What to do in Oklahoma on May 31
Today’s featured event:
OKEMAH – Hear Tulsa-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom Skinner at 2 p.m. today at Grape Ranch Vineyard, State Highway 27.
To hear Skinner’s music, go to www.myspace.com/tomskinnermusic.
For more information, go to www.graperanch.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on May 30
Eli Young Band
Today’s featured event:
Hear Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young Band, Bleu Edmondson and Josh Abbott at 4:30 today at the Fifth Annual Wormy Dog Spring Jam in Bricktown. Gates open at 3 p.m.
The concert will take place at the parking lot west of the Walnut Street Bridge. It is presented by the Wormy Dog Saloon and Bud Light.
For more information, call (866) 977-6849 or go to www.protix.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Friday Featured Track
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “Over Tokyo,” Collective Soul, from the 2000 album “Blender.”
My travel from Oklahoma City to Los Angeles today probably helped put this song about literally flying away from your heartaches in my head. But it’s never a bad time to have this bouncy broken-heart ballad bounding through your skull, with the peppy guitars, Ed Roland’s plaintive lyrics and a chorus of “ah, ah, ah”s driving the song along.
Don’t forget, Collective Soul and Gavin DeGraw will bring their co-headlining tour to Tulsa’s SpiritBank Event Center on July 7. I’ve already got my tickets, and I’d love to see the venue packed for what promises to be a great show. For more information, go to www.spiritbankeventcenter.com.
-BAM
“The Lion King” musical breaks records in Oklahoma City
The touring production of “The Lion King” that closed May 24 in Oklahoma City brought more than 90,000 people out to the Civic Center Music Hall.
Julie Taymor’s blockbuster, award-winning adaptation of the Disney film broke records in Oklahoma City.
“With total box office sales exceeding $5.6 million, this engagement of ‘The Lion King’ is the highest grossing theatrical production in Oklahoma City’s history,” Larry Payton, president of Celebrity Attractions, said in a NewsOK story.
“Breaking the record for the number of people to see a Broadway show shines a great positive light on all of Oklahoma City.”
The musical also had a multi-million-dollar economic impact on the city. And I can attest from my own experience seeing it that “The Lion King” undoubtedly sparked imaginations and made lasting memories for the people who went to see it.
To read the full story, click here.
-BAM
Podcast: This week’s movies
“Up”
“Drag Me to Hell”
“The Cake Eaters”
In this week’s NewsOK entertainment podcast, George Lang, new entertainment intern Nathan Poppe and I talk about the new movies in Oklahoma City theaters this weekend.
Your choices include Pixar’s new triumph “Up,” Sam Raimi’s return to horror/comedy “Drag Me to Hell” and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art feature “The Cake Eater.” (According to George, the best part of that last one is a strong performance from “Twilight” actress Kristen Stewart.)
And you’ll want to hear us defiantly wag the finger of shame because “Drag Me to Hell,” which is getting terrific reviews for a horror flick, wasn’t screened in OKC. For shame!
Click here to hear the joy and pain.
-BAM
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young Band playing Oklahoma City’s Fifth Annual Wormy Dog Spring Jam
Randy Rogers Band
Eli Young Band
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young Band to rock Bricktown during Spring Jam
When Randy Rogers Band and Eli Young Band take the stage at the Fifth Annual Wormy Dog Spring Jam, they’re planning to do more than just rattle the windows in Bricktown with their driving alt-country music.
They intend to work hard, kick down doors and keep a promise made a few years ago to help each other find success.
“They’re some of the nicest guys you’ve ever met. They’ve been incredible to us and stood by our vow and helped us out as they’ve gotten bigger. And now we’ve had our little bit of national success and we plan on keeping up our end of the bargain as well,” Mike Eli, singer/guitarist of Eli Young Band, said of the Randy Rogers Band.
Both Texas-based groups are playing the Spring Jam, presented by Wormy Dog Saloon and Bud Light, for the third time. The event moved last year to the parking lot west of the Walnut Street Bridge, which means Bricktown will rock with the red dirt music scene Saturday night.
“It’s a good wide-open space and it seems like everybody had a good time that I talked to,” said Randy Rogers, frontman of headliners the Randy Rogers Band. “I can’t imagine that this year just won’t be the biggest (jam). I mean, with Eli Young Band, they’re doing so good and they’re so hot right now.”
The yearly concert is coming when both bands are receiving unprecedented attention from country music’s mainstream. Both were nominated for Academy of Country Music Awards this spring and have recently performed on talk shows like “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Last week, Eli Young Band notched its first top 10 single on the Mediabase country chart when “Always the Love Songs” climbed into the No. 10 slot.
“It’s been incredible. I mean, it’s been some hard work. The top of the charts are normally clogged with the Alan Jacksons of the world and the Sugarlands,” Eli said.
“So as a band that’s a little left of center, we have to go in and fight a little harder, especially being that we’re a new band. But the fact that we made it up into the top 10 is incredible and it feels incredible. All the work that we’ve put in … has been culminating to these moments.”
After nine years of toiling as a regional band, Eli Young released its first national album, “Jet Black and Jealous” last fall. Eli, who founded the band with guitarist James Young at the University of North Texas, said the group made the album before inking a deal with Universal Records South. So, there was no pressure to change the music to fit the contemporary country mold. But the album did get the attention of music fans – and the ACM, which nominated the band for top new vocal group.
“I think we have to work a little bit harder to be noticed. … It’s nice to be noticed and accepted, but at the same time, we are happy about who we are and we’re happy that we’re different,” Eli said.
“I hope that with our success and Randy’s success we can help open doors for some of the younger bands and for some of the other artists and songwriters.”
Randy Rogers Band also released a 2008 album, and the group’s self-titled fourth studio record debuted last summer at No. 3 on Billboard’s Top Country Album list and No. 1 on iTunes digital country chart. The group received a top vocal group ACM nomination.
After playing 230 shows a year for about a decade, Rogers said he’s proud of the ground the group is gaining – and hopeful other bands on the red dirt/Texas music scene benefit, too.
“I can’t tell you what it is and why it’s happening now, but I hope that the Randy Rogers Band continues to be in the middle of it and kind of trying to knock some doors down that have been opened just a little bit,” he said. “I think that there’s so much good music that should be heard coming out of our neck of the woods and the more people that have that success at radio … the better for everybody.”
As far as Saturday’s Spring Jam goes, the singers said fans can expect loud guitars blasting out country music with an edge.
“I think between the two of us, we have a lot of energy,” Eli said. “Our music, both of our styles are very different but they play well together. … We pride ourselves in having a great time onstage and hopefully the audience has an incredible time as well.”
Going on
Fifth Annual Wormy Dog Spring Jam
With: Randy Rogers Band, Eli Young Band, Bleu Edmondson and Josh Abbott.
When: 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Gates open at 3 p.m.
Where: Parking lot west of the Walnut Street Bridge, Bricktown.
Presented by: Wormy Dog Saloon and Bud Light.
Tickets and information: (866) 977-6849 or www.protix.com.
- BAM
DVD review: “Walt Disney Animation Collection Vol. 4-6″
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
“Walt Disney Animation Collection: Classic Short Films Vol. 4-6″
In April, Disney launched a new DVD series mining its archives for classic short films with three volumes. Now, Volumes 4-6 in the “Walt Disney Animation Collection” have been released, allowing fans and families to view more Mouse House’s works from the 1930s-60s.
The volumes apparently include a mix of shorts getting their first DVD release and cartoons included in previous DVD collections. The discs don’t specify what films have already been released on “Walt Disney Treasures” or “Walt Disney’s Timeless Tales” and what shorts are new to DVD.
The quality and personality of these shorts vary widely, from the stilted, abridged 1949 treatment of “The Wind in the Willows” to the amusing adventures of 1941′s “The Reluctant Dragon.” Disney’s iconic version of the classic tale “The Tortoise and the Hare” leads off Vol. 4, my favorite of the new DVDs.
The six shorts on Vol. 4 provides a mix of true classics, fun but forgotten fare like the Silly Symphonies “Babes in the Woods” and “The Goddess of Spring,” and oddball offerings like 1961′s “The Saga of Windwagon Smith,” about a seaman who hooks a sail to a prairie schooner to literally sail the Kansas plains.
All three discs have their highlights. Vol. 5 features Donald Duck’s debut in “The Wise Little Hen” and the indelible rhyming rendition of the fable “The Grasshopper and the Ants.” The sixth DVD includes the memorable “Johnny Appleseed” and a faithful telling of “Ferdinand the Bull.”
They differ greatly from today’s computer-generated animation, but children and parents can enjoy these quaint cartoons, even if the picture and sound quality sometimes leaves a bit to be desired.
- BAM
CD review: Vienna Teng, “Inland Territory”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Adult Alternative
Vienna Teng “Inland Territory” (Zoe/Rounder Records)
Vienna Teng adds adventurous eclecticism and bold textures to her lovely melodies, angelic voice and literate lyrics on her fourth album, “Inland Territory.”
The singer/songwriter/pianist opens with a mellow piano ballad, but the crackling of a vinyl album and backup vocals from choral singers give “The Last Snowfall” fitting atmospherics.
The San Francisco-born musician shifts abruptly into a moody alt-pop with the second track, the cautionary “White Light,” and returns to that style with the rhythmic political statement “Radio.”
In between, the Taiwanese-American Teng taps Depression-era jazz on “In Another Life,” then ventures into bluesy folk on the uptempo “Grandmother Song,” which gathers familiar lines of familial advice, both supportive and disparaging.
She lets her skillful fingers play the starring role on the power pop piano ballad “Augustine” and the playful ditty “Stray Italian Greyhound,” about finding love when you’ve “just stopped believing in happy endings.”
Among the 12 strong tracks, “Antebellum” stands out from the rest, with layered pianos, strings and marching drums building up insightful lyrics comparing a failed love affair with a war. Teng’s clear vocals ring clearly on the ballad, with collaborator Alex Wong, who co-produced the album with her, softly chiming in at the climax to turn it into a ballad.
With its daring diversity, “Inland Territory” is one of my favorite albums so far this year.
- BAM
Movie review: “Up”
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. 3 1/2 of 4 stars: “Up” soars but doesn’t reach the heights of “WALL-E,” “The Incredibles” or “Monsters, Inc.”
‘Up’ flies almost as high as Pixar’s best movies
Animated adventure film will evoke laughter, tears
The geniuses at Disney/Pixar continue to elevate the art of the animated film with “Up,” their latest cinematic achievement.
On face value, “Up” appears seems just an entertainingly elaborate flight of fancy coupled with the kind of exotic adventure in faraway lands seen in the “Indiana Jones” movies or the old matinee serials that inspired them.
But as with Pixar’s nine previous features, “Up” offers so much more if you look beyond the surface, though the studio’s first 3-D release looks gorgeously vivid and richly detailed. Plus, it doesn’t get caught up in the usual 3-D gimmickry.
Pete Docter’s (“Monsters, Inc.”) second directorial effort also works as a fun buddy comedy, bouncy spoof of children’s movies, thought-provoking statement on how we view the elderly, and touching exploration of loss and friendship.
Don’t get to the theater late, as the first 10 minutes of “Up” offer some of the most poignant and thrilling cinematic moments of the year.
And bring tissues because only the hardest of hearts will not be moved to tears as we’re introduced to Carl Fredricksen as a shy and restrained boy who idolizes famous explorer Charles Muntz (voice of Christopher Plummer). Through their common love of exploring, Carl meets bold and chatty Ellie, who brings out the adventurer in him.
They grow up, get married and make a life together. We witness their triumphs, tragedies and ultimately her death in a tender montage with no dialogue, just Michael Giacchino’s pitch-perfect score.
After Ellie’s death (which some children may not catch), Carl (Ed Asner, perfectly crusty and loveable) hides out in his home, which developers want to level to build skyscrapers.
When it seems Carl will be forced to move into a retirement home, the retired balloon peddler uses leftover helium tanks to fill thousands of balloons. He attaches them to the fireplace grate, rigs a couple of sails and sends his house soaring away over the city. His destination is the legendary Paradise Falls in South America, a trek he and Ellie planned but never got to take.
Carl soon realizes he has an unplanned passenger on his makeshift airship: Russell (newcomer Jordan Nagai), a zealous Wilderness Explorer whose goal is earning his final merit badge, for assisting the elderly.
After a perilous journey, they reach South America, where they encounter a colorful ostrich-like bird that takes to following Russell and a pack of talking dogs. But these aren’t the usual wisecracking canines: Their mysterious master has outfitted the well-trained dogs with high-tech collars that give voice to their thoughts, including their obsessions with squirrels and treats.
One of the pooches, friendly Dug (writer/co-director Bob Peterson), adopts Carl as his master against the curmudgeon’s wishes. But Dug’s help becomes invaluable as the adventure unfolds with madcap action that sometimes gets a bit too zany.
“Up” doesn’t quite rise to the level of “WALL-E,” “The Incredibles” or “Monsters, Inc,” and I was disappointed that it didn’t have a short film before it. But it still flies high.
- BAM
Slideshow: Pixar’s movie history
“WALL-E”
Check out a nifty NewsOK slideshow depicting Pixar’s first 10 movies, including today’s new release, “Up,” by clicking here.
The slideshow includes audio from my interview with box office guru Paul Dergarabedian, along with photos from the films and interesting tidbits on each one.
Thanks to The Oklahoman‘s Photo Chief Doug Hoke for assembling this slideshow.
-BAM
