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Concert update: Lil' Wayne, 'Red Mesa,' 'Shout!,' Chic's shows and more

Pollstar's listing a Lil' Wayne show on Jan. 1 at the Don Haskins Center.

Say what?

It's not going to happen, says an arena spokeswoman, but it's possible Weezy's so-called farewell tour could stop here before he's sentenced on a criminal weapons charge in February.

Carol Roberts-Spence, UTEP's special events director, said she was contacted about a possible show by the Grammy Award-winning New Orleans rapper earlier, but it didn't come together.

But, she said, he could be performing here "down the line."

The "Lollipop" rapper pled guilty to a weapons possession charge in October and is expected to serve a year in jail as a result of a plea agreement. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 9.

If we get the show, it could be the start of a tradition of hosting soon-to-be-incarcerated rappers before they don the orange jumpsuits. T.I. performed here last year days before serving a prison sentence.

Stay tuned.

In other news of interest:

• Ilana Lapid's "Red Mesa," a 17-minute short filmed in the Las Cruces area last year, is eligible to compete in the 2011 Academy Awards. To do so, its producers need to raise money for a 35mm print and other expenses needed to meet Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences requirements and marketing costs to help its campaign for an Oscar.

The effort will start here, according to El Paso singer and actor Gabriel Rivera, who stars in the movie, which was shown at last August's Plaza Classic Film Festival and was screened this month at the Fountain Theatre in Mesilla.

A benefit screening is being set up for either Jan. 7 or 9 at a location to be announced. Admission will be by donation and a local band may perform after the show, according to Eric Pearson, VP of the El Paso Community Foundation, which is handling the donations for the effort.

Stay tuned.

• Tickets go on sale next week for "Shout! The Mod Musical," the next concoction from UTEP's popular University Dinner Theatre. The off-Broadway show recreates the London of the swingin' '60s with music from some of the songbirds of the era, including Petula Clark's "Downtown" and Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man." 

It'll run at various times Feb. 5-21 at UDT's space in the UTEP Union West building.

Dinner will include a very un-Brit-like New Orleans-style brisket, baked potato, salad, cheesecake and more.

Tickets range from $12-$22 for non-dinner performances and $26-38 for dinner theater shows. 

They go on sale Jan. 4 for UTEP faculty, staff and students plus groups of 20 or more.

They go on sale Jan. 5 to the general public.

They'll be available at the University Ticket Center, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000 (public tickets only) and the UDT office, 747.6060.

• There are some pretty heavy (as in metal) shows coming to Chic's Bar & Billiards, 9809 Montana. 

Vital Remains and Pinhed will be there at 6 p.m. Jan. 18 ($15); followed by Winds of Plague and Despised Icon at 6 p.m. Jan. 24 ($15); Emmure (who'll be on the Vans Warped Tour when it stops in Las Cruces on June 30), Terror and After the Burial at 6 p.m. Feb. 9 ($15); and Abacabb, Upon a Burning Body and Molotov Solution at 6 p.m. Feb. 16 ($10).

You can get tickets at the club and ticketbully.com (Emmure tickets are on sale at the Headstand, too).

• Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Jan. 1 for the Casa Ford CBR West Texas Shootout (a bullriding competition) at 8 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Coliseum. They range from $15 to $75, on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

Concert update: Warped, Twista, Oscars, Tejanos, Zuill, Fowler, 'Cabaret' and more

Pencil in June 30, Vans Warped Tour fans.

That's when the venerable post-punk mobile, multi-stage festival will return to NMSU's Practice Field in Las Cruces, marking its eighth stop to the campus in nine visits to this area over its 16 years.

More than 50 bands are listed for the Cruces show, the sixth stop on the tour, which will run June 24-Aug. 10.

Among them are the All-American Rejects, Sum 41, Andrew W.K., Pierce the Veil, Reel Big Fish, Emmure, Anarbor, Attack Attack, Breathe Carolina, Mayday Parade, Motion City Soundtrack, Dillinger Escape Plan, Riverboat Gamblers, VersaEmerge, We the Kings and Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.

The date's firm, according to Bobbie Welch, booking and marketing coordinator for the Pan Am Center, but she doesn't know when tickets will go on sale.

In other concert news:

• Rapid-fire (and record-setting) rapper Twista will headline the Sun City New Year's Eve Bash at 7 p.m. Dec. 31 at the Judson L. Williams Convention Center.

DJ Lady Tribe also will perform, and El Paso DJ Big Al will host.

Various rooms in the former arena (I saw everyone from King Crimson to Yes there) will be used for dancing and revelry.

Tickets are $25 general admission, $50 GA (plus access to one of the dance rooms), $100 VIP (GA, access to all rooms, plus two drink tickets). They're on sale at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000. They should be available at the door, too.

• El Paso Community Foundation VP Eric Pearson had hoped to stage an Academy Award viewing party this year at the Plaza Theatre, but couldn't pull it off. Well, looks like someone's going to do it next year. "Oscar Night at the Plaza" will be a 5:45 p.m. March 7. It's a fundraiser for Insights El Paso Science Museum.

Tickets are $75, on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the box office, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• Promoter Ramiro "Ram" Guzman will follow his fifth Tejano Legends concert, the New Year's Eve Black & White Ball with Jimmy Edward at the Coliseum, with the sixth Tejano Legends concert on March 15 at the Plaza Theatre. Little Joe will headline and Raulito will also be on the bill. No ticket info yet.

• You don't always see El Paso Symphony Orchestra tickets for sale at Ticketmaster, but you do when it's someone like El Paso cellist Zuill Bailey headlining. Bailey's headlining two EPSO concerts at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 22-23 at the Plaza Theatre, part of the orchestra's regular season and El Paso Pro-Musica's 20th annual Chamber Music Festival, of which he is artistic director.

Tickets are $11, $17, $28 and $37, on sale at the box, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000. They're also available from EPSO at 532.3776 and epso.org.

• El Paso's Axis Radius, which books a lot of shows at Whiskey Dicks, is bringing rowdy Texas country-rocker Kevin Fowler back to town. He'll play Whiskey Dicks at 10 p.m. Jan. 30. Tickets are $12, on sale now at ticketbully.com.

• Tickets for the Plaza Theatre's March 15 Broadway series presentation of "Cabaret" don't go on sale until Jan. 15, but the presale starts in a little more than a week. 

The Ticketmaster presale runs from 10 a.m. Jan. 6 to 11:59 p.m. Jan. 14. Tickets are $25 and $48.50 and will be available at the box office, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• A couple of shows are headed to UTEP's Magoffin Auditorium in February and no one bothered to tell me about it! I found 'em on Ticketmaster's Web site. One is TAO: The Martial Art of the Drum, a Japanese drum troupe, which will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 ($25, $32).

The other is the Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by Larry O'Brien, at 8 p.m. Feb. 24 ($20).

Wish the promoters would promote this stuff in the press! It's free!!!

• Promoter and Applejack frontman Charlie McDonald will bring venerable husband-and-wife folk duo Robin and Linda Williams back to town on June 19. It's a house show — at Charlie's house. Tickets are $60 and will go on sale sometime in January. We'll keep you posted.

• It's the return of the Texicans. I wasn't here in the '90s when the band was a fixture at local clubs, so I missed out. But you don't have to. The group has regrouped to celebrate its 20th anniversary with shows at 9 p.m. Dec. 29 at Ruli's International Kitchen, 318 N. Mesa, and 9 p.m. Dec. 30 at Club 101, 1148 Airway.

Band members are Jason Crouch (now in Austin), Ken Andree (Tucson), Chad Morrow (Datil, NM), Willie Lopez (El Paso) and Scott Merristein (El Paso and drummer for Radio La Chusma).

• Fuga! frontman Kiko Rodriguez's other band, Frontera Bugalu, joins the Sons of Villa for a show at 9 p.m. Dec. 26 at The Percolator. It's an all-ages show, with a $5 cover for 21 and over, $8 for under 21.

• El Paso metal band Aeons of Abyss has just released its self-titled debut album. The group is playing a CD release party at 9:30 p.m. Dec. 30 at Bombadiers, 109 E. Castellano. Dark Aria and Black Wolf Howl open the 18-and-up show. Check 'em out at myspace.com/aeonsofabyss.

• Austin singer-songwriter Aly Tadros returns to The Percolator, 217 N. Stanton, on Jan. 9. Douglas Jay Boyd will open the 8 p.m. show. Cover is only 3 bucks. Check her out at myspace.com/alytadros.

• That Cash'd Out Johnny Cash tribute show I posted on this blog a week or so ago has been moved from Uncle Paulie's, which closed, according to an email from Davey, drummer for El Paso rockabilly band Hot Rod Boogie.

The Jan. 10 show now will be at Take II. Tickets are $7 and $10 and may be purchased at holdmyticket.com/event/7470. It's an 8 p.m. show.

Concert review: Dave Koz and crew spread the cheer for sellout Plaza crowd

You'd think after performing here seven times in the last 10 years that saxophonist Dave Koz would have worn out his welcome.

Think again. The Koz has an unusual affect on El Paso audiences. Thursday's "A Smooth Jazz Christmas" stop at the Plaza Theatre marked the diminutive sax man's seventh sell-out here in eight visits.

Talk about your Christmas spirit.

There was plenty of it Thursday as Koz and a crew including trumpeter Rick Braun, guitarist Peter White, pianist David Benoit and singer Brenda Russell gift-wrapped a thoroughly enjoyable two-hour performance in a green-and-red ribbon and handed it over to the city with which he boasted "the love affair continues."

Koz has been here four times since I moved back to El Paso in January 2008. This was his fourth Plaza show in two years, and my third time seeing him perform (I missed the Christmas show last year). Each of the shows I've seen has been different, and each was impressive. But Thursday's was by far the best.

The season probably had a lot to do with it. The crowd was in a festive mood, something Koz tapped into right away, having Santa Claus enter through the back of the hall and recite a special "Smooth Jazz" version of "The Night Before Christmas," complete with "visions of saxophones (that) danced in their heads."

Koz and the group, reunited after six Christmas tours apart, came out firing on all cylinders with a medley of carols that brought out each member one-by-one, with Koz's "Winter Wonderland" melting into White's "Greensleeves," then Benoit's "Angels We Have Heard on High," Braun's lively "Jingle Bells" and Russell's warm "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." By the time the medley was over, the band had whipped everything into a fine lather.

That pretty much set the tone for the night. Koz is a real showman, but he put a lot of his usual antics on hold in the first half, preferring instead to be one of the guys in the band. Having skilled players like Braun and Benoir on the tour ups the real jazz quotient a few notches. Braun's quite the accomplished player, standng out muted trumpet on the opening medley and his own "Tijuana Dance," among others.

The distinguished looking Benoit scored serious audience points with his "Charlie Brown" medley, which stitched together nearly a half-dozen songs and themes (with video) from 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas," the soundtrack of which remains a staple thanks to the warm and fuzzy stylings of the late composer and pianist Vince Guaraldi.

Guys like that afford Koz the luxury of focusing more on his own considerable playing abilities and less on his sometimes hammy showmanship. He not only kept up with them instrumentally (and tossed in a little improv of his own), but let his own inspired play lead by example, particularly on a straightforward version of "Little Drummer Boy," the Hanukkah song "Eight Candles" and a blowout finale of his own "Smile."

White's more of a pop instrumentalist, but a formidable player in his own right whose arrangements of "The Christmas Song" and "Silent Night," which featured the entire eight-member band, were among the most inventive of the night. Like Braun, he also proved a kind of comic foil for the show's star, especially in the second half, when the band members yucked it up more.

Russell's the only non-instrumentalist in the bunch, and was a bit of a weak link Thursday night. She appeared to be suffering some vocal problems, sounding hoarse, weak and occasionally off-key. Her vocals often seemed buried in the mix, especially on a struggling "Piano in the Dark," but she sounded good on the raucous, noisy "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" and fought through some pitchiness on her touching "Get Here."

The set deftly blended familiar holiday themes with hits from each members' catalogs, nicely adapting the music to the strengths of the musicians assembled. The shoe was on the foot with the encore, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which turned into a big sing-along by the full house, many of whom had risen to their feet by then and gladly sang along.

Koz prides himself on bringing a different show with some different musicians each time he comes through. But this one will be hard to top.

Concert update: Chinese acrobats swing into Plaza

The New Shanghai Circus will take a break from its gig in Branson, Mo., for a tour that brings its "Acrobats of China" show to the Plaza Theatre.

Performances are at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 30.

Tickets for the show are $33 and $38, on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 18 at the box office, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

Concert update: Koz tix released, Emmanuel and son, Juarez orphans benefit and more

Promoter Connie Paul has released more than 50 tickets to Dave Koz's Christmas concert Thursday, Dec. 17 at the Plaza Theatre.

She's "anticipating another sold out Dave Koz show," according to an announcement Wednesday.

Koz, who is bringing his "Smooth Jazz Christmas" tour to town for the third time in 10 years, has sold out six of seven shows in El Paso since 2000, including four straight at the 2,000-seat Plaza Theatre.

Thursday's show is at 7 p.m. and reunites the sax man with Christmas tour alums guitarist Peter White, singer Brenda Russell, trumpeter Rick Braun and pianist David Benoit.

The tickets, taken from so-called production holds (tickets held back for the artists, promoters and others), are $45 and $65.

Tickets are on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

In other concert news:

•Popular '80s Mexican balladeer Emmanuel and his Latin Grammy-winning son, singer Alexander Acha, bring their "Retro" tour to the Coliseum at 8:30 p.m. Feb. 19.

Tickets are $59, $79 and $109, on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 19 at the box office (but not Ticketmaster).

•Psychedelic rockers Refried Ice Cream are staging another benefit for orphans in Juarez served by El Paso's Hands of Love and Hope ministry. The "Hands of Hope and Love" concert will be from noon to midnight on Sunday, Dec. 20 at Club 101.

Fourteen bands will perform, including the Refrieds, the Iveys, Suicide Romance, the Giraffes, Asylum for Juarez, Exit 116, DA, Barry Martin and Intelli-Gents.

There's no ticket charge. You just need to donate one of the items needed for the kids, including bottled water, toys, blankets and food.

The band has been staging these benefits for a few years. The last one on April 12 featured Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, who recorded their new album "Outer South" at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, and Jim Ward's Sleepercar.

Info: myspace.com/refriedicecream.

 •Cash'd Out, a Johnny Cash tribute band with more than 100 of the Man in Black's songs in its repertoire, will play Uncle Paulie's at 8 p.m. Jan. 10. 

The band focuses on Cash's early career, including the Sun Records years up to about the "At Folsom Prison" album, when he was with Columbia. 

No ticket info yet.

•Tickets are now on sale for shows by the Casey Donahew Band (Jan. 16), Randy Rogers Band (Feb. 17) and Jason Boland and the Stragglers (Feb. 24), all at Whiskey Dicks.

Donahew tickets are $12. Rogers tickets are $15. Boland tickets are $10. All are on sale at Good Times stores and ticketbully.com.

•Rock for Hope is a benefit for the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. It'll feature 19 local bands, including Aerial, the local rockers who are helping organize it, and will take place at 3 p.m. Jan. 16 at The Spot, 9068 Socorro.

Aerial, Low Luster League, Exit 116, Jayden's Playground, Intelli-Gents and BB Gun Johnny are among the participating bands.

Admission is a $5 donation. In addition, Inkternacional Tattoo magazine will donate $2 from every magazine sold.

Info: rockforhope2010.com.

Concert review: More dazzle, less razzle in TSO show

LAS CRUCES — Moving to Las Cruces after eight Christmas seasons in El Paso doesn't seem to have dampened the holiday spirit of Trans-Siberian Orchestra's fans.

More than 12,500 people turned out for two shows Wednesday at NMSU's Pan Am Center, only a few thousand less than last year, when the hard rock opera troupe performed two shows at the Don Haskins Center. That was the first time they double-dipped in the market.

But the nearly 6,800 who packed into the arena for Wednesday's evening show seemed more reserved than the El Paso crowd was last year. Either that, or the at-times perfunctory performance last night just didn't inspire as much enthusiasm from the appreciative, but somewhat restrained crowd. There was more visual dazzle, but less aural razzle this time around.

It's not that the group — 23 singers and musicians, including some familiar faces from our own orchestra — wasn't full of energy. New violinists Roddy Chang and Caitlin Moe didn't plenty of running and jumping and, yes, occasionally, violin playing.

The four blonde and one black-haired female singers did more dancing than singing it seemed, with choreography that looked like a cross between the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and the Red Parrot girls (obviously, the choreography was done by a straight male).

And the core band, led by nice-guy guitarist and co-founding member Al Pitrelli, whose guitar playing was on the money all night, struck poses right out of Rock Star Posturing 101, complete with hair-whipping, guitar windmilling and lots of splayed-leg theatrics.

Even some of the male singers got into the act, notably baritone and former Journey fill-in Jeff Scott Soto, who pulled the band from his ponytail and shook loose his long waves of kinky hair in the middle of the dramatic new song "Dreams We Conceive," a move that straddled that fine line between the overwrought and self-parody so common during the hair band days.

Such antics part of TSO's stock-in-trade, the visual illustration of music that takes melds Christmas carols and classical staples with hard rock histrionics and Meat Loaf-style bombast and paints them with one of the most elaborate rock light shows this side of Pink Floyd.

The light design is the real star here. The sound is almost secondary to the visuals in TSO's sensory overload extravaganzas. The light show is one of the most elaborate and inventive you'll see anywhere, with its multiple video screens, moving light grids, brightly hued lasers that slice up the air and plumes of flame that shot out from seemingly every part of the stage.

But it says something about the relatively routine nature of the performance — maybe they used up all their energy in the 4 p.m. show, the first of a five-day, eight-show run, Pitrelli noted — that things like hair-whipping, comic choreography and fidgety fiddlers couldn't help.

The show's first half was pretty traditional, drawing mostly from the group's debut — and best-selling — album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories," with classy Tony Gaynor providing the dramatic but appropriately understated narration. 

All of the lead singers seemed to struggle a bit vocally, some more than others. The soulful Soto was a crowd favorite, while Tommy Farese coughed noticeably during "This Christmas Day" and sounded more gravelly than normal (wonder if the group members are passing a bug around).

The second half highlighted some of the new songs from "Night Castle," their new, non-Christmas concept album they will perform more completely on a rare spring tour next year. They seemed to lose some members of the audience, which, based on a reply to Farese's query, was mostly from El Paso, during a stretch in which "The Mountain" and Soto's "Dreams We Conceive."

Not to worry, the band finished out its 2.5-hour performance by pulling out favorites from its other two Christmas albums, including that anthem to syncopated Christmas lighting freaks everywhere, "Wizards in Winter," which also seemed to lack the punch it had last year at the Don.

Maybe they were just conserving their energy for the long run of shows. Maybe they shot their wad in the 4 p.m. matinee.  Maybe the crowd just wasn't intense enough. Maybe it was just an off night. 

Whatever the case, the bells and whistles may have made for a visually arresting show, but they couldn't cover up a performance that was uneven at best.

    

Concert update: Sun Bowl gets Archuleta; Plaza gets Chicago; Inn gets Howie; Everclear gets Dicks

It's official.  David Archuleta will be celebrating his 19th birthday three days late — at the 76th annual Brut Sun Bowl Helen of Troy Halftime Show on Dec. 31. 

The 2008 "American Idol" runner-up's birthday is Dec. 28.

The game pits No. 19 Stanford (and Heisman candidate RB Toby Gerhart) against unranked Oklahoma (and not its 2008 Heisman-winning QB Sam Bradford, who's out after shoulder surgery).

Both school bands will take part in the halftime show.

Wonder if Archuleta will lip sync for the CBS cameras?

Rumor has it that ZZ Top originally was lined up but was nixed by game sponsors Helen of Troy, who wanted someone more wholesome. Like the Village People? They were last year's halftime entertainment.

In other concert news:

• Look for Chicago to blow into the Plaza Theatre on April 6.

The date is listed on the band's web site and Pollstar, but a theater rep couldn't confirm it. Yet.

Thanks for reader Robert Arriaga for seeing that on the Pollstar site.

I can confirm the dates and ticket info for the following shows at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, N.M.

•Country singer — and Miranda Lambert squeeze — Blake Shelton, 8 p.m. Jan. 14; $25/$40/$60/$75, on sale now.

•'60s rockers John Kay and Steppenwolf ("Magic Carpet Ride," et al), 8 p.m. Jan. 22, $25/$50/$75/$100, on sale now.

•Comedian, game show host and germaphobe Howie Mandel, 8 p.m. Feb. 19, $25-$100, presale 10 a.m. Dec. 14-9:59 a.m. Dec. 15; general on-sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 15.

•Staind frontman Aaron Lewis (solo acoustic), 8 p.m. March 11, $20-$60, presale 10 a.m. Dec. 15-9:59 a.m. Dec. 16; general on-sale at 10 a.m. Dec. 16.

•Tireless rockers the Doobie Brothers (kind of an oxymoron when you think about it), 8 p.m. March 25, $25-$100, presale 10 a.m. Dec. 15-9:59 a.m. Dec. 16; general on-sale 10 a.m. Dec. 16.

•Creedence Clearwater Revisited, 8 p.m. April 16, $25-75, presale 10 a.m. Jan. 5-9:59 a.m. Jan. 6; general on-sale 10 a.m. Jan. 6.

Tickets for all Inn of the Mountain Gods shows may be purchased at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

And one more for you:

•Just got word that '90s rockers Everclear will play country music nightclub Whiskey Dicks on Jan. 19. Two as-yet-unnamed acts will open. Doors open at 7 p.m. It's an 8 p.m. show.

Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 day of show. A pre-sale starts Dec. 11 at ticketbully.com, with the general on-sale beginning Dec. 14. They'll be available at Good Times stores and Ticketbully.

Da Vinci code? Nah, 'Da Vinci Experience' (tickets)

The El Paso Museum of History's ambitious new director, Julia Bussinger, has landed "The Da Vinci Experience," a hands-on exhibit featuring realizations of 60 of the innovative designs by the 16th Century Italian scientist, mathematician, inventor and artist.

The touring exhibit, which will fill the first floor of the downtown museum, will be there from Jan. 16 through July 10.

Tickets are $14; $12 for 65 and older; $10 for kids 5-11; $9 for groups of 10 or more; $7 for family packages of five people.

They are on sale now at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000. Bussinger said Ticketmaster will set up inside the museum to sell tickets as well.

Bussinger also is looking for local businesses to sponsor school buses.

Call her at 351.3588 if you're interested.

Concert update: Tyler Perry, DMB movie, Jingle Jam, Warren G, La Chusma, Subrosa Union, EPYSO

You'd think things would slow down a little here around the holidays, but noooooo!

Here's a bunch of new show stuff for you, starting with playwright-turned-filmmaker Tyler Perry, who'll play his beloved crank of an old lady, Madea, in "Madea's Big Happy Family," coming to UTEP's Don Haskins Center at 8 p.m. Jan. 4.

"It's been 5 years since I've been on the road and the timing just happened to fall right into place," Perry wrote in a tour announcement. "I needed to get away from Hollywood for a second ... clear my head."

El Paso's the first stop on a tour announced to run through May.

It's a new play, which follows the last one, 2005's "Madea Goes to Jail."

Tickets are $51.50, $61.50 and $71.50, on sale now at UTEP's University Ticket Center (next to the Don on Mesa), Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

In other news:

•I know the Dave Matthews Band doesn't get here much. Last time was the Stones' Sun Bowl concert in Oct. 2006 as I recall. I flew back from Michigan for that and DMB was in fine form. Remember when Dave joined Mick Jagger on "Let It Bleed"? Nice. 

Anyway, the band's new 3D concert, "Larger Than Life ... in 3D," runs Dec. 11-17 in 500 movie theaters across the country, including Carmike 16 and Premiere Cinemas at Bassett Place in El Paso. 

It captures DMB, whose newest album "Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King" are up for best album and best rock album Grammys, performing live at September's Austin City Limits Festival. 

Also featured: Ben Harper and the Relentless7 at the Mile High Music Festival in Denver and gypsy rockers Gogol Bordello performing at the All Points West Music and & Arts Festival in Jersey City, N.J.

•Houston rapper Chamillionaire, whose new single "Good Morning" may be rap's first anti-battle song, will headline Power 102's annual "Jingle Jam" at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at the newly opened Vault Nightclub, 209 S. El Paso.

He'll be joined by Charlie Boy ("I Look Good"), Honorebel ("Now You See It") and Baby C ("Prep Step"), with more acts to be announced.

Tickets are $15, on sale at the door only. Go to Power 102's Web site for more info.

•Speaking of the Vault, the club has picked up a Dec. 10 show by Dr. Dre's step-brother, Warren G, probably best known for his 1994 smash "Regulate." Tickets are only $10 at the door. The show's not listed on his MySpace page, so you might want to call the club at 533.1101 before going just to make sure.

•Radio La Chusma bassist Charlie Villanueva tells me the band's song "Cruzando Fronteras" has been nominated in the best world beat song category of the 9th annual Independent Music Awards. They're up against acts from the countries of Georgia, Malawi, Spain and Trinidad/Tobago.

Winners will be selected by a panel of music industry types, which includes Tom Waits, Bettye Lavette, M. Ward, Pete Wentz and the Black Keys. 

The public can vote for "people's choice" winner in the IMA Vox Pop Jukebox contest, which will run through June on the awards' Web site, independentmusicawards.com.

•Speaking of RLC, the El Paso border reggae group will open for reggae's "Black Cinderella," Sister Carol, at 7 p.m. Dec. 20 at Zen Meister Pub, 1160 Airway. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 day of show, on sale at the club, the Headstand, Cool Arrows and ticketbully.com. It's an 18-and-over show.

The sextet's also playing a post-Christmas show, dubbed "A Chusma Christmas," at 9 p.m. Dec. 26 at Zen Meister. Tickets are $10 at the door.

•Austin-based, El Paso-bred alt rockers Subrosa Union team up with EP's Liquid Cheese for a Dec. 11 show at Take II. The group's currently working on its second album, "One Night Stand," with producer Mike Cosgrove of Alien Ant Farm.

It's an 18-and-older show. Doors open at 9 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door.

The group also will give a free, in-store performance at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Hot Topic store in Cielo Vista Mall.

They also perform an all-ages show at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Q-Time Patio in Las Cruces.

•El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Phillip Garcia will give a couple of concerts this week at the La Fe Culture and Technology Center's theater, 721 S. Ochoa, part of Youth Symphony Week there.

They're giving a free concert for children at 5 p.m. Dec. 10 and a public concert at 6 p.m. Dec. 11, tickets for which will be $5 at the door

"It will be heartfelt and intimate. Our idea is to create (an) instrument bank and start-up orchestra programs in South El Paso at La Fe," Garcia said. "I will dress like Santa and hand out gifts to the children who attend. It will be a full house since we will perform for the students of the La Fe Preparatory School."

We have winners! TSO ticket results announced

Claudia Malagon's parents' Christmas just got a little easier.

Claudia is the grand-prize winner in our Trans-Siberian Orchestra ticket give away.

She won a pair of front-row seats to the group's 8 p.m. Dec. 9 show at the Pan Am Center at NMSU in Las Cruces.

"My parents, mom and dad alike, have been having hard Christmas seasons since my grandparents passed away for both," Claudia wrote in her winning entry. "My parents love the holiday and I'm hoping that going to the concert might make them happier and feel the Christmas spirit again."

We hope so, too.

They're not the only lucky parents. Runner-up Eric Parada plans to send his mom to the 4 p.m. matinee.

"She's been working hard to make ends meet especially now with this American Economy," he wrote on our specially created TSO page. ""She has only been able to enjoy 1 T.S.O. show that was about 8 years ago, she deserves to be able to enjoy one of the greatest shows that come(s) to this area."

Fellow runner-up Marisela Holguin won a pair of tickets to the 8 p.m. show. She plans to take her newly slimmed down husband, who recently had gastric bypass surgery "and lost enough weight to fit comfortably in one of those seats," she wrote in her entry.

Prior to the surgery, she wrote, the couple stayed home a lot.

"I want to show him off," she said in her entry, "and have a memorable first date with my 10-year husband."