Dancing to Oldies Music in Tucson (Phoenix, Congress: house, theater, university)

[rbwpi]

Know of any clubs/lounges in the Tucson area that play oldies music (50's, 60's, 70's) either live or recorded and has dancing? Probably a place that would attract the baby boomer crowd.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by rbwpi

Know of any clubs/lounges in the Tucson area that play oldies music (50's, 60's, 70's) either live or recorded and has dancing? Probably a place that would attract the baby boomer crowd.

If there is anything Tucson is lacking, it is a night life. Aside from the small assortment of college dive bars and bar-n-grill type places, there isn't much to be had.

You might want to check out some of the local bands to see if you find one that plays the music you like. I work with someone that plays in a local blues band, and depending on whether or not the venue has a dance floor, they will often have plenty of people get up and dance while they are playing. The band is called Giant Blue. They are pretty good. You might want to check em out. Below is their schedule and some of the songs they play:

Giant Blue - Shows
Giant Blue - Song List

Aside from that, I do know some of the retirement communities have social dance events, but I'm not familiar with how often. Of course some of the casinos may have similar events, but it's spotty at best.

[coatimundi]

Tucson has an excellent nightlife, just maybe not something for everyone. I always thought the bars were great, but they do mostly cater to either a college crowd or, more often, a late 20's and 30's crowd. There are more sophisticated places though, like Hub, Enoteca, Downtown Kitchen + Cocktails (just to give some attention Downtown) and, certainly, the bars at the resorts in the Foothills. The bar at the Kingfisher was always 40's for a mean age.

Tucson's live music scene is somewhat unique in that it's not terribly supportive of cover bands. I was in several bands throughout the years in Tucson, including one cover band, and that cover band had the most problem finding gigs of any of my other bands. The fact is that most of the better clubs in town that do live music explicitly restrict cover bands. That results in it being a very competitive environment for cover bands, as they're mostly relegated to "house band" at a particular place but will play the odd gig somewhere else. I can think of several house bands around town, but none that are "oldies". Although I guess "oldies" now includes 80's music, based on what the local Clear Channel station plays. Local, original music though, there are a number of clubs that have shows almost nightly.

You may want to check out the Boondocks Lounge on 1st. They attract an older crowd and have live music most nights.
As far as bands, I knew one of the members of The Wayback Machine, and they play a variety of music that's more conducive to "oldies," but do not generally play covers.

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by coatimundi

Tucson has an excellent nightlife.

Sorry, but I just have to dissagree. I've lived in much smaller cities than Tucson that have a MUCH better night life / dancing / club scene. El Paso, TX comes to mind, which has a huge night life compared to Tucson. If Tucson didn't have a college, there wouldn't be anything here!

But we could always agree to disagree...

[Marcy1210]

It could be worse. I lived in the Colorado Springs area, and between the Air Force Academy, Univ of Colo, Colorado College, Regis University and several military bases like NORAD, Shriever, Cheyenne Mountain, and Ft. Carson; plus a funky west side of hippie/alternative lifestyle dwellers, the city rolls up its sidewalks, even on weekends, at about 11:00 p.m. at the latest. The city is about 500K people and is sprawled out like Tucson with only one interstate running along the west side, and like Tucson, has a big sister city (Denver) that hogs all the big name musical artists, major league sports, downtown nightlife and art/museum scene. Tucson does well for it's size and population diversity. Colorado Springs has no ethnic diversity at all...and the military/religious presence, while not overbearing, makes a difference in it's vitality. So, I agree with coatimundi, compared to other cities (no, we're not Austin) Tucson is good for nightlife...

[2farsouth]

I really wish I could find a good vibrant Blues Bar in Tucson. I think some bars have blues some nights, but would love an every night exclusive blues and maybe R&B club.

[RickTucsonHomes]

Originally Posted by 2farsouth

I really wish I could find a good vibrant Blues Bar in Tucson. I think some bars have blues some nights, but would love an every night exclusive blues and maybe R&B club.

I'll second that! Some good jazz would be nice too.

[Varula]

I personally think there is a lot do in Tucson, though I can't attest to the quality of the "nightlife" per se. I do happen to have a friend who sings oldies with his buddy every Friday night from 7-9 at Cafe Tremolo in the Foothills Mall. I asked him if there's dancing and he said people do, but off to the side, so not really a dance floor or anything. Still, if you want to enjoy some oldies, that's one way to do it. Maybe you'll connect with other people who enjoy them too.

Tucson does have a lot of local music and festivals. Maybe something on one of these links will catch your eye.

The Fox Theater event calendar:
- Fox Tucson Theatre -

KXCI local radio event calendar for festivals:
KXCI Events Calendar

Good luck!

[vjsoto]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

It could be worse. I lived in the Colorado Springs area, and between the Air Force Academy, Univ of Colo, Colorado College, Regis University and several military bases like NORAD, Shriever, Cheyenne Mountain, and Ft. Carson; plus a funky west side of hippie/alternative lifestyle dwellers, the city rolls up its sidewalks, even on weekends, at about 11:00 p.m. at the latest. The city is about 500K people and is sprawled out like Tucson with only one interstate running along the west side, and like Tucson, has a big sister city (Denver) that hogs all the big name musical artists, major league sports, downtown nightlife and art/museum scene. Tucson does well for it's size and population diversity. Colorado Springs has no ethnic diversity at all...and the military/religious presence, while not overbearing, makes a difference in it's vitality. So, I agree with coatimundi, compared to other cities (no, we're not Austin) Tucson is good for nightlife...

I suppose it's all relative. I've lived in Phoenix, Orlando, Dallas, Houston, and El Paso, and all had a much better night life than Tucson. I suppose if you are coming from a quiet town with very little to offer, Tucson might seem to have a good night life... but for myself... nah! Not even close!

Fortunately I've kinda grown out of the club scene, but I still like to go out and dance once in a while... Can't seem to find a good place to do that here, and 4 hours back and forth to Phoenix is not an option for a night out.

[coatimundi]

Houston definitely has a lot more dance clubs (or did when I was there), but that's just because it's a larger city and has the population to support more clubs. Then again, I'm not really a dance club kinda guy. I very much prefer the bar scene in Tucson to Houston, and I used to spend a lot of time in the bars there. I had my favorites in the Montrose, Rice Village and some places Downtown and around the Theater District, but they don't compare collectively to what I found when I moved to Tucson.

I never really thought about the Springs being such a let down in terms of nightlife, but you're totally right. I've had some good times on Tejon Street but there's really just not that much there, particularly when compared to Tucson and including Congress and 4th as one, long strip.
Even Denver's a little sad. There aren't that many places in LoDo, and LoDo is really about it.

Even though I hated living in Atlanta, they have a very good nightlife there. But, again, that's a much larger city so it can support it.