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Concert update: Blue Man Group doubles up

Remember when high winds forced Blue Man Group to postpone one of its two Plaza Theatre shows last April?

They performed the second one on April 28, but had to reschedule the first one for Sept. 13.

The makeup show is selling so well — a limited number of seats are left, I'm told —  that the group has added a second show for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14.

It will go on sale at 10 a.m. Aug. 5. They're $35, $50 and $60, plus service charges, and will be available at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

 

Concert review: Disparate duo evokes the spirit of Carole King

The musical marriage of singer Laura Tate Goldman and guitarist Dan Lambert is an odd one.

She's a veteran singer and performer who worked in music, theater and TV in New York and Los Angeles, toured with the Smothers Brothers and fronted her own band before moving to El Paso nearly 20 years ago.

A former president of the Junior League of El Paso, Goldman performs occasionally, including charity gigs.

Lambert is a veteran guitarist, originally from the Chicago area, a musical restless spirit who's lived here for years and whose sound is in a constant state of motion, having started out as a blues guy and evolving into a world music artist, for lack of a better term.

Most recently, he's performed either solo or with some combination of bass and percussion, including the Double Drum Trio with which Lambert, who performs mostly on acoustic guitar, released the impressive musical travelogue "The Double Drum Trio" earlier this year.

These two forces teamed up again July 28 for the third in a growing series of dinner shows at the Magic Pan, a longtime Lambert hangout.

Their musical meeting point was the hope-filled and sensitive songs of Carole King, one of the most successful songwriters and recording artists of the last 50 years and easily one of the top female artists of the last half century.

It's not exactly a musical marriage made in heaven, this Goldman/Lambert thing. It's more like a work-in-progress. Goldman said after Thursday's 1-hour, 12-song set that she's never really worked with a band like Lambert's (augmented by the lyrical, articulate bass playing of Greg Gonzalez) and sometimes it was obvious.

The opening song, "Smackwater Jack," one of several of King's landmark "Tapestry" album, didn't really mesh together. The band, which included veteran John "J.D." Davis on drums, sounded pretty fired up and raring to go. Goldman, however, sang it lounge style, which would have been fine with that kind of band, but not this one. It begged for a rock vocal approach.

It was pretty much uphill from there. Goldman's vocal range is somewhat limited, and her version of "(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman" tested those limits a bit.

But she has a pleasant and at times quietly strong voice that excelled on the songs to which it was better suited, like the less obvious "Oh No Not My Baby." She was particularly impressive on ballads like "It's Too Late" and "You've Got a Friend" and a dramatically slowed version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?"

Any musical incongruities at the start slowly melted away. Goldman is nothing if not a seasoned pro, an entertainer who knows how to work a room (a room with a lot of friends and acquaintances; I saw City Manager Joyce Wilson, El Paso Museum of Art Director Michael A. Tomor and Realtor Janice Windle there, among others).

There's an effervescence about her that fit snugly with the band's musical exuberance.

This particular group of musicians stole the show a few times, particularly on a forceful, unique take of "I Feel the Earth Move" and the less obvious "Being At War With Each Other," on which the idiosyncratic Lambert hammered out a circular riff on the neck of his guitar, Ricardo Amaya's percussion percolated in the background and Gonzalez elevated things with a busy and flawlessly executed solo.

The real golden moments were when the band gently nudged her out of that comfort zone and she responded in kind, which was the case on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" (the only non-King composition in the set), a song with which Goldman was clearly comfortable. But she but also pushed herself on it more than on any other song — and got some friendly help on the "woo-woo-woos" by some of the women in the sold-out crowd of about 100.

No matter the ups and downs, the songs that King wrote, either herself or with former husband Gerry Goffin, were the real stars Thursday night. The '60s idealism of a couple of them sounded dated, sure, but King always writes with such heart, sincerity and optimism, a spirit that both the musicians and the singer served with a certain reverence.

This relationship is all about one man's musical restlessness and one woman's willingness to trod new ground. There's a lot of room to grow here, no doubt. But it'll be interesting to see where they take it.

 

Music update: Zechs Marquise, Fountain Theatre, 'Rocky Horror'

El Paso psych rockers Zechs Marquise have announced a Sept. 27 release date for their second studio album, "Getting Paid."

The nine-song collection was written by recording the percussion first, with each member adding a layer after that. Once it was pieced together, they recorded it live at the west side home that drummer Marcel Rodriguez Lopez and his bassist brother, Marfred Rodriguez Lopez, share.

The song titles are "Getting Paid," "Lock Jaw Night Vision," "Static Lovers," "The Heat, The Drought, The Thirst and The Insanity," "Time Masters," "Guajira," "Everlasting Beacon of Light," "Crushin' It!" and "Mega Slap."

The band, which played the Neon Desert Music Festival on April 30, is currently doing dates across the country with Rx Bandits and Maps & Atlases.

Bandits' singer-guitarist Matthew Embree and El Paso's Sonny Baker contributed vocals to the CD.

There's a teaser video of songs from the album on their website, zechsmarquise.com.

• Mesilla's Fountain Theatre says it's your move. It's bringing in chess players Lior Lapid of Albuquerque and Peter Goodman of Las Cruces to take on all several challengers at 6:45 p.m. Aug. 5-8 to coincide with its 7:30 p.m. shows of "Queen to Play," a 2009 French film in which Kevin Kline plays an American doctor who helps nurture his housekeeper's new and growing interest in the game.

Lapid will play Aug. 5-6, with Goodman playing Aug. 7-8.

The theater also will host filmmaker Nicholas Eliopoulos to talk about his movie, "Mary Pickford, The Muse of the Movies," which will be shown at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 20. Tickets, which go on sale Aug. 1, are $3 for members, $10 for nonmembers.

The funky adobe theater just off the plaza tentatively has booked "Bride Flight" for the week of Sept. 2, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" for the week of Sept. 9, "Beginners" for the week of Sept. 23.

It also announced Cinematinees of John Sayles' "Matewan" (Sept. 3), "Flow: For the Loe of Water & Gasland" (Sept. 10), "The Robber" (Sept. 17), "The Cheyenne Social Club" (Sept. 24), "Paint Your Wagon" (Oct. 1), "Cross Creek" (Oct. 8), "Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time" (Oct. 22) and "The Concert" (Oct. 29).

• Get out your bodices and boas, NMSU's American Southwest Theater Company will show "The Rocky Horror Picture" show at 8 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Hershel Zohn Theater. It's cosponsored by NMSU's Sexual and Gender Diversity Resource Center.

Admission is $6; costumes welcome. Prop bags will sell for $4.

Call 575.646.4515 for more info.

 

Gratuitous plug: Dirty River Boys in Lone Star Music mag

There's a story about El Paso's Dirty River Boys in the July/August issue of Lone Star Music  magazine.

I should know. I wrote it.

It's my second story for the New Braunfels magazine, part of the Lone Star Music store and musical repository.

The mag, which is edited by former El Pasoan (and fellow Eastwood High School grad) Richard Skanse, is hard to find around here.

If you'd like to read the story, click this link: 

https://www.lonestarmusic.com/magazine/mag_html/dirtyboys.html

Concert update: Michelle Valles, 'Cowboys & Aliens,' Ed Ivey, SCMF, Dusty Low, mariachi and more

Michelle Valles, a KTSM anchor in the '90s, will be taking a "Ride" to our area next month.

Valles will play multiple roles in the Asleep at the Wheel musical, "A Ride with Bob," about  Texas swing king Bob Wills, when it returns to the Spencer Theatre in Alto near Ruidoso at 8 p.m. Aug. 25-26 and 2 and 8 p.m. Aug. 27.

It was co-written by her boyfriend, AATW frontman Ray Benson.

“I play a flapper in a Bonnie and Clyde scene, a hoochie coochie girl in a medicine show, a backup country singer, a 1930s mother, and a Hollywood Director’s assistant, just to name a few,” she said in a press release.

Valles left KTSM in the '90s to work in TV news in Austin. She made her debut in the Wills show earlier this month in Galveston. She also has a role in the movie "When Angels Sing," which stars Harry Connick Jr., due this December.

Go to spencertheater.com for ticket info.

In other show news:

• CABoots, the local bootmakers who supplied the last three "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, also made cowboy boots for the sci-fi Western "Cowboys & Aliens," starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, opening July 29. 

"I'm excited for that one," said Patrica Viescas Sanchez, who owns the company with husband Joey Sanchez, a fourth-generation bootmaker and lead singer of disco revivalists Fungi Mungle.

She said the filmmakers ordered between 50 and 100 pairs of boots for the 19th century-set Western, in which an Arizona town is invaded by creatures from outer space. It's based on a graphic novel.

The company has a customer named Daniel Craig, but she's not sure if it's the actor. "I don't believe it's the actor, but he's this mysterious character who orders the same boots, two pairs at a time, every six months," she said. "He doesn't tell us who he is and the delivery address changes."

• From Pigs to Monkeys. Speaking of homecomings, prodigal son Ed Ivey returns to El Paso to play with his band, San Francisco's Brass Monkey Brass Band, at this week's Music Under the Stars free concert at 7:30 p.m. July 31 at the Chamizal National Memorial.

Ivey was a founding member of the Rhythm Pigs in the 1980s, one of the city's first punk bands. The group relocated to San Francisco, and the Clint native settled there in 1992. He last played here two years ago at the defunct Uncle Paulie's, followed by some recording at Sonic Ranch. It was a 10-year gap before that.

Ivey plays tuba in the eight-member Brass Monkey, which specializes in New Orleans-style jazz.

• Paul Van Dyk is the biggest name among the additions to the first Sun City Music Festival, an electronic music festival Sept. 3-4 at Cohen Stadium. He joins the previously announced Armin van Buuren and Wolfgang Gartner.

Also added: Showtek, Cookie Monsta, Sander van Doorn, Andy C, Gabriel & Dresden, Chris Lake, Martin Solvieg, Funkagend A and Markus Schulz.

Promoter SMG Events plans to have 30 DJs and electronic acts over the two-day festival.

Tickets are $36 GA for each day, $50 VIP (21 and older), and $63 GA, $99 VIP for a weekend pass, on sale at groovetickets.com, All That Music & Video and the Headstand.

• TownSquare Media's Mexican Food World Cook-Off, which pits spicy delights by local culinary types, returns July 31 to Wet 'n' Wild Waterworld. Read Dave Burge's story about it in Saturday's paper.

One of the more unusual aspects of the cook-off is the Battle of the Rock 'n' Roll Mariachis, a battle of the bands in which mariachi groups play rock classics.

Mariachi Ilusion, who'll go on at 1 p.m., will  play a medley that includes "Jailhouse Rock" and "Wipeout."

They'll be followed by: Mariachi Feminil Flores Mexicanas, 1:45 p.m., who'll perform a medley of Heart songs ("Barracuda" mariachi style, got to like that); Mariachi Espuelas de Plata, 2:30 p.m. (Pink Floyd medley); Mariachi Zacatecano, 3:15 p.m. (music TBA); and Mariachi Los Arrieros, 4 p.m. (their medley includes Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody").

The finals will be at 5:30 p.m. Area band teachers will judge this cutthroat (kidding) event.

Festival admission is $15 in advance, which includes rides, on sale at Western Beverages stores.  They're $20.99 ($18.99 for kids) at the gate.

• TownSquare station KLAQ has booked Halestorm and Aranda (who've played a few Q events) for its KLAQ Barbeque on Sept. 4 at Western Playland. No ticket info yet.

• El Paso country rockers Dusty Low will toast their new album, "Go For Broke," with a CD release party at 9 p.m. July 30 at the Riviera.

The band consists of brothers Jesse, Sam and Zebo Sullivan, Gilbert Uribe and Jamie Van Riper. They play the Riviera pretty regularly.

I caught Jesse and Sam Sullivan playing covers with an impromptu group called the Brothers Sullivan All Stars recently and was mighty impressed. They did songs like Them's "Gloria" and even Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Takin' Care of Business" but did their own takes on them, complete wiht some tasty trumpet licks. Pretty refreshing. Anxious to hear the CD.

• To promote its Aug. 5 opening of the Southern-fried comedy "The Red Cake War," the El Paso Playhouse is having a red velvet cake baking contest from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Aug. 6.

They've extended the deadline to 5 p.m. July 29.

It's essentially a fair that includes the cakes and arts and crafts.

The entry fee is $25 for artists and crafters, $35 for bakers and bakeries, which includes booth space.

Call 532.1317 or email elpasoplayhouse@sbcglobal.net for more info.

• Accrassicauda, the American heavy metal band of Iraq expatriates managed by former El Pasoan Rachel Martinez, returns to House of Rock Live on July 29.

The band played here for the first time on May 27, and appeared at a free showing of "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," the documentary in which the five-piece is featured.

• Radio La Chusma opens a new series of free concerts at Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino on Aug. 4. The Latin reggae rockers go on at 8 p.m. in the parking lot.

Called the Sizzling Summer Nights Outdoor Concert Series, it includes the Vibe on Aug. 11 and 25, Fungi Mungle on Aug. 18.

• "8 Murders a Day," Las Cruces documentarian Charlie Minn's look at the Juarez bloodbath, will be shown at 4 p.m. July 30-31 at The Percolator. He'll do a Q-and-A after each show. Admission is $5.

• Hard to believe that comic rockers Green Jelly have been around 30 years. The group — it's pronounced "green jello" — cofounded by Bill Manspeaker in 1981 plays Lips Lounge at 9 p.m. Aug. 3. The Rusty Bishops open. It's $5 at the door. It's an 18-and-older show.

 

 

 

 

 

Concert update(d): Ward releasing EP collection, playing Percolator

Jim Ward will mark the release of a new, two-CD collection of his three EPs with a performance at 8 p.m. Aug. 2 at The Percolator.

Ward said he'll be backed by righthand man and multi-instrumentalist Gabe Gonzalez and The Lusitania, whose "Rain and Rivers" Ward produced.

Mexicans at Night and Johnny Costello will open.

It's $10 at the door.

Small place, might want to get there early.

That's the same day he'll release a new album that rounds up all three of the former At the Drive-In and Sparta guitarist's acoustic EPs, plus six electric versions of some of those songs, on his own Tembloroso Recordings label.

The title's a mouthful: "Quiet In the Valley, On The Shores The End Begins & The Electric Six." It features all 14 songs from 2007's "Quiet," 2009's "In the Valley, On the Shores" and this year's "The End Begins," plus electric versions of "Take It Back," "Mystery Talks," "Coastlines," "Broken Songs," "My Town" and "Decades."

El Paso's Zach Passero directed a video for the first single, a compelling electric version "Broken Songs," which features vocals from Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara. It debuted on AOL's "Music Spinner" last month and is currently available for viewing on My Old Kentucky Blog.

The song, which deals with Ward's ambivalence about commercial success versus art ("well I don't find success interesting as art"), depicts him digging into the desert sand with a pick and shovel, juxtaposed with artier images of him standing rigidly and singing as shards of multi-colored light (courtesy of artist Kelsey Brookes) spray from Ward's head.

Ward recently played some shows in Denver, Bozeman  and Calgary. The Percolator gig kicks off a 17-city, monthlong tour with Gonzalez and the Lusitania, with three shows in Australia and the rest in cities such as Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Chicago and Austin, where the tour ends Sept. 3 at the Mohawk.

An East Coast tour is expected to follow.

Check him out at tembloroso.com.

 

 

Concert update: K-Ci and Jo-Jo; Jeff Allen

R&B siblings Cedric (K-Ci) and Joel (Jo-Jo) Hailey, who were pretty big in the late 1990s, head to the Coliseum for a Sept. 9 show.

The duo, formerly one half of Jodeci, scored major hits in the late '90s and early '00s with "All My Life," "Crazy" and "Tell Me It's Real."

Now in their early 40s, they haven't had a chart hit in nearly 10 years, but had a reality show last year that dealt with their battles with the bottle, which they've apparently put behind them.

Tickets are $25.50-$50.50, plus service charges, on sale at 10 a.m. July 25 at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

In other concert news:

• Christian comedian Jeff Allen performs at 6 p.m. Sept. 1 at the First Assembly of God in Las Cruces.

Tickets are $10, plus service charges, on sale at 10 a.m. July 25 at Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

 

Guest concert review: Dylan on Dylan

I've had the good, and sometimes bad fortune of seeing Bob Dylan perform many times on his so-called "Neverending Tour," going back to the early '80s when I first saw him in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Since then, I've seen the man, the myth, the legend in various types of venues, from 20,000-seat arenas to a 16,000-seat amphitheater to a sweaty, thousand-seat club (one of the best Dylan shows I've ever seen).

But I haven't seen him in Albuquerque, which is where Dylan Rutter (yes, as in that Dylan), saw the bard of rock 'n' roll on July 21. Dylan Rutter grew up around Dylan's music, but he's relatively new at writing about it, which ain't easy.

He's a student at Texas Tech — where I studied journalism — and a staff writer for its Daily Toreador. He's also new at reviewing, so I thought I'd give him this forum to wax poetic about the show. I'll give him a few pointers later.

Here's what he had to say (with a few minor changes here and there):

By Dylan Rutter

Bob Dylan played an amazing concert at the Hard Rock Pavilion in Albuquerque, N.M., on July 21. It wasn’t sold out, but the smaller audience added a more personal feel to the large outdoor venue. 

The crowd waited with great anticipation until and his band finally came out. He was wearing a black cowboy suit, trimmed with red lining from his collar to his legs, and one of his signature wide-brimmed hats. The band wore matching gray suits.

Typical of Dylan, he didn't speak as they began to play, slightly late, around 8:05 p.m. , starting the show strongly with “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” which quickly got the eager crowd moving and singing along. 

There were a few slight mistakes and slip-ups along the way, but when the band was in sync, which was most of the time, it created a momentum that swept across the crowd like wildfire.

He sang “Visions of Johanna” like an old love song; at a slower, hypnotizing pace that emphasized the emotion in his ragged voice. “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” was played smooth and relaxed. “Tangled Up In Blue” was another standout.

Others had more more energy, like “Beyond Here Lies Nothin,’” with Dylan on guitar, a rare treat these days.

The show's first half was more of a slow build. Once the set reached the midway point with “Summer Days,” Dylan and his tight band really kicked into gear, the crowd matching their energy with cheers, dancing and singing. 

There truly were many great moments throughout the show. Dylan was clearly in high spirits, smiling most of the time as he sang, treating us to several harmonica solos, some guitar (something he used to play a lot through most of his career) and some very loose, confident keyboard playing. He often toyed with the crowd,  playing keyboards with one hand, smiling at the crowd and striking a few classic Dylan poses.

He also channeled his inner crooner on some songs, which added great character to the show. Whenever he approached the microphone with just a harmonica, the crowd knew it was in for a treat. 

The most powerful song of the night, the one with which he closed the regular portion of the set, was “Ballad Of  A Thin Man,” with Dylan on harmonica and vocals. It was played at a half-time-like tempo, with dark, somber lighting projecting giant shadows of Dylan and the band. The echo effect on Dylan’s voice was the icing on the cake. Every time he said, “Do you … Mister… Jones," it shot chills down my spine, and probably a few thousand others'. 

He returned for the first encore, offering a simple, “Thank you friends,” then lit into “Like A Rolling Stone,” which the crowd went nuts for. Dylan introduced his band before the last song of the encore, the only time he really acknowledged the audience, quickly jumping into “All Along the Watchtower.”

It seemed like that was going to be it.  A few people began gathering their things and making their ways to the exit as the crowd continued to roar its approval. A second encore, an amazing version of “Forever Young,” ended the show on a perfect note. The show ended with the band walking wordlessly to the middle of the stage for a bow.

It was entertaining from start to finish. There were some mistakes, but they didn't take away from the show, they added to it, giving it a more human feel than a pre-programmed one. And for a few hours, it seemed everyone there, from the graying hippies to the college kids, were forever young.

 

 

Concert update: PCFF info fixed, EPO updated

I never learn. Never write when you're sick as a dog. I posted a couple of blogs a few days ago while a cruddy summer cold was creeping in.

As a result, I got the dates of the Plaza Classic Film Festival free concerts and movies mixed up.

Aztec Zodiac goes on at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 5 in the Arts Festival Plaza, followed at 9 p.m. by "The Song Remains the Same."

Mexicans at Night go on at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 6, followed by "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" at 9.

The Lusitania plays at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12 in the Arts Festival Plaza, followed by "The Last Waltz" at 9 p.m. on the inflatable screen.

Leah and the Moonlighthers, a classy Austin jazz band whose guitarist, Aaron Goldfarb, is from El Paso, plays at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 13, followed by "Monterey Pop" at 9 p.m.

The Moonlighters, by the way, will play a free show at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at Ardovino's Desert Crossing, which is a great place to hear their intimate, Steely Dan-esque jazz-pop.

Also, an El Paso Opera official said there's a simple reason why tickets for its March production of "The Marriage of Figaro" are on sale but its October production of "West Side Story" is not.

An illness (sound familiar?) played a role in posting them.

Look for "West Side Story" tickets to go on sale at 10 a.m. July 25 at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800-745.3000.

The musical will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7-8 and 2 p.m. Oct. 9 at the Plaza.

According to the EPO website, tickets are $20, $40, $55, $70, $85 and $90, plus service charges, with a 10 percent discount for seniors 55 and older.

"Figaro" will be at 7:30 p.m. March 15  and 17 and 2:30 p.m. March 18 at UTEP's Magoffin Auditorium.

Those tickets are on sale now. They're $20, $30, $45, $55, $70, $85 and $90, plus service charges, at the same locations, with discounts for military and groups of 10 or more.

Concert update: Frank Dove. Tom Russell, Dan Lambert, Explosions and more

Frank Dove, who led some of El Paso's top country bands — and bars — will be remembered with a jam session from 4-8 p.m. Aug. 14 at the Edge of Texas.

Dove led bands such as the Country Tones and Sundowners, and backed the likes of Willie Nelson and Tom T. Hall when they used to pass through town. He also owned the Melody Ranch, Red Dog Saloon and Cabaret, back when country was a big part of the cultural fabric here.

Dove was 77 when he died of kidney cancer on May 8.

Sweetwater, Tim Thompson and others will play the jam. A PA system, amps and trap set will be set up for other musicians who'd like to pay tribute the way Dove would have liked it — musically.

In other concert news:

• No word on any local or area shows by El Paso-based folk singer-songwriter Tom Russell when his tour in support of forthcoming album, "Mesabi," but you can hear him the music Russell composed for "Two Lane Blacktop" director Monte Hellman's first film in 21 years when "Road to Nowhere" shows at Mesilla's Fountain Theatre at 1:30 p.m. July 30, part of its CineMatinee series. 

"(Tom's) song 'Touch of Evil' moved me so much I used it as an example of emotion in my directing class at CalArts," Hellman has said. "When I was preparing my movie, 'Road to Nowhere,' Tom was the only composer/singer I considered."

The soundtrack includes the title cut and "Roll the Credits," which are featured on the new "Mesabi" CD.

• Explosions in the Sky, the Texas instrumental band that cut new album "Take Care, Take Care, Take Care" at Tornillo's Sonic Ranch, will play a free show with Twin Sister in Marfa's Viscaino Park on Sept. 15.

It's being presented by Ballroom Marfa, which just got a $250,000 grant from the NEA to turn the park into a combination outdoor concert and movie space.

• Our own musical adventurer, guitarist Dan Lambert, still touting his sterling "Double Drum Trio" album (also cut at Sonic Ranch), liked doing a show with singer Laura Tate Goldman so much last spring that he's doing another.

Lambert's trio will team up at 6:30 p.m. July 28 at the Magic Pan.

It's a dinner show, with dinner served first, then the performance. 

Cost is $34.95 and includes a dinner of salad, stuffed flank steak with marinara sauce, rice pilaf, veggies and taramisu.

Call 581.2121 for reservations.

• LA singer-songwriter Rich McCulley will play a free, acoustic show at 6 p.m. July 21 at the Riviera (great potato tachos and machaca there). 

His "Forget It All Again" was featured on "Grey's Anatomy," and he's cowritten other songs featured on shows such as "Cold Case," "Men in Trees" and "Cathouse."

He's going to be here, by the way, to meet the family of his wife, Anna Maria Rosales. The couple's son was born in April.

• Pitbull, who'll be at the Don Oct. 15 with Enrique Iglesias (just saw him again in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico:), is among the performances on Univision's 8th annual "Premios Juventud" youth awards show airing live at 6 p.m. our time on July 21.

Prince Royce, who's also on the Iglesias bill, also will appear, along with Ne-Yo, Daddy Yankee, Ricky Martin, Wisin y Yandel, Fanny Lu and Reik.

• Houston's Manichean plays the Tequila Garage Bar at 9 p.m. July 22. They'll be joined by Las Cruces' Lawrence Tenorio and El Paso's Jamie Hernandez and Eddie Tarin Band.

It's free for 21 and over, $5 for 18-20, at the door.

• Cruces bluegrass singer-musician Steve Smith will play a benefit for NM State's KRWG TV and radio stations at 7 p.m. July 23 at the Rio Grande Theatre.

He'll be joined by Chris Sanders, fiddler Nate Lee, guitarist Tim May and banjo player Bill Evans.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door; $7.50 in advance, $10 door for 12 and under.

• The Museums and Cultural Affairs Department's Dancing in the City series continues this weekend with local rockabilly cats Hillside Gamblers performing at 8 p.m. July 23 in the Arts Festival Plaza.

As always, they'll be preceded at 7 p.m. by a dance lesson.

MCAD also plans to take part in National Dance Day on July 30 with a choreographed group dance at 7 p.m. It will be filmed and submitted to TV's "So You Think You Can Dance," whose exec producer and judge Nigel Lythgoe (of "American Idol" fame) instigated the national celebration.

Salsa band Havana Son will headline that night, the last in this year's expanded and second annual series.

Shundo Dance Studio will choreograph the group dance.

Admission to Dancing with the City events is $6 per person $10 per couple, and includes a dance lessons.

Call 541.4481 or go to elpasoartsandculture.org with questions.

• MCAD's Music Under the Stars series continues, btw, with San Francisco's Rupa and the April Fishes, who toss in elements of Latino, African American, Pacific islander and Asian music.

They'll perform a free concert at 7:30 p.m. July 24 at the Chamizal National Memorial.

Remember: no alcohol is allowed (which has hurt attendance this year).

• Joy Zalkind, a flutist for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, is putting together a recital for July 31 that will raise money for the Alzheimer's Association.

Zalkind, whose grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's, will be part of a team that will raise money for the association for the Sept. 4 Run to Remember in NYC, a 9/11 10th anniversary event,

The concert is at 4 p.m. July 31 at St. Mark's Church, 5005 Love Road.

It's a freebie, but donations will be accepted.

She'll be joined by EPSO violist Mary Ellis Moran, double bassist Brianna Goldberg and bassoonist Cara Luffey, Juarez Symphony trombonist Albert Licon and Las Cruces Symphony flutist Katie Tomicek.

The program will includes pieces by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Mendelssohn and the premiere of a piece called "Diversions," for flute and trombone, by Howard Buss.

• Malena Cano's Teatro de El Paso will perform the Charles Laurence comedy "Mi Amiga La Gorda (My Fat Friend)" at 7 p.m. July 29-30 at the Chamizal National Memorial Theater.

She'll play Vicki, the title character. The cast also includes Carlos E. Ayub, who is directing, Claudio Gonzalez and Gerardo Valles.

Admission is free. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

• Las Cruces filmmaker Charlie Minn, whose Juarez doc "8 Murders a Day" has been making the rounds, will have one final set of shows of his "A Nightmare in Las Cruces," about the notorious bowling alley massacre there, at 7 and 9 p.m. July 23 and 2 and 4 p.m. July 24 at the Fellini Film Cafe.

Lions Gate has picked up the film, he said.

He'll do a Q-and-A after each show.

Admission is $5, with a $5 minimum required on food or drinks.

• Dave Koz, who'll return with the latest edition of his Christmas show on Dec. 18 at the Plaza Theatre, recently released his video for "This Guy's in Love With You," a cover of the Herb Alpert classic that appears on Koz's "Hello Tomorrow" album.

It features an appearance by Alpert and a "love mob," in support of what the openly gay saxophonist calls "marriage equality."

You can watch it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alJMniahEIc.

• Ronnie Wood recently told London's Daily Standard that the Rolling Stones are planning what Pollstar described as a "series of events" to mark their 50th anniversary next year, including a show at London's Hyde Park.

They played to an estimated 500,000 there in 1969, shortly after founding member Brian Jones' death. It was Mick Taylor's first show with the band. Wood replaced Taylor in 1975.

"We'll try to recapture the old camaraderie. I know Keith is fully supportive, as are the rest of the Stones," he is quoted as saying. "We'll see what we can do as a unit. Playing Hyde Park would be fabulous."

Mick Jagger's busy with his new supergroup, SuperHeavy, whose musical polyglot of a debut album comes out Sept. 20. He's be coy (surprise) about touring. Keith Richards has said he's working on new music with drummer Steve Jordan and his sideband, the X-Pensive Winos, all of which could be out before the big 5-0.

There's a fun interview with Stones sideman and Lubbock legend Bobby Keys, btw, in the May/June issue of Lone Star Music magazine (just got my copy).

 

 

Z