Concert Review: Dan Zanes - Rialto Theatre, Tucson

I've been to a lot of great concerts in my life -- Bruce Springsteen, Buddy Guy, U2. One of the key factors is the feeling that the crowd is having a shared experience -- amazement at Bruce's endurance, Guy's prowess, or U2's yearning. But that communal experience is one that ends up being focused on the performer(s) on stage (or not, as Guy ended up his concert jamming on the sidewalk in front of the Cats Cradle in Chapel Hill (back when it was in Chapel Hill) while his band played on inside).

The wonder of a Dan Zanes concert, then, is that he produces a very communal experience that isn't so focused on him. Instead, the community itself is the communal experience...
It started in the long line to get into downtown Tucson's Rialto Theatre (whose Frequently Asked Questions is a hoot-and-a-half, even if you never plan to see a show there). Lots of families saying "hi" to one another. That wasn't really the case for us, seeing as we drove two hours from Phoenix to see the show, but I'm guessing that a Dan Zanes concert -- especially one in a new area for him -- has that effect on people. "Hey," they're saying, "there are other Dan Zanes nuts just like us. And we're at a theatre 4 days after an Ice Cube show. Cool. I think."

The communal vibe continued indoors. We brought our DZ Flea ukelele, and so I talked with a guy ahead who also brought his. A guy next to me talked about how it looked like a Chilean stringed instrument made out of a turtle shell. Somebody passed out flyers for a preschool fundraiser.

And then the band entered, walking from the back through the front, playing "Sidewalks of New York." They disappeared stage left, Dan Zanes came on stage alone, and the party truly started.

I use the word "party" deliberately, because Zanes must've used it two dozen times during the set. He pleaded several times with the lighting person to increase the lights on the audience -- he wanted to see the audience, not play at them. But party it was -- it took two or three songs for the kids to start congregating up front, but eventually the area between the stage and the folding chairs was decently filled with pogoing kids.

More reserved kids (like, say, our daughter) took their time, but eventually couldn't control themselves and dashed for the side aisles and danced there. I spent a good part of the concert's last half dancing with my daughter on the side of the theatre. That's what I mean about the focus not being on Zanes and the band (who, I might add, were all excellent) -- we had a great time, but it wasn't because we were focused on Zanes.

The set list? Ah, the newshound in me wanted to write everything down, but the enjoy-er in me said, "Relax." So I relaxed. The set list did cover every single Zanes family album (including Parades and Panoramas and Sea Music). Zanes is lucky in that he doesn't have one or two huge hits he feels like he needs to play every time. As a result, whatever he plays will satisfy almost all his audience.

He brought a couple special guests. "Salvador" sang and danced a folk dance a bit, but I loved the mariachi band he brought in. Mariachis make almost everything sound better. That's one thing I really dig about Zanes -- he can bring in a mariachi band and it doesn't sound out of place. And when Father Goose came out (I'd forgotten him), that did add an extra jolt to the show -- he's a great ace in the hole to have.

And then, like that, the show ended with Zanes and company striding out the way they came in. The crew signed autographs in the lobby, with Zanes standing, mobbed, outside in Tucson's heat. Yes, his suit was that green. And he was very gracious with each concertgoer holding a t-shirt or ukelele case to sign.

It was a great concert, but I didn't expect anything less. Dan Zanes has made community a cornerstone of his all-ages musical philosophy -- his concerts are simply an extension of that vision. It's enough to make you dance.

Comments

[Phil]

Sounds like a great concert. I've been trying for the past four months, but I just can't get my kids excited about Dan Zanes. Personally, I've learned to love some of his more grown-up songs, especially those on Sea Music. But my kids, ages 8 and 5, just say, "He's okay," and ask me to put on other artists. I guess I'll never be a part of the "House Party".... Oh well.

[Peter]

found some classic Bruce concert memories here...www.foryoubruce.com

[deb in sf]

I cannot tell you how moved I was at our first DZ concert a few years ago. It was just as you wrote, here in Berkeley. I'd been hearing about his shows from our family in Brooklyn and he only had two records out then. When the band waltzed out together singing Sidewalks of New York instead of taking bows and ovations and encores I was in tears. I've never seen performers be so about the music and so NOT about their own egos. Beauty and inspiration. I've heard grumblings about people placing DZ as the new patriarch of family music (and maybe there doesn't need to be one), but if not him, who better? Really!

[Katy L]

It sounds like you had so much fun. There's nothing like dancing in the aisles with the kiddos--masses of them. I wonder if Zanes brings in local musicians to all of his shows (i.e. was that Mariachi band from Tucson)? It would be very much like him to support and promote local musicians in this way, especially of the folk variety.

[Laura in Tucson]

Thanks for the review. I was hoping someone had wrote one, since I could not remember what they sang entering the theater. Yes, he does bring in local artist. My MIL was at his seattle concert a week prior and he had a local artist performing with them. We were lucky enough to see him the Tucson before the concert at a local toy store perform for an hour. Or should I say he had a party for an hour with everyone. What a great week.

[Mrs. Davis]

So glad you got to see him live!! What a great show.

[cfensch]

Nice review! My daughter, wife and I drove 300+ miles from El Paso to go to the show. I've been a fan of Zanes since his days with the Del Fuegos, and now that I have a daughter (now 6), it's two generations of fans! Dan cordially signed a few of my old Del Fuegos LPs, and his two books. My daughter's room (complete with four autographed Zanes posters and 8x10s) looks like a Dan shrine!

[Stefan]

Hey, cfench, I remember seeing someone with a realllly old Del Fuegos LP in line behind us after the show!

I can't say that I was ever a Del Fuegos fan (just ever so slightly too young or too not East Coast)... I've got to imagine that the percentage of fans who were Del Fuegos fans first and "Family Dan" fans second has dwindled over time.

[cfensch]

That was probably me!

I just returned to Tucson with my family last week to see Dan, again at the Rialto.