"Star Wars" fans will get two chances to venture to George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. A second showing of the 1977 landmark sci-fi film has been added to the Plaza Classic Film Festival schedule, according to festival director Eric Pearson.

Doug Pullen writes about the national music scene for elpasotimes.com.
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"Star Wars" fans will get two chances to venture to George Lucas' galaxy far, far away. A second showing of the 1977 landmark sci-fi film has been added to the Plaza Classic Film Festival schedule, according to festival director Eric Pearson.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 04:48 PM in Film | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
OK, so get this. I've been a music journalist for the bulk of my career, spanning the better part of the last 30 years. I don't sit around listening to oldies. I like what's new, but there's no way to keep up with everything, so after nearly 20 years in the Detroit market, a lot of my tastes, and frames of reference, were shaped by the things I covered in that area.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 03:39 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
If Dave Koz was a baseball player, he'd be headed for a hall-of-fame career. The guy's sold out six of his last seven concerts in El Paso, including Sunday's show at the Plaza Theatre. That's an .857 batting average. Even Albert Pujols can't match that.
Why is Koz so big around here? There are a lot of reasons. He's fun, he's intense, he keeps it fresh and no two shows are alike. He tends to hit it out of the park, or the Plaza, every time he plays here.
Take Sunday's energized "side-by-side" show with Brian Culbertson, for example. It's a new approach for Koz, who typically tours with his own band, aided and abetted by a special guest or two. On this one, though, Koz and Culbertson are equals, performing most of the time on one another's tunes, backed by a muscular four-piece band drawn evenly from each artist's touring ensembles.
R&B smoothie Peabo Bryson, who's playing a handful of dates on the summer tour, got his own mini-set to start the second half.
Koz, the affable saxophonist, and Culbertson, his boyish accomplice (a triple threat on keyboards, a black trombone and youthful boy band bottle blond good looks), worked together well, more like a couple of juiced up staff aces than the meat of the order. They had a natural chemistry that suggested they've been doing this together for years, when in fact they hadn't toured together in several years.
Though the 36-year-old "Culbie" is 10 years Koz's junior, the pair had a natural rapport and shared a propensity for upping the ante on one another, though it's clearly Koz who's No. 1 in the rotation.
They came out firing some high, hard and funky stuff (Culbertson's crackling "Always Remember" benifited from a punchy two-horn arrangement) before Koz threw a big, sultry, sweeping curve on the sexy "Surrender," one of the first of many standouts, during the first act's quieter mid-section.
They closed out the eventful first set by offering up some big fat ones right down the middle, particularly their highly successful songwriting collaboration "All I See Is You" and a crowd-pleasing "So Good" that had most of the musicians running around the stage before it was over.
Bryson's turn came in the second half. In fact he got about half of the second half, which was a couple of innings of relief too many. No matter. Bryson, who's been here on the "Colors of Christmas" tours, has lost none of the clarity or expression in his voice, though a missed button on his gray, leopard-skin jacket revealed a little too much bare belly (later rectified).
He extolled the virtues of good love with "If Ever You're in My Arms," asking audience members how many they told their significant others they loved them. A duet with backup singer Christy Wright on "Tonight," his duet with Roberta Flack, was a nice touch, and his "Show and Tell" is one of those songs that always seems to sound good.
Better, though, was the Peabo-less band's blowout version of "Bada Bing," one of Koz's newer tunes and a showcase for guitarist Randy Jacobs' inner wild man as he ran around the stage jumping, spinning, posing and rolling around on his back.
Not to be outdone, the 36-year-old, spikey-haired Culbertson's solo on "On My Mind" came complete with a lot of flash (he played it from the wrong side of his Roland keyboard) and a little sex appeal (he wiggled his butt for the ladies, who shouted their approval).
A choice cover of Rufus' "Ain't Nobody" brought Peabo and his singers back to the stage for a rousing, show-closing version of the '70s funk classic, which was followed by an encore of "Get It On," which ramped up the energy even more as Koz and Culbertson turned into a two-man horn section bent on chasing one another.
It was that kind of friendly one upmanship kind of showmanship that gave this particular Dave Koz show an energy only hinted at his Plaza show last summer, and that one was pretty energetic. As in past concerts, Koz sang the praises of the El Paso's enthusiastic audiences — and he'll be back with his Christmas show Dec. 17 — noting that Culbertson had made a favorable impression in his first Sun City visit. "I don't think you're going to forget this guy soon," Koz predicted.
The crowd, many of them Koz concert repeaters, probably won't forget Sunday's show anytime soon, either. It wasn't a perfect game. It was more like a grand slam.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 12:09 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Pardon me, I've been slipping. I try to be diligent about these things, but sometimes things just fall through the cracks. To wit:
Posted by Doug Pullen at 03:16 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The July 25 Girl in a Coma show has been moved from Zeppelin's Underground to Take 2, 6315 N. Mesa.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 11:22 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
The fall leg of Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted" tour includes a Dec. 3 stop at NMSU's Pan Am Center.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 01:16 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
If you've seen those edgy, retro, b&w trailers for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Snakesweat" short, then you probably already figured out it's a pretty bizarre little piece of Lynchian '50s sci-fi oddness. The full 7-minute and 9-second clip, directed by music video director Barney Clay (who did the "Zero" video), is now posted on Pitchfork.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 10:44 AM in Music | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by Doug Pullen at 04:06 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
El Paso's Jim Ward will join Hot Water Music's Chuck Ragan, Lagwagon's Joey Cape and British punk/folkie Frank Turner on the latest edition of the Revival Tour, which touches down Nov. 12 at Take II.
Ward, who's prepping for a new Sleepercar album, will join the other singer-songwriters in a show features them all playing together while spotlighting works from one another's careers.
Tickets are $13, on sale at ticketbully.com.
In other concert news:
• Tickets for the Oct. 17 Chavez Theatre stop of Skillet's fall Alive & Awake tour are $18, $20, $25 and $50, on sale now at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000. It's a 7 p.m. show.
• Chic's hosts its second annual Sun City Round Up, with 17 local bands, on Aug. 29. Bands posted on the Ticketbully site include Long Gone Daddys, Rocket Sharks, Low Down Dirty Creeps, Raw Deal, Nino Infierno, Viva Las Vegas, HotRod Boogie, Mariachis del Infierno, the Ravishing, the Ghost Storys, the Black Rose Phantoms and the Hellbound Hearse car show. It's at noon. Tickets are $13 at Ticketbully.
• Burn Halo returns (with American Fangs and El Paso's Murder FM) at 9 p.m. Aug. 7 at Take II. Tickes are $11 in advance, $13 day of show, also on sale now at Ticketbully and July 25 at the club and All That Music & Video.
• Grupo Intocable and four other bands play a big concert and dance at Aug. 8 at the Coliseum. Tickets are $31.85, on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.
• The State Line's free concert series has filled in the rest of its summer lineup. Tony Pierce has been confirmed for July 29, followed by Shurman on Aug. 5. The series continues July 22 with the rocking Micky & The Motorcars. It concludes with Charlie Shafter on Aug. 12, the Derailers on Aug. 19 and Del Castillo on Aug. 26. Details: 581-3371.
• The Rio Grande Theater in Las Cruces has booked a show by Tucson indie rocker Namoli Brennet at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 21. Tickets are $10, on sale at riograndetheatre.com.
• The Silco Theater in Silver City will host an art auction July 31 to benefit the city's first Festival of the Soul world music festival, which will be Nov. 14-15 in Penny Park. The auction is from 5-9:30 p.m. Go to festivalofthesoul.org for more info.
• What's in the water in Silver City? The Silver City MainStreet Project is releasing a compilation CD of tracks from bands there, including Rhythm Mystic, the Conduit Trio, Ed Teja, Bayou Seco, the Jellydots and others.
Called "Sounds of Silver City!," it sells for $12 and is available at Alotta Gelato, Everything Under the Skye, JavaLina Coffeehouse, Marketplace, Ol' West Gallery, Seedboat Gallery, Silver City Museum Gift Store, Sun & Moon, Tune Town and the Silver City Visitor Center.
A CD release party, with performances by various featured bands, will be Aug. 8-9 at the Silco Theater, a fundraiser for the building. It's from noon-11 p.m. both days. Tickets are $5. Details: 575.534.9005, scmainstreetasst@gilanet.com.
Posted by Doug Pullen at 03:50 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Posted by Doug Pullen at 05:49 PM in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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