Sadly, Phoenix is not getting Wilco this summer, as the band decided to take their extraordinary show to Tucson, but we're getting a pretty good consolation prize in Son Volt/Cowboy Junkies at the Mesa Arts Center on July 14. Tickets go on sale May 5 and will cost $40/$35.
Old-timey alt-country fans know Jay Farrar, the lead singer of Son Volt, was once in a band called Uncle Tupelo with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. The two split over creative differences -- really -- and went on to form the two biggest bands in the genre at the time. After their first records, Wilco's A.M. and Son Volt's Trace, both dropped in 1995, it looked like Son Volt had the edge, but then Wilco released the masterpiece Being There, which Farrar has never quite matched. He has put out a lot of great music, though, and this should be a cool show.