Dust City Opera

AMP is excited to collaborate with FUSION in launching an exciting new downtown outdoor performance space on the FUSION arts campus! Albuquerque Summer Scene will take over this space every Sunday from June 19 to August 28.  Join us for an outdoor market featuring your favorite local artists, makers, and vintage vendors! Food trucks and Tractor Brewing Company have you covered for dinner and drinks, with live music starting at 5 PM. Each evening will feature two music groups and promises to be a big party! Come ready to dance, and feel free to bring lawn chairs if you want to relax too. Many weekends will feature morning or afternoon theater, dance and music programs, so check each event to see what's in the works!

Free! Make a reservation to get event updates and additional details.

SPONSORS!

Rick & Gail Thaler, M'Tucci's and the City of Albuquerque Arts and Culture Department.  If you are an individual or local business eager to support a new art scene downtown, let us know!

It often feels like music flows from other dimensions, appearing out of nowhere and burning off into the ether as it spreads.  

Dust City Opera materialized out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, but they might as well have slipped through some intergalactic portal or stowed away on a derelict spacecraft before crashlanding in the desert. These eclectic musicians—Paul Hunton [vocals, guitar, songwriter], Clara Byom [clarinet, accordion, keys], Travis Rourk [trombone], Scott Brewer [bass], and Dave Purcell [drums]—entwine strands of grunge, gothic country, punk, folk, and rock as the soundtrack to stories steeped in cosmic horror, transformation, and transcendence. After building a cult following and raising tens of thousands of dollars on Kickstarter to launch their next chapter, Dust City Opera perfected this otherworldly vision on their independent second full-length album, Alien Summer. 

"Musically, it's a gothic grunge orchestra," states Paul. "For me, opera suggests an epic drama. We've applied the grandeur of opera to a rock band. That's what this is." 

In many ways, it fulfills Paul's destiny. Under the influence of everything from H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King to Soundgarden and The Handsome Family, he founded Dust City Opera at the top of 2018. As the story goes, he brought the band together merely two weeks in advance of what would be their first gig. Given the wide swath of inspirations and dynamic sonic palette, the frontman and sonic ringmaster sought out musicians on guitar, accordion, clarinet, euphonium, trombone, bass, and drums. After watching her play, Clara first became a part of the collective followed by Travis—with whom Paul played in a big band. Scott, and more recently Dave, joined the fold and the band began to record and perform together.

The Timewreckers are Albuquerque's favorite Cosmic-Alt-Country band.