Eight cool things to do in Tucson this weekend (June 16-June 18)
- Updated
- Updated
Jason Mraz opens his 2017 summer tour at Centennial Hall Friday, June 16, the first of only a handful of concerts he will do this summer.
The Tucson show is a warmup to Mraz’s big summer moment, his 40th-birthday bash/concert at the famed Hollywood Bowl in California on his birthday, June 23.
Until then, here are three songs we are super-excited to hear him sing live and when we hear them we will give him the kind of applause — loud and sustained — that he’s sure to get for his birthday bash.
- “I’m Yours,” from his triple-platinum 2008 album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” It’s a safe bet that by the time he gets to the second verse — “Well open up your mind and see like me / Open up your plans and damn you’re free / Look into your heart and you’ll find love love love love” — the whole hall will drown him out and he’ll gladly relinquish lead vocals to his fans.
- “I Won’t Give Up,” from his 2012 studio album — his fourth — “Love Is a Four Letter Word.” This will be the show’s inspirational highlight, the moment where we can all read into the lyrics — “’Cause even the stars they burn / Some even fall to the earth / We’ve got a lot to learn / God knows we’re worth it / No, I won’t give up” — something that inspires more universally than the feelings we have for the date sitting beside us.
- “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry),” his debut single off his 2002 debut album “Waiting for My Rocket to Come.” It’s always nice to go back to the beginning, and when you listen to this song, even 15 years down the road of Mraz’s pretty enviable career, you get a sense of how much he’s grown as an artist.
Details:
What: Jason Mraz & His Superband in concert.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, June 16.
Where: Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., on the University of Arizona campus.
Tickets: $55 to $495 through ticketmaster.com
- Cathalena E. Burch
- Updated
Bisbee's LGBT community will be out to party this weekend as the town's 13th Annual Bisbee Pride Festival gets underway.
Grassy Park will serve as Pride Village from Friday to Sunday, with events happening throughout town, including a lingerie pub crawl on Friday, a crafts festival on Saturday and Bloody Mary specials all around town on Sunday.
A full rundown of events can be found on the Bisbee Pride website.
- Updated
It was in 1997 that many Americans were first introduced to the Buena Vista Social Club, the Cuban band that won hearts through a wildly popular album and a follow-up documentary.
Twenty years later, filmmakers are revisiting the group on their 2015 farewell tour. Many of its original members have since passed, which leads Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer Dan DeLuca to say:
" 'Adios' is at its best when excavating the past. Many of the original movie's stars have died, including Segundo, Gonzalez and Ferrer. The singer Ferrer, who died in 2005, has an especially winning presence in the update, in interviews of recent vintage and unearthed black-and-white footage as a tuxedoed crooner on Cuban TV."
The documentary will be screening at theaters throughout Tucson.
- Updated
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.
But it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, before word got to Texas and the slaves there were set free.
Juneteenth celebrates that long-overdue day. Festivals happen around the country. In Tucson, which had its first Juneteenth fest in 1970, the celebration is slated for June 17 at Dunbar Cultural Center, 325 W. Second St.
A full day is planned, says Valerie Stanley, one of the organizers.
Starting at 11 a.m. and continuing to 4 p.m., community organizations will have booths set up and will answer questions and hand out information. There will be food, historical presentations, demos from students at the Dunbar Barber College, and even laser tag and a kids zone. At 1 p.m., the Tucson Black Film Club will screen Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th.”
At 4, the doors will shut until 6 p.m. Then the party takes off and rocks until 9 p.m. Live jazz and R&B are on the bill, and there will be DJ sounds from Desert Dawgz.
This is the first year the event has been held at Dunbar. And the first time it has been held indoors.
“We’re excited about that,” says Stanley.
“It’ll be 109 on Saturday — global warming is not a joke; it is real. We have to plan accordingly.”
The Juneteenth Festival is free and open to the public. More information is on Facebook.
- Kathleen Allen
- Updated
Skip the dive bars and taprooms this weekend and head to the Reid Park Zoo for its annual Brew at the Zoo event this Saturday.
$45 will get you samples of local craft brews, pub-style food, live music and a commemorative glass as a way to remember the evening.
Bonus: Funds raised will go to the Zoo Project Fund, which helps with improvements and upkeep at the zoo.
Brew at the Zoo runs from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. More information can be found on the Facebook event page.
- Updated
If you can't make it to the beaches of California this weekend, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will bring the beach to you.
On Saturday, the venue will host Surfapalooza, its celebration of surf rock featuring Shrimp Chaperone, The Boogienauts, Grave Danger and Michael P.
Fish tacos will be the main meal for the evening.
The evening runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and is free and family friendly, according to the Facebook event page.
- Updated
Tucson’s unaccompanied Helios Ensemble choir is toasting Brahms with beer on Sunday, June 18, and not just ordinary, mass-produced brew available at your corner convenience store.
They’re pairing Brahms love songs and requiem with Dragoon, one of Tucson’s fine microbrews.
The 3-year-old Helios Ensemble, a 50-voice choir led by founder and conductor Benjamin Hansen, is billing “Brahms and Beer” as a “hearty celebration” of the 19th century German composer and his music. It’s also a chance to see Hansen lead the group in a piece that has become a Helios favorite, Stephen Paulus’ “Pilgrim’s Hymn.”
Brahms and Beer starts at 7 p.m. Sunday at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Helios also will perform the Brahms concert sans the beer at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 17750 S. La Cañada Drive in Sahuarita. Tickets are $18, $30 for two at mkt.com/heliosensemble or at the door.
Details: heliosensemble.org
— Cathalena E. Burch
- Updated
Celebrate Father's Day this weekend with a pinball throwdown at D&D Pinball, 331 E. Seventh St., on Sunday.
The tourney is played like so (according to the Facebook event page):
This is a match-play 3-strike group knockout tournament. Each round the bottom two players receive a strike in a four player group, bottom one receives a strike in 3 player group. No entry fee, only pay coin drop for the games you play.
Everyone get all that?
The tournament will start at 1:30. Show up at 1 p.m. to register and warm up.
More like this...
Jason Mraz opens his 2017 summer tour at Centennial Hall Friday, June 16, the first of only a handful of concerts he will do this summer.
The Tucson show is a warmup to Mraz’s big summer moment, his 40th-birthday bash/concert at the famed Hollywood Bowl in California on his birthday, June 23.
Until then, here are three songs we are super-excited to hear him sing live and when we hear them we will give him the kind of applause — loud and sustained — that he’s sure to get for his birthday bash.
- “I’m Yours,” from his triple-platinum 2008 album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” It’s a safe bet that by the time he gets to the second verse — “Well open up your mind and see like me / Open up your plans and damn you’re free / Look into your heart and you’ll find love love love love” — the whole hall will drown him out and he’ll gladly relinquish lead vocals to his fans.
- “I Won’t Give Up,” from his 2012 studio album — his fourth — “Love Is a Four Letter Word.” This will be the show’s inspirational highlight, the moment where we can all read into the lyrics — “’Cause even the stars they burn / Some even fall to the earth / We’ve got a lot to learn / God knows we’re worth it / No, I won’t give up” — something that inspires more universally than the feelings we have for the date sitting beside us.
- “The Remedy (I Won’t Worry),” his debut single off his 2002 debut album “Waiting for My Rocket to Come.” It’s always nice to go back to the beginning, and when you listen to this song, even 15 years down the road of Mraz’s pretty enviable career, you get a sense of how much he’s grown as an artist.
Details:
What: Jason Mraz & His Superband in concert.
When: 8 p.m. Friday, June 16.
Where: Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd., on the University of Arizona campus.
Tickets: $55 to $495 through ticketmaster.com
- Cathalena E. Burch
Bisbee's LGBT community will be out to party this weekend as the town's 13th Annual Bisbee Pride Festival gets underway.
Grassy Park will serve as Pride Village from Friday to Sunday, with events happening throughout town, including a lingerie pub crawl on Friday, a crafts festival on Saturday and Bloody Mary specials all around town on Sunday.
A full rundown of events can be found on the Bisbee Pride website.
It was in 1997 that many Americans were first introduced to the Buena Vista Social Club, the Cuban band that won hearts through a wildly popular album and a follow-up documentary.
Twenty years later, filmmakers are revisiting the group on their 2015 farewell tour. Many of its original members have since passed, which leads Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer Dan DeLuca to say:
" 'Adios' is at its best when excavating the past. Many of the original movie's stars have died, including Segundo, Gonzalez and Ferrer. The singer Ferrer, who died in 2005, has an especially winning presence in the update, in interviews of recent vintage and unearthed black-and-white footage as a tuxedoed crooner on Cuban TV."
The documentary will be screening at theaters throughout Tucson.
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on Jan. 1, 1863.
But it wasn’t until June 19, 1865, before word got to Texas and the slaves there were set free.
Juneteenth celebrates that long-overdue day. Festivals happen around the country. In Tucson, which had its first Juneteenth fest in 1970, the celebration is slated for June 17 at Dunbar Cultural Center, 325 W. Second St.
A full day is planned, says Valerie Stanley, one of the organizers.
Starting at 11 a.m. and continuing to 4 p.m., community organizations will have booths set up and will answer questions and hand out information. There will be food, historical presentations, demos from students at the Dunbar Barber College, and even laser tag and a kids zone. At 1 p.m., the Tucson Black Film Club will screen Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th.”
At 4, the doors will shut until 6 p.m. Then the party takes off and rocks until 9 p.m. Live jazz and R&B are on the bill, and there will be DJ sounds from Desert Dawgz.
This is the first year the event has been held at Dunbar. And the first time it has been held indoors.
“We’re excited about that,” says Stanley.
“It’ll be 109 on Saturday — global warming is not a joke; it is real. We have to plan accordingly.”
The Juneteenth Festival is free and open to the public. More information is on Facebook.
- Kathleen Allen
Skip the dive bars and taprooms this weekend and head to the Reid Park Zoo for its annual Brew at the Zoo event this Saturday.
$45 will get you samples of local craft brews, pub-style food, live music and a commemorative glass as a way to remember the evening.
Bonus: Funds raised will go to the Zoo Project Fund, which helps with improvements and upkeep at the zoo.
Brew at the Zoo runs from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. More information can be found on the Facebook event page.
If you can't make it to the beaches of California this weekend, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., will bring the beach to you.
On Saturday, the venue will host Surfapalooza, its celebration of surf rock featuring Shrimp Chaperone, The Boogienauts, Grave Danger and Michael P.
Fish tacos will be the main meal for the evening.
The evening runs from 6 to 10 p.m. and is free and family friendly, according to the Facebook event page.
Tucson’s unaccompanied Helios Ensemble choir is toasting Brahms with beer on Sunday, June 18, and not just ordinary, mass-produced brew available at your corner convenience store.
They’re pairing Brahms love songs and requiem with Dragoon, one of Tucson’s fine microbrews.
The 3-year-old Helios Ensemble, a 50-voice choir led by founder and conductor Benjamin Hansen, is billing “Brahms and Beer” as a “hearty celebration” of the 19th century German composer and his music. It’s also a chance to see Hansen lead the group in a piece that has become a Helios favorite, Stephen Paulus’ “Pilgrim’s Hymn.”
Brahms and Beer starts at 7 p.m. Sunday at Grace St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 2331 E. Adams St. Helios also will perform the Brahms concert sans the beer at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at Good Shepherd United Church of Christ, 17750 S. La Cañada Drive in Sahuarita. Tickets are $18, $30 for two at mkt.com/heliosensemble or at the door.
Details: heliosensemble.org
— Cathalena E. Burch
Celebrate Father's Day this weekend with a pinball throwdown at D&D Pinball, 331 E. Seventh St., on Sunday.
The tourney is played like so (according to the Facebook event page):
This is a match-play 3-strike group knockout tournament. Each round the bottom two players receive a strike in a four player group, bottom one receives a strike in 3 player group. No entry fee, only pay coin drop for the games you play.
Everyone get all that?
The tournament will start at 1:30. Show up at 1 p.m. to register and warm up.
More like this...
Tags
More information
Most Popular
-
Investigators haven't questioned Tucson restaurant where Guthries filmed 'Today' show
-
Penny rounding now legal in Arizona
-
New Tucson lounge to embrace dark and cozy -
Gunfire during brawl at Tucson's Park Place leaves 2 wounded
-
Nancy Guthrie probe is not a cold case, Sheriff Chris Nanos says in wide-ranging interview
