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Peter Gabriel speaks out on Juarez feminicides

Peter Gabriel was in Mexico City last Friday to call attention to that other war that's been going on in Juarez and Chihuahua — the unsolved murders of women.

The arty, activist rocker met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon during a tour stop there to press the president to ramp up efforts to stop the violence against women across the border from us, according to Billboard.com.

Feminicides have claimed more than 470 women in Juarez and Chihuahua over the past 15 years, according to WITNESS, the human rights group Gabriel founded in 1992 to train people to use video and online resources to battle for human rights. Most have gone unsolved.

Gabriel was joined by Jaguares singer Saul Hernandez, actor Diego Luna and Patricia Cervantes, whose daughter, Neyra Cervantes, was murdered in 2003 and chronicled in the WITNESS documentary "Dual Injustice." A petition "signed by thousands" in support of their call was presented to the president.

"We are thrilled by President Calderon's response to our meeting. His commitment to review cases and issues related to feminicide in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua means renewed hope for the families of hundreds of murdered women," said Tamaryn Nelson, the Latin American program coordinator for WITNESS, who attended the meeting.

 

Update: Boney James, Oberst, 'One-Eyed Jack' and film fest

Sax man Boney James is hoping El Pasoans will be sending their love when he performs here July 9 at the Plaza Theatre.

Some call him urban jazz. I call it instrumental R&B. Put it this way, if you like Dave Koz (who's returning to the Plaza on July 26 with Brian Culbertson and Peabo Bryson), you'll like Boney James.

He's promoting his newest album, "Send One Your Love," which covers several R&B and pop songs and artists, including the Stevie Wonder-written title track and Barry White's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby."

Tickets are $39, on sale at 10 a.m. April 4 at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, livenation.com and 800.745.3000. Note: they are not available on Ticketmaster's web site.

In other entertainment news:

• Two more acts have been added to the April 12 Hands of Love and Hope benefit headlined by Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band.

Barry Martin and Friends and Los Roqueros have joined the bill, which includes the previously announced Oberst, Sleepercar, Duck Domino and Refried Ice Cream.

It's a free with the donation of bottled water, various food items, school supplies, toys, clothes or other items that will benefit the Juarez charity that works with orphans in the Juarez dump area.

Oberst's new, Sonic Ranch-recorded album, "Outer South," comes out May 5.

• "One-Eyed Jack" is a very stylish, very cool sci-fi comic created and self-published by El Paso's Jon Castaneda. It's about a guy who's been abandoned on a planet, trying to learn about his people. It sounds a bit "Battlestar Galactica" in a way, which is pretty encouraging.

Castaneda is doing an in-store at 2:30 p.m. April 4 at Allstar Comics, 4406 Dyer, and a combination book signing/concert at 7 p.m. April 11 at Zeppelins, with performances by All Ties Severed, Fermentia and the Losers. 

Both are free. Check him out online at myspace.com/oneeyedjackcomics.

• Vanessa Aguilar is the first winner in the Plaza Classic Film Festival's ongoing ticket giveaway contest on its web site, plazaclassicfilmfestival.com. She correctly guessed the titles "Gone With the Wind," "Lawrence of Arabia," "Chinatown" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's," which will be shown this year, from details of their posters on the festival site. Or she saw them in Felipa Solis' "Flip's Picks" column and blog. She listed them a couple of weeks ago!

There are four more up there now. The second annual festival returns Aug. 6-16 at the Plaza Theatre, Philanthropy Theatre and Arts Festival Plaza.

Dinos are dyno-mite at Coliseum

El Pasoans just couldn't get enough of the giant, life-sized, robotic dinosaurs at the Coliseum last week.

Arena manager Brian Kennedy says that a house-record 25,000 people attended eight performances of "Walking With Dinosaurs: An Arena Spectacular" March 25-29.

The Brachiosaurus, T. Rex and rest of the guys sold nearly $1.2 million worth of tickets, he said.

"We're calling ourselves the little building that could," Kennedy crowed Monday.

Almost every show sold out, and the couple that didn't came close, Kennedy said, noting "the show itself was unbelievable," especially something that large-scale in such a small-scale arena.

Seating was limited to about 3,200 per show since the dinos took up the entire floor area and video screens and other production killed out other, obstructed seating areas.

"Some shows I'm really proud of and this is one I'm really proud of," he said, laughing that even the staff was awestruck by the big beasts. "I caught staff watching the show," he said.

It took a couple of years to get the show, Kennedy said, but he's hoping to bring it back sooner than later. "Normally with a show like this, this one in particular, it's every other year, but honestly I can tell you discussions started this morning," he said.

He's also hoping that the dinos' success — the country netted $100,000 from ticket sales, he said — will show promoters that the Coliseum is versatile to pull off other, unusual shows.

Sleepercar rolls out Philanthropy shows; new EP for EP frontman Ward

There's no sleep for Sleepercar. Or frontman Jim Ward.

Fresh from SXSW, the band has put together an 11-city tour of the Southwest, including five local appearances culminating in shows May 1-2 at the Philanthropy Theatre, a former dance studio in the Plaza Theatre complex.

The shows will coincide with the May 1 release of Ward's new five-song EP, "In the Valley, On the Shores," which, according to a post on their site, is the second of three he's planning. It'll be for sale — you name the price — at their merch site, tembloroso.com.

The Philanthropy shows are $15 and go on sale at 10 a.m. April 3 at the Plaza box office and Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800-745-3000. Only 190 tickets will be available per show.

"These shows are going to be awesome," Ward writes, "we are planning on a beautiful stage setting, it is intimate and gorgeous inside the theater." Sleepercar will be joined by some friends "to round out the sound," he says.

The Philanthropy shows follow a supporting slot on the April 12 Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band show at the Barnett Harley dealership (it's a benefit for the children of the Juarez dump), an April 20 show at Take II, a 2 p.m. April 22 matinee at UTEP and an April 25 gig at NMSU's Horseshoe.

Read Jim's post at sleepercarmusic.com.

Medoff talk, space doc highlight White Sands film fest

Mark Medoff, the award-winning playwright and screenwriter best known for "Children of a Lesser God," will discuss the craft of writing and directing as part of the fifth annual White Sands International Film Festival running April 23-26 in Alamogordo and Las Cruces.

Medoff, who received a Tony Award for "Children," is a former theater professor at NMSU, where he's now the artistic director for the Creative Media Institute, its digital film program.

The festival also will screen "The Land of Space and Time," a new documentary on New Mexico and the space program by Michael Lennick and Shirley Guilliford.

It's one of 45 New Mexico-centric flicks that will be shown during the festival, which also will include panels on acting, auditioning and other aspects of the film business. Panelists include actor Jamison Jones ("24"), casting director Donn Finn ("Titanic") and screenwriters Kathy Gori and Alan Berger ("I Love You Phillip Morris").

Get the schedule, ticket info and more on their site, wsiff.com.

Review: Lady Antebellum makes fun not war at Whiskey Dicks

When I jokingly asked Charles Kelley if Lady Antebellum's Friday show at Whiskey Dicks would be one of their last club shows, he answered with a polite but emphatic "no." It is, to paraphrase, too much fun.

He wasn't kidding.

The photogenic, videogenic, radiogenic (is that a word?) trio is less than a month away from the biggest tour of their lives — opening Kenny Chesney's latest summer extravaganza — but no matter how important those gigs are to building their careers and developing their stage presence in large venues, they'll be hard-pressed to match the kind of easy-going, easy-on-the-ears, easy-on-the-eyes fun they radiated from the club's stage Friday night.

It was a nice surprise, to be honest. Their music's very poppy, not very country, but you don't have to be country to get on country radio anymore. You just have to appeal to younger females. And judging from the 2-to-1 ratio of women to men at the packed, sold-out club Friday night, I'd say they're just want country radio wants.

Authenticity aside — the trio's Hillary Scott is second-generation country, the daughter of Reba's one-time duet partner Linda Davis; Kelley's brother is pop singer Josh Kelley — one couldn't help but wonder if they were just the latest concoction of some savvy Nashville entrepreneur who figured to make a quick buck. Nope. They're for real.

In Kelley, Scott and backup singer and acoustic guitarist Dave Holloway, the trio has an affability that poured right from the stage into the more than willing crowd Friday, which is kind of party night for working stiffs anyway. They filled the dance floor, they packed the space on either side of the dance floor and most of the area behind it on the opposite side of the rectangular club was filled with roughly 900 or so bodies.

Save the occasional sour notes and one ballad too many early in the set, it was pretty much a pedal-to-the-metal 70-minute show that nicely ballad several of the infectious songs from their gold-selling, self-titled debut album — their biggest hit "Lookin' For a Good Time" opened the set and ended it in the celebratory encore. Others, like "Slow Down Sister" and "I Run to You" sounded better live, benefactors of the trio's soaring harmonies and its charming frontman and woman.

They're a new group, with but one album to their credit, so they fleshed out the set with covers that exposed their rootsy pop-rock orientation, including a straightahead version of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer," a funky take on the Doobie Brothers' '70s rocker "Long Train Running" (which begged for Holloway to trade in his acoustic for an electric) and the Black Crowes' "Hard to Handle," one of several songs that came with an automatic, unprompted crowd singalong.

Sure, Whiskey Dicks is a country bar and Best New Artist Grammy nominee (and ACM and CMA newcomer award winners) Lady Antebellum is considered a country group, but Friday's show sounded and felt more like a club concert by Fleetwood Mac or Heart, minus the instrumental prowess of a Lindsey Buckingham or vocal pyrotechnics of Ann Wilson.

Judging from the fun the trio was obviously having and the bond they shared with the sell-out crowd, Kelley, Scott and Holloway would be wise to stay in touch with their club roots, no matter how big they get.

Vanity more than Fair about EP music scene

Some of you may remember the story EP native Andi Teran wrote for Vanity Fair's web site about Beck's impromptu performance at The Percolator after his Chavez Theatre show on Sept. 25.

Teran, a Loretto grad and gifted writer, was here to work on a more in-depth piece on the city's music scene and its potential to get much bigger, though I think the folks in Lubbock, who've long had a fertile music scene and long tradition of great songwriters, would have a reasonable complaint with the just-posted story's "The Best Little Music City in Texas" headline.

It's now online at vanityfair.com (there's a link at the end of this post) and paints a very positive, hopeful picture of her old hometown. 

It's insightful for me, as someone who left here in 1983 when there was really no semblance of a scene, and returned last year for family reasons. I didn't know, for example, that the Clash's Paul Simonon spent time here in 1987. He must've liked it when the Clash played what was then called the Civic Center Theatre (the Chavez) back in the early '80s (they were on their way to the US festival, tensions between Joe Strummer and Mick Jones were palpable after the show, their buddy Joe Ely opened and his band included a skinny, nervous, teenaged guitarist name Charlie Sexton).

She sent me a link to the VF story and mentioned that a lot of stuff got cut out (damn editors!), but Andi does an impressive job of connecting some of the dots — Marty Robbins' "El Paso," our geographic isolation, Tony Rancich and his Sonic Ranch studios, At the Drive-in and Sleepercar's Jim Ward, Ministry man Al Jourgensen's relocation here and his in-progress 13th Planet studio compound and recent stops by Tom Waits and Beck.

It's definitely reflective of her age and musical tastes (indie and alt-rock?) and doesn't attempt to be more inclusive. There's no reference to noted singer-songwriter Tom Russell, for example, who settled here 11 years ago. Nor is H.R. of Bad Brains discussed. He moved here a couple of years ago. And there's no mention of the Bobby Fuller Four, the first band to make it big out of El Paso and the guys who had the biggest hit with the proto-punk anthem "I Fought the Law" (famously covered by the Clash; Fuller didn't write it).

But that's cool. Most people under, say 35, who cut their teeth on indie bands wouldn't necessarily know who they are or their roles in music's evolution.

There are some other oversights worth pointing out. 

Ward, Sleepercar and At the Drive-in are namechecked (Jim, and one of his tattoos, are pictured), yet there's no reference of The Mars Volta, who don't live here anymore, but are very much a product of this environment and, in fact, played a sold-out show at the Chavez two nights after Beck, then packed Club 101 the night after that.

The city's largely Hispanic population and love for Mexican and Spanish-language artists isn't addressed, nor is El Paso's long-running affection for hard rock and heavy metal, which does bring some of the bigger names of the genre to town.

Or they got cut out! Quite likely.

Pardon the editor in me, but I noticed a couple of small errors/oversights: Andi refers to the Plaza as having been renovated, but technically it was restored (there's a difference). Also, she refers to how many times the Grateful Dead performed "El Paso" in concert, but not the fact that they played it here in 1973 at the Coliseum (I was there — no, I wasn't tripping on acid ... it was elephant tranquilizer).

It's a great read. She's a skilled, fluid writer and thorough reporter. The piece is embellished by 13 photos, mostly by VF photog Hamish Robertson (nice guy, met him when I met her), and one from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who cut their new "It's Blitz" at Sonic Ranch.

Here's the link:

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/03/26/the-best-little-music-city-in-texas.html.

Concert Update (anti-Twitter Edition): TM, WWE, WT, SL, TR, DH/LS and mo'

I have rounded up so much concert and show info for you that I'm going to anti-Twitter it. I'm sorry, but a mere 140-characters per entry cannot contain the vast amounts of important information I want to impart to you. Are you atwitter? Are you experienced? Control yourself.

• What's in a number: Have you noticed that new 800 number that's being listed for Ticketmaster? Have you noticed the local number hasn't been mentioned much lately? You're very observant. The world's largest ticketing agency is eliminating the local number, 544.8444, for ordering over the phone come April. Instead, they'll use the 800.745.3000. Why? Don't know officially. No one from Ticketmaster has bothered to tell us anything about it, but my guess would be that in a sagging economy and with ticket buyers coming from El Paso, Las Cruces and Juarez, anything to make it easier (and cheaper) to buy tickets over the phone. I'd bet online sales here aren't as strong as they are in other, more affluent markets, and I suspect that fewer people have computers here than in other cities our size. Now if TM would just cut those hefty phone and online service charges.

• I Can't Believe I'm Doing This: I don't like wrestling. It's stupid. It's melodrama for overstimulated boys. And it's very entertaining. Now I realize this is a music blog, though I've been known to take my liberties, but I don't know anywhere else on this site or in the paper where we're going to run a ticket on-sale announcement for the next big rasslin' match. So here 'tis: WWE Presents Smackdown & ECW Live! at 5 p.m. May 24 at NMSU's Pan Am Center. Yes, that's a Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! My friend John will be atwitter! Matches include Undertaker vs. Edge; Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (aka Cain vs Abel ... not!) and the always confounding triple threat match featuring Christian vs. Jack Swagger vs. Finlay. Sounds like a bailout grudge match. Tickets are $15, $22, $30, $40 and, yes, $60, on sale at 10 a.m. March 28 at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and, you guessed it, 800.745.3000.

• Speaking of Warped: Well, actually, speaking of NMSU, it hosts the annual return of that emo/screamo/punk/attitudinal rock fest known as the Warped Tour on July 1. You know that. I've blogged it, you've texted about it. That's old news. But tour honcho Kevin Lyman announced today that the pre-sale starts April 1 on warpedtour.com, where for a reasonable $25 (not bad for 40,000 bands on 20,000 stages) you get the show, a tour compilation CD and other goodies. Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 18 and will probably be slightly higher in price. One big concession to the economy: Lyman's going from two main stages to one, and letting the bands play longer sets. Pollstar's listing Black Tide, Breathe Carolina, Gallows, Saosin and Underoath for the Cruces gig. So far.

• Short Memories: I had some good memories from last year's packed Sleepercar show at the State Line last summer. Remember parking way the hell off the road in the dirt and small boulders posing as rocks? Ah, the life of a rock critic. I wrote a big story about the series last year, and I did some coverage of some of the events. I talked to the organizers. I emailed 'em. But did they bother to send me their 2009 season announcement? Of course not. Why would they. Fortunately, my sharp-eyed and conscientious co-worker Monica got one and sent it along. Only five shows have been announced so far, but it looks like they're going with last year's winning formula of Texas country and local flavor. Here's who's playing the Rudolph Chevrolet-Honda 2009 Live Music Series at the State Line: Roger Creager (April 22); EP's Radio La Chusma (April 29); Bleu Edmondson (May 13); Aaron Watson (May 27) and a solo Cody Canada (July 1). The free, outdoor series is expected to run through August.

• Mandrake Fans?: My Michigan homeboys Taproot originally were listed on Ticketbully for a March 24 date, but that didn't happen. Now the Ann Arbor group is set for an April 10 show at Take II (note: show originally was posted for Chic's). Opening the 8 p.m. show are Adakaine and Dear Enemy. Tickets are $14 at the club and ticketbully.com.

• A Fortunate Event: I reported in the paper a couple of months ago that Impact A Program of Excellence had booked Daniel Handler, author of the 13 Lemony Snicket books for an Oct. 10 appearance at the Plaza Theatre. I asked the nice ladies at Impact to let me know when tickets would go on sale, lest some poor orphans who relate to the unfortunate main characters miss out on the Lemony good fun. They didn't. So I'm trolling the Ticketmaster site looking up something else and lo and behold! They're on sale! A tragic event for a zealous, on-sale sniffing journalist. So in case you hadn't heard, tickets for Daniel Handler's show are $35, $40 and $45, on sale now at your nearest Ticketmaster outlet, the box, the TM web site and, of course, that celebrated new number, 800.745.3000.

• And Mo': I promised "and mo'" in the headline for this rambling missive, and you shall have it. The first And Mo'? Why, Metallica, of course. Fresh from their SXSW appearance (question: How do you know SXSW has lost its soul? answer: When Metallica plays it ... did you see what they did to Lollapalooza?), the aging boys of rage from the Bay Area won't be coming here. Nay. There's more money to be made in bigger markets, so you will find them on the second leg of their "Death Magnetic" tour at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on Sept. 28 (on sale April 4) and the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on Sept. 29 (also on sale April 4).

• Mo' And Mo': So what's the second And Mo'? If you haven't heard, Green Day has announced a May 15 release date for their new punk opera (punkopera?) "21st Century Breakdown." I can't wait. I loved "American Idiot," their last album, which came out in 2004. I always say that war and civil unrest makes for great rock music. That album was proof. This was made largely before Obama took office, so my hopes are high. The three-act possible opus' first single, "Know Your Enemy," hits radio and Web sites everywhere by mid-April.

Concert update: Chavez fest, Yanni's Voices, La Vina jazz and more

Cesar Chavez would have been 82 on March 31. In honor of the United Farm Workers founder, some of El Paso's better Latin rock and reggae bands are organizing the first of what they hope will be an annual festival in his honor.

Saturday's Cesar Chavez Music Festival will be at 8 p.m. at Take II and will feature performances by Border Roots, Radio La Chusma, Mexicans at Night, Fixed Idea and Aztec Zodiac.

It's only $8 to get in to the event, which is sponsored by Univision 26 (KINT) and 92.3 The Fox (KOFX-FM).

Proceeds go to the Border Human Rights Network, something that might have made Mr. Chavez proud.

Note: Late El Paso painter Manuel Acosta's 1969 Time magazine cover painting of Chavez, and an earlier version, will be on view April 5-June 21 as part of the "Manuel G. Acosta: Una retrospectiva de su trabajo" at the El Paso Museum of Art.

The Roots, by the way, recently cut their new album, "Reggae del Barrio," at La Fe Studios, according to the band's singer-guitarist Mark Alvarado. The group's seeking investors to help pay for the record and plans to target cities such as Austin, Albuquerque, San Francisco, LA and Phoenix.

In other concert news:

• Yanni, the Greek-born pianist and composer whose pretty music has sold millions, brings his "Yanni Voices" tour to the Don Haskins Center at 8 p.m. June 29. The tour coincides with two new albums, the mostly English-language "Voices" (complete with DVD) and the Spanish-language "Voces," which also includes a DVD. "Voices" features four up-and-comers signed to his company — semi-operatic Nathan Pacheco, Venezuelan-born Enders Thomas (who has worked with Alejandro Sanz), Nashville singer-songwriter Leslie Mills and 20-year-old belter Chloe, who toured with what's left of Big Brother and the Holding Company last year.

Most tickets are $25, $40 and $75, though chi chi silver ($250), gold ($750) and diamond ($1,500) packages are also available. You get a good seat and a couple of souvenirs for the silver, a good seat, souvenirs and pre- and post-show meets with the singers (but not the star) with the gold and you get front row seats, backstage access, pre- and post-show meets, plus dinner with the singers and crew (but not the star), not to mention a pedicure and rubdown with the diamond. OK, I made up the last two.

Tickets are at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, 544-8444 and 800-745-3000.

• Fernie Lechuga, Ruben Gutierrez and others play the annual La Vina Winery Blues & Jazz Festival from noon-7 p.m. April 25-26. Lechuga goes on at 4:30 p.m. that Saturday, preceded by the Blues Syndicate at noon and Kat Crosby at 2:15. Gutierrez's quartet kicks things off at noon that Sunday, followed by Theresa Malenfant at 2:15 and Frank Zona's Urban Edge at 4:30.

More than 20 wins will be served and more than 60 vendors will be on hand, selling everything from art to food on the grounds of the winery in La Union, NM.

Admission is free for kids under 12, $5 for those 12-20 and $10 for 21 and over. Get details at lavinawinery.com or 575.882.7632.

• Cruces' roots music man Steve Smith and Hard Road will headline a benefit for the cross city's public TV and radio station, KRWG, at 7:30 p.m. April 16 at the Rio Grande Theater. They'll be joined by banjo player extraordinaire Bill Evans and former Dave Grisman Band bassist Bill Amaneek. Tickets are $7.50 in advance, $10 at the door for students 6-15; $15 in advance, $20 at the door for adults, on sale at the station and Enchanted Gardens in Mesilla. Details: 800.245.5794, krwg-tv.org, krwgfm.org.

• 19-year-old Wichita Falls singer-songwriter Johnny Cooper plays Take II at 9 p.m. Thursday. CD and the Reds open the show. It's 18-and-up admission. Tix are $10, on sale at the club and ticketbully.com.

• Monterrey alt-rockers Jumbo play the Tork Bar and Grill at 8 p.m. April 2. It's 30 bucks in advance, $35 day of show, on sale at the club, All That Music & Video and ticketbully.com.

• Fresh off their SXSW appearance, caped NYC/Japanese pop-punkers Peelander-Z bring their special brand of mayhem and audience participation — karaoke, human bowling — to the Black Market on Saturday at 9:30. It's a 21-and-over show. Should be fun, no?

• Speaking of that little ol' music festival in Austin (I've kept my string of not going intact this year), the last two nights of Zeppelin's Southwest Drive By Showcases are tonight and Thursday. Wednesday's gig features Junius and the Hundred Days!, with Radio La Chusma, Juarez's Gruis Spectra, Low Luster League and Mexicans at Night playing Thursday's grand finale.

• Border Roots, Mexicans at Night and Visions of the Sun are among the local and regional groups who'll play the second Taller Earth Festival April 18-19 at Bombadiers. Music starts at 3 p.m. both days, with Years of Cold, Exit Wounds, Thieves of Always and Mudd of Men playing the 18th, followed by Mexicans at Night, The Mane St. Group, Albuquerque's Ya-Ya Boom, Border Roots and VOTS on April 19. DJs System Addict and Raydub also will perform. Tickets are $8 in advance, $10 day of show at the club and ticketbully.com.

• Just a reminder that if you're in to Beatles tribute acts (no thanks!), tickets go on sale Friday for "Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles," coming May 10 to the Plaza Theatre, the finale of its El Paso Electric Presents Broadway in El Paso series. Tickets are $26.50-$46.50 and go on sale at 10 a.m. that day at the box, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com, 544-8444 and 800-745-3000.

Concert update: Korn, plus Little Big Town, War and Loverboy for free

The reconstituted Korn is playing a handful of spring dates in the run up to its Rock on the Range appearance May 16 in Columbus, Ohio, and one of those gigs will be April 27 at the Coliseum.

Tickets are $34.50 and $39.50, on sale at 10 a.m. March 21 at the box and Ticketmasters and ticketmaster.com.

The group — singer Jonathan Davis, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer, bassist Fieldy and new drummer Ray Luzier — reportedly has been working on material for a new album that Davis has said will be a return to the rawer sound of their first records. Word is they'll start recording it in the fall after a summer tour of Europe.

Fieldy, by the way, has co-authored a book about the highs and lows of being in the band. "Got the Life: My Journey of Addiction, Faith, Recovery and Korn" was published March 10. He's doing an in-store at the Barnes & Noble in San Diego on March 25.

No opening acts have been announced, but a spokesman for promoter Stardate Productions said "we're talking to a couple of people."

In other concert news, the Inn of the Mountain Gods has lined up a series of three, monthly summer concerts that range from country-pop to classic rock:

• Little Big Town, who opened for Carrie Underwood last November at the Pan Am Center, will kick things off May 28 with their countrified answer to '70s Fleetwood Mac.

• War, who gave us such enduring happy anthems as "Low Rider" and "Why Can't We Be Friends," follow on June 18 (hey, that's my son's 21st birthday!). Keyboardist Lonnie Jordan is the lone original member, dating back to their earliest days as former Animals singer Eric Burdon's backing band in the late '60s.

• Classic rock radio staples Loverboy — "Working for the Weekend," "Turn Me Loose" — will follow their March 29 induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame with a July 16 freebie at the Inn in Mescalero, NM. They put on some impressive shows around here opening for ZZ Top and Journey in the early '80s and I actually some them blow the Who off the stage in Tempe back in those days. They weren't bad after they regrouped in the '90s. With four of five original members (bassist Scott Smith died in 2000), they may still have the chops.

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