Author Archives: Vanessa

MUSIC: GrooveSession to play Riverside, Redlands

GrooveSession is playing Riverside and Redlands. (Contributed Image)

GrooveSession is playing Riverside and Redlands. (Contributed Image)

After a summer tour through the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Ontario’s GrooveSession is back in the Inland Empire with its unique mix of fresh funk, jazz and jams.

The band is playing Lake Alice Trading Co. in Riverside on Friday, Aug. 30 and also starts off a three-month residency at The Mitten Building in Redlands on Thursday, Sept. 5.

GrooveSession has new music and is recording it at Red Barn Studios out in Joshua Tree, with plans to get the new album “California Hurricane” into the hands of its loyal fans.

The Mitten Building gig will be the first Thursday of September, October and November and will feature special guests, too.

8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30, Lake Alice Trading Co., 3616 University Ave., Riverside, $5, 21 and older only.
8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, The Mitten Building, 345 N. 5th St., Redlands, 18 and older only. $3 for those under 21.

Visit GrooveSession on ReverbNation for more information on the group.

Check out this new song from the band, “Hold It Together.”

SAN BERNARDINO: Nocturnal Wonderland lineup released

The crowd listens to Fedde le Grand in the Sahara Tent during the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. (2012/File Photo)

The crowd listens to Fedde le Grand in the Sahara Tent during the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival. (2012/File Photo)

At long last, Insomniac has released the Nocturnal Wonderland lineup, which includes heavy hitters Fatboy Slim, Fedde le Grand, Porter Robinson and more.

The electronic dance music (EDM) fest will happen at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Saturday, Sept. 21. This is the first time Insomniac has held the event at the amphitheater inside Glen Helen Regional Park.  Previously it was held at the National Orange Show in San Bernardino.

Even though Insomniac is best known for its largest fest, Electric Daisy Carnival, Nocturnal Wonderland is actually its legacy festival.

RELATED: Nocturnal Wonderland announces set times

Among the highlights of the fest are EDM legend Benny Benassi, 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival vet Bingo Players, Canadian dubstep artist Datsik, Excision, Kill the Noise, Martin Solveig, Sander Van Doorn and Thomas Gold. (Keep reading for the full lineup).

There will be six stages at the fest, too.

Nocturnal Wonderland is open to guests 18 and older. There is camping available for the festival at the facilities at Glen Helen Regional Park.   General admission tickets are priced at $75, and VIP tickets are also available for guests 21 and older starting at $125, before service fees.

The full lineup is below:

Andy C
Armanni Reign
Bassrush
Benny Benassi
Bingo Players
Bro Safari
Carnage
Crosstown Rebels present Get Lost
Damian Lazarus
Dash Berlin
Datsik
David Steven
Discovery Project
DJ Hype
EDX
Excision
Fatboy Slim
Fedde le Grand
Firebeatz
Francesca Lombardo
Fury w/ MC Dino
Green Velvet
Heroes x Villains
Infinity Ink live
Kill the Noise
Krewella
Lee Burridge
Markus Schulz
Martin Solveig
The Martinez Brothers
Maztek
Mediks b2b Shimon
Myon& Shane54
Netsky
Porter Robinson
Sander van Doorn
Subb-Ann
Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano
Thomas Gold
Umek
Wide Awake Art Car
Xilent

Personally, I’m the most excited for Martin Solveig. He was one of my favorites at Coachella 2012, and I love “Smash.” My favorite track is Big in Japan.

ONTARIO: Lady Antebellum brings tour to arena

Lady Antebellum performs at the 2013 Stagecoach Country Music Festival. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)

Lady Antebellum performs at the 2013 Stagecoach Country Music Festival. (Charlotte Bray/Freelance Photographer)

Lady Antebellum, one of the headliners of the 2013 Stagecoach Country Music Festival, is going back on tour and one of the stops is Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.

The show will happen March 15, 2014 at the arena. Tickets go on sale Oct. 4, 2013, according to the Lady A website.

Kip Moore and Kacey Musgraves, will be the openers.

You have to watch the tour announcement with Lady A’s Charles Kelley impersonating everyone from Lady Gaga to Eddie Vedder. Wait for the Michael McDonald impression.

EPICENTER: Local bands vie for festival spot

The crowd gets doused with water while listening to Thirty Seconds To Mars performs during the Epicenter Twenty Ten music festival at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday, September 26, 2010. (File Photo)

The crowd gets doused with water while listening to Thirty Seconds To Mars performs during the Epicenter Twenty Ten music festival at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday, September 26, 2010. (File Photo)

The Epicenter Festival is celebrating its fifth year on Sept. 21 and the festival (which was once held at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, by the way), is opening up the bill to a lucky unsigned band.

Ernie Ball is sponsoring the Epicenter Battle of the Bands and the winner will get to play the show.

You can enter your band and vote at www.battleofthebands.com through September 13, 2013.

The top 100 “Buzz Rated” bands that sign up for the Ernie Ball Epicenter Battle Of The Bands will be eligible to win, but a panel of judges will pick the winner, who will be announced on Monday, Sept. 16.

We’ve got some local bands leading the pack right now, too, including Assuming We Survive, Midnight Satellites and Grieve for Tomorrow all in the top 10 so far.

Temecula’s Midnight Satellites actually did a PE Live session with us a while back. You can watch it below. If you love local music, don’t forget to sign up for the weekly PE Live newsletter, either.

Here’s the lineup for Epicenter:

The Offspring
A Day To Remember
Bad Religion
Pennywise
Pierce The Veil
All Time Low
Falling In Reverse
The Wonder Years
FIDLAR
New Beat Fund
Plague Vendor

 

RIVERSIDE: Get to know singing sensation Sarah Horn

Sarah Horn, of Riverside, performed with Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, Aug. 23. The video of the performance has gone viral. (Sarah Horn/Contributed Image)

Sarah Horn, of Riverside, performed with Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, Aug. 23. The video of the performance has gone viral. (Sarah Horn/Contributed Image)

The first thing you need to know about Sarah Horn, the Riverside native who has become a worldwide Internet star after a performance with Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, Aug. 23 is that she has an infectious laugh.

Even though she had been up since 5 a.m. and I was the eighth reporter to ask her a million questions about the whirlwind days since their duet of “For Good” has been winning the Internet (because there’s no way that Miley Cyrus MTV VMAs mess should win ANYTHING), Horn was absolutely delightful during our interview at California Baptist University this afternoon.

One of the things I’m always curious about is when artists knew that’s what they wanted to do.

Horn’s response was “It’s something I feel I was created to do.”

RELATED: Teacher’s duet heard ’round the world

After our interview she had to head off to a rehearsal for Riverside Youth Theatre, where she is a former performer and now the resident music director. The group is presenting “Shrek The Musical” at the The Box  at the Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside in November. Horn said it was her first normal activity of the day and she was happy to have it.

You can watch the video of the interview below.

Here are some other fun facts about Horn:

-The only time in her life she hasn’t lived in Riverside was when she was a student at Belmont University in Nashville.
-She saw “Wicked” on Broadway with Chenoweth as Glinda.
-11 years ago, Sarah Horn’s father Gary Horn prayed for his daughter to sing with Chenoweth.
-Right now, her dream role is Fiona form “Shrek the Musical,” but only because she’s already played Maria in “The Sound of Music.”
-Horn hopes her duet with Chenoweth cna be used an an audition tape for local theater productions.
-She is a first soprano.

Read more about Sarah Horn and her background and how the Kristin Chenoweth duet came to be over at the iGuide.

You can get more updates from Sarah directly at her Facebook page.

RIVERSIDE: How Hollywood Bowl video became viral hit

A screen shot of Sarah Horn performing with Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl Friday, Aug. 23. (YouTube/Mike Kestler)

Sarah Horn performs with Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl Friday, Aug. 23. (Mike Kestler/YouTube)

When Riverside vocal instructor Sarah Horn was pulled on stage to sing with Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth at the Hollywood Bowl Friday, Aug. 23, Mike Kestler had no idea what was about to happen.

“I just knew I had to capture whatever it was,” Kestler said, as he filmed his friend performing the duet “For Good” with Chenoweth on his iPhone.

By Monday morning, that video racked up more than 1.3 million views on YouTube and Horn was an even bigger hit than the standing ovation she received at the Bowl Friday night.

VIDEO: RIVERSIDE: Cal Baptist teacher sings with Kristin Chenoweth

Horn and Kestler met at California Baptist University when they sang in the same choir when he was a freshman and she was earning her master’s degree.

When Horn was hired to teach voice lessons last year, Kestler, who starts his junior year and is majoring in music composition and piano, was assigned to be her accompanist.

“When she was up there, my thought was, ‘It’s about time,’ because I’ve seen her dedication and I’ve seen just how hard she pushes herself,” Kestler said.

He pumped his fist in he air as she sang a line with Chenoweth about friendship.

“It was so amazing for me to watch that happening,” Kestler said.

After the show, they were backstage and had a chance to meet Chenoweth.

“I started to realize it was going to be big when immediately after the show people started mobbing Sarah,” Kestler said.

It took them an hour and a half to get out of the Hollywood Bowl.

VIDEO: See Sarah Horn’s performance

When he arrived home, Kestler’s went to post the video to his YouTube channel. It took all night to upload and didn’t appear on YouTube until 8 a.m. Saturday morning.

One of the first comments he saw on the video was someone wanting the video to get 1 million views by September.

“Honestly, I was a little skeptical. I thought maybe just our friends and some of the people at the Bowl would look it up,” he said.

At the end of Saturday, it had 50,000 views and by Sunday night, just before midnight, it hit 1 million.

The spread of the video on social site Reddit launched the video into the realm of viral videos and soon, shows like “Good Morning America” were calling, asking permission to run it.

“She’s very deserving of it and I’m so happy for her,” Kestler said.

REDLANDS: Atreyu’s Brandon Saller to perform at Splash Kingdom

Hell or HIghwater, featuring Atreyu's Brandon Saller, is coming to Redlands. (Tom Hane/Contributed Image)

Hell or HIghwater, featuring Atreyu’s Brandon Saller, is coming to Redlands. (Tom Hane/Contributed Image)

Atreyu drummer Brandon Saller has been through the area a number of times over the years with his solo music.

Now he’s bringing his new band, Hell or Highwater, in which he’s the lead singer, to Splash Kingdom in Redlands on Wednesday, Aug. 28, for a free show.

The band recently released a new EP, “The Other Side.”

Inland rockers Divide The Day, The StillWinter, Hammers N Hearts, No Ones Mercy and T4P are also on the bill.

7 p.m. Wednesday, Splash Kingdom, 1101 California St., Redlands, free, all ages.

RIVERSIDE: Vocal instructor sings at the Hollywood Bowl

Sarah Horn (Contributed Image)

Sarah Horn joined Kristin Chenoweth on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. (Contributed Image)

What music fan doesn’t fantasize about joining a favorite artist on stage? A lucky few actually make it up there under the lights, standing next to their favorite stars, and this weekend, Riverside vocal instructor was one of them.

Sarah Horn, an adjunct voice teacher at California Baptist University, joined Kristin Chenoweth on stage at the Hollywood Bowl on Friday, Aug. 23 to perform the duet “For Good” from “Wicked.”

RELATED: Teacher’s duet heard ’round the world

Horn received huge applause from the crowd in attendance and a video of the performance has gone viral, with more than 600,000 views since it was posted.

VIDEO: RIVERSIDE: Cal Baptist teacher sings with Kristin Chenoweth

Horn, a graduate of Riverside Poly High School, earned a degree from Belmont University in Nashville before getting her masters at Cal Baptist. She had her master’s recital in classical music at Cal Baptist in the spring of 2012. She is also the musical director for Riverside Youth Theatre and has performed at the LifeHouse Theater in Redlands.

Horn posted about her experience on Friday night, too.

Thank you to reader Aaron Norris for Tweeting me about this.

Here’s what people are saying on social media:

SAN BERNARDINO: See photos of Brad Paisley’s performance

Brad Paisley brought his tour supporting new release “Wheelhouse” to San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Saturday, Aug. 24, with the support of thousands of country fans.

Photographer David Bauman was on hand to capture the concert. Check out his photo gallery featuring Paisley and opening acts The Henningsens, Lee Brice and Chris Young  by clicking on the photo below.

Brad Paisley performs at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013. (David Bauman/Staff Photographer)

Brad Paisley performs at San Manuel Amphitheater in Devore on Saturday, Aug. 24, 2013. (David Bauman/Staff Photographer)

Did you go to the show? What did you think?

TEMECULA: Katy Perry, One Republic support Elektrik People

Elektrik People (BWright Photography/Contributed Image)

Elektrik People (BWright Photography/Contributed Image)

Elektrik People has been getting some love for new single “I Love My Life” from some famous friends, including pop superstar Katy Perry and band One Republic.

While Elektrik People is based out of Los Angeles these days, their roots are actually in Southwest Riverside County. Singer Evan Robinson, who grew up in Fallbrook, and guitarist Reid Curby, who grew up in Temecula, first became musical collaborators years ago when they would trade demos of their musical projects when they worked at the Temecula Creek Inn.

They went on to form Onethousand Pictures, which later turned into War Stories, which also included Elektrik People member Svend Lerche and crafted radio-ready pop/rock. (On a side note, War Stories’ music still holds up. “Lion” and “What Does God See” still give me goosebumps when I hear them.) As War Stories ended, Robinson, Curby and Lerche went for more of an alternative electronic  pop sound with Elektrik People.

They’ve been getting a lot of acclaim around the LA music scene, especially with a residency at Bootsy Bellows earlier this year.

Elektrik People filmed the video for “I Love My Life” at Bootsy Bellows and one of the club’s owners, actor David Arquette, is featured in the video, as is model Hannah Beth. You can watch it below. WARNING: There are some suggestive situations in it, so be aware if you’re watching in a room full of elementary school students.

And here’s what Katy Perry and One Republic are saying about it:

Want to hear it live? Elektrik People’s next show is at the Bootleg in LA on Sept. 23 and it’s free.

Robinson has an incredible voice. He’s one of those people who could sing the phone book and make it sound like art. Although, I guess in this digital age it would be singing a contact list out of an iPhone, but you know what I’m saying.

Want more? Visit the Elektrik People website for more tunes.

Here’s the song “Make Me a Bird.”

Fun fact: Elektrik People’s former incarnation, War Stories, was actually among the first performers on the original PE Live back in 2008.