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Cult's Ian Astbury on 'Love,' rock 'n' roll and the death of the album

Ian Astbury's not only the leader of the Cult, he's something of a rock 'n' roll shaman, a cerebral man, a guy with strong opinions about the music he loves and the industry he, well, loathes.

I had a long talk with him on the phone the other day, too late to get anything into the print version of the newspaper, but not too late to run it here. 

What follows are some of the highlights from the nearly 45-minute conversation, including his thoughts on the album as an art form ("albums are a dead format," he says), "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" as new ways to promote a band's music, reviving their 1985 album "Love" album (which gave us "She Sells Sanctuary") for a tour launching Aug. 18 and his thoughts on artists from Radiohead to Led Zeppelinand Bob Dylan.

The Cult headlines Saturday's main stage at the Downtown Street Fest. They're scheduled to go on around 10:20 p.m., after the fireworks. The show starts at 6:15, with Drive A, then Over the Rainbow(featuring former Rainbow members and Ritchie Blackmore's son on guitar) and Lacuna Coil.

Tickets are $15 in advance at 7-Eleven stores in El Paso and Pic Quiks in Las Cruces, $25 at the gate. Go to klaq.com for details.

Making "Love"

I asked Astbury 47, why he recently told Billboard.com that he most identified with the band's "Love" album, their second, which predated bigger releases such as "Electric" (1987) and "Sonic Temple" (1989).

"I think out of all the Cult albums, it was the one that wasn't made with an agenda in the sense that when the band first formed it was formed out of a love of music. It wasn't sort of a careerist venture. It was never meant to be a job or an occupation. It was just driven by the love of music. As the course of the band progressed and we got to the 'Electric' album, the agenda was to follow up 'Love,' and we got in that cycle of touring and making records.

"Something that's really interesting, being that young and not having that kind of perspective, we didn't realize we were doing anything to run out of energy or run out of fuel. But when you tour he way we used to tour and record and tour an album, it just didn't stop. We did that for 12 years and the wheels just go off and you're putting the pieces back together."

Old vs. new

Astbury said he was "firmly rooted in punk" in the late 1970s, a big fan of the Clash, Sex Pistols andRamones, a time when groups like Led Zeppelin were derived for their money, their excess, their detachment and their success. But the key to the Cult's late 1980s/early 1990s success was a sound that combined classic hard rock with a more contemporary punk fury, which allowed the group to appeal to both camps.

"For me, in the early '80s, the predominant opinion was that groups like Led Zeppelin were taboo. You couldn't mention them, certainly in England you couldn't mention the name of Led Zeppelin. It was considered some sort of primordial tme, but, really, even "In Through the Out Door" was far more progressive than a lot of post-modern record I've heard at 22, 23 years old. 

"When I heard that music with really open ears, I was so moved by it, by the depths of it, the scope of it, it confused me as to why there was so much hatred of the punk rock generation toward Led Zeppelin. I understood they were wealthy, unobtainable kind of like icons, but at the same token they were young men and they'd earned that wealth that had been thrust upon them and they dealt with it the best they could. John Bonham didn't make it, which was a real tragedy in Led Zeppelin. 

"But in many ways they were far more outrageous, the radical choices they made, than a lot of punk rock bands. They could actually play."

He also raved about Jimmy Page as "one of the most gifted musicians of any era, like a Paganini," but is less impressed with Eddie Van Halen and the waves of fast, technically adroit players who've followed in his footsteps.

"When I think of guitar players, I don't think of Eddie Van Halen. That kind of technical playing doesn't interest me. I'm always more of a fan of Robby Krieger (the Doors guitarist, with whom Astbury toured earlier this decade). In a lot of ways, he's the original punk guitarist. So was Pete Townshend and Ron Ashton."

    

Too old to rock 'n' roll?

Astbury has developed projects for theater and film in recent years, but says music "will always be my first love," even though he's not happy with the state of the music that has inspired him ever since he bought David Bowie's "Life on Mars?" as a 10-year-old kid.

"Rock 'n' roll now is pretty much in the garbage. It's barely alive. Everybody has taken from it. Nobody has given back. There are a very few who have given back. It's a very selfish occupation. A lot of people never really returned. That's why we have a lot of pastiche and we have a lot of artists who are never involved beyond their sophomore albums. It's a travesty."

The album is dead

I asked Astbury if the Cult, who are without a record label, had been working on material for a new album. The question brought a very blunt answer.

"There will be no new album. I don't think we'll ever see a Cult album. Albums are dead. The format is dead. iTunes destroyed albums. The whole idea of an album. Albums were established in the '70s and '80s and into the '90s, but they've been dead for a long time. Nobody buys albums. It's been proven. It's an arcane format, as much as the 78 rpm or writing sheet music for an orchestra. It's an old form and, for me, it's much more about if we have a great song we really believe in, then we'll record it and release it."

He's not ruling out collecting a bunch of those songs into some kind of album and makes clear that his views are in relation to the Cult more than anyone else.

"For me, the idea of making albums is dead. The idea of spending a year and a half in the studio arguing over agendas and trying to fit into a format that's settled before we started the creative process (is unappealing).

He points to some contemporary artists who are exceptions to that rule: Unkle, Arcade Fire and Radiohead among them. Of Radiohead, he said: "I find their albums highly listenable. I get lost in a body of work. I look forward to it."

'Guitar' zero

He's no fan of the Disneyfication of the music industry and doesn't think video games like "Guitar Hero" or "Rock Band" (which is having a tournament at the Street Fest) are appropriate ways for artists to get their music out there.

"I've been talking to some bands and they'll say, 'Aren't you excited for people to discover your music through 'Guitar Hero'?' No. That's not the way to discover music in a contemporary format that's pop. If you are in the music business, you should consider that as an end result to introduce people to music."

Ian on Bob

One enduring artist that Astbury admires is Bob Dylan who has established quite a legacy doing what he wants, not what he thinks fans expect or record companies can market.

"He's a god. That body of work. 'I'm gonna play 'Like a Rolling Stone,' play 'Infidels' or 'Modern Times,' then 'Blonde on Blonde.' I mean that body of work is ridiculous. Bob Dylan's an exception to all the rules. He's a god to all of it. The fact that he's been around, vital, making great records, f--- agism, he's got far bigger b---- and far more presence."

Cult status

The Cult has been around in one form or another since 1983, save three-year hiatuses in the '90s and the '00s. The constants have been Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, who are joined currently by ex-White Zombie drummer John Tempesta, guitarist Mike Dimkich and former Ozzy bassist Chris Whyse.

Astbury describes the current lineup as "very lean, very muscular," though his recovery from recent hip reconstruction surgery has gone slow. "I had destroyed my left hip, had that reconstructed, so I'm coming off pretty much 7-8 months without being able to exercise. I've been walking without a cane for about a week. I am definitely not as mobile as I like to be. But I'm starting the rehab process now, so my mobility will increase."

At age 47, he has no Peter Pan delusions. "I'm in my 40s, so there's no delusion of walking around in tight trousers like I'm 17. It's OK to be 47."

He said the band is approaching recording and touring like "a guerilla unit."

"We choose what we want to do. We have our criteria in terms of we're offered so much work and so many opportunities but those things don't interest me any more. What interests me is going to woodshed, create music that I'm proud of and keep the door open to guerilla gigs," including Saturday's non-tour stop at the Street Fest, which brings the Cult back to a town that has supported them over the years (even if someone flung a bottle at Astbury at the Coliseum back in the '90s).

"We don't have a record deal and I'm completely fine with that. We have a body of work ... but the Cult started as a live band. We still have that and we are engaged in that."

Beat It: MJ fan Reza's 'strange emotions' on LA pilgrimage

Rebecca Reza is calling from somewhere in metro L.A. She's in a car with three other Michael Jackson fans enroute to Hayvenhurst, the Jackson family compound in Encino. She just realized that she turned 30 a minute earlier.

"It so good to be laughing," she says.

"We've all been so depressed," she said earlier in the conversation. "I got here and everyone's so happy. It feels like we're going to see him in concert."

They aren't, but the group catharsis that could turn into up to 750,000 come Tuesday, July 7 when a memorial will be staged at 11 a.m. El Paso time at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. That's where Jackson had been rehearsing for 50 sold-out "This is It" farewell performances at London's O2 Arena before his June 25 death.

Reza is a co-founder of the now-defunct King of Pop Fanatics fan club, and, as such, has a certain degree of entree into the chaotic world that was part of the Michael Jackson circus. She's had a busy week, throwing a tribute to her fallen hero last Tuesday at Club 101 — she admits it was poorly attended but is happy "the people who were there were hardcore fans." 

She took her summer finals at UTEP a day early, got some time off from the Starbucks where she works and hopped on a plane to Los Angeles on Thursday.

We texted back and forth earlier as her four-member group scoured for details about the 11,000 tickets that will be distributed for Tuesday's memorial (video screens are being set up outside the arena and the ceremony will be simulcast to the nearby Nokia Theatre, according to various media reports). They wondered if they might have to camp out at the arena overnight.

"ok just passed the staple center didn't see any fans we're gonna go in the morning," she texted.

AEG Live, the company that owns the Staples and was promoting the Jackson concerts, is planning a press conference for 11 a.m. our time Friday to announce details of the tickets and pre-registration that will be required.

AEG, which promotes shows in El Paso, is also the company that released that teaser video of a somewhat stiff, apparently lip-synching MJ, a cadre of dancers and a pretty blonde guitarist as they take the "HIStory" song "They Don't Care About Us" through its paces.

AEG head Randy Phillips confirmed the company owns 100 hours of rehearsal video footage, as per its agreement with the late icon, which was being compiled for future projects, including possibly a tour documentary. Phillips indicated in a Billboard interview an interest in releasing the video, possibly as a way to help recoup some of the millions it will lose on the canceled shows.

Reza's group watched the video. Her reaction pretty much sums up what many of the faithful flocking to LA are feeling. "it is so strange because we're having so much fun," she texted. "we were watching the video rehearsals and dancing like we're going to see him in concert ... very strange emotions."

Concert update: Cos, Carr, Toadies, Polo Polo, Atmo, UFO Fest and more

When he's not lecturing blacks about how to better the race, Bill Cosby is a comedian, a monologist really. Wonder what he'll have to talk about when he headlines New Mexico State University's homecoming festivities at 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Pan Am Center.

Tickets won't go on sale until Sept. 4 (hey, that's my birthday, hint hint). They'll range from $17-$37 and go on sale at the box office and Ticketmaster.

Speaking of oldies but goodies, El Paso native Florencia Vicenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona, better known as Vikki Carr, will headline a benefit concert for the locally based Southwest Association of Hispanic American Physicians' scholarship fund.

The show will be Aug. 29 at the Plaza Theatre. Tickets (I don't have prices yet) will go on sale July 17, two days before her 68th birthday. They'll be available at the box and Ticketmaster.

Carr, who changed her name to get mainstream acceptance in the '60s (my, how times have changed) had mainstream success with hits like "It Must Be Him," but she has enjoyed even greater success singing in Spanish, winning the Latin Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement last year.

She's celebrating her 50th anniversary in show business.

In other concert news:

• Reunited Texas rockers the Toadies will headline El Paso's main country music bar, Whiskey Dicks, on July 12. Two other, as-yet-unannounced acts will open the 7 p.m. show. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, on sale at Good Times stores, Rudy's BBQ and ticketbully.com.

• Blue Mexican comic Polo Polo plays the Chavez Theatre at 8:15 p.m. July 11. Tickets are $35, $45, $55 and $68, on sale at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• Hip-hop' duo Atmosphere, who packed the old Club 101 last year, will play the new one at 7 p.m. Aug. 16. Tickets are $20, on sale at the club, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• Jefferson Starship will not only play Roswell's UFO Festival on July 3, they'll be the "Grand Martians" of the Amazing Roswell Alien Parade at 7:30 p.m. that day. The concert's at 9 p.m. at the New Mexico Military Institute's Pearson Auditorium. They'll be joined by Tom Constanten of Grateful Dead fame.

Tickets are $40 and $100 (VIP), on sale at ufofestivalroswell.com.

FYI: Richard Street will lead his version of the Temptations (not the real one) in a freebie at 5 p.m. July 4, before the fireworks. and Hank Williams Jr. will be in attendance as a "special guest," according to a release from the festival. 

Actor Malcolm McDowell will take part in the "Roswalien Experience" at the Roswell UFO Museum.

Go to ufofestivalroswell.com or call 888.ROS.FEST.

• Closer to home, the El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform at the Vista Hills Rotary Club's Independence Fest from noon-11 p.m. July 3 at Vista Hills Country Club, 2210 Trawood.

They'll perform at 7 p.m., with fireworks at 9 p.m. Gates open at noon.

Tickets: $10 for 11 and under, $20 adults in advance; $12 for kids, $25 adults at the door, on sale at the country club. Details: 592.3535, ext. 10.

• I'm late with these but, frankly, the info I've gotten from the State Line music series folks this year has been spotty. Casey Berry headlines the July 8 show. He'll be followed by Band of Heathens (July 15), Micky & the Motorcars (July 22), Charlie Shafter (Aug. 12), the Derailers (Aug. 19) and Del Castillo (Aug. 26). Still no news on the July 29 and Aug. 5 shows. 

• Look for Christian rockers Skillet to bring their "Awake" tour to the Chavez Theatre on Oct. 17. The new "Awake" album  hits stores Aug. 25. New single "Monster" goes to active and mainstream rock radio on July 14.

Concert review: Lighter Warped wears its age (15) well

LAS CRUCES — Who knew the King of Pop would have a presence at this year's Vans Warped Tour?

But he does. Several t-shirt vendors on the grounds of the NMSU Practice Field, where Warped returned for the seventh straight year Wednesday, were hawking Michael Jackson commemorative t-shirts, banners and other memorabilia.

One vendor told me they had their "King of Pop" shirts made on Friday, the day after the singer's death, and were selling them by the second stop on the tour last Sunday. And, he said, they're selling pretty well, even among a young crowd more familiar with emo than the moonwalk.

Why so popular? "He's trendy," the guy told me, "now that he's dead."

Such morbidity has not overtaken Warped, despite the ominous use of skulls on this year's candle-dripped tour poster. If anything, at the ripe old age of 15, this roving summer camp for punks, metalheads and future pop stars (White Tie Affair? Meg & Dia? Shad? 3Oh!3?) is going strong.

If a bit leaner.

Read the full review at elpasotimes.com/entertainment.

Concert review: 3 Doors Down's sincerity a winning formula

EL PASO — 3 Doors Down got an unusually busy, for us, week of concerts off on the right foot Tuesday at the Chavez Theatre with a performance that was solid, sturdy, straightforward and sincere.

OK, so that's four s's, but the alliteration fits. This is a band that's consistently churned out radio-friendly hits since its "The Better Life" album, and its breakthrough hit "Kryptonite," hit stores almost 10 years ago.

I know. They've been around that long, though it doesn't seem like it. Given that the Mississippi quintet and vocal military supporters are headlining theaters like the Chavez, where the boisterous crowd of 1,750 was a few hundred short of a sellout, instead of the big arenas you might expect, it's obvious the success they've enjoyed cranking out one hit record after another — from "Kryptonite" to the more recent "Let Me Be Myself" — hasn't translated at the box-office.

Maybe that's because the kind of no-frills, riff-driven, melody-laden style of rock they've perfected isn't exactly fashionable these days. I'm not a huge fan myself. I've liked some of their singles, but found their albums to be largely uneven. But I gained a lot more respect for these guys after the earnest performance they gave Tuesday night.

Case in point: They closed their 100-minute set with "When I'm Gone," a huge radio staple that was captured the feeling of (and was dedicated to) the American military and the families pulled apart by a war far away. Both the curtain, lighted to resemble a waving American flag, and the familiar video footage that played on the screen behind them, were visual aids that could have been hokey and insincere. But they served as backdrops for the band's heartfelt evocation of the yearning and determination dripping from singer Brad Arnold's lyrics.

It capped a triumphant performance in which Arnold and company methodically powered and purred through a smartly paced set of rockers and ballads, more than half of which have spent some serious time on the charts and on the radio. Standouts included a particularly intense version of "Behind These Eyes," which started with Arnold sneering and ended with Greg Upchurch standing and pounding his drums with such frenzied, stick-shattering force it looked like he was going to explode.

I guess I wasn't expecting that kind of intensity. Even though 3DD has been here a few times before, it looked like Arnold, whose serious face disappeared once he realized the crowd was in his pocket, was having a great time, flashing a warm smile after the crowd proved a more than ample chorus on songs like "Be Like That" or bigger hits like "Kryptonite," the rousing start of a three-song encore (which started with Arnold on drums). 

An added bonus: watching El Paso native Greg Nunez freerunning across a Cincinnati landscape during the "I'm Not There" video, which accompanied the band's performance of the song.

There really weren't any clunkers in the set, though the recent "Citizen/Soldier" is one of those songs that comes across as too contrived for its own good. At least they got that one out of the way early.

There probably would have been a bigger crowd Tuesday had a more recognizable band opened the show. But newcomers Parachute and Safetysuit (who played a secret show together Monday at Diggs Tavern) aren't exactly marquee names just yet. I missed Parachute's set, but Safetysuit's safe, suitable-for-radio U2-meets-Coldplay-meets-Jars of Clay pop-rock and energetic 30-minute performance suggest bigger things to come.

Grand Funk Railroad maybe the self-proclaimed "American band," but as the nation's birthday fast approaches (and area stops by the Warped tour Wednesday; and Candlebox Friday and The Cult Saturday as part of the Downtown Street Fest), maybe it's time to pass that crown along to those five men from Mississippi.

 

Spotting locally shot carnage may be best thing about new 'Transformers'

Finally caught the "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" movie, which wasn't easy because the 8:30 at Tinseltown and the 9:15 at Cielo Vista Cinemas were sold out. We settled for the 10:45 at Tinseltown tonight, a late start when you're going on 4 hours sleep and you know you've got 2.5 hours worth of rock 'em, sock 'em action ahead. I heard it did $16 million nationally on opening day.

The movie itself is entertaining enough if you like special effects spectacles with convoluted plots and choppy scripts less concerned with fleshed out stories than a smattering of scenes with dialogue designed to connect the explosive action that is director Michael Bay's stock in trade.

Movies like that tend to get a little mind-numbing. I just wish they had more meat on the bone, more fully fleshed out characters instead of cliches and one-dimensional summer movie stereotypes. But I'm in the minority on that one.

The 'bots are even cooler this time, a tribute to the visual effects department's effort to make them even more detailed and, dare I say it, realistic than in the 2007 original.

But I knew going in this wasn't going to be Oscar-worthy stuff, even if they nominated 10 Best Picture candidates next year. I was more intrigued in how some of the footage shot in the area looked on the big screen. So I played "spot the local scene" to keep myself interested.

Essentially, White Sands Missile Range stands in for a Bedouin village at the foot of the pyramids, and the scene of the climactic battle between the Autobots, Decepticons and lots of U.S. military tonnage, including drone bombers, tanks and missiles.

If you're going and you want to know what to look for, you'll see Holloman Air Force Base subbing for an AFB in New Jersey. There are two or three scenes there, including one with the stereotypical meddling White House official who destroys everything the wise military is trying to do.

A portion of the Lincoln National Forest on Mescalero Apache land serves as the setting for a major 'bot battle between good gearhead Optimus Prime and the Decepticons out to crush him so they can get to Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf), whose head is crammed with important information that they need to obliterate earth.

It's one of the better fight sequences.

Roughly the last 20 minutes of the movie was shot at WSMR, with footage from the pyramids in Egypt and lots of CGI action and scenery spliced in. There are some cool aerial shots of the dunes, and if you look closely enough you'll see some live tank fire and at least one live missile launch, which the military-friendly filmmakers were able to capture on film.

The tanks came from Fort Bliss, as did dozens of extras, and one of the aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, was loaned by Holloman. 

The lengthy credits roll by pretty fast at the end, but if you wait until the end and can read pretty fast, you'll see White Sands, Holloman and Fort Bliss among the military installations acknowledged for their contributions.

The "Thriller" is gone

I don't think Michael Jackson was meant to get old. He was the megastar who was deprived of his own childhood. He was the Peter Pan who said he identified with kids long before he was accused of doing more than identifying with kids. So his death at 50 seems less a shock than an inevitability.

Can you picture Michael Jackson as an old man? I couldn't.

But I guess we should have seen this coming. If you think of it, Jackson's life was a mess pretty much from the start. He worked as a kid, and said much later that he suffered abuse at the hands of his father. 

And in a lot of ways, the unprecedented success of 1982's "Thriller" album, which has sold 28 million copies in the U.S. and up to 100 million worldwide (and that's bound to shoot up as a result of his death June 25) was the beginning of his downfall.

Flash back to March 1983. I'm sitting on the couch at my friends Bill and Donna's house on the Northeast side of town, near Beaumont, when Bill puts in a videotape he'd made of the "Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever" TV special. He says I've got to see this. I do. I don't believe what I saw. How'd he do that, I asked of the moonwalk, his signature move, where Jackson glided backward across the stage, making it look as if he's walking on air.

It was a career-defining moment, as historic as Elvis' shakey pelvis or the Beatles' moptop flopping on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was Michael at a creative pinnacle, riding high on an album, "Thriller," that built upon his impressive melding of pop, rock, disco and R&B that was 1979's "Off the Wall," the first album that ever made me take Michael Jackson seriously at an artist.

Anything he did before that as a teenaged solo artist and as a member of the Jackson 5 was so much piffle to a rocker like I was.

The moonwalk and "Thriller," with its seven Top 10 hits (including, of course, "Billie Jean" and "Beat It"), eight Grammys and barrier busting videos, especially the mini-movie "Thriller" video not only propelled him into a cultural stratosphere that barely diminished long after his creative juices dried up and his eccentricities and possibly criminal behavior had made him a sick joke.

But it created impossible expectations, especially his own. I remember the Rolling Stone interview he did to promote "Bad," his 1987 followup, and all Jackson seemed concerned about was topping "Thriller's" unprecedented sales figures.

I had the good fortune to see Michael Jackson in concert on three occasions — the 1984 "Victory" tour with the Jacksons, the 1987-89 "Bad" tour and the 1992 "Dangerous" tour. I say good fortune because he was Michael Jackson, the Elvis and Beatles of his generation, of my generation really (I'm a year older than he was), and I got to see him perform. 

His moves? Electric, even if the choreography was exactly as it was in the videos. His singing? Well, he sang less and less as time went on, relying more and more on a cadre of backup singers that included an unknown, shock-haired Sheryl Crow on one of those tours. 

His interaction with the audience? Almost nil, especially on the "Dangerous" tour. By then, he'd become so safe, so calculated that even when he plucked a young girl out of the audience to come up on stage with him, as he did every night, he barely even looked at her, at least not during the show I saw in Detroit.

Those performances left me cold. Jackson seemed more like a robot than the Fred Astaire of the disco generation. There were flashes of brilliance, of course, but he seemed so emotionally paralyzed, so mentally remote from everyone — the band, the dancers, the audience, maybe even himself — that he might as well have been a robot up there.

The "Victory" tour had plenty of bells and whistles, but it wasn't the tour everyone wanted to see. He never properly toured the "Thriller" album, so this was as close as it got. That was disappointing in itself. Plus, he was having to share the spotlight with his brothers, which if you remember anything about the other Jacksons back then, was more miss than hit.

I don't remember the "Bad" tour that much, though I did see the show in Chicago (at the old Rosemont Horizon) and but sheer dumb luck booked a room at the same hotel where the Jackson entourage was staying. I didn't know that until the next morning, if I remember correctly, when I heard chants of "Michael! Michael! Michael!" coming from several stories below my room. I remember looking out the window, seeing maybe 100-200 people, mostly girls, looking up chanting his name.

Turns out Jackson had rented out the top floor of the hotel (I don't remember which one it was anymore). For the heck of it, I tried to slip on to his floor, but the big, beefy security guards who were posted outside the locked stairway doors politely suggested I keep my carcass on my own floor. I believe the elevator was programmed not to go to his floor.

An artist of that stature needs to be buffered from the hordes who collect outside their hotel rooms. But to me it was a lasting image of the kind of personal isolation that not only started as a boy robbed of his childhood, it grew worse the older he got as he struggled to relate to people his age, preferring instead the company of children, chimps and older, mentor figures like Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor.

By the time he toured the middling "Dangerous" album in 1992, his last major U.S. tour, the thrill was gone. He'd become a mechanical performer who showed only flashes of the thriller that rocked the world.

The guy had become a bad joke after "Thriller" raised the creative bar to a level no one, not even Michael Jackson could attain. If this had happened when that album came out, when Jackson was an innovative artist and somewhat normal, if you can put it that way (well, we didn't know just how unusual he was yet), I think it would have affected me much more deeply than it has. 

It bothers me that I really don't feel much of anything about his unexpected death at age 50. He'd become such a mind-numbing freak show that I think I forgot his was a living, breathing human being.

Quickie concert update: 3DD military discount, Britney tix and JT

Some quick hit concert news:

1. Members of military will can get a $10 discount on tickets for the June 30 3 Doors Down concert at the Chavez Theatre. You just need to show your ID when purchasing tickets at the Plaza Theatre box office (until 5 p.m. day of show), the Chavez box office (night of show only) or Ticketmaster outlets. 

2. Marina Monsisvais of UTEP's Special Events office is predicting the Sept. 21 Britney Spears extravaganza at the Don will sell out. She said that only the $47 and $97 price levels are still available. That show went on sale June 19. Tickets are on sale at the UTEP Ticket Center, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

3. James Taylor's Sept. 10 show at the Plaza also went on sale June 19 and as of today (June 25) there are only 100 tickets left, according to the theater's Ashley Tantimonaco. Tickets are on sale at the box office, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

Concert update (long version): Britney, JT, Plaza film fest and much more

All that military hardware in the new "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" movie, including tanks and soldiers from Fort Bliss, has got me feeling like a drill sergeant. So OK people, we've got a lot of concert news to get to and little time, so move it! Move it! Move it!

• In the "They Said It Couldn't Be Done" Category: They say we're a slow advance ticket sales concert market, but two high-profile September shows are proving them wrong. Not only have more than half the tickets for Britney Spears' Sept. 21 "The Circus Starring Britney Spears" at the Don Haskins Center been snapped up, but the Plaza Theatre's always friendly spokeswoman Ashley Tantimonaco says that less than 300 tickets are left for James Taylor's Sept. 10 show at the old movie palace. Not too shabby people! Both shows went on sale June 19.

• Tickets for the Plaza Classic Film Festival should go on sale July 1, according to PCFF artistic director Chuck Horak. Though it doesn't look like there will be any 2-for-1 deals, the El Paso Community Foundation-produced event from Aug. 6-16 will hold the line on prices for nearly all of its roughly 70 screenings. 

Matinees will go for $4, with the 6 p.m. showings going for $6 a ticket, Horak said. Some of the festival's biggest draws, including "Star Wars," "Gone with the Wind" and "Lawrence of Arabia," will sell for $8, with some of the proceeds going to a film fund for future festivals and maybe even some film production, Horak said.

Tickets for the Philanthropy Theatre offerings will be 2 bucks.

The full schedule, and some possible guest appearances, should be announced next week.

Tickets will be available at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, plazaclassicfilmfestival.com and 800.745.3000.

• Low Luster League and five other area bands will play the first Solo Rock concert July 5 at Wet 'n' Wild Waterworld. The show, produced by Romance 105.9, Orbita 106.7 and Indiespeaks.com, also will feature Astra, Bajo Zero, Sushi Bar, Guis Spectra, Leche and Monterrey's Volovan. Orbita will broadcast the show live. Tickets are $14.95 in advance, on sale at Circle K stores, Quik Pik in Las Cruces and Superette stores in Juarez. They're $19.43 at the gate. 

• I guess the sound of gunfire outside Zeppelin's last week wasn't enough to keep alternative Latin rockers Mezklah from coming back for a July 30 show at O2 Lounge. The group, which played the O2 on June 18, had come off stage June 19 at Zep's when they heard gunshots, then the sound of a car crashing outside the bar. 

Turns out it was Ruben Troncoso, who died after he was shot by an El Paso policeman and crashed into a telephone pole following a 3.5-hour car chase. 

"We've played here many times, this is the first where we've encountered such an ordeal. Who knew the Wild West would come to El Paso?," the group's Greg Hernandez said in a press release from the band's publicist, dramatically titled "Mezklah Narrowly Escapes with their Lives at a Shoot-out at a Texas Club."

• The July 2 Rev. Horton Heat concert at Club 101 has been canceled. Refunds at point of purchase. No official reason was given, but I heard from a band spokesman that the show's promoter, Club 101, had been unresponsive, while 101 co-owner Joe Dorgan said the group's agent wasn't happy with advance ticket sales.

• Rapper Frost, better known as Kid Frost when he was younger, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his hit "La Raza" with a performance at the first Latin Alliance Car Show & Concert from noon-6 p.m. June 28 at Swigs Bar, 5500 Doniphan. It's free for kids 10 and under, $10 for everyone else, on sale at the bar. Also performing: Lil. E and Weeto & Casino.

• Jim Ward and some of his Sleepercar buddies will play a benefit for the OLO Gallery's Creative Kids program, which works with disadvantaged and disabled children. The July 11 show at the gallery, 504 San Francisco, will feature performances by Ward, Sleepercar offshoots Sleepy Whales and No Death By Water and folk-rock group Black Coyote. Live graffiti, screenprinting and painting also will take place. It's a 6 p.m. show with a suggested donation of $10, with all proceeds going to the Creative Kids program, run by Stephen Ingle and Andrea Gates Ingle.

• Hey, if the provocative poster doesn't get you, maybe the all-female rock band lineup will. W.I.R.E. (Women in Rock Entertainment) Fest is June 26-27 at Bombadiers, 109 E. Castellano and features Systrum, Mollie Mae Black, Intoxicated Slaughter, Fastback6T7, Rugburn, Bless This Morning and Unisono. Cover's 5 bucks; it's 21 and over.

• Activate Musicfest 2009 is a two-day Christian rock music festival that will bring the David Crowder Band, Superchick, Britt Nicole, Worth Dying For, nearly 20 other bands and youth speakers Phil Valdez and Mike Richards to Ascarate Park Aug. 14-15. Presale tix are $20 through June 30. Groups of 25 or more are $18 a ticket. Go to myspace.com/activatemusicfest for more info.

• Charlie Murphy, who regaled us with his true tales about brother Eddie, Rick James and Prince on the sorely missed "Chappelle's Show" headlines the El Paso Comic Strip comedly club at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 13 and 8:30 and 11 p.m. Aug. 14-15. Tickets are $22.50 GA, $25 reserved for the first show; $27.50 GA and $30 reserved for the others, on sale at ticketweb.com.

• Look for Safetysuit and Parachute to play a "secret" show June 29 at Diggs Tavern. The two bands are on tour with 3 Doors Down and will open for 3DD on June 30 at the Chavez Theatre. It'll be a free show, but the club only seats 200 people. Expect an official announcement the day of the show on KISS FM (93.1).

• Mark Medoff, NMSU's acclaimed playwright ("Children of a Lesser God") and Creative Media Institute artistic director, returns to his theater roots by producing a benefit concert at 7:30 p.m. June 27 at Las Cruces' lovely Rio Grande Theatre that features the music of the late Jan Scarbrough, a former student and producing associate of his, who died in 2008. 

Songs from her musicals "The Majestic Kid" and "A Rock Wedding" will be featured and performer include former members of the band New Mexico and singers Ashley Foster, Ian Sidden and Victoria Gier. 

It's a free concert but donations will be accepted for the Jan Scarbrough Endowed Scholarship for musical theater students at NMSU. The show is being produced by local promoting legend Barbara Hubbard, who worked with Scarbrough at NMSU when Mother Hubbard was launching her pre-"American Idol" concept, the American Collegiate Talent Showcase, in the 1980s.

• Baltimore "angry pop" trio Double Dagger will be part of the Thursday Indie Rock Night bill June 25 at the Garage Tequila Bar on June 25. Also performing: Hazard, The Kunnect, D.B. Salas and Killa Coke. Doors at 9, 18 and over.

• Radio La Chusma, fresh off an appearance in Santa Fe, will share a bill with Fixed Idea, Hot Rod Boogie, Houston's Molotov Compromise and our own Sun City Rollergirls on June 27 at Uncle Paulie's. Cover's $5 at the door.

• Now for something completely different: Promoter Kris Johnson has booked Abe Vigoda (the band, not the "Barney Miller" actor) and Seattle's Talbot Tagora to play a July 6 show at the tiny Fellini Film Cafe. Buckeye (who are playing Warped on July 1), Mr. Bighead and the Cocktail Party and Glue Ferrigno (great name) will open the show. Tickets are $5 in advance at All That Music and the Fellini, $7 day of show. Bands start at 8 p.m.

But, they'll be preceded at 6 p.m. by a screening of "Slacker," Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater's low-budget, early '90s look at the music city's social outcasts.

• Eight bands, folklorico dancers and matachines will take part in a mariachi festival from 2-7:30 p.m July 19 at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino. Performers include Los Toritos, Real de Jalisco, Alegre, Los Caponeras, Son de Mexico, Flores Mexicanas, Los Galleros and Tapatio. Two stages will be going during the festival, which will include food vendors. Details: 575.874.5200.

• Look for Minneapolis hip-hoppers Atmosphere to return to Club 101 on Aug. 16. No ticket info yet.

Sugar Ray show goes sour, date moved to Sept. 21

"Scheduling conflicts and last-minute family issues" are being blamed for the postponement of Sugar Ray's June 23 acoustic show at Club 101. 

The makeup date is Sept. 21, the night of the Britney Spears concert at the Don.

The show originally was scheduled for the 200-seat Diggs Tavern, but was moved to the larger 101, which can hold up to 1,700.

Promoter Jerry Kidd said tickets for the June 23 show will be honored on the new date. No refund information was announced.

The new date has not been posted on the band's Web site as of this writing.

Details:  544-2101, myspace.com/club101, club101.com; ticketbully.com.