Cafe R&B is one of the bands performing at Blues for the Zoo in Big Bear on Aug. 3. (Contributed Image)
Love the blues and/or animals? Check out the return of Blues for the Zoo on Saturday, Aug. 3.
The event, which is a fundraiser for the Big Bear Alpine Zoo (formerly known as Moonridge Animal Park), will be at the Big Bear Lake Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater.
Windy City Harmonica Breakdown is leading the full day of music, including an appearance Billy Branch. The Chicago blues headliners will be joined by some SoCal acts, too, including Cafe R&B and Kenny “Blues Boss” Wayne.
Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the show, with kids 10 and younger admitted for free. Parking is $4. You can pick up tickets in advance at the Big Bear Chamber of Commerce at 630 Bartlett Road, by phone at 909-866-4607, at the Big Bear Alpine Zoo Gift Shop at 43285 Goldmine Drive or online at www.bluesforthezoo.com.
Gates open at 1 p.m. and the music starts at 3 p.m. Concert attendees can bring beach chairs and blankets and the wim beach will be open to those at the event.
Saturday, Aug. 3, Big Bear Lake Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater, 41220 Park Ave., Big Bear Lake.
Sleeping Giant will perform in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday, July 27. (Contributed Image)
The Nitty Gritty in Rancho Cucamonga is hosting the Nitty Gritty Fest on Saturday, July 27 with a number of impressive metal and hardcore bands.
Headlining the festival is the Redlands-rooted Sleeping Giant.
Riverside’s No Bragging Rights, fresh off a stint on the Vans Warped Tour, and Darasuum are among the other acts performing with an Inland connection.
The full lineup includes Rotting Out, Hundredth, Counterparts, Betrayal, Being As an Ocean, Dynasty, Herat to Heart, To the Wind, The Overseer, Troubled Coast, Deserters, Relentless and My Iron Lung.
Noon Saturday, July 27, The Nitty Gritty, 8680 Helms Ave., Rancho Cucamonga, $15, all ages.
Suburban Legends will perform at The Vault in Temecula on Saturday, July 27. (Contributed Image)
Get ready to skank your heart out. Orange County’s Suburban Legends bring their third wave of ska tunes to The Vault in Temecula on Saturday, July 27.
The band’s most recent album, 2012’s “Day Job,” includes covers of Disney classics “Under the Sea” and “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” (Suburban Legends actually got its start playing around Downtown Disney.)
There are a number of worthy bands supporting the bill, including Inland masked punkers The Maxies (who still claim they’re from Greenland). Orange County ska-inspired band Save the Swim Team is also on the bill, as are The Skariginals and more.
6:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27, The Vault, 41607 Enterprise Cir. N. Temecula, $12, all ages.
Also, if you haven’t heard it, The Maxies’ album “Greenland Is Melting” album is still fantastic. Warning: The language isn’t family-friendly on the whole album.
Dose of Adolescence plays PE Live. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)
Rancho Cucamonga’s Dose of Adolescence is on the Warped Tour for some dates this summer (they’re playing Kansas City, Kan. today), so I thought it was time to revisit one of their PE Live performances.
Every Thursday, we post videos of performances and exclusive interviews with Inland bands at the PE Live page.
Here’s Dose of Adolescence doing “Sleepless in Southern California.” Let the video play to watch an interview with the band and to hear another track, “Never Want to Say Goodbye.” You can find out more about the band at the Dose of Adolescence website.
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Oh, and if you haven’t seen it–watch their cover of “Call Me Maybe.” It’s amazing–the dance moves, the wigs, the lip-synching of drummer Tyler Armenta, etc.
I can’t believe we’ve created more than 60 PE Live videos since we relaunched the series earlier this year.
Every Thursday, we feature a new artist (this week, we’ll feature Summer Twins, who we filmed at Hangar 24’s Tasting Room last week for our first PE Live on the road) and include live performance footage and interviews.
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I truly believe in the artists who have come in so far. We have so much incredible talent in the Inland Empire, I’m happy that we’ve been able to showcase it even with just our little video series.
Derrick Sanderlin has one of the most powerful voices I’ve ever heard and there’s something about his lyrics that just grab me. “Drapes” gives me chills every time I hear it. You can hear more from Derrick over at his Soundcloud page and let the video below play and you can watch the rest of his PE Live performances.
Brandon Thomas De La Cruz performs for PE Live. (Vanessa Franko/Staff Photo)
We hit the 60-video mark with the latest in the PE Live series of videos with Inland Empire musicians.
Every Thursday, we release new videos with Inland artists. The most recent guest was Brandon Thomas De La Cruz, who performed songs from his new album, “Common Miracles.”
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Here’s “Allie Please,” from De La Cruz. Let the video continue playing to watch an interview with De La Cruz and his other performances. Visit the main PE Live page to watch videos from other Inland artists, including On Being Human, Dose of Adolescence, Castle Pines and many more.
The Neil Diamond paper dolls issue also featured this staff-created digital photo illustration of Neil looking like he’s taking over Ontario.
Next month I’ll be moving to a new desk in the office, so I started to clear out the amazing things I’ve acquired over the 6-plus years I’ve been at The Press-Enterprise.
One of the things I encountered was one of the early issues of the Guide when we went from the pull-out smaller section to the full broadsheet (the bigger section like the rest of the paper). When we were making the transition, we were able to do a lot of ambitious things, like create Neil Diamond paper dolls as a Guide cover story back in January 2009 when he first performed at the then months-old Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario.
I had this wild idea that we should create Neil Diamond paper dolls with all of his fashion over the years and my boss let me do it. It was in the fun, sometimes snarky spirit of the Guide and to this day, when one of us on the Guide staff has a wacky non-traditional story idea, we still call it “paper dolls” (ah, my legacy).
A photo of a January 2009 Guide cover story that featured paper dolls of Neil Diamond.
So, along with the actual paper dolls, I somehow convinced my editor to let me rewrite the lyrics to “America” to fit with his Diamond’s tour date and the fact that the Inland Empire was finally growing as an entertainment stop for major performers.
When I Instagrammed a photo of the paper dolls cover and mentioned the lyrics earlier, a couple of folks messaged me about sharing them. So, here they are.
Far
We’ve been traveling far
To see a show
To LA to see stars
Close
Only want to be close
We want to drive
Somewhere close to home
On his tour through the states
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Hopefully he’ll be back again
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Neil
You don’t seem so far away
Oh with traveling lights today
Please wear a sequined shirt
Please wear a sequined shirt
Neil
You have been a chameleon
Shining brighter than a neon
Oh those hot August nights
Oh those hot August nights
On a tour around the world
Neil’s coming to Ontario
He’ll see all the boys and girls
Neil’s coming to Ontario
He will play “Sweet Caroline”
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Perhaps even “Red, Red Wine”
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Neil’s coming to Ontario
Sunday, Sunday
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Play man of solitary (Sunday)
And Crack-a-lin’ Rosie (Sunday)
Of Neil I sing (Sunday)
Of Neil I sing
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday
And just for fun, here’s the original Neil Diamond version.
Also, that Neil Diamond show that I previewed at Citizens Business Bank Arena was one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen.
Beyond La Sierra University and the Masters of Harmony Christmas concerts (Dec. 7 and 8, respectively) we’ll see five concerts with known recording artists and one ABBA tribute act for the rest of 2013.
Boz Scaggs has come throught he region a few times over the years (casinos, the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, Thornton Winery in Temecula on Sept. 15), but Sept. 14 marks his Fox debut.
Tickets start at $47 and go up to $99 for VIP, before fees. With the fees, they’re up to $63-$121.20 on Ticketmaster.
Best Boz Scaggs song ever: “Lido Shuffle” (close second: ballad “We’re All Alone”)
The Rides, Sept. 24
Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg make up blues supergroup The Rides, which will release a debut album, “Can’t Get Enough,” on Aug. 27 on 429 Records. The song has some originals, covers and a vintage Stills song. The group started as an homage to the album “Super Session,” which featured Stills and Goldberg. Beth Hart will open the show.
Also of note: Big Papa and the TCB, who just did PE Live with us, is opening the show. Always good to see local artists at the Fox, something that I hope continues when Live Nation comes in.
Check out the videos of Big Papa and the TCB on PE Live:
Sheila E., Oct. 26
Sheila E. is one of the great percussionists in music and she’s headed to Riverside. She’s played with artists as diverse as her father, Pete Escovedo, Prince and Diana Ross. Sheila E., like John Bonham, is one of the only artists that you WANT to see perform a drum solo. Also, “The Glamorous Life” is a REALLY great song.
Two others performer with local ties, Jessy J and Lakin, will open the show.
Somehow, tribute acts are still really big, and apparently big enough to make it into the Fox every few months. Personally, I want to see a Eurovision-style battle with all of the ABBA tributes out there. No matter who was entered, the cast of the “Mamma Mia!” movie would come in last.
Bill Medley and Darlene Love, Dec. 28
I really want to write a short story called “The Righteous Brother and The Crystal” about this pairing. Both of them have made classic songs that you hear everywhere. EVERYWHERE. For Medley: “Unchained Melody,” “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’, the theme song from “Just the Ten of Us.” For Love: “Today I Met the Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” “He’s a Rebel” and her annual stint performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” on David Letterman’s final show before Christmas for more than 25 years.
The press release said “Celebrate the Holidays at the Fox” so I don’t know if it will still feature holiday music, even though it’s on Dec. 28, or what. Stay tuned for more. And stay tuned for this:
Thoughts on the lineup? I think Scaggs and Sheila E. will do well with the crowd. I’m also intrigued by The Rides. Plus, Bill Medley and Darlene Love will be there while the Festival of Lights is still going on, so that could be big.
The Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside has announced its 2013 fall season. (2012/File Photo)
The Fox Performing Arts Center in Riverside has announced its lineup for the fall and there are some return guests, like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and new performers to the area, including Bill Medley.
Here are the details of the initial fall lineup:
Sept. 14, Boz Scaggs
Sept. 24, The Rides (Stephen Stills, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Barry Goldberg) and Beth Hart
Sept. 28, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, with local openers Big Papa and the TCB
Oct. 12 and 13, “Stomp”
Oct. 26, Sheila E. and Jessy J
Nov. 1, Anjelah Johnson
Nov. 8 and 9, “Buddy-The Buddy Holly Story”
Nov. 22, “Million Dollar Quartet”
Nov. 23, ABBA Mania
Dec. 7, La Sierra University “Sounds of the Season”
Dec. 8, Masters of Harmony annual Christmas concert
Dec. 12, “The Addams Family” (musical)
Dec. 20, “Miracle on 34th Street) (film)
Dec. 28, Bill Medley and Darlene Love
The tickets go on sale at noon on Friday, July 19.
Tickets are available at the Fox Performing Arts Center box office at 3801 Mission Inn Ave. and via Ticketmaster.
The Box Office is open Monday -Friday from Noon to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 10 a.m. until showtime on days with a show. The box office Phone number is 951-779-9800.
The Fox kicks off its summer film series of Alfred Hitchcock films tonight, July 19, with “North By Northwest.”
