september 12
Dave Alvin and the Guilty Men: Former Blaster and X man Alvin and his Guilty collective have been on a trip that's spanned three years and the majority of America's highways. The journey is reflected in the band's new HighTone release, Interstate City, a paean to the road, to rock and to the smoky pit stops where the two collide. Interstate was recorded live at one of those places, the Continental Club in Austin, Texas. The disc kicks off with the wonderful "So Long, Baby, Goodbye"; now, Alvin's a fine guitarist, but he's no singer, which makes his surprisingly effective vocal on the track all the sweeter. The album also includes covers of Tom Russell's "Out in California" and Jim Ringer's "Waiting for the Hard Times to Go" and a medley of Alvin's "Jubilee Train," Woody Guthrie's "Do Re Mi" and Chuck Berry's "Promised Land." Dave and the Guilty Men perform on Thursday, September 12, at the Rhythm Room, 1019 East Indian School. Flathead opens at 9 p.m. The cover is $9. Call 265-4842.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": Photographer Adrienne Salinger, an associate professor at Syracuse University, opens the new "ARTiculations" lecture series at Scottsdale Center for the Arts, 7380 East Second Street, with "Teen Dreams," billed as a grown-up "insider's look at the ambiguous world of children." The program starts at 8 p.m. Thursday, September 12, and is followed by a reception; tickets are $7, available at the center and Ticketmaster (784-4444). The event provides a preview of the opening of Salinger's exhibit "In My Room" on Friday, September 13. Based on the book of the same name, which was based on Salinger's seven years of hanging out with teens in their typically grungy sanctum sanctorums and at malls and gyms, the candid, sometimes disturbing installation continues through Sunday, December 1, in the Mezzanine Gallery. Viewing is free; regular hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays (to 8 p.m. Thursdays), noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For details about the related, though diametrical, exhibit "I Can Fly," see "Young at Art" in Kid Pics. For general information, call 994-2787.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: Guv: The Musical, the Star Wars: A New Hope of Arizona musiopolitical revues and one of the Valley's biggest hits of the early '90s, has given way to this sequel by the original Guv collaborators: Candice St. Jacques Miles (book/lyrics), Bruce Miles (executive producer) and Ben Tyler (director). The main target of the team's melodic barbs remains our fair-haired and now federally indicted governor, J. Fife Symington III, but the rest of the state's loony-tunes political/crime-fightin' crew gets plenty of satirical scraps. As Bruce Miles says, "What rhymes with 'Arpaio'?" This week's performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday, September 12; 8 p.m. Friday, September 13; 8 p.m. Saturday, September 14; 2 p.m. Sunday, September 15; 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 17; and 8 p.m. Wednesday, September 18, at the Scottsdale Playhouse, 7219 East Main. The Theatre League production continues through Sunday, November 10. Tickets are $20 and $22.50, available at Dillard's. Call 952-2881 or 678-2222.
"Strange Rencounters": Arizona State University theatre professor Bill Akins joined forces with stage designer Douglas-Scott Goheen and artist Steve Gompf for this interactive exhibit about the "death force and our comic rage against it." (P.S. The trio's preferred definition of the little-used word "rencounters" is "a hostile meeting.") The exhibit continues through Saturday, October 26, in the Experimental Gallery at ASU Art Museum at Matthews Center, located at the intersection of Cady and Tyler malls on the ASU campus in Tempe. Viewing is free; hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Call 965-2787.
friday
september 13
The Tempest: Planet Earth Multi-Cultural Theatre, 909 North Third Street, has opened its season with Shakespeare's storm-lashed drama about magic and revenge. This week's performances are at 8 p.m. Friday, September 13; 8 p.m. Saturday, September 14; and 3 p.m. Sunday, September 15. The production continues through Saturday, October 5. Tickets are $9, $7 for students and seniors, $2 less on Sundays. For reservations and details, call 241-1828.
David Kranes: The director of creative writing at the University of Utah is also a playwright and the author of a dozen books, including the new Low Tide in the Desert: Nevada Stories. Kranes reads from and signs copies of the work from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, September 13, at Books, etc. . . , 901 South Mill in Tempe. Admission is free. Call 967-1111.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: See Thursday.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
"Strange Rencounters": See Thursday.
saturday
september 14
AirZONa '96 featuring the Spin Doctors, dada, Marry Me Jane, Bang featuring Dave Wakeling, and Mysteries of Life: Rock critic Chuck Eddy went way out on a limb in the September '96 issue of Request, mentioning this year's AirZONa headliner, the "propulsive" Spin Doctors, in the same breath as Bob Dylan, comparing the Doctors' tune "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong" to Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" and opining that "frat boys have always had better taste than they're given credit for." Well, Eddy's right about one thing: The Docs are pretty propulsive. The show, sponsored by KZON-FM 101.5, starts at 1 p.m. Saturday, September 14, at Desert Sky Pavilion, 2121 North 83rd Avenue. Tickets are $15, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 254-7599 or 784-4444.
ASU Football: Arizona State University's Sun Devils, coached by Bruce Snyder and led by quarterback Jake "The Snake" Plummer, continue this year's home schedule with a match against North Texas State University at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 14, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe. The team's next home game is at 7:15 p.m. Saturday, September 21, against the defending NCAA champs, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers. For ticket and other information, call the Sun Devil Sports Box Office at 965-2381. Tickets are also available at Dillard's; call 678-2222.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: See Thursday.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
"Strange Rencounters": See Thursday.
The Tempest: See Friday.
sunday
september 15
Harry Belafonte: It's rare that the career of such an accomplished artist can be summed up in six syllables, but Belafonte's can: "Banana Boat (Day-O)." And Hollywood has played a large role in reviving said career; Tim Burton's show-stopping use of "Banana Boat" in 1988's Beetlejuice was highly memorable, as was Harry's star turn as gangster Seldom Seen in Robert Altman's recent Kansas City. Calypso/pop master Harry takes the stage at 2 p.m. Sunday, September 15, at the Sundome, 19403 R.H. Johnson Boulevard in Sun City West. Tickets range from $9 to $26, available at the 'dome and Dillard's. Call 975-1900 or 678-2222.
Danilo Perez Trio: Postbop Panamanian Perez was a semifinalist in 1989's Thelonious Monk Competition. Touring in support of his new Impulse CD, an homage to Thelonious titled PanaMonk, pianist Perez brings his trio to Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 North Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, for a show at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 15. Tickets are $15, available at the center and Dillard's. For details call 965-5377 or 678-2222.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: See Thursday.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
The Tempest: See Friday.
monday
september 16
Sebadoh: The birth of this really-pretty-great band (to use Sebadoh's preferred parlance: slackerspeak) was a product of the outright hostility between leader Lou Barlow and his one-time Dinosaur Jr. mate J Mascis, whose head Barlow once threatened to cave in with a guitar. Hey, the feud was J's loss. Sebadoh's repertoire of smart, tight pop songs is a far howl from Dino's sludge with a snarl, and the trio's "sound" could well end up being one of the decade's high notes. Sebadoh is scheduled on Monday, September 16, at Gibson's, 410 South Mill in Tempe. Elliot Smith, and cub share the stage. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 the day of the show, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 967-1234 or 784-4444.
Neurotic Outsiders: The novelty act for the postpunk generation features Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, Duran Duran bassist John Taylor and the Guns N' Roses tandem of bassist Duff McKagan (who plays guitar with the Outsiders) and drummer Matt Sorum. Touring behind their homonymous Maverick debut, the Neurotic dudes perform on Monday, September 16, at Electric Ballroom, 1216 East Apache in Tempe. The all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $13.50 in advance, $15 the day of the show, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 894-0707 or 784-4444.
Hootie and the Blowfish: Voila! It's the American dream, for sure: Darius Rucker, a guy who struggles to sing the National Anthem on key, heads an act that sells 12 katrillion copies of an unassuming little disc titled Cracked Rear View. It's no fairy tale; it's the Fairweather Johnson tour, and it's coming to Desert Sky Pavilion, 2121 North 83rd Avenue, on Monday, September 16. In a universe in which all was right, the fabulous opener, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, would blow the 'fish out of the water and off the stage, but we've already covered injustice for the week. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 and $25, available at Ticketmaster. Call 254-7599 or 784-4444.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
tuesday
september 17
Carousel: Royal National Theatre of Great Britain's retooled production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical is not to be confused with Hollywood's light-handed, Production Code-governed adaptation of '56, which starred Gordon MacRae as a rowdy carny barker and Shirley Jones as his (much) better half. This version is largely unsentimental, featuring frank explorations of the work's darker edges: spousal abuse, suicide and the struggles of single motherhood. The score still falls somewhere between the sublime ("If I Loved You") and the bombastically ridiculous ("You'll Never Walk Alone"). Opening performances are at 8 p.m. Tuesday, September 17; and the same time Wednesday, September 18, at Gammage Auditorium, Mill and Apache in Tempe. More shows are planned Thursday, September 19, through Sunday, September 22. Tickets range from $28 to $42, available at Gammage and Dillard's. Call 965-3434 or 678-2222.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: See Thursday.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
"Strange Rencounters": See Thursday.
wednesday
september 18
Cowboy Mouth: This isn't the best band in the world, but you've got to cut some slack for an act that took its name, and inspiration, from the line "You gotta be a rock 'n' roll Jesus with a cowboy mouth" in Patti Smith and Sam Shepard's theatrical collaboration Cowboy Mouth. Former Dash Rip Rock member Fred "Big Mouth" LeBlanc leads the New Orleans roots act, which he describes as a "strange amalgamation of the Neville Brothers, the Sex Pistols, John Prine and Jawbox." The quartet performs on Wednesday, September 18, at the Rockin' Horse, 7316 East Stetson in Scottsdale. The Ugly Americans share the bill. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $6, available at the scene and Ticketmaster. Call 949-0992 or 784-4444.
De La Soul, and Fishbone: De La Soul's trippy new Tommy Boy album, Stakes Is High, is far removed from the Long Island rap trio's poppy breakthrough, Three Feet High & Rising, but no less interesting. L.A.'s funked-up Fishbone co-headlines on Wednesday, September 18, at Electric Ballroom, 1216 East Apache in Tempe. The Goodie Mob shares the stage. Showtime is 8 p.m. Tickets are $21, available at Ticketmaster. For details call 894-0707 or 784-4444.
Carousel: See Tuesday.
Guv: The Emperor Strikes Back: See Thursday.
"In My Room: Teenagers in Their Bedrooms": See Thursday.
"Strange Rencounters": See Thursday.
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