The last time I visited Arizona in the summer, I mistakenly went outside during the day, and it felt like my eyes were constantly witnessing the presence of God for the first time. Luckily, Tucson’s Hotel Congress conforms to standards by having an indoors, because the lineup for their annual HOCO Fest has just been announced, and it’d be a shame for audiences and artists alike to have their retinas seared due to that ridiculous desert sunlight during the summer. HOCO Fest does market itself as a partial homage to the AZ “borderlands,” but there’s only so much value in sampling local fare and listening to “genre-spanning” music while blood drips down your cheeks and into your craft beer. Sunglasses are only an option as long as they remain in their solidified state! Outdoor festivals in the Southwest are a recipe for involuntary clown makeup, which is actually a mix of melted plastic and your crimson contents!
Anyway, HOCO Fest 2017, the festival’s 12th edition, is set to take place August 30 - September 3 at the aforementioned Hotel Congress in Tucson. The lineup suggests a conscious attempt to appeal to a more experimentally-minded crowd. That lineup includes Thundercat, John Maus, Yves Tumor, Elysia Crampton, GAIKA, Pharmakon, Lee Fields & The Expressions, and more. Check out the full lineup here. Prices for passes and single-day tickets are very, very reasonable.
More about: Elysia Crampton, Gaika, John Maus, La Luz, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Thundercat, Yves Tumor
