Tucson catches a lot of flak for being a city with very little to do in terms of nightlife. Much of the area around the UA is devoid of major events for late-night gatherings of the over-21 crowd. You can only hit ’80s Night at O’Malley’s so many times before Whitesnake covers start to sound stale. Thankfully, there is a remedy for your local scene blues.
Club Crawl, Tucson’s largest bar-based music festival, arrives this Saturday at 8 p.m. Boasting 80 bands on 25 stages, this will be the 17th year that Club Crawl takes over downtown Tucson, transforming Fourth Avenue and Congress Street into a bona fide block party.
The purchase of a wristband — $8 in advance at Zia Records or $10 at the gates — gives the wearer access to every club taking part in the event, as well as the outdoor stages on Congress Street. While the wristband does not guarantee cheap drinks — most venues are without endearingly underpriced drinks for the event — it provides for a night of ludicrously inexpensive music. With most clubs and stages providing four or five musical performances during the night, even the most ADD-addled clubgoer can find something to like in a matter of minutes.
Among the bands performing at Club Crawl, Triple Double Band and Cosmic Slop are two fun-loving, party-starting, crowd-friendly Tucson bands that embody the spirit of the event.
Triple Double, a five-piece soul-reggae-rock group, ignites the stage with dynamic, unpredictable sounds. “”We all have a ton of different influences,”” said bassist Preston Winter. “”For us, one genre is boring. We want you to have fun at our shows, even if only for a minute.””
Without missing a beat, bandmate and drummer Tom Cracovaner joked, “”Hopefully for longer than only a minute.””
Performing on the KRQ stage at 9 p.m., the members of Triple Double expressed great excitement about the show.
“”It’s such an incredible opportunity to be performing at such a large event,”” Winter said.
“”You wouldn’t think Tucson had such a crazy amount of bands. There’s going to be all kinds of music at the festival,”” added guitarist Jimi Cracovaner.
When asked about their live performance, the band members smiled at each other, as if there was some sort of mutual understanding.
“”Our show is definitely high-energy. We feel the music, get into it. We try to involve the audience as much as possible, get them moving around,”” Winter said.
It felt as if they were trying to be modest about their shows, as the Cracovaner brothers nodded in agreement with Winter, smirking a little.
Across the musical universe lies Cosmic Slop, an old-school funk band that wears the ’70s like a favorite pair of jeans. They’re the type of band who invites an arts writer to the strip club to kick it before the interview, so you can only imagine what their show must be like.
The band was created by frontman Dondi Marble to satisfy his desire for a band “”like Funkadelic”” in Tucson. After several different incarnations of the band, Marble settled on the current five-piece.
The current line-up is “”the best we’ve ever had,”” said drummer Ed Garcia. “”We all have different backgrounds — funk, ’80s hair metal, alternative, classic rock — and we bring it together to make a funky sound.””
Marble added, “”That works perfectly for us because funk is a gumbo, man.””
As for the band’s infamous live performances, the members were more than happy to share anecdotes.
“”Let me tell you something about thongs, man. Thongs are great on women. Our lead singer likes wearing thongs on special occasions. Which is fine for the audience, they get a kick out of it. But for me, it’s not pretty,”” Garcia said. “”Jai (the guitarist) likes to wear a kilt commando and we had a girl one time just tuck herself up in there. That is the kind of stuff that happens when we play.
“”During the last song, we invite the crowd up on stage. The stage starts to buckle and a lot of people have been drinking, so we’ll have 20 girls on stage taking their shirts and shorts off. Then the bras start flying and it is fantastic! I’m trying to keep time and there’s a bra in my face. Our live show is the most fun you will ever have in your life,”” Garcia added.
Playing outside of The Hut at 11 p.m., Cosmic Slop promised a “”no-holds barred party,”” one where “”you shouldn’t be surprised if something pops out.””
