Pullen My Blog

Concert update: MUTS, Art Lewis jam, Big Al benefit, Royalty, EPCC showcase

Not only booze will be at Music Under the Stars this year  — not your own, you'll have to buy it — so will mariachi music.

You may recall that last year the National Park Service, which runs the Chamizal National Memorial festival site, banned alcohol from the premises. This year, it has agreed to allow patrons, whose numbers dwindled precipitously, to buy food and alcohol at this year's free music series.

You also may recall that the traditional ranchera night closer was dropped because no mariachi groups applied for last year's festival, according to the city's Museums and Cultural Affairs Department, which puts on the series that started in 1983.

This year's MUTS will open June 10 with Albuquerque salsa group Ivon Ulibarri and Cafe Mocha and end Aug. 12, with California's Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles headlining.

Local favorite Sunny Ozuna will headline the June 17 show and Austin's inventive Grupo Fantasma follow June 24.

There will be no July 1 show (the series is on Sunday nights). Instead, the El Paso Wind Symphony will perform patriotic music on July 4, followed by the traditional fireworks.

The series continues with a reggae Beatles tribute band, Yellow Dubmarine (July 8), impressive newgrass band the Grascals (July 15), swing band Sarah King and the Smoke Rings (July 22), El Paso cumbia band Tropicalisimo Apache (July 29), and El Paso Motown tribute band the Big Easy on Aug. 5.

It's free, music starts at 7:30 p.m. and free shuttle buses will run starting at 6:30 p.m. from the El Paso Zoo parking lot for those who can't find a spot across the street at Bowie High School.

In other music news:

• Blues singer Kat Crosby and Azucar pianist Fernando Lechuga will take turns hosting the Art Lewis Birthday Jam, which returns at 6 p.m. May 6 at King's X, 4119 N. Mesa.

Crosby and her band will open and invite guitarists and other blues musicians to join in. Lechuga will follow and will invite Latin and jazz musicians to join in. The show will end at 10 p.m.

Local jazz, blues and sax icon Lewis, who died Jan. 31 in Houston, initiated the birthday jam in 1991 as a way to show off local musicians.

Birthday cake will be served — Lewis would have been 76 on April 13 — and Lucy's next door will have enchilada plates for $5.

• Fungi Mungle, Geronimo Black, Cuervo with Charlie Miller, the Dirt Kingz with Mike Nosenzo, Kevin Higgins, Sevnsoul and Bob Oso and the Musically Challenged Orchestra will play the Big Al's Big Benefit Bash from 1-10 p.m. May 6 at Aceitunas, 5200 Doniphan.

It's a fundraiser for local DJ Larry "Big Al" Jones, the longtime KLAQ jock, who is battling cancer and needs help with his medical bills.

Admission is a $5 donation at the door.

• The bill for Friday's album release party by the Royalty will be the same as the one they put together last March 30 at Tricky Falls.

Animal Spirits and the Black Coats will open the 7:30 p.m. show May 4 at Tricky Falls.

Admission is $5 at the door.

The Royalty, which has been touring the western side of the country, will release new album "Lovers" on May 8. It's their second overall and first for Victory Records, the Chicago label home of Between the Buried and Me, Emmure, Otep, Silverstein, Taproot (who opened for Godsmack last Friday at the new Socorro Entertainment Center) and Voodoo Glow Skulls.

The quintet has been playing most of the 12 songs from the album on tour, including that March 30 show. This will be the first time fans can have the new album jangly retro-pop, produced by Cameron Webb, in their hands, four days before the rest of the country can get it.

• The EPCC music department will strut its stuff with its annual "Spring Showcase" at 7 p.m. May 4 at the EPCC Transmountain Forum Theatre.

The EPCC Orchestra, EPCC Chorus and its mariachi group, Mariachi Real de El Paso, will perform.

It's free.

 

Film update: 'El Sicario' at Fountain; PCFF forms film club, adds 'Rocky Horror'

The Fountain Theatre in Mesilla will screen "El Sicario, Room 164" the El Paso-made documentary about a former Juarez cartel hit man, at 1 and 3:30 p.m. May 5.

Las Cruces' Molly Molloy, co-author of the book "El Sicario," will be on hand, theater staff says.

Her co-author, Charles Bowden, may also appear. He's written several books on the border and is co-producer of the film.

"There are NO scenes of violence in the 85-minute film," the theater's Jeff Berg said in a press release. "It is a fascinating monologue by the man in the mask."

Variety called the film, directed by Gianfranco Rosi, as "a minimalist study in maxium violence."

Tickets are $6, $5 for Mesilla Valley Film Society.

Theater officials suggest early arrival since the village will be having Cinco de Mayo festivities nearby.

In other film news:

• The Plaza Classic Film Festival is organizing a film club for teenagers.

Called the Plaza Classic Film Club, it's for younger film fans between the ages of 14 and 18. Membership will be limited to 25 high school students.

The purpose, according to a PCFF announcement, is to "cultivate a new generation of classic film viewers."

Cost is $100. It includes a pass to all festival films, which should number around 80 this year, plus tours of the Plaza Theatre and its projection booth, meet-and-greets with festival guests (who have not been announced yet) and a meeting with festival directors Eric Pearson and Charles Horak.

This year's fifth annual film soiree, presented by the El Paso Community Foundation, will be Aug. 2-12.

Confirmed titles include "The Birds," "Marnie," "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "The Great Escape" and the fourth annual outdoor screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

Call 533.4020 for more information.

 

 

Comic update: Free Comic Book Day, EP CON

All-Star Comics and Games owner Brad Wilson said it's a "lucky" thing that "The Avengers" comes out the day for the 11th annual Free Comic Book Day.

The movie, which features Iron Man and several other Marvel superheroes, officially opens May 4. FCBD, which started in 2002, is always the first Saturday in May, which in this case is May 5.

All-Star Comics, 4406 Dyer, is one of at least three local shops that will give away free comic books this year.

It will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. that day and will limit most people, except kids (the target audience, publishers and shops want to get them into reading and collecting) and regulars, to one free book, while supplies last.

"We usually pass out about 1,000 comics," Wilson says.

He'll have some special guests, including local comic book artist Joe Lopez ("Deathless") and local members of the 501st Legion, the group that "armors up" as Stormtroopers and other members of Darth Vader's army.

Wilson says it's "the busiest day of the year" for his store, with between 300 and 400 customers on that day.

Meanwhile, Asylum Comics and Cards, 5360 N. Mesa Suite L-12, will be handing out free books "while supplies last" from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, according to a release from the store.

The store will have costumed comic book characters on hand from 10 a.m. to noon and 4-6 p.m.

It also will have artists from 656 Comics and Adversary Comix on hand signing and drawing sketches.

Also, Daxie Boy Toys, 126 Shadow Mountain Suite D, will participate from noon-4 p.m.

Walter Jones, one of the original "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," will be on hand to sign autographs and pose for pix during those hours. 

Call All-Star at 562.0443, Asylum at 875.8600 and Daxie Boy at 252.6788.

Meanwhile, the folks behind the third annual El Paso Comic Con, better known as EP CON, will be on hand at Daxie Boy Toys Saturday to pass out a special code good for $10 off tickets during the month of May.

EP CON is sponsoring Jones' appearance at the store. Jones was a guest at a previous EP CON.

Organizer Julian Lawler of Broken Tree Comics, a local publisher, continues lining up more guest appearances, including three cast members from some of the "Twilight" movies.

The convention, which will be Sept. 15-16 at the convention center, has added Edi Gathegi, who played Laurent in "Twilight" and "New Moon" (and Darwin in "X-Men: First Class"), plus Andrea Gabriel and Valorie Curry, who had minor roles in "Breaking Dawn — Part 2."

They are in addition to several previously announced guests, including David Prowse, the actor who provided the body for Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies; Tyler Mane, who played Michael Myers in the 2007 and 2009 "Halloween" movies; Marina Sirtis, who played Deanna Troi in TV's "Star Trek: The Next Generation"; Erin Gray of "Buck Rogers and the 20th Century"; Michael Biehn of "Terminator" and "Aliens"; and Tony Todd of the "Final Destination" movies.

Comic book types who'll participate include Arthur Suydam, Mark Texeira, Joe Jusko and James O'Barr.

There's a preview party on Sept. 14. Tickets for Sept. 15, when many of the guests will appear, are $40. Tickets for Sept. 16 are $25. A three-day pass, which includes the preview show, is $35, on sale at Ticketmaster outlets (including Walmart stores), ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

 

Concert review: Godsmack gets new SEC off to a rockin' good start

Ryan Brassard, who runs the metal/hardcore/punk site Axes to Grind, checked out Friday's Godsmack/Taproot show, the first free concert at the Tiguas' new Socorro Entertainment Center. Here's his review of the show and his thoughts on the new venue. Feel free to share your thoughts on the show and SEC in the comments section.

By Ryan Brassard

The era of free outdoor concerts at Speaking Rock Entertainment Center officially ended Friday night when the Tigua tribe introduced El Paso's newest indoor venue, the Socorro Entertainment Center, located five miles east of Speaking Rock.

This highly anticipated event, featuring Godsmack and Taproot, marked the beginning of a new era in the tribe’s continued efforts to bring free concerts to the Sun City.  As was expected, the Socorro Entertainment Center, or SEC, still requires some work for completion.  The parking lot isn't paved, some of the dressing rooms and offices aren't unfinished, but the concert went off smoothly with no obvious major issues.

The first thing to know — get there early.  The traffic on Socorro Road was congested to say the least.  The parking lot across from the venue has plenty of room, and the SEC staff did a great job controlling the flow of traffic and parking assignments. Until the lot is paved, however, expect a light coat of El Paso dust when returning to your vehicle. 

The size of the SEC is impressive, with a very large area for general admission and an extremely large stage.  Beer stands were located on the sides and the back of the venue, which made it difficult to get in line when the place is packed, as it was Friday night.  

The sound system and acoustics were adequate to say the least, even down to the vocal echo and reverb.  The SEC provided live video on enormous screens on each side of the stage, giving the entire crowd a crisp visual of the stage action.  The amount of speaker cabinets both on stage and suspended from the rafters provided adequate amplification with minimal saturation, even to the furthest corners of the facility. 

Stephen Richards, singer-guitarist for opening act Taproot, called the SEC “ a beautiful venue with a great room, and it sounded amazing.”

Taproot, the alternative/hard rock band out of Ann Arbor, Mich., took the stage at 7:30p.m. to a hail of applause. The group new album, 'The Episodes," in its entirety.  Richards described its as “a story that follows three characters over a Sunday morning period of a couple hours.  The music itself is accompanying the story, almost like a score to a movie.” Taproot received a warm, even excited welcome from the crowd excited for the show’s opening act.   

 The time between sets was the expected 30 or so minutes.  In that time, the venue filled even more, nearing the 10,000 standing-room capacity.  Godsmack hit the stage at 9 p.m. to a hail of cheers. The band wasted no time, opening with an old favorite, "Awake," the title track of its 2000 best-selling album. Singer-guitarist Sully Erna interacted with the crowd throughout the set.  The barricaded buffer between crowd and stage was only four feet, which really got the crowd closer to the action.  The crowd's involvement was incredible, unlike any I had witnessed at the Speaking Rock outdoor venue.

The most impressive part of the show was "Batalla de los Tambores," a dueling drums exhibition and Godsmack concert staple featuring Erna and drummer Shannon Larkin, whose drum platform floated hydraulically toward the front of the stage. Erna emerged seemingly out of nowhere on a second drum set. They settled at center stage, facing each other, blasting out drum beats. The drum battle will be featured on the band's first concert album, "Live & Inspired," due May 15.

“It has been a real privilege to play here in your city," Erna told the throng. “No matter where we go after this, we will always remember El Paso.” 

Godsmack played for an hour and half, and finished their set with another old favorite, “I Stand Alone” off their 2003 release, 'Faceless.'

“You have been the best crowd on the tour thus far,” Erna said, admiring the crowd with a large, genuine smile.  

 Overall, the first event at the Socorro Entertainment Center was a success.  Yes, there are some issues to work out, but it went off smoothly, showing the potential this venue has.  The El Paso crowd was loud and interactive. Several people I talked to said they thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

 

 

 

 

Theater review: Director, cast make a good noise with 'Noises Off'

Reviewer Christopher Goldsmith went to the opening night of UTEP theater's "Noises Off" a couple of weeks ago. Normally, I would have posted his review in this space that weekend and gotten it into the newspaper in time for the second weekend. But I didn't have a normal week last week and failed to accomplish either goal. So, with apologies to him, the theater department and cast and crew, and you, I'm finally posting Chris' review before today's final performance at 2:30 p.m. at the Wise Family Theatre in UTEP's Fox Fine Arts building.

By Christopher Goldsmith

Have you ever been to the greatest restaurant for the finest meal with the best of friends and never wanted your evening to end? This is how I have felt each time I have seen Michael Frayn’s inspired play “Noises Off.”  

I first saw it on Broadway in 1984 and it was so exhilarating that I saved up and saw it again. Each time I have seen it staged and filmed, I have never wanted it to end. I felt the same way at UTEP tonight watching its wonderful production of this comedic masterpiece.

"Noises Off" is a play-within-a-play. We see the actors performing the same scene three different times during its run in three different British cities. It is endlessly fascinating, as we are allowed behind the scenes and the scenery of a forgettable British sex comedy called “Nothin On.” We are permitted to be voyeurs, watching the actors onstage and off. They drink and drive each other mad by using sex, revenge and the surprisingly dangerous misplaced sardine to their fullest comedic affect.

The ringmaster is director Diane Robinson, the obviously gifted UTEP visiting associate professor of movement and voice. Comedy is hard, physical comedy harder still and when you ask a mostly college cast to attempt both British accents and British screwball comedy, trouble could loom behind every rapidly opened and slamming door. Robinson seems a vastly talented and professional treasure which, one hopes, UTEP and El Paso will prize for years to come.

Her nine-member cast clearly put in the long hours demanded by the material and almost universally pulls off the difficult accents, imposing pratfalls and subtle mime required to master this challenging work.  

Raves must first go to Abel Garcia, who perfectly portrays the hilarity of Freddy Fellows, a clueless and vain actor who onstage and off is battered, bludgeoned and bleeds in consistently uproarious ways. The equally gifted actress Angelina Marie Castillo joins the onstage riot as Brooke Ashton, the actress, and Vicky the ingénue who loses her clothing and contact lenses with equal frequency.

Austin High School drama teacher Adam Zarowski effortlessly anchors the first act with his strong performance as the play’s director Lloyd Dallas. Dalton Forrester Gorden is strong as the character Roger Tramplemain and the jealous actor playing him, Garry Lejeune. He has much to do onstage and off.

He and Hannah Celeste Nevarez are the rocks upon which much of the comic chaos is anchored. Ms. Nevarez especially shines in the final third of the play, where she and Samantha Michelle Nava as the housekeeper Mrs. Clackett absolutely steal the show. And though Ms. Nava’s accent drifted early on, her skill endured and by the play’s climax she was wrangling tongue and sardines with equal aplomb.

Rebecca Escobedo makes much of her smaller role as the stage manager Poppy , though for sheer scene thievery from a smaller role, David C. Rout as the drunken actor Selsdon Mowbray simply owns the stage each time he wanders, staggers  or tumbles in.

The play’s set is a character too and its sturdiness and flexibility was terrific testament to the scenic design of Cynthia Esparza and her staff. Fight and Stunt choreographer Damian Dena deserves  credit for the many pratfalls and havoc the actors performed perfectly — and seemed to survive.

The only flaw in this terrific production was the first half of the demanding second act. Here, the exposition, pacing and silent comedy seem rushed.  This could have been far and away the funniest scene in the play and it got a bit lost within one actor's misplaced accent and the too-rapid dialog, actions and mime.

College and local theater can be limited by time constraints. Students and teachers have lives and classes. This production transcends these limitations. The superb directing combined with the talented cast raises the bar  for UTEP and area theater.

 

 

Royalty's Nicole Boudreau talks about making 'Lovers'

Nicole Boudreau says that recording “Lovers,” the Royalty’s first album for a major indie record company, was “like a full-time job.”

“It was basically Monday through Friday. We would start at 9 a.m. and end about 8 at night,” the El Paso retro-pop quintet’s singer said of their month-long recording sessions in Los Angeles.

Of course, there was a little fun on the side.“We had weekends off,” she said. “We got to go to Disneyland and San Diego, enjoy the weekend. Otherwise it was like a normal work week.”

Local fans will be among the first to get their hands on “Lovers” when the band — guitarist Jesus Apodaca, keyboardist Daniel Marin, bassist Will Daugherty, drummer Joel Quintana and Boudreau — headlines a release party at 7:30 p.m. May 4 at Tricky Falls.

The 12-song “Lovers” will be released by Chicago’s Victory Records on May 8. It’s already getting some early buzz for a teaser video of the playful “How I Like ‘Em” and the first two singles, “Bartender,” which is being worked at rock radio, and “I Want You,” which is being aimed at pop and Top 40 formats.

MTV’s Buzzworthy called them the “new queens and kings of garage rock” and Victory publicist Jennifer Gorski said NPR has expressed interest in the new album. The label is trying to position them somewhere between Adele and the Sleigh Bells.

The group isn’t exactly getting a swell head. They traveled to a string of post-recording shows, including five stops at Austin’s South by Southwest festival, by van.

They stayed at a La Quinta near the studio where they cut “Lovers,” their second full-length album. Their days started with a continental breakfast. They hit the hay around 10.

For Boudreau, who writes the lyrics, it was a great way to work “without any distractions,” something they’d never been able to do with their self-released EP and album. “Those took so long because we would be doing it in a closet one day, maybe a studio the other day. It took months just to piece it together,” she said. “Everyone thought we were acting like Van Halen mulling over a record for a year.”

The band had a few producers on their wish list, but Victory paired the group with Cameron Webb, with whom they weren’t familiar. His diverse production credits range from albums for Godsmack, Limp Bizkit and Motorhead to Ben Folds, Silverstein, Social Distortion and Sum 41. Boudreau’s reservations melted away after the first phone call.

“He records several different types of bands,” she said. “He was asking us, ‘What are your influences? What are you going for? Let’s do that to the best of your abilities.’”

He had to navigate what she called “typical band dynamics,” help flesh out the arrangements for the 14 songs they recorded (including new versions of “Every Little Bit,” which made the album, and “Alexander,” which may be released as a B-side) while polishing their ‘60s pop-meets-new wave sound.

“He was almost a counselor for us,” Boudreau said. “He’d say, ‘It’s OK. Explain what you’re feeling.’ We’ve taken that back with us ... instead of talking and getting blue in the face, he’d say play it and tell me why is that better. It’s an open way of talking about it.”

They spent a week in preproduction. Webb used that time to fix problems he heard in the songs. “I wasn’t expecting for us to tackle the actual arrangements of the songs,” she said. “He was challenging us to say things like, ‘Don’t you think this needs a bridge? Is there anything else you want to say in it?’ He was looking at the big picture.”

She said the band was guilty of putting too much reverb on its previous recordings. “We’re infatuated with the Phil Spector wall-of-sound thing and ‘60s girl groups," she said. Webb helped highlight the differences between Boudreau’s Amy Winehouse-meets-Patsy Cline vocals and the band’s poppy instrumentation.

“He’d say, ‘How can we make this glisten?,’” Boudreau recalled.

Webb also wanted to bring out the unique qualities of her soul-dipped voice. “When he listened to our demo, he said, ‘I could tell you’re a good singer, but you need some whiskey, you need more character.’ I was trying to be more careful. I got to let loose and bring more emotion.”

You can hear it on “Lovers,” a series of infectious pop-rock songs about vulnerable young love, heartbreak and betrayal. It balances ballads with rockers, evoking ‘60s pop and early Blondie, built around Apodaca’s jangling riffs and steely leads, Marin’s keyboard accents and Daugherty and Quintana’s lock-step rhythms.

They provide a canvas for Boudreau’s growing palette as a lyricist and vocalist. She’s the girl trolling for love — and wailing about it — on the reggae-tinged rocker “Bartender,” the victim of a mercurial male in “Mr. Hyde,” suffers from her own self-destructive tendencies on the nostalgic “How I Like ‘Em,” is entranced on the breezy “Witchcraft” and plays the jealous outsider on “Please Lie.”

But it’s the album’s spare closer, “Won’t Be Long,” with its acoustic piano accompaniment, that dramatizes just how much the band has grown. It’s about a woman bracing for an inevitable breakup, and Boudreau sings barely above a pained whisper, the sound of real heartbreak.

She's not heartbroken about how things went down in California last February.

“We were sad to leave,” Boudreau said of the recording sessions. “It was such a fun experience.”

 

Send me your Godsmack/SEC reviews

Going to tonight's free Godsmack concert at the new Socorro Entertainment Center?

If so, feel free to post your comments here, email your reviews and photos to me at dpullen@elpasotimes.com or to my Twitter page.

I'll pull together a composite of your reviews on this blog over the weekend.

Let me know what you thought of the concert and especially what you think of the SEC, which makes its debut with tonight's Godsmack/Taproot show.

 

Concert update: Street Fest, Balloonfest, Piolin, Pickler, NDMF, Sun City Pride, La Parada

KLAQ has confirmed the headliners for this year's Downtown Street Fest.

Saliva, Filter and Theory of a Deadman will perform June 29, with Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult and possibly one other act on June 30.

It also will showcase local bands on four other stages.

Fireworks will be featured each night.

It's a July 4th festival, of course, but Independence Day falls on a Wednesday this year, thus the early start.

Meanwhile, tickets are on sale for the Q's annual Balloonfest, which features concerts at Wet-N-Wild Waterworld and a balloon launch from the Santa Teresa Country Club.

The main stage will feature Buckcherry and Dead Sara (who opened for Chevelle Monday at Tricky Falls) on May 26, P.O.D. on May 27 and Hellyeah on May 28.

Tickets are $15 in advance, $30 at the gate or $39.99 for the weekend (including water rides), on sale at 7-11/Fina stores in metro El Paso and Pic Quik stores in Cruces.

Go to klaq.com for more info.

In other festive news:

• Eddie "Piolin" Sotelo, the No. 1 Spanish-language morning show host in the country, will be in town for the Que Buena 97.5 Cinco de Mayo bash from 2-9 p.m. May 5 at Cohen Stadium.

The Piolin Soccer Match Fiesta will include a soccer game pitting the DJs team against a group from the station at 3 p.m. It will be followed by a concert headlined by K-paz de la Sierra and Alex Villareal el Borrego.

It's free, but you've got to get tickets from the station to get in.

His nationally syndicated "Piolin por la Manana" show airs from 6-11 a.m. weekdays on the EP station.

Go to kbna975.com for more info.

• The first Neon Desert Music Festival Battle of the Bands ought to be called the Battle of the Bands and DJs.

Of the 13 acts who'll compete for opening slots on this year's festival, about a fourth of them are turntable specialists.

The free show is at 6 p.m. April 28 at Tricky Falls. Audience members will do the voting, with one act emerging as the winner.

Competing are: DJ Ace, Arom, Avindale, the Joe Barron Band, Emily Davis and the Altar Boys, the Dirty Funk, Sheer Khan and the Space Case, Ligre, Low Luster League, Lunatic, Stereothieves and DJ Angel Valentin and Villain's Kiss.

• Country singer and former "American Idol" contestant Kellie Pickler headlines the Inn of the Mountain Gods at 8 p.m. June 4.

She's touring new album "100 Proof." Pickler's "Tough" is up for female video of the year in the fan-voted CMT Music Awards, which will be announced June 6.

Tickets are $25, $40, $50, $60 and $75, plus service charges, on sale at the box office, Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

• This year's Sun City Pride Festival, which will be June 6-10, has lined up four national acts for its June 9 Streetfest in Cleveland Square park near the history museum.

Singer Chris Willis will headline the show. He's sung for David Guetta and scored No. 1 dance hits with "Gettin' Over You" and "Love is Gone."

Also performing will be female impersonator Derrick Berry, who plays Britney Spears in Frank Marinos Divas Show in Las Vegas and competed on "America's Got Talent," No Doubt tribute band No Duh and Cher impersonator Chad Michaels, who has appeared on "RuPaul's Drag Race."

The festival opens with a sponsor party on June 6 and closes with a pool party at Wet-N-Wild Waterworld on June 10.

Tickets are $40 for all five days or $100 for a VIP pass, which includes free parking, a festival t-shirt, drink tickets and more.

Tickets go on sale May 1 at the Tool Box, 506 N. Stanton, and epscp.org.

• Kiko Rodriguez of Frontera Bugalu will headline the next La Parada party May 4 at the San Carlos Building, 501 Texas.

Birth DFX, Rob Bass and System A and JayTee also will perform.

It starts at 9 p.m.  Admission is 18 and older. Cover is $5.

 

 

 

Concert update: Speaking Rock/SEC, Dream Theater, tattoo fest, Beatles trib and more

Pardon me. I'm doing a little catch up here. I finally hit the proverbial wall over the last couple of weeks (i.e. exhaustion) and haven't been as diligent with the show announcements as I like to be. Been kinda busy.

So, let's catch up, shall we:

• The Tiguas' new Socorro Entertainment Center, which opens April 27 with a free show by Godsmack and Taproot, continues to confirm more shows.

New additions to the schedule include free shows by Blue October and Hinder on May 26 and Stryper and Ratt's Stephen Pearcy on June 2.

These are in addition to previously announced shows by Cafe Tacuba and Mexican Dubweiser on May 5, Calle 13 on May 6, War and Tower of Power (May 11-12), Puddle of Mudd (May 25), Caifanes (June 15), Travis Tritt and the Charlie Daniels Band (June 29), the Summerland tour, with Everlast, Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground (July 4) and Great White, with Slaughter and Keel (July 5).

As we've reported before, Speaking Rock's free outdoor shows move indoors to the SEC beginning Friday.

But Speaking Rock will still do indoor shows at its Spirit Garden bar. Most of them on tribute bands on Thursday nights, but Blackfoot and Indigenous will play there May 26-27.

• Tickets for the Dream Theater/Crimson Projeckt show July 5 at the Chavez Theatre went on sale last Friday. 

They are $31.50 and $52.50, plus SC, on sale at the Plaza box and Ticketmaster.

There are two superfan packages, a $150 tour package, which includes a reserved seat in the first 10 rows and various perks and souvenirs, and a $275 meet and greet package, which includes a reserved seat in the first five rows, a meeting with the band and the other inducements. Those are on sale at Ticketmaster.com.

• Speaking of catching up, did you know that Spanish crooner Roberto Carlos is scheduled to perform here June 17 at the Coliseum?

I never got an announcement about it, but that's par for the course. Promoters around here are terrible about sending out press releases, emails, text messages or whatever to lowly mainstream media types like me (they were much better about it in Detroit).

Anyway, tickets are $37, $57, $77 and $97, plus SC, on sale at the box and Ticketmaster.

• The El Paso Youth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Phillip Garcia will give their annual "Mariachi for Moms" concert at 4 p.m. May 12 at the Coliseum.

Tickets are $15, $25 and $35, plus service charges, on sale at the box office and Ticketmaster.

• Tickets for the Texas Showdown Festival, the tattoo and music festival returning July 13-15 to the Coliseum, are on sale.

They're $20 per day or $35 for a three-day festival pass. Admission is free for kids 12 and under.

This year's festival includes top inkers, models and other attractions, including its most impressive band list yet, including Mushroomhead, Hawthorne Heights and more.

• The Classical Mystery Tour, a Beatles tribute band accompanied by the El Paso Symphony Orchestra, is headed to the Plaza Theatre at 8 p.m. Aug. 24.

Those tickets are $30, $45, $60 and $75, plus SC, on sale at the box office and Ticketmaster.

• Popular kids show characters Phineas and Ferb come to life (well, in costumed form) when "Disney's Phineas & Ferb Live: The Best LIVE Tour Ever!" comes to the Chavez for shows at 7 p.m. Sept. 14, 4 and 7 p.m. Sept. 15 and 1 and 4 p.m. Sept. 16.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. May 1. A presale is going on until 11:59 p.m. April 30.

Tickets are $15, $22, $30 and $40, plus SC, and will be available at the Plaza box and Ticketmaster.

 

Concert update: G. Lo tix go on sale Friday

That June 15 George Lopez show we told you about a few months ago is on.

Tickets for the 8 p.m. show at the Chavez Theatre are $45 and $57, plus service charges, and go on sale at 10 a.m. April 27 at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com and 800.745.3000.

An online presale will run from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.  April 26. Use the password "Vivo."

Don't be surprised if it sells out quickly and he rolls over one or two more shows. Remember that Lopez, who is developing a new sitcom, set a house attendance record at the Don Haskins Center in 2009 (more than 12,000) and that his website once had local shows posted for June 15, 16 and 17.

Currently, only the June 15 show is listed there, but he doesn't have another gig until June 22-23 in Dallas.

The former talk show host recently announced he'll host the reality dating show "Take Me Out" on the Fox network beginning June 7.