Seminal Chicano rock band brings history to Tucson festival

A seminal Chicano rock band is on the lineup for the AVA at Casino del Sol’s Chicano Tucsano Music Festival this weekend.

Thee Midniters were in rare company when they started in the 1960s and landed a major hit on American radio. Their 1965 cover of “Land of a Thousand Dances” broke into Billboard’s Top 100 at No. 67 that year.

They also were among the early rock bands to openly sing about Chicano themes including in 1967’s “The Ballad of César Chávez” and “Chicano Power.”

The band, with two founding members still on board, have continued to tour.

On Saturday, Aug. 10, they share the AVA stage with Tierra Legacy, Richard Bean of Malo, Joey Quinones and Los Nawdy Dawgs.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road. Tickets ($10-$40, $70 for VIP) are available at casinodelsol.com.

The festival continues on Sunday, Aug. 11, with a low rider car show from 7 to 9 a.m. at the AVA, followed by an indoor jam session with the bands in the Casino Del Sol Conference Center. Details at casinodelsol.com.

Other concerts worth exploring this weekend:

La Santa Cecilia

Sticking with the Latin theme, head over to Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress, on Thursday, Aug. 8, to catch La Santa Cecilia, a band that fuses modern-day Latin rock with the Pan-American rhythms of cumbia, bossa-nova, rumba, bolero, tango and jazz, with a little klezmer mixed in.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Tucson’s own Salvador Duran opens the show at 8 p.m. followed by the Los Angeles-born-and-based quartet, which has been together since 2007. Tickets are $26.50-$32 through rialtotheatre.com.

La Santa Cecilia has performed in Tucson a few times since its 2013 debut here.

Rising jazz vocalist

One of the country’s biggest rising jazz vocalists will play Hotel Congress’s Century Room, 311 E. Congress, on Saturday, Aug. 10. Alyssa Allgood brings her namesake quartet to Tucson to show us why Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll called her 2024’s “Rising Star Female Vocalist.”

The Chicago-based vocalist who writes her own songs and has recorded four albums including this year’s “From Here” on Next Records also teaches jazz at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Loyola University.

Her debut Tucson concert celebrates the release of “For Here” with performances at 7 and 9 p.m. Tickets start at $25 through hotelcongress.com/venues/centuryroom.