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By Dan Mayfield
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Wednesday, 27 May 2009 13:27 |
For some folks, and you know who you are, a CD collection isn’t complete without a few Animal Collective discs. Animal Collective’s music seems to attract a rabid fan base that will subject you to the group’s music at parties, at home, in the bedroom and in car trips — relentlessly. Animal Collective’s music goes from danceable pop ballads to avant-garde, noise and electro clash in as many songs. Whatever you want to call it, once you hear it, you'll probably become a fan, too. Animal Collective will perform at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 1, at the Sunshine Theater, 120 Central S.W. Tickets are $23 through www.SunshineTheaterLive.com.
Lucinda Williams, whose music spans blues, rock, folk and country, is the headliner in the first major concert of the summer season at Santa Fe’s Paolo Soleri Amphitheater. Williams, a Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, has said that her latest album, “Little Honey,” has “more happy moments” because she’s in a new and different phase of her life. But it doesn't matter if Williams is happy, sad, or indifferent her songs are some of the gems of modern songwriting. Lucinda Williams will perform with The Flatlanders and Ryan Bingham at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 1 at the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater, 1501 Cerrillos Road, in Santa Fe. Tickets are $38 or $61 by calling (505) 988-1234, or through www.ticketssantafe.org.
Get your team and your floating, well, whatever, and get ready for the 2009 Great Race Down the Rio Grande. Bring a canoe, kayak or better yet any kind of homemade raft to the 13-mile event and race down the river on Saturday, May 30. Registration is $25 to participate, but it’s free to watch. Rafts can be — and usually are — made of almost anything that floats, from old refrigerators to bathtubs. Launches begin at 8 a.m. at the Alameda Bridge. All rafts and boats finish at the South Diversion Channel on Valley High Road SW at noon. Call 311 for more information.
Now that bluegrass seems to be the hip new music to listen to, get on down to the Santa Fe Brewing Co. on Tuesday, June 2, to see John Cowan, one of the most innovative newgrass players around. Starting with Sam Bush and Bela Fleck, he helped introduce a new generation to bluegrass. Tickets to the John Cowan Band show are $10 at www.ticketssantafe.com or by calling (505) 988-1234 or $12 at the door.
“The Full Monty” movie was a huge hit, so much so that was inevitable that a Broadway version would crop up. Well, it did and it was such as success that the Albuquerque Little Theater is doing it's own version of the play. It's fun, musical, and they guys do show the full monty, so it's not for the little ones. The play starts its run this weekend with shows at 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., through June 14 at the Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW. Tickets are $22 for the general public, $20 seniors, $18 students. Tickets are available in advance by calling the ALT box office at 242-4750 or online www.albuquerquelittletheatre.org
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 27 May 2009 13:37 )
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By Dan Mayfield
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Wednesday, 20 May 2009 13:59 |
Saturday’s Q-Jam music festival isn’t just about music. Q-Jam is the city of Albuquerque’s annual environmental sustainability fair and a chance to learn about recycling and the environment and check out some green exhibits. But, of course, the music is a big part of the annual event at Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza. The Gin Blossoms will headline the all-day music fest. Though the band nearly disappeared in the late 1990s, it reunited in the early part of this decade, and released “Major Lodge Victory” in 2006. Andy Davis, who will kick off the music portion of the event at 2 p.m., has been compared to Billy Joel and Paul Simon. Carrie Rodriguez may have started as a fiddle player, but it’s her voice that’s turned her into a star. Concerts will be from 2 to 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, at Harry E. Kinney Civic Plaza Downtown, between Marquette and Tijeras NW on Third NW. Free. Call 311 for more
My favorite car show of the year is always the Rumbler Thunder show, where all the hot-rodders bring out their special rides. These aren't trailer queens. The Rumblers car club brings out the home-built modifed rat-rods and 1950s style hot rods. The Atomic Cantina will host punk and rock all night. The Rumbler Thunder #9 will start at 6 p.m., Saturday, May 23 on Gold Avenue, from Third to Fourth streets, with music at Atomic Cantina, 315 Gold SW. Free. $10 to enter a car. Visit www.rumblersabq.com
Little Big Town gave it the old college try with its first record, “Everything Changes.” The record barely missed the Top 40, but the seeds were sown for the band with four lead singers to make it big. In 2005, the record “Boondocks” made the group superstars. Since then Little Big Town has had a series of hit records, several Grammy nominations and Country Music Association awards. Its newest record, “Good Lord Willing,” was released in 2008, and also was a hit. The band will perform Thursday, May 28, at the Inn of the Mountain Gods resort in Mescalero at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 through www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 883-7800.
After 20 years in the planning, and centuries in the making, New Mexico’s newest museum, the New Mexico Museum of History, opens to the public at noon Sunday, May 24. With events and entertainment at the museum, in the Palace of the Governors’ shady courtyard and on the Santa Fe Plaza, there’s a little something for everyone. Lowriders, mariachi music, flamenco dancing, Celtic pipers, Native American drummers and Chautauqua performers are just part of what you’ll find. The new New Mexico History Museum at 113 Lincoln Ave. includes interactive multimedia displays, hands-on exhibits and vivid stories. Admission will be free on Sunday, May 24, and Monday, May 25.
In 1986, when No Doubt was started, not many people cared about ska music. Sure, there was a group of ska fans in Orange County who listened, but the band was not on the path to the stardom it would achieve in the mid-1990s, when “Tragic Kingdom” hit big. The band’s mix of ska, soul, punk and new wave was the antidote to the grunge scene. But when No Doubt was started by keyboardist Eric Stefani and singer John Spence, the band was only a blip on the radar. The band slogged through several tours, made a few records and worked day jobs at a department store, hoping it make it big. Though the first rule in many bands is don’t date the other members, in No Doubt’s case Gwen Stefani’s relationship with bass player Tony Kanal turned into the band’s highest-selling single. The song “Don’t Speak,” written by Eric and Gwen Stefani, became the real breakout song for the band.
With “I’m Just a Girl,” “Spiderwebs” and “Sunday Morning,” the band became MTV stars. No Doubt will perform with The Sounds and Paramore on Thursday, May 28, at the Journal Pavilion at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $80 through www.livenation.com.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 20 May 2009 14:01 )
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By Dan Mayfield
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Wednesday, 13 May 2009 10:41 |
The Indigio Girls are as different from each other as two women can be, but when they get together the music they make is some of the most inspired of the last 25 years. Amy Ray is the country girl; Emily Saliers likes the city, but Ray's country story-telling songs mix with Saliers rock sensibility like nothing else. The Indigo Girls will perform at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 18 at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St., Santa Fe. Tickets are $34-$49. Call (505) 988-1234 or visit www.ticketssantafe.org. This show will probably sell out, so get your tickets early.
The best in restored and perfectly-preserved vintage and antique cars will come out of their garages on Sunday, May 17. The 25th Annual Albuquerque Museum/New Mexico Council of Car Clubs Automobile Show features hundreds in the museum parking lot along with trucks, motorcycles and vintage camper trailers. This year’s honored vehicle will be the Model T Ford – 100 years old in 2009. Admission is free at 2000 Mountain Road. Call 311 for more information.
New Mexico has played a constant role in space exploration, discovery and understanding. The new exhibit, “Space Frontiers,” at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History will showhow much we've contributed to the space program, from the Very Large Array telescope to Robert Goddard's breakthroughs in rocketry in Roswell, and our own home-grown astronauts, Harrison H. "Jack" Schmitt, Brig. Gen. Susan J. Helms, Col. Sidney M. Gutierrez and Col. Richard M. "Mike" Mullane. The exhibit opens Friday, May 15. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, 1801 Mountain Road NW. Admission is $7, seniors $6, children 3-12, $4. Call 311 for more info.
The Red Elvises come through New Mexico quite a bit, but they always pack a show. The group is a collective of Russian-Americans who met in California in the 1980s and bonded over a love of red-hot rockabilly. Of course, Igor and the Red Elvises take it to a whole new level with pompadours that touch the ceiling and sequined jumpsuits that would make the original Elvis self-conscious. The band will perform two shows in New Mexico, at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 21, at the Santa Fe Brewing Co., 35 Fire Place in Santa Fe. Tickets are $10 in advance through www.ticketssantafe.com and by calling (505) 988-1234, or $20 at the door, and at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave. SW, on Wednesday, May 20. Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets are $17.50 through www.launchpadrocks.com.
The Rio Grande Valley Celtic Festival has been bringing us Celtic and Highland culture for 21 years. This year's event will feature bagpipe competitions, pipe band demonstrations, games, dancers, fiddlers and a whole lot more. The festival will be from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, and from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday, May 17 at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Park. Admission is$10 per day, or $15 for the weekend. For more information, call 275-6633 or visit www.celtfestabq.com.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 13 May 2009 10:44 )
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By Dan Mayfield
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Wednesday, 06 May 2009 13:44 |
The annual New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Mother’s Day Concert is certainly a tradition. This year’s concert at the Rio Grande Zoo Amphitheater, conducted by Roger Melone, will feature the winner of the Jackie McGehee Young Artists’ Competition and more. The concert is free with zoo admission, which is $7, or $3 for children and seniors, and starts at 2 p.m. Visit www.nmso.org or call 311 for more. The zoo is at 903 10th SW.
It's like 1991 again. Jane’s Addiction is reunited and its on tour with Nine Inch Nails this summer. For those that can't remember 18 years ago (18 years already?) both bands helped bring alternative music to the forefront in the 1990s. Before grunge, these guys were letting their freak flags fly. Both bands on the NIN/JA Tour will perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 14 at the Journal Pavilion. Take Rio Bravo exit off I-25, west to Broadway, south on Broadway to Bobby Foster Road. Tickets are $13.66 to $99 through www.livenation.com.
Trivia buffs will love to know that the band that backed Boz Scaggs on his 1976 platinum-selling record “Silk Degrees” went on to form the rock band Toto. After Scaggs scored huge hits in the mid-1970s with songs like “Lowdown” and “Lido Shuffle” and a couple more Top 20s in 1980, he retired from the music business for a while. He resurfaced in the late 1980s and has since become a popular concert performer, mixing his jazz, blues and soul-inspired tunes. Lately, though, Scaggs has turned to the American songbook and recently released the record “Speak Low,” a collection of standards. Scaggs will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Isleta Casino and Resort. Tickets are $20 to $30 through www.isletaeagle.com or at the casino.
When the band Breaker 1-9 started, trucker hats and the blue-collar revelry that became hip about five years ago were nowhere to be seen.
The band was an anomaly. Breaker 1-9 payed homage to C.W. McCall and Dave Dudley, who sang about the rigors of long-haul trucking.
In the 1970s and early ’80s, when most of the Breaker 1-9 band members were growing up, the hip movies were “Smokey and the Bandit” and “Convoy,” and the trucker lingo permeated life. The group was a huge hit locally, though it released only one record in seven years. The standout track on “Breaker 1-9” was a country bluegrass cover of the rapper Nelly’s song “Hot in Herre" (where the bajo player sings the iconic line "I think my butt's getting big"). Though the group worked to build a local following, the guitar player moved to Austin for a stint. Now the members are all back and will perform at a reunion and 10th anniversary show at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 9, at Launchpad, 618 Central SW. Admission is $5. Visit www.launchpadrocks.com for more.
Where would classic rock stations be without REO Speedwagon, Styx and .38 Special? the three bands carried heavier pop rock through the 1970s and 1980s and are still regulars on radio. Sure, it's easy to mock songs like "Lady" by Styx or "I Can't Fight This Feelin''" by REO Speedwagon, but come on, we all know all the words. The three will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, in the first show of the summer at the Sandia Casino Amphitheater, I-25 and Tramway NE. Tickets are $65, $70 and $75 at Ticketmaster outlets (883-7800) or at www.ticketmaster.com.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 May 2009 13:50 )
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