Music
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Reviews / Music Review: Rascal Flatts, Sara Evans and Hunter Hayes
- Brian Chilson
- Rascal Flatts played Verizon Arena Saturday.
For anyone who might try to quibble and suggest that Saturday night’s country concert at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock wasn’t really all that country, that Rascal Flatts was great but more Elton John than Merle Haggard, that opening act Hunter Hayes was handsome and talented and all that, but in a black T-shirt, jeans, tennis shoes and red belt he, um, didn’t remind them of George Strait, we have two words: Sara Evans.
Sorely missed from the top of the country charts for a few years, Evans returned with a new album in 2011 with plenty of great tracks, but it was her 2004 up-tempo anthem to, as she puts it, “a rotten teenage girl who falls in love with a redneck boy” — that would be “Suds in the Bucket” — that guaranteed none of the 10,417 fans in attendance left without their minimum daily requirement of traditional country.
The girl, of course, runs off with her guy, the big voice in six-inch heels delights the crowd and the evening’s a success long before the headlining act comes out. Evans has a way with a country song — well, she ought to; she’s been on stage since she was four — and with her powerful voice, she doesn’t have to do much more than stroll around in those heels and skin-tight pants, smile, wave and sing her heart out.
Posted by Bill Paddack on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Music / Coming soon Miranda Lambert to Verizon April 13
Miranda Lambert is scheduled to play Verizon Arena Friday, April 13. The country megastar comes to town on her On Fire 2012 Tour, with opening acts Chris Young and Jerrod Niemann. The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets, which are $37-$52, go on sale Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. You can get them at the Verizon Arena box office, through Ticketmaster or charge by phone at 800-745-3000.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, February 10, 2012
Music / Showcase Last night's showcase: War Chief
- Brian Chilson
- War Chief
As has been noted previously, Round 3 was a very, very close call. War Chief won out over Se7en Sharp, but it was a photo finish.
Judge Sammy Williams called the War Chief's set "ridiculously tight and extremely professional." Clay Fitzpatrick thought "they played better together than any band I have seen during the showcase."
Tyrannosaurus Chicken's Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis noted the band's tight playing and harmonies, but would "like to see them reach outside the box a little more."
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Music / Showcase Last night's showcase: Se7en Sharp
- Brian Chilson
- Se7en Sharp
With their back-lit band logo signs and smoke machine, Se7en Sharp definitely brought a level of theatricality to the showcase that hasn't been seen in a while.
Judge Sammy Williams wrote that the five-piece was the "most entertaining band I have seen yet. Vocalist brought it Scott Weiland-style, vocally and physically."
Epiphany's take: "Seamless. 'Nuff said."
The Tyrannosaurus Chicken contingent was impressed with Se7en Sharp's showmanship and musical chops, but found the set lacking in some regards. "Good showman. Tight group. Good musicians, but terrible tone. Great band, but nothing new and exciting. With that much talent, I need some originality."
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Music / Showcase Last night's showcase: Tsar Bomba
- Brian Chilson
- Tsar Bomba
Tsar Bomba brought the sunshine-y jangle pop to Round 3 last night. Or as judge Epiphany summed them up: "Masters of the under 3-minute ditties."
Guest judges Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis — aka 2012 showcase winner Tyrannosaurus Chicken — saw "good interaction between guitarists. Great vocals, love the bass, very tight. Good save on the broken string. Good original songs. Those boys plow a groove a mile wide."
Judge Cheyenne Matthews wrote, "Let's go see Tsar Bomba on a date. A super-sexy date. Call me!" while judge Sammy Williams described the band's blend of harmonizing and occasional screaming as "Crosby, Stills, Nash and Johnny Rotten."
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (1)
Music / Showcase Last night's showcase: Wes Patterson
- Brian Chilson
- Wes Patterson
Wes Patterson kicked off Round 3 last night with six sleek synth-funk numbers. Guest judges Tyrannosaurus Chicken — individually known as Rachel Ammons and Smilin' Bob Lewis — wrote that they loved Patterson's voice and noted his "knowledgeable use of his gear."
Judge Clay Fitzpatrick noted that if only he'd had a couple more drinks in him, he "would have been on all fours making my butt dance."
Judge Sammy Williams thought "Wes killed it on the one-handed keyboard solos. If I ever get married, I am hiring Wes for my reception."
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
What's going on / Music Saturday To-Do: Rascal Flatts
RASCAL FLATTS
8 p.m. Verizon Arena. $26-$60.
Even if you don't like Rascal Flatts' music — and I do not, at all — it is impossible to dislike the band. I tried really hard and failed utterly. The group's chart-demolishing pop-country songs and heavenly harmonizing are so overwhelmingly pleasant and innocuous and all-American that I had no choice but to submit to the band's multi-award-winning excellence.
In their songs, you'll find none of the drinkers and brawlers and cheaters that populate other country songs. Rascal Flatts is like that really handsome, popular, athletic kid in high school who was so universally friendly and guileless that no one — not even the hoodlums with their worn-out Led Zeppelin T-shirts and their cigarettes and their chips on their shoulders — could so much as utter an unkind word about him.
Speaking of that kid, he's got a super amazing girlfriend, and her name is Sara Evans. You might remember her from her recent appearances at Magic Springs or that ill-fated thing at War Memorial Park with Toby Keith. But let's forget about that. Right now, it's Rascal and Sara. Together, they're that power couple that you look at and just think, "Dang, they are gonna be so successful and prosperous."
Hunter Hayes opens the show. I don't know that much about him. He's like the new kid who doesn't say anything on his first day but turns out to be really good at PE.
On Thursday Friday March 9, Rascal Flatts are playing the 2012 Starlight Gala at John Q. Hammons Convention Center in Rogers. It's $200, but it's a benefit for Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter. See what I mean? They're such nice dudes that there is no way you can't like them.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (2)
What's going on / Music Saturday To-Do: ASO's 'Valentines in New York'
ASO: 'VALENTINES IN NEW YORK'
8 p.m. Robinson Center Music Hall. $20-$65.
So let's say you messed up powerful bad and didn't do anything all that romantic for your significant other for Valentine's Day last year, like you came home with Funyuns and Corona and a Blu-Ray of "Robocop." How to make up for it this year?
Here's a good place to start. Soprano Melissa Errico ("the voice of enchantment" according to the New York Times) and baritone Ryan Silverman ("It's Complicated," "Sex and the City 2") join the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra for an evening of romantic Broadway hits. You'll hear "Luck be a Lady," "I Got Rhythm," "All I Care About is Love," "Be Our Guest" and more. The show also runs Sunday at 3 p.m.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Music / Showcase War Chief takes Round 3
It was really, really tight, but War Chief took Round 3 of the 2012 Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase.
Congratulations War Chief. See you at the finals on March 2.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (1)
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Music / Showcase / Contests Come to the AT showcase and enter to win Bonnaroo passes
Round 3 of the Arkansas Times Musicians Showcase is tonight! Now, there will be plenty of awesome music, as usual, but if you come tonight you can also enter a drawing to win one of three pairs of GA passes to this year's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, June 7-10 in Manchester, Tenn.
The Times will be giving away the passes at the March 2 showcase finals, but you can enter the drawing once at each semifinal round as well as at the final round, so the more rounds you come to, the better your odds.
Things get rolling at 9 p.m. at Stickyz, and it's $5 for folks 21 and older, $8 for those 18-20.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
What's going on / Music Weekend: Rip Van Shizzle, Reckless Kelly, J Bo Cracker Swagger and more
FRIDAY 2/10
The Second Annual Krewe of Hogs Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball includes beer, king cake and music from The Rip Van Shizzle Band. Ticket sales benefit the Community Theatre of Little Rock and Tulane Empowers, Vino's, 7 p.m., $10 adv., $15 door.
For the Love of Art is a concert paying tribute to the late Little Rock jazz musician Art Porter, featuring an array of musicians, 7 p.m., free (donations accepted).
If you're looking to get your dance on, DJs Raydar and Shaolin play an 18-and-older show at Revolution, along with DJs Durden, Sleepy and Streta, 9 p.m., $10.
Is a dose of brutal, surgically precise death metal more your speed? Turbid North plays Downtown Music Hall, with A Darkened Era and Severe Head Wound, 8 p.m., $7.
If you're gonna be up late, why not spend some time with Tyrannosaurus Chicken? The duo plays Midtown, 12:30 a.m., $5.
SATURDAY 2/11
It's Crunk Fest 2 over at Cornerstone Pub & Grill, with Haystak, J Bo Cracker Swagger and Yard Call, 8 p.m.
Red dirt veteran Reckless Kelly plays and 18-and-older show at Revolution, with opening act Humming House, 9 p.m., $12 adv., $15 d.o.s.
TwinSpirit, Tim Anthony and Budafli bring an evening of eclectic, unplugged music to Porter's Jazz Cafe, 9 p.m., $15.
The Salty Dogs take over Vino's, with Jonathan Jeter and The Revelators, 9 p.m., $10.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Reviews / Music Review: The Polyphonic Spree
It should be a no-brainer that live music fans would come out to see a sixteen-piece white-robed bright pop ensemble, simply for the spectacle. I guessed the crowd would be a gathering of Bonnaroo- and Wakarusa-attending college kids there to catch a whiff of impending warm-weather festival euphoria. Needless to say, the crowd for Wednesday's Polyphonic Spree set was thinner than expected — there was only one presiding hula hippie and she pretty much dropped the ball twenty minutes into the show.
As much childlike fun as PS can be, with its orchestral balladeering glam-rock arrangements reimagined for the hippie set — it's also totally overwhelming. Multiple songs segue from one to the next with long passages of ambient looped flute noise and other dissonant effects, like new age music. I admit there was an entire left wing of the stage that I fully neglected to watch, and that's where the violin and cello (my favorites!) were located, as well as an additional percussionist helming such wonders as chimes and a bell lyre. The band's layout was confusing — the flutist and a guy alternating between trumpet and a mixing console were practically front and center. The four-girl back-up chorus was elevated at the rear of the stage beneath the band's flag. They were cute but their Supremes-esque choreography was so unwavering and robotic it ultimately gave me the creeps.
Posted by Natalie Elliott on | Permalink | Comments (3)
Music / Showcase 2012 AT Showcase Round 3: Se7en Sharp
Se7en Sharp takes the classic crunch of ZZ Top, the riff efficiency of AC/DC and post-grunge influences and weds all of it to decidedly Southern rock swagger, creating a hybrid that is epitomized on "Get in Line," from the band's recent EP. But Se7en Sharp knows how to slow it down too, on the power ballad "Kami" and the earnest, country-tinged number "Give Me a Chance." I'm not sure what's playing on The Edge right this second, but I'm pretty confident that Se7en Sharp is as good as or better than whatever that is. Check out "Get in Line" below and the rest of the EP right here.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Music / Showcase 2012 AT Showcase Round 3: Grayson Shelton & War Chief
Grayson Shelton & War Chief's soaring, roots-inspired anthems recently won the band a spot playing this year's Wakarusa Camping and Music Festival. Listening to the group's recent EP, it's easy to hear why. War Chief has as broad an appeal as any other rock act in Central Arkansas. Classic rock diehards will dig the Allman-esque guitar heroics on "Welcome to the Real World," while the rollicking "Stand Watie," included below, could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with The Drive-By Truckers at their most solemnly intense. Check out more from the band right here.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (1)
Music / Showcase 2012 AT Showcase Round 3: Tsar Bomba
Tsar Bomba might be named after the Soviet Union's most devastating hydrogen bomb, but the band's vibe is closer to a string of ladyfingers tossed into the back of a mall cop's patrol cart than thermonuclear annihilation. Tsar Bomba channels the jingle jangle spirit of San Francisco circa now. Think The Mantles, Thee Oh Sees, The Fresh and Onlys and the like. With their falsettos and clean guitar tones, some of the band's songs remind me of "Turtle Soup," the excellent, Ray Davies-produced final Turtles album from 1969. Check out "White Collar Butcher" below, or more songs over here.
Posted by Robert Bell on | Permalink | Comments (0)
Event Calendar
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Re: Review: The Polyphonic Spree
Revolution is the name of the venue.
- on February 11, 2012
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Re: Review: The Polyphonic Spree
The video you posted is 'Something in the Air' by Thunderclap Newman. Revolution is a…
- on February 10, 2012
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Re: Last night's showcase: Tsar Bomba
Tsar Bomba video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16cewjeqNdw
- on February 10, 2012
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