As far as we can tell, John Denver never shared a stage with Beatles great Paul McCartney.
But the late “Rocky Mountain High” singer did cover a couple of McCartney’s songs, including “Junk.”
We’re thinking Chris Collins might connect that dot when he brings his John Denver tribute show to Fox Tucson Theatre alongside former Tucsonan Tony Kishman's hugely successful “Live and Let Die: The Music of Paul McCartney.”
The show on Sunday, April 7, is a benefit for the nonprofits Helping Every Animal Receive Treatment “H.E.A.R.T SW” and Hope of Deliverance, two organizations whose mission is to provide life-saving medical care for pets whose families could not otherwise afford it.
Chris Collins brings his John Denver tribute show to Fox Tucson Theatre on Sunday.
Kishman and Collins will perform some of McCartney’s and Denver’s biggest songs beginning at 3 p.m. at the Fox, 17 W. Congress St. Tickets are $35-$55 through foxtucson.com.
Here are two other Tucson concerts coming our way this weekend.
Los Angeles Azules
The AVA at Casino del Sol kicks off its 2024 concert series with the rollicking Mexico City cumbia band Los Angeles Azules on Saturday, April 6.
The ensemble, which dates back to 1976, fuses the accordion- and synthesizer-rich cumbia dance music with 1990s-style electronica.
Let’s just say that this concert is going to awaken the dormant 5,000-seat venue — the AVA concert series usually runs through late October or early November, and the venue is pretty much abandoned until after Easter — with unimaginable bolts of energy and excitement.
The Mexico City cumbia band Los Angeles Azules opens the 2024 AVA concert series at Casino del Sol.
Saturday’s concert begins at 8 p.m. at the AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road. Tickets are $40-$125 with discounts available through casinodelsol.com.
Ministry
Al Jourgensen and his pioneering industrial metal band Ministry bring their “Hopiumforthemasses” tour to the Rialto Theatre on Friday, April 5. The tour celebrates the band’s just released 16th studio album of the same name.
The album follows in the footsteps of the band’s penchant for politically charged commentary, much of it aimed at Donald Trump’s MAGA movement. Although Metal Injection is quick to call the album a “barn burner,” writer Jeff Podoshen notes that Jourgensen and the band “have mellowed just a bit in terms of heaviness.” The album as a whole, though, is “riffs upon riffs, with punchy keys and synths and a heavy driving bass.”
Gary Numan and Front Line Assembly open the show, which begins at 7 p.m. Friday at the Rialto, 318 E. Congress St. If you waited to get tickets, you’re out of luck; the show is sold out.
