Tucson rock bands headline Hotel Congress Plaza show

It’s a rock show with an art exhibit; maybe this is how Coachella got started.

Summer Rock Revival’s curator Jacob Acosta might not have been thinking in those terms when he put together the show with his rock band Mason, Tucson’s award-winning husband and wife duo Birds and Arrows and the hot-rocking Phoenix band Daphne + The Glitches.

But Acosta, the longtime multitasking musician who juggles a couple of projects alongside his active solo career, was looking to create something special when Hotel Congress music director David Slutes invited him to put together the June 24 showcase.

“I’m always looking for quality local artists who can be broadly appealing and get the word out, and Jacob is definitely in that category,” Slutes said last week.

Acosta said he was first and foremost looking to create a “great show, a great production, a party for all the local people.” But he was also looking to create something bigger, some pageantry that would remind you of festivals that went beyond the music on the stage and showcased the community’s culture.

“I’ve lived in other cities and I’ve gone to vacations in other places and I feel like, now that we’ve grown a little bit, (Tucson audiences) are expecting some of that,” Acosta said. “I want to create a cultural element with the local bands and artists and emphasize the pageantry of the event and really put on a great show.”

All around the plaza, the audience on Saturday can glimpse the pretty remarkable images from Tucson photographers Julius Schlosburg, Rex Scofield and Phil Kelly while Tempe painter Matt Brown (aka Matty B) does a little live painting during the shows.

The concert reunites Birds and Arrows‘ Andrea and Pete Connolly with the glam-rocking Daphne + The Glitches. The two acts shared the Hotel Congress stage in February 2022 when the Connollys, who moved here several years ago from North Carolina, released “Electric Bones,” the first album they recorded in Tucson.

“I was just blown away by their performance,” Acosta said of Daphne + The Glitches, fronted by Daphne Greene. “They have a jam element to their music so they can play.”

Birds and Arrows brings a cinematic flair to the stage, while Mason will bring a little levity to go along with its more polished yet experimental blues rock.

Acosta and his bandmates — drummer Andre Gressieux, bass player Barry Young and guitar player Jason Allen — are having a little costume contest amongst themselves to see who comes out with the most colorful outfit.

Acosta said he’ll be donning some interesting and colorful face paint for the occasion.

But the band’s true focus will be showcasing the evolution brought about with its second album, “My Kind of Trouble,” recorded live at Waterworks Studio and released last fall. The album has more of an edge than the band’s 2017 debut, with varied shades of blues rock from sharp-edged grooves to Southern and surf rock-influenced blues hooks. There’s also a little reggae and scorching near screamo to keep listeners on their toes.

Acosta said Saturday’s show feels like “a positive, progressive rock show.”

“And it seems like what rock has always been about, progressive and forward thinking. Great music and performers,” he said.

Doors to the 21-and-older show at the Plaza outdoor stage, 311 E. Congress St., open at 7 p.m. and tickets are $15 through hotelcongress.com or at the door.

DJs Bex & Halsero will spin hip-hop and dance tunes after the concert beginning at 10 p.m. Admission to the after-party is free.

Also at Hotel Congress this weekend, Sedona songwriter Brandon Decker (he goes by the stage name Decker) will celebrate the release of his new album “Ouroboros” at Club Congress on Friday, June 23, with Tucson’s own Carlos Arzate & the Kind Souls and The Senators. The show starts at 8 p.m., and tickets are $14.42 through hotelcongress.com.