Carnivaleros Reunion Show

Tucson’s favorite party band reunites for one night of fun!  $10 adv Tickets HERE

The Carnivaleros had a twenty-year run in Tucson before bandleader Gary Mackender decided to call it a day in 2021. Over the years the band stirred up a giant melting pot of sonic chorizo gumbo that combined moody Eastern European motifs and strains of western movie themes along with quirky stories of the American experience laced with rhythms of Zydeco, Tex-Mex, and swing. They also had the pleasure of opening for the likes of Buckwheat Zydeco a couple times along with opening twice for Beau Soleil at the El Casino Ballroom for KXCI fundraisers.

The band released seven CDs from 2003-2020, some which garnered some illustrious reviews from here to the Netherlands:

Let’s Dance and Rudy Got Caught Again would not have been out of place on Kiko of Los Lobos.” – Theo Volk, Music That Needs Attention blogspot, 2018

“Songwriter Gary Mackender leads the band with soulful, often pithy tales of bad luck and busted love, which turn plaintive and sincere on a dime, replete with romantic yearning solos.” – B.S. Eliot, The Tucson Weekly

“This group effortlessly bridges genres and thwarts preconceptions, period. Tucson is one of the planet’s richest musical centers, and the Carnivaleros are nothing less than proud ambassadors.” – Fred Mills, Blurt online, April 2018

One of longest running versions of the band will be taking the stage for a reunion show Thanksgiving weekend right here in Tucson. Everyone in the band was enthusiastic about making music together once more. Signing on for the date are Gary Mackender on accordion, Karl Hoffmann on bass, Joe Fanning on electric and acoustic guitars, baritone, and mandolin, Björgvin Benediktsson on acoustic guitar, Les Merrihew on drums, and Alex Flores on tenor sax.