JohnJay & Rich's Strictly Tucson Phooson with 3OH!3

friday December 04
7 pm doors / 8 pm showtime
JohnJay & Rich's Strictly Tucson Phooson with 3OH!3 (Pop)
with Justin Bieber, Orianthi, Jason Derulo
all ages

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.

This is a story about two boys from Colorado. They both grew up in the faux-hippy town of Boulder and ended up at the University of Colorado. One, Nathaniel Motte, graduated summa cum laude and got into medical school, the other, Sean Foreman, got college degrees in math and English. Nat spoke fluent French, Sean won the Ultimate Frisbee World Championship in Finland when he was nineteen. Both loved hip-hop, but hated the exclusivity of the scene. They disagreed with the common assumption that anything on the radio was the work of Satan. So they started making beats in their basement and writing songs that blended rock and hip-hop and dance and pop and who knows what else, and petitioned to remove the "guilty" from "guilty pleasure." They used their area code as their band name, except with an added exclamation point.

The raucous songs caught the attention of Matt Galle, owner of New York-based indie label Photo Finish Records and booking agent to superstars like My Chemical Romance and Taking Back Sunday, and producer Matt Squire, who pretty much produces every awesome band nowadays. Galle signed them to Photo Finish and Squire co-produced the duo's debut, Want, a collection of infectious songs.

3OH!3 headed out on Warped Tour in the summer of 2008 as their first real tour. There they learned that showers are overrated and if you have punchy, rhyming lyrics, dancey rap beats and a raucous live show that involved choreography, kids will come see you play. So many kids, in fact, that your stage will get more and more packed every day as the tour progresses, inciting jealousy from all the other bands. Want was released on July 8, 2008 while they were playing a parking lot in 100-degree heat. The disc's first single was "Don't Trust Me," which was co-produced with Benny Blanco, a song that went to No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 chart.

The band was sent back on the road in the fall for a headlining tour sponsored by MySpace, who jumped on the 3OH3! bandwagon after the pair was a Top 3 artist on the site for several months. The only problem was that Sean was in Brooklyn and the band's gear was in Colorado. So Sean rode his bike from New York to Denver over the course of twenty-two days, clearing his head and sleeping in bushes by the side of the road along the way. On the fall tour, the band sold out so many venues they were forced to move some of the shows to bigger rooms, culminating at show at San Diego's Soma for 2,500 screaming fans.

Radio stations began playing "Don't Trust Me," bleeping out swear words like "ho" and "Helen Keller." MTV and Fuse threw the video into rotation. Katy Perry called and told the boys to pack their bags for Europe, where they traveled around in a soccer mom van as the only openers on Perry's tour. MTV called and told the boys to pack their Speedos for Spring Break, conveniently scripting them into an episode of The Real World: Cancun. Alternative Press called and told the boys to start working out before their cover shoot and headlining slot on the Alternative Press Tour, which kicked off at SxSW in March.

Because no one really ever needs to go home or sleep in a real bed, Sean and Nat jumped almost immediately on Warped Tour for their second run. This time they knew the ropes. Bringing a padlock to secure your own porta-potty backstage each day, for example. They were the biggest band on the tour and even though some people might argue with that, it's true. "Don't Trust Me" was certified double platinum. They remixed second single "Starstrukk" to include vocals from Katy Perry and released it at the end of August. Tours were planned in Europe, Australia and the States for the fall. MTV called again and told the band they were nominated for a Video Music Award for "Best New Artist."

It all seems like a lot to take in, especially for a band with only one album out. But don't worry. If music fails, Nat can become a rich doctor and pay for Sean to pedal a unicycle across Canada.

The path to perfection is a humble road, but one that longevity will pave". At the tender age of 19, Florida native Jason Derulo has already experienced feats that many veterans in the game aspire to. A multi-talented artist/songwriter on the brink of stardom, Jason has contributed his talents to the likes of Lil Wayne, Sean Kingston, Betty Wright and Danity Kane to name a few. As a performer he has shared the stage with artist such as, T-Pain, Akon and Mims. His strong stage performances have drawn rave reviews, and have made him a well sought after entertainer. A winner of countless awards, Jason also gained major notoriety by winning the 2006 Apollo Season Finale Grand Championship. After a long courtship by many record labels, Jason has teamed up with multi-platinum music producer J.R Rotem and his label Beluga Heights/Warner Bros. Records, and is currently in Los Angeles completing his highly anticipated debut album due this summer. Jason's first official single titled "Whatcha Say", produced by J.R. Rotem, will be hitting radio in the Summer of 2009. With incredible label support, unparalleled talent and God's Blessing, Jason Derulo is about to take the music world by storm! Music Highlights: 2006 "Showtime at the Apollo" season finale Grand championship winner. Graduated from the prestigious musical theater conservatory AMDA (The American Musical and Dramatic Academy) in 2006. State Champion and national finalist in the nationally televised NAACP ACT-so competition (vocalist). Repeat first place winner of the Florida state best vocalist championship. Attended performing Arts School's since the age of 8. Winner of all 17 talent shows entered into across the country. Professional hip-hop dancer with The Pfuzion Dance Company Inc. Selected as one of AMDA's top five tap dancers, to perform at the renowned "Main Stage Theater."

An old soul is the last thing you would expect to find inside Justin Bieber. But all it takes is one listen to the 15 year-old soul-singing phenomenon to realize that he is light years ahead of his manufactured pop peers. After posting dozens of homemade videos on YouTube in 2007, where the multi-talented Bieber put his impeccable spin on songs from artists like Usher, Ne-Yo and Stevie Wonder, Justin racked up over 10,000,000 views purely from word of mouth. In an effort to share his victory with his loved ones, Justin began posting his performance footage online. "I put my singing videos from the competition on YouTube so that my friends and family could watch them," he says. "But it turned out that other people liked them and they started subscribing to them. That's how my manager found me. He saw me on YouTube and contacted my family and now I'm signed!" Seven months after Justin started posting his videos online, former So So Def marketing executive Scooter Braun flew the then 13-year old singer to Atlanta, GA to meet with his elite colleagues. As if Justin's natural singing talent wasn't enough to impress Scooter's inner circle, Braun knew Bieber was also a self-taught musician who plays the drums, guitar, piano and trumpet. "Right when we flew into Atlanta, Scooter drove us to the studio and Usher was there in the parking lot," remembers Bieber. "That was my first time ever being out of Canada so I went up to him and was like, 'Hey Usher, I love your songs, do you want me to sing you one?' He was like, 'No little buddy, just come inside, it's cold out.'" All it took was a short time online for Usher to realize he was in the company of a future superstar. "A week later Usher flew me back to Atlanta," says Bieber. "I sang for him and his people and he really wanted to sign me then and there but I still had a meeting with Justin Timberlake who also wanted to sign me. It turned out Usher's deal was way better. He had L.A. Reid backing him up and Scooter had a lot of really good connections in Atlanta. I always tease Usher now and remind him he how he blew me off the first time we met." In October of 2008, Justin Bieber officially signed to Island Records. His debut album, My World is an intimate look into the mind of a budding young renaissance man. With production from star hit men like The Dream and Tricky Stewart who produced "Umbrella" for Rihanna and Beyonce's latest smash, "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)," Justin has everything he needs to achieve pop supremacy. His first single, "One Time" produced by Tricky, is about one of Justin's favorite topics, puppy love. Usher joins Justin on "First Dance" where the two share verses on a song that Bieber describes as, "A slow groovy song that people can dance to." On the Midi-Mafia produced "Down to Earth" Justin digs deep to talk about growing up. "Bigger" finds the teenaged singer maturing at a steady rate, while motivating his listeners to strive for their goals. "I'm looking forward to influencing others in a positive way," says Justin. "My message is you can do anything if you just put your mind to it. I grew up below the poverty line; I didn't have as much as other people did. I think it made me stronger as a person it built my character. Now I have a 4.0 grade point average and I want to go to college and just become a better person." A virtually untapped well of natural artistic talent, Justin Bieber is primed to be a solid force in music for many years to come. "I think older people can appreciate my music because I really show my heart when I sing, and it's not corny," he says. "I think I can grow as an artist and my fans will grow with me." And just think, he's just getting started.

Presented by Johnjay and Rich

$37 general admission advance
$42 reserve seated balcony
* prices may be subject to service fees