Hot times, summer in the city… well, the hot (as in exciting) times seem to be reserved for towns with double digit temperatures. As any local music lover knows, the live music scene between May and September wilts like a snowbird under the Tucson sun. Not as many bands come through and getting people to leave their Pabst and swamp coolers at home is like pulling teeth.

Without college students around to make shows more viable, Tucsonans get cheaper and cheaper during the summer months. On June 6, Doris Henson and U.K.’s The Crimea learned this hard lesson for themselves. Despite a turnout of about 25 at Vaudeville, locals Bombs For The Bored, Doris Henson and Crimea powered through their passionate sets just like it was December.

The microscopic audience was a bit of a shock to the system for DeSoto Records’ Doris Henson, who are in the middle of a sold-out tour with Billy Corgan and had a night off. Doris Henson… sounds like the name of one of your friend’s moms, right? Actually, they’re a five piece indy band out of Kansas City. They launched into their set with a rollicking, guitar heavy rocker that was tempered with gentle vocals reminiscent of labelmates The Dismemberment Plan or The Mountain Goats. Several songs layered on top of the repetitive drone of a simple trombone line or guitar riff that built to a more explosive chorus. The band spiced up their sound with trombone (yes, trombone) and even pulled out a melodica for one song and smattered another with harmonica.

The 20 or so watching responded with bursts of enthusiastic applause between songs, though after the show, singer Matthew reported that they felt a little off due to the shock to their systems of going from indy shows to a tour of arena shows and then well, to Vaudeville, Tucson, AZ in the summer.

Formerly The Crocketts, The Crimea are freshly signed (from the sounds of it) to Warner Brothers Records and have been rapidly gaining ground despite being shed from V2’s roster along the way. Having toured with British heavyweights like Primal Scream, Travis and Stereophonics, the sparse audience must have felt a little strange to them as well. With acoustic and electric guitars, plus occasional harmonica and keyboards that ranged from organ to music box, they have a very full sound with special thanks to the standout, ethereal guitar playing of Andrew Norton. At times, his reverby, atmospheric sound brought to mind Unforgettable Fire era U2 or Johnny Marr of The Smiths, which contrasted with the band’s anguished climaxes. And boy, did they have some of those! Singer Davey MacManus vocals had a gritty, older- sounding Conor Oberst quality which erupted into anguished screams, especially during the band’s finale, a dark take on “Kumbaya” which exploded into fits of screaming dispair… and some lyric about a “Chihuahua.”

Well, those lucky 25 people will surely tell their friends, so both band’s future Tucson shows will sure to be successful… provided that they’re booked between September and April, of course. And now back to your regularly scheduled Pabsts and swamp coolers. Cheers!

Click here for The Crimea’s myspace profile.

Click here for Doris Henson’s myspace profile.