Battle of the DJs at Rialto, Botti coming to Fox

Rialto Theatre will host the Arizona Battle of the 2016 National College DJ Championships.

The audience will include fans of the competitors as well as those who just like to sit in on a good ole-fashioned DJ smackdown. But VIPs in the audience will be the music industry judges — those are the ones whose opinions could land the competitors a brighter future.

The event begins at 9 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St. It’s open to those 18 and older and admission is free. Details: rialtotheatre.com

Also coming up at the Rialto:

• The next installment of Local Love is “Metal Fest VII,” with Push, Headrust, Bordertown Devils, Blueprints For Destruction, Stubborn Old Bastard, Conceived by Thunder and O.P.U. It starts at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 2, and admission to the all-ages concert is $5 in advance at ticketfly.com, $8 at the door.

Duran, Azarte, play concert for justice

Tucson musicians Salvador Duran and Carlos Azarte will be singing the praises of freedom and justice when they share the Hotel Congress plaza stage on Thursday, March 31.

The pair are paying tribute to the Arizona Justice Project, which works to seek justice for those wrongfully imprisoned and people labeled as “marginalized and forgotten” by Arizona’s criminal justice system.

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Also on hand for Thursday’s concert in the Hotel Congress plaza are two benefactors of similar justice projects: Eddie Lowery, who was exonerated of rape charges in 2003 after spending a decade behind bars in Kansas; and Khalil Rushdan, whose 1997 Pima County murder conviction was set aside in 2011.

Thursday’s “Jubilee for Justice” show starts at 6 p.m. at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Admission is free.

Trumpeter Botti will mix styles at Fox show

Trumpeter Chris Botti is mostly known these days for his work in jazz, but he’s also known to dip into rock and pop.

That’s apparently where he meandered during a concert in February in Washington, D.C., according to reviewer Diane Jackson Schnoor:

“I went to a Chris Botti concert and Cirque du Soleil and Led Zeppelin broke out. Saturday night’s Washington Performing Arts concert by Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti was eclectic, entertaining, and downright electrifying.”

Expect something like that when Botti performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, at Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. And Botti, 53, has a solid reputation for his adventurous and energized live shows.

Tickets are $37 to $99 at foxtucsontheatre.ticketforce.com