Saturday caps an unusually busy week for music fans in which we will have seen a diverse array of artists — Social Distortion, Ricky Martin, George Thorogood, Blue Man Group, Buddy Jewell and Pete Anderson — pass through.
That's not including Conjunto Primavera's Saturday at the Coliseum and the 29 acts performing at Saturday's 12-hour Neon Desert Music Festival downtown.
There's another show that could be big but is flying under the radar. It's a combination car show and rap concert, featuring hot newcomer Waka Flocka Flame, at Cohen Stadium.
The first time event will feature about 50 cars and other vehicles from nearly a half dozen local clubs beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the parking lot, along with food and other vendors.
The concert starts at 5:30 p.m. inside the stadium, with Waka Flocka Flame, known for such hits as "No Hands" and "Grove St. Party," going on around 8:30.
It's the culmination of a dream for Club Freelon owner and retired Army Col. Tim Freelon, who is the promoter. He sees it as a way to build on what he's been trying to do with his club at 8500 Dyer, which will mark its second anniversary with Saturday's event — build a stronger sense of community in northeast El Paso.
"This is kind of like the second-year celebration of giving back to El Paso and giving back to great customers of all ages," Freelon says, who served 28 years in the Army.
Freelon saw a "major void" for entertainment on the city's northeast side, especially when it came to entertainment that appealed to the city's black population.
"I saw a social need for young soldiers and people in the northeast," he says, adding that the city's open embrace of all races appealed to him as a young man when he was first stationed here out of Mississippi in 1982.
He returned a few years ago after an assignment at the Pentagon, and began to think about how he could fill that void with a club that could function as a social center, where young military men and women could dance to hip-hop one night, teens could have a social event, baby boomers could jam to the oldies and organizations could host fundraisers.
"I never wanted it to be looked at as a nightclub, but as a community building," Freelon says.
But Freelon wanted to do something bigger that would cut across all age groups and appeal to the community at large and the military and their families in particular. Hip-hop, he thought, would have the broadest audience appeal. So would a car show, which would give families "the opportunity to come out early to enjoy the food, the games and to walk around in a family type of environment before the show."
He booked Waka Flocka Flame, whose second album comes out this summer, because he liked what he saw, including the various charitable and social causes the rapper has embraced (including PETA).
"I thought about what young artist could bring to my core customers, the hip-hop community, and which one could reach across not just young soldiers, but also the teens and something the older people, the middle-aged people, could come to," Freelon says.
Also performing will be local acts 3 Dimensions, Blazin' House and Aubrey Mykel, who Freelons discovered through a talent contest at his club.
Freelon knows some will wonder about security. He'll have a lot of it, including metal detectors at the stadium entrance, his own 30-man team and stadium security.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $25 day of show, on sale at the club, All That Music & Video, Ran Pass Liquors, elpasodiablos.com and the door.
Call 525.5645 for more info.
In other show news:
• "Viva! El Paso" returns to McKelligon Canyon Amphitheater for its 34th season at 8:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays June 3-Aug. 11.
The show will mark its opening weekend with a canned food drive for the El Paso Del Norte Food Bank. Tickets will be $10 with a donation.
No ticket prices or on-sale dates have been announced yet. None are posted on the show's site, viva-ep.org, or ticketmaster.com.
The show lost its principal choreographer, Marco Alferez, a former Irvin High School dance teacher who, according to El Paso Times reports, was indicted last year on charges of sexual exploitation of children and receipt, distribution and possession of material involving the sexual exploitation of children. He pled not guilty to the charges.
• McKelligon Canyon also will be the site of the third annual Movies in the Canyon series, which has signed on its first sponsor, the El Paso Employees Federal Credit Union. The free movies will show at 7:15 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Aug. 19-Oct. 1.
The program started in late summer 2009, drawing 7,000 people. It was expanded to August last year, right after the Plaza Classic Film Festival, and drew 16,000, according to the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau, which runs the amphitheater.
No titles have been announced yet, but 28 movies will be shown.
• American rockers She Wants Revenge, whose new album "Valley Heart" comes out May 24, return to Club 101 at 8 p.m. June 15.
Nico Vega opens.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 day of show, on sale at 10 a.m. April 29 at the club, All That Music & Video, the Headstand and ticketbully.com.
• Las Cruces Charlie Minn is reopening his "8 Murders a Day" documentary on April 29 at Premiere Cinemas at Bassett Place. It played there earlier, but the run ended prematurely due to some technical problems, he said at the time.
It also played at the Philanthropy Theatre, by the Plaza Theatre, for a week.
This is a new, digital print, he said, and will be shown with Spanish subtitles
• The Silver City Blues Festival returns for the 16th year May 27-29 in that quirky little western NM town. Zac Harmon and Harry Manx headline the free festival.
Also performing: Kat Crosby; Reba Russell Band; Pleasure Pilots; Shri Blues Band; Big Jim Adan and John Stilwagen; C.W. Ayon; and the Coolers.
Call 575.538.2505 or go to mimbresarts.org.
• Don't have ticket info on this yet, but rockabilly cats the Reckless Ones headline a May 17 show at Lowbrow Palace.
Hot Rod Boogie and the Slicks open. It's 21 and older.
• The ever talented Jaime "Jimmy Daze" Portillo rolls out the fifth issue of his historical comic book, "Hell Paso: The Story of Dallas Stoudenmier" at, where else, the El Paso Museum of History.
He'll do an autograph signing from 2-4 p.m. April 30 at the museum.
Joining him for the free event will be artists Chris Shehan and Arturo Delgado.
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