 E. Congress St. Details: rialtotheatre.com
Singer to bring unique sound to Congress
It could go down as one of the most unique instruments to grace the stage at Club Congress when Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Shilpa Ray pulls out her harmonium Tuesday, Sept. 8, as an opener for Philadelphia pop band Man Man.
It’s an instrument that her immigrant Indian-American parents pushed on her as a child as a way to encourage her to embrace her Indian culture and stray away from rock music.
Instead, Ray adopted the instrument as a substitution for piano — it can sit on a stand or table top and fit in the trunk of your car, which means it travels much easier than keyboards or an upright. The harmonium creates a sound that marries organ and accordion; Ray uses one hand to play the keyboards and another to pump the bellows.
Ray’s music has been praised for its originality and “sophisticated, intensely derisive sense of humor” (Pitchfork) and she has been called one of the “most unique singers and songwriters doing her damndest to keep rock ‘n’ roll relevant in the 21st century” (tinymixtapes.com).
Her voice has been compared to that of Blondie and Patti Smith, with some comparisons thrown in to Ella Fitzgerald. The Star-Ledger in her native New Jersey called her a “big-voiced blues-rock howler.”
Tickets for Tuesday’s show are $15 at ticketfly.com
