No, I don't have the swine flu, but with all the panic-inducing media saturation on the topic, well, I thought I'd cash in. If it helps, my son has been a little under the weather (no, it's not swine flu), which is why I haven't blogged in a while and had to skip the Korn concert on Monday.
Hope I don't miss Jim Ward's CD release shows Friday and Saturday at the Philanthropy Theatre!
Enough with my whining (swining?), on to the good stuff. New show info! Cover your mouth if you cough while reading this:
• Shy of the occasional T.I. show (pre-incarceration), Power 102's annual Power Jam is not only the biggest local hip-hop event of the year, it's also brought some heavyweights here while on their way up. Can I get an Eminem?
So this year's show at 4 p.m. May 16 at Wet 'N' Wild Waterworld has a lot to live up to. Let's see there's Houston rapper Chamillionaire, probably the biggest name on the bill and the proud father of his third album, the delayed "Venom," now due in June.
Yung LA is probably the hottest thanks to his multi-format, Top 20 R&B/hip-hop hit "Ain't I (with Young Dro and T.I.). Hurricane Chris (who's got a big hit in the making with "Halle Berry") and Dorrough (who's charting "Walk That Walk" and "Ice Cream Paint Job") are also playing. Also on the bill: Melanie Fiona, Damm D and Young Problemz, with more to come, station staff say.
Tickets are $17 through May 15, on sale now at Good Time stores. They'll go up to $25 at the gate day of show. Included in the price is admission to rides in the water park.
• Green Day has confirmed the venues for its first tour in three years. There's nothing here, of course, but the trek in support of new album "21st Century Breakdown" (due May 15; that's right, a Friday) will open July 3, end Aug. 25 (well, this leg anyway) and includes stops at the Toyota Center in Houston (Aug. 9), the AT&T Center in San Antonio (Aug. 10), Denver's Pepsi Center (Aug. 15) and the US Air Arena in Phoenix (Aug. 22). No on-sales yet.
• Did you notice that four-day gap in the itinerary on Bob Dylan's summer minor league baseball stadium tour with John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson? The tour wends from Grand Prairie on Aug. 7 to Glendale AZ on Aug. 11, meaning they've just got to at least drive through here, right? Wouldn't it be nice if they added a Cohen Stadium date in there? I have no reason to believe they will. I certainly haven't heard anything to that effect. I'm just saying. It would be nice. Dylan's new album, "Together Through Life," is a pretty wonderful blues albums, roadhouse blues. Would love to hear the stuff live.
• Geez, while we're speculating, how about those Austin City Limits Festival headliners? Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews Band, Beastie Boys, Kings of Leon, Sonic Youth, John Legend, the Decemberists, Lily Allen and Ben Harper among numerous others. Given that we're on the route from that side of the side to the west side of the country, and given that we picked up Beck and The Mars Volta shows last September in part because they were playing the ACL, you've got to wonder just who we might get this year coming or going to Austin.
This year's Zilker Park decibel-fest will be Oct. 2-4. It's produced by C3 Presents, the same Austin company that does Lollapalooza (where Depeche Mode, Jane's Addiction, Tool and the Beasties perform Aug. 7-9 in Chicago), the same people who brought Ryan Adams to our fair city and is bringing Wilco here on June 17.
• Speaking of festivals, KLAQ boss Brad Dubow passed along some updates on a couple of theirs. The station's negotiating to book Cold and/or 12 Stones to replace Trapt on the first night of the 24th annual Balloonfest May 23-25. Trapt had to cancel its May 23 show at Wet 'N' Wild with Crooked X because singer Chris Brown will have surgery on a damaged vocal cord, Dubow said.
Meanwhile, The Cult is confirmed to headline the second day of the Downtown Street Festival on July 4. Two other acts are being booked to open. Candlebox is already firm for July 3.
FYI: In last week's blog (and Tiempo "That's the Ticket" column) about the Balloonfest, I mistyped the price of the festival passes, which are $49.95, not $4.95. Should have caught it before it went online and to print, but I didn't. Thanks to reader Gabby for the catch and the attitude.
• Moscow Ballet's "Great Russian Nutcracker" was such a hit last year after Christmas that it's coming back to the Plaza Theatre this year before Christmas. The show, known for its lavish sets, will return for performances at 4 and 8 p.m. Dec. 20. Tickets are $26-$86.50, with VIP packages for $98.50 that include choice seats, souvenirs and more. They're on sale now at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, nutcracker.com and 800.745.3000.
• UTEP Dinner Theatre has extended the run of its popular "The Wizard of Oz" by four more shows. It'll now end Memorial Day Weekend. Added shows are at 7 p.m. May 21-23 and 2:30 p.m. May 24 (the 7 p.m. shows include dinner, the May 24 does not include a meal). Call 747-6060 with questions.
• The Bruce Nehring Consort is staging an unusual set of concerts this weekend. Featured will be pianist Romayne Wheeler, the "mystery pianist" they teased about earlier in the season. Wheeler left mainstream society in 1992 to join the Tarahumara Indians of southern Chihuahua's Copper Canyon, where he teaches young people to play the piano. He'll perform in Tarahumara costume.
He'll be joined by pianist Romeyno Guierrez Luna and the Tarahumara Dancers. It's a wildly varied program that includes an original composition by 21-year-old Luna, excerpts from Wheeler's "La Fiesta de la vida," as well as classics from Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Gershwin.
Galleria 300 will display artwork depicting the native people before the concerts and during intermission.
Performances are at 4:30 p.m. May 2 and 2:30 p.m. May 3 at First Baptist Church, 805 Montana. Tickets are $5 for students, $10 for seniors and military and $15 for everyone else. Call 534.SONG for more info.
• Mexico City ska band Panteon Rococo headlines a Cinco de Mayo show at 7 p.m. May 5 at Club News, aka News Drinks Inn, 209 S. El Paso. Radio La Chusma and La Caravana open. Tix are $25 in advance, $30 day of show; $35 VIP advance, $40 d.o.s., on sale at All That Music & Video and ticketbully.com.
• Vertical Horizon (remember them?) play Diggs Tavern on May 12. 16 Frames and Michael Toulcher open. It's an 18 and over show, with music starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 at ticketbully.com.
• EP's Mexicans at Night kick off a three-week tour of Arizona, California, Colorado and Washington with a May 7 show at Take II.
• The annual birthday bash and jam for Art Lewis, the seminal El Paso jazz and blues sax player and onetime Long John Hunter sidekick, will be at 8 p.m. May 8 at Take II. The 73-year-old, who now lives in his native Houston, will be backed by pianist Fernando Lechuga and members of Azucar, but, as is customary, professional and advanced student musicians are invited to join in and jam.
Tickets are $10, though it's free to pros and students who bring their own instrument. Call organizer and KHRO (1150 AM) host Hector Montes at 637.0505 for more info.
• The El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra, El Mariachi Tapatio and Los Arrieros singer Juan Contreras team up for the EPYSO's second annual "Mariachis for Mom" at 2 p.m. May 9 at the Plaza. Ballet Folklorico de El Paso and Folklorico de Paso del Norte also will perform. Tickets are $10-$25 at the box, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.
• Art Lewis isn't the only one with a birthday. Former big band leader Mike Caranda celebrates 91 years on this planet during the monthly tea dance by the band that bears his name at 2 p.m. May 10 at the Alamo Ballroom, 820 N. Raynor. Caranda's birthday is May 6. Bob Burns will lead the band during the three-hour dance on Mother's Day. Free dance lessons will be offered. Admission is $15. Call Burns at 575.525.9333 or 799.5684 for details.
• Faith Brown is a Montwood High School senior who raised $18,000 to stage a May 16 benefit for the ALIVE project, a teen suicide prevention organization. The show at the Coliseum will feature Building 429 (check out their emotional hit "Always" if you haven't already). It starts at 5 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show.
• Members of Magic, a prominent jazz-rock band here in the '70s and '80s, will reunite to help raise money for an old friend, veteran jazz drummer Henry "Hank" Santaella, who has ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and needs financial help.
The concert will be from 3-7 p.m. May 17 at Lancer's Club East, 3135 Trawood. Donation is a minimum $40 and includes a buffet.
Santaella played in Magic, which performed with the El Paso Symphony and opened for Roy Haynes and Eric Johnson. He also played with Tangent, which opened for Al Jarreau and George Benson, and Never Say Never.
Musicians who'll play the benefit include Billy Townes, former Magic men Glen Leffler, Robert Vance and Andre Casillas, plus Roland Guerrero, Ruben Castillo and Oscar Ayala.
Call 533-8311, ext. 104, for more info. Magic has a Myspace, myspace.com/magicelpaso.
Thank you again for all of this great information.
Posted by: tod collins | April 30, 2009 at 07:12 AM
Nice that you made a "semi-correction" in today's print edition of the Times regarding the $4.95 tickets to Wet N Wild's Balloonfest. However, the correction didn't go far enough. I'm sure that the $49.95 "festival pass" does NOT include, as you stated, a season pass to the water park. Time to fess up again, Doug.
Posted by: TV or Not TV | May 01, 2009 at 01:04 PM
im just curious, has their ever been talk about a large scale outdoor music venue in between las cruces and el paso? the landscape is beautiful out in those areas and something like that would definately grab the attention of these big name bands like green day and the ACL headliners you mentioned in this entry. what im trying to get at is this, people are always going to be listening to music, and people are always going to be paying money to go see their favorite acts. bringing in bigger names and having bigger concerts would definately put some money in the citys pocket. a diverse music scene is just what el paso needs, on top of a modern rock station. im sure i speak for a large group of people when i say it gets old when i turn on the radio only to find metallica and nickleback what ever happened to hero?
Posted by: Matt Madrid | May 01, 2009 at 04:10 PM