HoCo Festival 2007
40 bands that helped shape Tucson's uniqueness to play
Photos & images All Slideshows ยป
Click thumbnails to view additional images
Click Photo to Enlarge
More info
RELATED STORY:
The film portion of the festival and a complete list of screenings and related events
SCHEDULEHere is the complete music schedule, at present. Closer to showtime, check www.hocofestival.com for updates.
FRIDAY (Doors open at 7 p.m.)Class of '87 Stage
Sun Trash
Supersuckers
Pollo Elastico
Ian Moore
Broken Horse
Class of '07 Stage
Mr. Free
Mostly Bears
The Deludes
The Swim
Iods
SATURDAY (Doors open at 5 p.m.)
National Stage
Okkervil River
The Bellrays
Secretary Bird
Creosote
Class of '77 Stage (Music starts at 9 p.m.)
Chuck Wagon and The Wheels
Ned Sutton
Bob Meighan Band
Special guests
BBQ Stage (5-9 p.m.)
Al Perry
Ryanhood
Michael P. Nordberg Band
Kevin Daly Band
All-Star Guitar Throwdown, featuring "a long list of famous and should be famous guitarists''
SUNDAY (Doors open at 5 p.m.)
Class of '99 STAGE
Knockout Pills
Weird Lovemakers
Pork Torta
Borts Minorts
Al Foul And The Shakes
BBQ STAGE (5 p.m.)
Howe Gelb's Hootenanny Stage
Tom Walbank
Howe Gelb
Jason Lytle of Grandaddy
Lonna Kelly and the Broken Hearted Lovers
Cathy Rivers
Dusty Buskers
Friends of Dean Martinez
The Scratchy Records Show
What: HoCo Festival 2007, Tucson's Music and Film Exposition
When: various times Thursday-Monday
Where: Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., and Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
Price: Wristband in advance: $8 one day, $20 three days of music, $30 complete film schedule, $40 all music and film events.
Info: www.hocofestival.com
ADVERTISEMENT
- Most Commented Stories Today
- Most E-mailed Stories Today
We know about SoHo in lower Manhattan. Then there is the ubiquitous HoJo, and sometimes we go a little Boho. But now we have HoCo, as in Hotel Congress. As in the HoCo Festival 2007, Tucson's Music and Film Exposition.
"We were just talking about different event names and that one came up," said David Slutes, the hotel's entertainment director, talking about HoCo. "Nobody liked the name, but everybody started using it."
Well, it is always important to be careful what you say at work.
Now we have HoCo's third annual celebration of Tucson's most popular musicians. The film component is headquartered across Congress Street in the Rialto Theatre.
As always HoCo honors bands with a Tucson connection that have helped shape the Baked Apple's uniqueness on the national scene. The five day (and night) festival over the Labor Day weekend includes four . . . count 'em, four . . . programs dedicated to different decades featuring bands that have helped define that very sound over the past 40 years. A pair of stages, the usual one in Club Congress and an outdoor one in the hotel parking lot, will accommodate all the bands.
For the unsentimental, who couldn't care less about yesterday's rock 'n' roll heroes, HoCo 2007 hosts its "national stage" on Saturday night with a rowdy lineup that includes Okkervil River, the Bellrays, Secretary Bird and Creosote.
"We'll have about 40 bands in the whole festival. The actual number keeps changing as we add new ones," Slutes said. "Right now it is hovering around 40."
First there is the Class of '77 Stage, with nostalgic jamming by the Bob Meighan Band, Ned Sutton, and Chuck Wagon and the Wheels. A last-minute lineup of special guests is expected, including some original members of the Dusty Chaps.
"This isn't a reunion of the old Bob Meighan Band," said Meighan, calling in from northern Arizona to make that point clear. "It will be me with Dick Furlow, bass; Richie Cavanaugh, guitar; Norm Pratt, guitar; and Ralph Gilmore, drums." Meighan wants fans to know his band will take the stage at 9 p.m. Saturday.
"We will be playing all the old stuff, everything off the first two albums." Those songs would include Meighan favorites "The Dancer" and "The Story." Tucson survivors of the 1970s remember Furlow played bass in the original Meighan band that cut two albums for Capitol Records. The other guys in Meighan's band this weekend were also prominent players on the local scene from that era.
"Just looking at the pictures from those days is like going to a shrink," said Sutton of his own rockin' scrapbook. "Believe me, getting old ain't for sissies."
Back in the early 1970s he was the frontman in Fast Eddie and the Rodeo Kings, then put together the more accurately named Ned Sutton and the Rabbits. Joining Sutton on stage for the Hoco Fest will be Kevin Pakulis, guitar; Neil Harry, pedal steel; Chris Brashear, fiddle and other instruments; Nick Augustine, bass; and Ralph Gilmore, drums.
Over on the Class of '87 Stage we get the return of the Supersuckers and Pollo Elastico. The Class of '97 Stage features Al Foul and the Shakes, Pork Torta and the Weird Lovemakers.
While the Class of '07 Stage isn't exactly history, it does complete the picture of prominent bands with a link to our city. Doing duty in today's music trenches are Mr. Free, Mostly Bears, the Deludes, the Swim, and Iods.
Realizing most hipsters grow up to be family folk eventually, the festival organizers have also set aside their outdoor stage on early Saturday evening and all Sunday evening for more congenial music and lots of barbecue cooked up right on the spot.
Al Perry, dean of Tucson's Telecaster guitar artists, hosts the Saturday stage from 5-9 p.m. to hold his All-Star Guitar Throwdown, featuring "a long list of famous and should-be-famous guitarists" competing for the honors of top picker.
"All the contestants have to play a Telecaster," said Slutes, referring to the classic electric guitar. Those are the rules.
Sunday, with no work on Monday, welcomes Howe Gelb's barbecue and hootenanny stage. The music will start at 5 p.m. and spontaneously plunge deep into the night. So if you happen to be out in the yard at 2 a.m. and hear a chorus of "Cum By Yah," it isn't a bad dream. At least, not for the people singing.
- Read All Comments » 0 TOTAL COMMENTS
- Post a Comment »