If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to get out more and see live music, we’ve found three shows that just might inspire you to keep that resolution a lot longer than the promise you made to cut beer and chocolate from your diet.
- The Tempations: The 1960s R&B band has been going strong for six decades. Mind you, the lineup is not the same in decade seven as when they started in the early 1960s, but the music ... That’s why you go see a Temptations show, to hear the current lineup of Otis Williams, Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Larry Braggs and Willie Greene Jr. sing those classics made famous by their Temptations predecessors: “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me),” “My Girl,” “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” Since I Lost My Baby,” “I Wish It Would Rain” and later hits including “Runaway Child,” “Papa Was A Rolling Stone” and “Treat Her Like a Lady.”
They hit the stage at Desert Diamond Casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 11. Tickets are $25 to $45 through ddcaz.com or at the door.
- Blues and guitar wizardry: Boston guitar phenom Johnny A. brings his signature Gibson guitar to 191 Toole on Friday, Jan. 10, for what promises to be hold-your-breath kinda magic. Johnny A., who was inducted into the Boston Music Hall of Fame, brings his “Just Me ... and My Guitars” show to the Old Pueblo with Tucson’s own Tom Walbank opening.
Johnny A. draws on influences from some of his generation’s brightest guitar stars, including Eric Clapton and Steve Vai. He’s shared the stage with B.B. King and has been on the lineup of prestigious festivals including Tokyo’s Fuji Rock and the Montreal Jazz Fest in Canada.
His 21-and-older show at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave., starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $24 through rialtotheatre.com.
- Celebrating downtown radio: A trio of Tucson bands will help the low-power downtown FM station KMKR-LP (or K-Maker Radio) mark its second anniversary with an all-ages concert Saturday, Jan. 11, at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St.
La Cerca, Louise Le Hir, and Miss Olivia & The Interlopers will perform beginning at 7 p.m.
Admission is $5 at hotelcongress.com or at the door.
