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Times offers one-day Shakira tickets pre-sale — Thursday only

If you just can't wait to get tickets Friday for Shakira's Oct. 12 show at the Don, we can help.

The El Paso Times will have a special eight-hour presale of the coveted tickets.

But you'd better shake those hips fast. It's from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 29.

The public on-sale is at 10 a.m. July 30.

Just go to our Facebook page, facebook.com/eptimes, Thursday morning to get the password and the link.

Tickets range from $9.50 to $152.50, plus service charges.

Concert update: Koz, Bellydance Superstars, STP, Rodney Carrington, Jason Boland and more

Sax man Dave Koz looks to keep his string of sell-out shows alive when he returns to the Plaza Theatre Dec. 9 with his newest "A Smooth Jazz Christmas" concert.

Koz will be joined by guitarist Jonathan Butler, pianist Brian Culbertson and saxophonist Candy Dulfer this time around.

If you're a fan, get your scorecards out: This will be the pop-jazz man's 13th annual Christmas tour (not bad for a nice Jewish guy from LA); his ninth El Paso stop in 11 years; and fourth EP Christmas show.

He has sold out seven of those eight previous shows here, pretty impressive for an artist who doesn't get a lot of media exposure.

Culbertson was here with Koz last summer at the Plaza. Southpaw Butler has been here with him twice — the 2008 Christmas show at the Plaza and the "A Smooth Summer Night" tour at the Chavez Theatre in 2004.

If you're wondering why the Koz skipped El Paso this summer, it's because he didn't want to wear out his welcome, according to promoter Connie Paul.

Paul said tickets will range from $40 to $100. But don't hit up Ticketmaster just yet. They won't go on sale until Nov. 1.

• Promoter Juanita Vazquez of El Paso's Lola Productions isn't wasting time. She's putting a Bellydance Superstars show on sale Aug. 6, just two days before she brings jazz's Hiroshima to UTEP's Magoffin Auditorium.

BDSS, whose "The Art of Bellydance" show was so impressive here last year, will return to Magoffin with a new show, "Bombay Bellywood," which promises the usual mixture of styles with  more emphasis on India's contributions to the dance art.

It will be at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6.

Tickets are $28 and $34, plus service charges, on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 6 at the UTEP Ticket Center, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

That Hiroshima show, part of their 30th anniversary tour, will be at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8 at the auditorium. Tickets are $39.50 and  $44.50, plus service charges, at the UTEP Ticket Center, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• Just a reminder that tickets for the Stone Temple Pilots' Sept. 21 show at the Coliseum go on sale at 10 a.m. July 31. They're $44.50 and $49.50, plus service charges, on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who opened for the reunited STP on July 31, 2008 at the Coliseum, will open this one, too.

There are additional ticket packages for sale. One costs an additional $45 and includes membership in their fan club. The pre-sale runs through 11:55 p.m. July 30.

VIP packages are $110 and include tickets in the first 10 rows of reserved seating, a tour laminate, tour poster, guitar picks and STP headphones. They'll be available through Aug. 31. The pre-sale runs through 10 p.m. July 30.

• Country singer Rodney Carrington has added a second show at the Inn of the Mountain Gods in Mescalero, NM. It will be at 8 p.m. Aug. 27 (the other show is Aug. 26).

Tickets are $25, $40, $60, $75 and $100, plus service charges, on sale now at the casino, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• Speaking of country acts, Texas hardcore country types Jason Boland and the Stragglers, touting their new "High in the Rockies" live album, return to Whiskey Dick's at 8 p.m. Aug. 20. Tickets are $10 at Ticketbully.

• Local playwright Martin R. Cardenas, who says he recently moved back here from Chicago, will premiere his romantic comedy "A Man Having a Baby," about an arrogant bachelor's comeuppance, at 7 p.m. Aug. 28-29 and Sept. 4-5 at the Scottish Rite Temple theater. Tickets are $12.50, on sale at Ticketbully.

• Brian Kennedy, who runs the Coliseum, confirmed that Brazilian crooner Roberto Carlos has canceled his Sept. 23 show at the venue. That show had been postponed from May. Refunds are available at the point of purchase.

• Detroit rockers Sponge, originally scheduled for Aug. 21 at the Zen-Meister, now will play the House of Rock East at 7 p.m. Sept. 30. Tickets are $18 in advance, $23 day of show, on sale at Ticketbully.

• A couple of death metal shows are headed our way. Enthroned and Destroyer lead a multiple-act bill at 7 p.m. Aug. 12 at Club 101. Tickets are $15, on sale at Ticketbully.

The "Over the Limit" tour features nine bands, including As Blood Runs Black, Oceana, Arsonists Get All the Girls and the Tony Danza Tap Dance Experience at 4 p.m. Aug. 19 at 101. Tickets are $15, on sale at Ticketbully.

• Looking way ahead, Pollstar is listing a June 24 show by the Newsboys at Abundant Living Faith Center, presumably part of its summer youth conference week.

Concert update: Shakira adds a second show at the Don

The hips don't lie. Shakira's big in EP.

The Colombian pop star has added a second show at the Don Haskins Center, presumably because tickets to her Oct. 13 show there are moving well.

The new show, which was announced on her website, will be at 8 p.m. Oct. 12.

Tickets are $9.50, $42.50, $72.50, $102.50 and $152.50, plus service charges.

They'll go on sale at 10 a.m. July 30 at the UTEP Ticket Center, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

There's a fan club presale running today through 5 p.m. July 29. Go to shakira.com for details.

Concert update: Sleepercar, Radio La Chusma headline Minerpalooza

Two of El Paso's best bands, rockers Sleepercar and border reggae rhythm kings Radio La Chusma, will headline this year's Minerpalooza.

For those who don't know, it's a big party for UTEP students, fans and interested warm bodies that kicks off the school's football season.

Head coach Mike Price and UTEP President Diana Natalicio also will address the crowd in this combination pep rally and concert at the center of the campus.

About 20,000 are expected for the 20th annual edition of the festival, which will be from 6 to midnight Sept. 3 on the campus.

Sleepercar, fronted by Jim Ward, and La Chusma are the main acts. Classic rocker cover band Brown Betty and Pan 8, a steel drum band that covers a variety of music, also will perform.

It also will include a rock-climbing wall and a kids area.

The big block party precedes the team's season-opener against the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 4 at the Sun Bowl.

Info: 747.5670, utep.edu/minerpalooza.

Former EP bluesman Phillip Walker dead at 73

Long John Hunter contemporary Phillip Walker, the noted West Coast blues singer and guitarist, died July 22 at age 73.

Walker was a Louisiana-born, LA-based singer and musician, who backed the likes of Little Richard, Etta James and Jimmy Reed.

He lived and performed in El Paso for about two years in the late 1950s, performing with Long John at bars here and Juarez, including EP's Black and Tan and Juarez's Lobby Bar.

Walker came to El Paso around 1957 after a two-year stint with zydeco king Clifton Chenier. He remained here until 1959, when he moved to Los Angeles.

The journeyman singer and axeman, known for his drawling voice and cutting guitar lines, recorded for Hightone, Black Top and Delta Groove over the past 20 years.

He shared in a 1999 Blues Music Award with Hunter and Chicago blues guitarist Lonnie Brooks for their collaborative album, "Lone Star Shootout," released on Alligator Records.

Walker died of heart failure at home near Los Angeles.

Plaza Classic Film Festival update: Concerts, outdoor movies and 'Dry Land' news

Some of the outdoor movies and concerts for this year's Plaza Classic Film Festival have been confirmed.

Eclectic Mexican music trio Frontera Bugalu, the brainchild of Fuga! accordionist Kiko Rodriguez, will kick off the first of five outdoor concerts at 8 p.m. Aug. 5 in the Arts Festival Plaza, which is between the Plaza Theatre and the El Paso Museum of Art.

Their one-hour performance will precede Gilbert Chavarria and epfilm.org's sixth annual local film showcase, "The Good, The Bad, The Indie v06," at 9 that night on the inflatable screen in the Arts Festival Plaza.

Rockers The Lusitania play at 8 p.m. Aug. 6, followed by Mel Brooks' "Silent Film" at 9 p.m.

The Aug. 7 show headliner is still to be announced, but "The Rocky Horror Picture Show," which packed 'em in last year, will return at 9 that night.

The second weekend of the festival will feature excellent EP folk-rock band Black Coyote at 8 p.m. Aug. 13, followed by the farcical disaster movie "Airplane!' ("I sure picked a bad time to stop sniffing glue!") at 9.

The Aug. 14 concert is TBA and there's no information about what, if any, movie will be shown outdoors after it.

The festival runs Aug. 5-15.

In related news, El Paso native Ryan Piers Williams says that the local commercial debut of his Sundance Film Festival entry "The Dry Land" will be Aug. 13 at Cielo Vista 14. That's a change from an earlier announcement that it will be at Tinseltown 20.

Williams and fiancee America Ferrera (of "Ugly Betty") fame will be on hand for a 7 p.m. Aug. 11 screening at the film festival in the 200-seat Philanthropy Theatre, next door to the Plaza. It's a $10 donation, with proceeds going to the USO and other groups that help war veterans.

Williams, a 1999 Hanks High School graduate, and Ferrera will take questions from the audience after the screening.

They also hope to have a free screening of the movie, about a soldier's difficulty returning from the Iraq War, for military and their families on Aug. 12.

Concert update: Reunited STP is on its way back; Machete Music tour; and more

Stone Temple Pilots, whose reunion tour played here in 2008, will return for a 7 p.m. Sept. 21 show at the Coliseum.

The show, part of a major tour starting Aug. 10, comes on the heels of Scott Weiland and crew's self-titled new album, its first in nearly 10 years.

They last played here on July 31, 2008 with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, who'll open the September show, too.

Tickets for their El Paso return will be $44.50 and $49.50, plus service charges.

They'll go on sale at 10 a.m. July 31 at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

In other concert news:

• Machete Music, whose Wisin y Yandel play the Coliseum tonight, has packaged several of its artists, including Ivy Queen, for a tour that's coming to the arena at 8 p.m. Nov. 4.

Also performing: Tego Calderon, Angel Colderon, Angel y Khriz, Chino y Nacho, Jowell y Randy and Cosculluela.

Tickets are $45 GA, $55 and $65 reserved, on sale at 10 a.m. July 23 at the box, Ticketmasters, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• The Eli Young Band returns to Whiskey Dicks for the first time in a long time at 8 p.m. Oct. 27.

The energized country-rock band should go on around 10.

Tickets are $15 at Ticketbully.

• Canadian alt-rockers Evans Blue (with new singer Dan Chandler) and California's Smile Empty Soul team up for a 7 p.m. Nov. 2 show at the House of Rock East, 8838 Viscount.

Tickets are $20 at Ticketbully.

Concert update: Foxstock, MUTS, peep show, Moonlighters, Ratt, Disturbed and more

Classic hits radio station The Fox (KOFX-FM, 92.3) is putting on its first Foxstock concert next month, which features what's left of oldies acts Rare Earth, Badfinger and War, plus a real treat, Detroit rocker Mitch Ryder.

It's at 7 p.m. Aug. 13 at the Coliseum.

Tickets are $30 GA, $35 reserved (floor) and $45 reserved (box seats), a bit pricey for a show like this.

Ryder, by the way, is still a pretty engaging performer. This version of War only has one longstanding member (Lee Oskar and some of the others have the Low Rider Band) and Rare Earth and Badfinger bear little resemblance to their hitmaking versions.

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

In other concert news:

• This week's Music Under the Stars headliner is Swing Fever, a San Francisco group that specializes in jazz music from the '30s and '40s. It's at 7:30 p.m. July 25 at the Chamizal National Memorial bandshell, 800 S. San Marcia. It's free.

• New York's Pretty Things Peepshow combines burlesque with freakish carnival acts (sword swallowers, etc.). The vaudeville troupe is coming to Bombardiers, 109 E. Castellano, on July 30.

Doors open at 8 p.m. Show starts at 10.

It's a $10 cover charge.

• Austin's Leah and the Moonlighters, a jazz-pop group featuring El Paso native Aaron Goldfarb on guitar, will perform Aug. 20 at El Adobe Studios, 5301 El Paso Drive. Ticket info has not been announced yet.

• Speaking of oldies acts, a group called the Sounds of Motown was scheduled to play the Rio Grande Theatre in Cruces on July 31, but the show's been canceled due to poor ticket sales. Refunds are available at the point of purchase. 

• Ratt singer Stephen Pearcy has recovered from surgery and is back on the road with the band, meaning that Sept. 4 freebie their doing at Speaking Rock should go off as planned.

• Hard rockers Disturbed, which includes El Paso native John Moyer on bass, is taking pre-orders for its new album, "Asylum," which comes out Aug. 31. 

The new album will come with the documentary, "Decade of Disturbed." There wil be a limited edition that will include two live bonus tracks (including "Down With the Sickness"), a guitar tab poster and nine instrument instruction videos.

Go to disturbed1.com for more info.

Update of USO Concert Update: Billy Ray Cyrus to play for troops at Bliss

Turns out Billy Ray Cyrus, aka Miley's dad, won't be welcoming home troops with a 90-minute, USO-sponsored concert July 25 at Fort Bliss.

But he will be doing a concert for military personnel and their families, including troops who have returned from Iraq.

An earlier announcement today said the concert would be for Iraq war returnees.

That was the original plan but it didn't work out, according to Bill Ketcherside, chief of marketing and special events for the post's office of Families Morale Welfare and Recreation (FMWR).

A release with the wrong information went out by accident, he said.

The 7 p.m. concert at Biggs Field is free, but it's open only to people with military personnel with a valid ID.

While it's not a welcome home strictly for returning troops, it is a welcome for all the troops at the growing military installation.

"(It's) to welcome home those returning from Iraq, we have more than one unit doing that, and we have a lot of newcomers to Fort Bliss. We have a lot of new people," Ketcherside said.

Cyrus is a country music veteran and co-star of Disney's "Hannah Montana," which stars his daughter, Miley Cyrus.

"She's not coming," Ketcherside said.

Her dad will perform with his new rock band, Brother Clyde, which includes former Snot guitarist Jamie Miller and drummer Samantha Maloney, who has worked with Courtney Love's Hole, Motley Crue and the Eagles of Death Metal.

The band's debut single, "Lately," is out on iTunes. It's self-titled debut album comes out Aug. 10.

Go to billyraycyrus.com or myspace.com/brotherclyde for more info on Cyrus and the band.

Adair Margo is next Lunch Time Stories speaker

Adair Margo will take about an hour out of her busy Tom Lea Month schedule to talk arts and culture in the next installment of the Lunch Time Stories series at San Jacinto Plaza.

Margo's talk is free and will be from noon-1 p.m. July 22 in the downtown park.

She will read from Lea's book, "Old Franklin Mountain."

"The way he uses words is the way Mount Franklin is," she says.

It's part of a weekly summer series of informal talks sponsored by the city's parks department and the El Paso office of the Small Business Administration. The Times is a sponsor.

Margo represent the late El Paso artist Tom Lea and is in the middle of the fourth annual Tom Lea Month, a celebration of his art and life through lectures, films, workshops and other events. It runs through July 31.

It's organized by the Tom Lea Institute. A full schedule is posted on tomleainstitute.org.

Margo, owner of Adair Margo Fine Art, is the former chair of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities during the George W. Bush administration.