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Downtown Performance Center founder doing concerts once again

Arizona Daily Wildcat Photo courtesy of Danny Clinch Pavement will rock the city of Tucson tomorrow night at the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St. Members of Pavement shown are (from left) Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich, Mark Ibold, Scott Kannberg and Steve West.

Once upon a time, there was a place in Tucson where anyone, even those under the tender age of 21, could go to see music. It was a place filled with art and the culture of youth, as well as many bands who just wanted to play their music. This place was the fabled Downtown Performance Center, and it died in 1995 when the neighborhood surrounding the DPC and the City Council made it virtually impossible for Steven Eye, the DPC's founder, to continue.

It's taken four years, but the DPC is alive and well - in spirit. Eye has started a new production group called Solar Culture to bring bands to Tucson to perform in a variety of locations, such as the Rialto Theatre, Luna Loca (also known as Luna Loca Cafe, or even the DPC Cafe), HazMat Contemporary Art Gallery and Eye's own studio, Datura Gallery.

There will not be one single building for all the shows, but the concept of the DPC is back - to have music in an all-ages venue that is there entirely for the music, without the presence of alcohol. "The cool thing about the new situation is that instead of one building, like the DPC was one place, now it's going to be all different places...only all-age situations," Eye said.

"It's taken me years of healing to get my heart back and connected with the ID so I can be a whole inside, and now I'm able to feel like I can share what I can do for the community, which is bring culture," Eye said.

"The DPC was started from the idea (that) the people need a place to gather to share their culture, and this is a youth culture that is oftentimes misunderstood and doesn't have a place because it's not always economically viable for places to have," said Eye.

Eye discussed how Solar Culture seeks to separate music from the world of alcohol sales. "In the music world it's all based on the bar business, you can sell alcohol and make money because the real money is in the alcohol, not the music," he said. "If people did painting and sculpture and the only way that they could have a place to show it would be if they sold alcohol, it would just be a sad thing. Galleries would be bars? It would be weird."