Queensrÿche, the Seattle-area band with the pseudo-German name, skyrocketed to stardom in the 1980s with the hit concept album "Operation: Mindcrime" and the follow-up "Empire," which featured the top-10 ballad "Silent Lucidity."
In the early 1990s, the group toured the world for 18 months and even appeared on "MTV Unplugged."
But like most heavy metal bands, Queensrÿche saw its star dim with the rise of grunge music (damn you, Kurt Cobain!).
Now the band is back with another concept album, "American Soldier," about war from the perspective of soldiers who fought in wars from World War II through the present.
It'll perform at the Rialto Theater on Monday at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $34 to $41.
Dark, hardcore duo at Congress on Sunday
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Malachai Constant & the Ethical Suicide Parlor sounds like a room full of people, but it's just two guys who go only by their first names — Jaisn, who lead-vocals and plays guitar and keyboards; and Stubbie, who lends keyboard support. Both also list programming under their job descriptions on their MySpace page.
This Tucson duo is hardcore, with the pair computer-generating much of their sound on songs that toe the line of darkly hued metal and scream-o. Vocal distortions recall Ministry and a whole school of dark, heavy metal bands that the pair draw on as influences. If you're wondering what message these two are peddling, the songs on their MySpace come with an explicit-lyrics warning. There's liberal use of cursing and references to death and violence.
The pair bring their act to Club Congress at 6 p.m. Sunday for an all-ages show. Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 at the door.
Listen up! Check out the Arizona Folklore Preserve
The Santa Cruz River Band is heading to the Arizona Folklore Preserve this weekend.
The Tucson-based duo of Teodoro "Ted" Ramírez and Michael J. Ronstadt will perform the signature Southwestern folk music that has garnered them a devoted following throughout the region. They will appear at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the preserve, 56 Folklore Trail in Hereford. Admission is $15 for adults, $6 for children 17 and younger. For details, visit www.arizonafolklore.com; or call 1-520-378-6165.
Arizona's Official State Balladeer, Dolan Ellis started the preserve in 1996. Performances are held in the Moffett House Theater, a small 1920s ranch house that can seat about 30.
Ellis takes the stage one weekend a month and invites other folk artists to perform the other weekends. Upcoming concerts include the Desert Sons June 6-7; Ellis on June 13 and 14; Journey West June 20-21; and the return of the Santa Cruz River Band June 27-28.
Newly 'happy' Alkaline Trio to play at Rialto Tuesday
The Alkaline Trio made their mark writing songs about alcoholism, depression and death.
But recently, band members Matt Skiba, Dan Andriano and Derek Grant have had an unprecedented run of good fortune, including a contract with a major label.
Should we worry the band will start to sound like The Partridge Family?
"We're all happy individuals with families now, so you're not going to hear too many songs about heartbreak or the girl that got away anymore," Grant says on the band's online bio. "But we have friends going through tough times, and both Matt and Dan are influenced by those sorts of situations."
Friends with problems? It's not exactly the story of Blind Willie Johnson, who, it is said, lost his sight when his mother threw lye in his face and died of pneumonia when a hospital wouldn't admit him because he was black. But it'll have to do.
You can see The Alkaline Trio perform songs from their new album, "Agony and Irony," at the Rialto Theatre on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $18 in advance and $21 on the day of the show.
New Zealand's Bachelorette at Club Congress Wednesday
For her first full-length album, "Isolation Loops," Bachelorette's Annabel Alpers holed up by herself in a cottage near the ocean with electricity but no hot water.
"I went out there to do it because it was a cheap place, where I wouldn't have to pay any rent and where I could spend a good amount of time just focusing on music and nothing else," the New Zealander told Dusted Magazine.
Bachelorette's new album, "My Electric Family," brings other humans into the mix — drummers, guitarists and a brass band — but Alpers doesn't abandon the synthesized loops that have become the trademark of her electro-pop music.
See her at Club Congress on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $5 in advance, $7 on the day of the show.
See Vast at Club Congress to figure out its sound
It's hard to nail down what exactly the group Vast sounds like.
Some of its more dark and ominous selections come across like Depeche Mode tunes. Other guitar-based works have more of a Moody Blues feel to them.
You can decide for yourself when the band plays Club Congress on Tuesday.
Doors for the show open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15.
Band seen in 'Yes Man' due at Plush on Wednesday
Von Iva, the San Fran electro-pop rock group that backed actress and singer Zooey Deschanel in the Jim Carrey film "Yes Man," performs at Plush on Wednesday.
The band, known as Munchausen by Proxy in the movie, comes to town with its latest EP, "Girls on Film." The album has a retro feel to it, kind of like Annie Lennox with a harder edge.
The group will be joined by the band Gliss from Los Angeles and Sick of Sarah from Minneapolis.
Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7.
