Rifftrax live take on “House on Haunted Hill” airing in theaters nationwide tonight
Rifftrax stars Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett will celebrate Halloween with a live riffing event airing in theaters nationwide tonight. NCM Fathom and the stars of the late, great series “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ invite snarky fans of bad movies across the country to a haunted house party that will feature hilarious riffing on the horror classic “House on Haunted Hill.” Not only will the Rifftrax trio treat this Vincent Price classic to their signature brand of rapid-fire comedy, comedian Paul F. Tompkins also will join the guys as a guest riffer on a classic, never-before-seen short.
Movie theater audiences will receive FREE digital goodies after the event. A URL will be revealed on-screen during the event so you can logon and receive your free digital goodies!
Tonight’s event will be broadcast live to movie theaters nationwide at 7 p.m. Oklahoma time. Theaters showing this event in Oklahoma include the Spotlight 14 in Norman, Tinseltown USA and AMC Quail Springs in Oklahoma City, and the Cinemark 17 in Tulsa.
For tickets, go to www.fathomevents.com.
For more information on Rifftrax, go to www.rifftrax.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Oct. 28, 2010
Jason Aldean
Today’s featured event:
Hear country music star Jason Aldean with fellow Georgia native Luke Bryan at 7:30 tonight at Oklahoma City Arena (formerly Ford Center), 100 W Reno.
To read my interview with Luke Bryan, click here.
For more information, call (800) 745-3000 or go to www.theokcarena.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Oklahoma City Thunder tips off new season tonight
OKC Thunder star Kevin Durant (Photo by Steve Sisney, The Oklahoman Archives)
The Oklahoma City Thunder pro basketball team, which made the playoffs last season, opens the 2010-11 season at 7 tonight against the Chicago Bulls at Oklahoma City Arena (formerly Ford Center), 100 W Reno.
Thunder fans coming to tonight’s opening game against the Chicago Bulls are asked to be in their seats at least 30 minutes before the 7 p.m. tipoff to greet the team as the players take the court. With excitement building for the launch of the 2010-11 season, fans are also encouraged to show their Thunder pride by wearing blue.
A limited number of tickets, starting as low as $10, have been released in Love’s Loud City. To purchase seats, go online to www.thunder.nba.com
Thunder Alley
In addition to heart-pounding NBA action, Opening Night promises plenty of entertainment. The party atmosphere of Thunder Alley will kick off outside the north side of the Oklahoma City Arena at 4 p.m., featuring a performance by pop recording artist and Oklahoma City native Graham Colton, who will unveil a special song for Thunder fans. Music will also be provided by Avenue, an Oklahoma City rock band.
Thunder Alley has something for the entire family, including $1 Budweiser beers, inflatables, interactive games, face-painting, caricature artists, a basketball court, a chance to buy Thunder gear and more.
Entertainment
The national anthem will be performed by Oklahoma City native and five-time Grammy-winning contemporary Christian singer Sandi Patty. A 2004 inductee into the Gospel Hall of Fame, Patty’s legendary career has included three platinum-selling records and five gold records.
The game’s halftime entertainment will be performance painter David Garibaldi, renowned for his amazing created-before-your-eyes artworks. The painting he makes will later be auctioned to benefit the Oklahoma City Thunder Community Foundation.
Promotions
Fans attending Opening Night will receive a Thunder magnet schedule compliments of Sprite.
Tickets
The Thunder will also offer an opportunity for fans to win or buy tickets in Love’s Loud City on the day of the game. Under the Thunder Rewards Zone, 25 pairs of tickets will be given away via a raffle, while 75 pairs will be available for purchase following the raffle.
The promotion, which will take place before each home game, begins at 4 p.m. outside the Oklahoma City Arena box office, with the raffle drawing to be held one hour before the Thunder’s 7 p.m. tipoff against the Bulls. Complimentary food at the Thunder Rewards Zone will be provided courtesy Buffalo Wild Wings on Northwest Expressway.
Traffic Advisory
Before heading to the arena, the Thunder urges fans to check the latest information on construction work and traffic detours in downtown Oklahoma City. Updated info is available on THUNDER.NBA.COM at http://www.nba.com/thunder/news/traffic_advisory_101021.html. You may also wish to visit the Plan Your Visit page on our website for the latest Project 180 maps and more.
Tune In
If you can’t attend the game, you can catch it on TV on FOX Sports Oklahoma (37 Cox, 722 HD). Covering the hoops action will be Thunder broadcasters Brian Davis and Grant Long, sideline reporter Kelly Crull and in-studio analysis by Malik Rose. The game also will air nationally on ESPN.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Green Corn Revival on George Lang’s Static
My colleague George Lang has launched the third season of his excellent video series Static, which features local and regional musicians. Terrific Weatherford-based band Green Corn Revival is the first group to be featured in the new season.
Also this week, the new Static site has been launched at http://static.newsok.com. Go there, and see the all the improvements George and the NewsOK team have made, especially the “submit your band” button, which is something that all musicians take advantage of immediately.
Green Corn Revival invited George and videographer Tanner Herriot to their studio in downtown Hydro, where they performed songs from their debut disc, “Say You’re a Sinner.” To read my review of the album, click here.
Follow Static on Twitter @GeorgeDLang and on Facebook at STATICmusic to view coming episodes.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Wayman Tisdale’s “The Fonk Record”
THE FONK RECORD featuring Tiz & the Fonkie Planetarians - EPK from Mack Avenue on Vimeo.
Fifteen months after Wayman Tisdale’s passing, the Oklahoma basketball-star-turned-jazz-bassist released Tuesday his final album: “The Fonk Record.”
The late Tisdale, his pal and Oklahoma country music star Toby Keith, album producer Derek “DOA” Allen, Tisdale’s widow Regina and others talk about the long-awaited album in this video, which also samples the Oklahoman’s funky music.
The project, which was 12 years in the making, features 11 original songs, Tisdale’s own funky vocals and a crew of down-and-dirty musicians. “The Fonk Record” also boasts three guest stars with extensive funk résumés – George Clinton, George Duke and the late Ali Woodson.
Inspired by great funk artists like Bootsy Collins and Robert Wilson of the Tulsa-based Gap Band, Tisdale created his own funky moniker, Tiz, and named his band The Fonkie Planetarians. Those who were lucky enough to catch Tisdale in concert got a glimpse of his alter ego when he’d perform 20 to 30-minute funk-filled interludes during his jazz shows.
“He spent the last two years of his life finishing ‘The Fonk Record,’” says Allen in the album’s press materials. “Only he knew, when no one else did, that God was going to call him home. While he was in the hospital getting chemotherapy, he used funk music as therapy. I would send him files to listen to and it was part of the healing process. When he died, he was at peace.”
Tisdale died May 15, 2009, but it’s great to think that his winning smile and musical talent lives on in particularly funky style: “The Fonk Record” cover features a colorful illustration of Tisdale sporting an Afro and green shades.
-BAM
Old-fashioned Halloween planned Thursday at Harn Homestead’s Haunt the Harn
The Harn Homestead (Photo by John Clanton, The Oklahoman Archives)
The historic Harn Homestead & 1889er Museum, 1721 N Lincoln Blvd., is planning to celebrate Halloween the old-fashioned way with its annual Haunt the Harn from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
The family-friendly event offers children the chance to trick-or-Treat at all seven historic buildings, bob for apples, roast marshmallows, take a hayride through the original Land Run of 1889 property and win a cupcake in the old-fashioned cupcake walk. Admission is $3 per child in advance, $5 at the door. Parents are admitted free of charge.
For more information, go to www.harnhomestead.com.
For more Halloween activities planned around Oklahoma this weekend, check back Friday to read my extensive roundup of spooky season options.
-BAM
Tim McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Jeff Gordon announced as presenters for CMA Awards
Tim McGraw (Associated Press file photo)
The Country Music Association has announced the first round of presenters for the 44th Annual CMA Awards.
The Band Perry, Luke Bryan, Easton Corbin, Little Big Town, Tim McGraw, Jerrod Niemann, Kellie Pickler, LeAnn Rimes, Darius Rucker, The Band Perry, Chris Young, and NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon are the first group of presenters revealed for the Nov. 10 awards show.
Hosted by Brad Paisley and Checotah native Carrie Underwood, the CMA Awards will air live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn., on ABC. Previously announced performers with Oklahoma ties include Underwood, Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts, Reba and Blake Shelton. Other previously announced performers include Dierks Bentley, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Paisley, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban.
In addition, special performances will feature Gwyneth Paltrow in her live Country Music singing debut performing with Oklahoma native Vince Gill; top nominee Lambert with Sheryl Crow in a tribute to Loretta Lynn’s 50th Anniversary as a recording artist; and Zac Brown Band with Alan Jackson.
The Band Perry received their first CMA Awards nomination this year in the Vocal Group of the Year category. The band, made up of siblings Kimberly, Reid, and Neil Perry, recently released their self-titled, debut album.
Bryan received his first CMA nomination this year in the New Artist of the Year category. His current album is Doin’ My Thing.
Corbin received his first two CMA nominations this year. He is nominated for New Artist and Single of the Year (for “A Little More Country Than That”). He released his self-titled debut album earlier this year.
Gordon is a racing superstar, having won the NASCAR Cup Series championship four times, the Daytona 500 three times, and the Brickyard 400 four times.
The four members of Little Big Town are Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman, Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbrook, and they are nominated for Vocal Group of the Year. To date, Little Big Town has had a total of eight CMA Awards nominations. Their current album is The Reason Why.
McGraw has won a total of 11 CMA Awards, including Entertainer (2001), Male Vocalist (1999, 2000), and Album (1998 for Elsewhere and 1999 for A Place In The Sun, both of which he co-produced). He will release Number One Hits on Nov. 30.
Niemann received his first CMA Awards nomination this year in the New Artist of the Year category. His current album is Judge Jerrod & The Hung Jury.
Pickler has a career total of two CMA Awards nominations. Her current album is Kellie Pickler.
Rimes won the CMA Horizon Award in 1997. She will release a new album in early 2011.
Rucker is the reigning CMA New Artist of the Year. His recently released new album is Charleston SC 1966.
Young received his first CMA nomination this year in the New Artist of the Year category. His current album is The Man I Want To Be.
-BAM
“Evil Dead: the Musical” extends Oklahoma run
The Oklahoma debut run of “Evil Dead: The Musical” is being extended into November after the hilariously horrific stage show sold out all its originally planned October shows.
The musical made its Sooner State premiere Oct. 2 at Scream Country Haunted Forest’s Boomstick Theater in Drumright. It was supposed to run 8:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through this weekend, but the show has proven popular enough to warrant more performances.
“We’ve had a really good response. It’s been a lot of fun,” said Chance Newman, who is directing the Oklahoma production.
Scream Country added 11:30 p.m. shows for Oct. 23 and this Saturday and now has extended the run to Nov. 11-13 and Nov. 18-19. Because of the coming time change, November showtimes are set for 8 p.m.
“Evil Dead: The Musical” is based on Sam Raimi’s cult classic film franchise. Newman said many of the shows have featured “Evil Dead” fans quoting along with the dialogue.
The two-act song-and-dance show follows the storylines of 1981’s “The Evil Dead” and the 1987 remake/sequel “Evil Dead 2,” with a scene from 1992’s “Army of Darkness” thrown in. Five college students travel to an abandoned cabin in the woods and accidentally unleash evil forces seeking to possess them. These ghoulish events transform one of the students, Ash (played by Bruce Campbell in the movies), from a mild-mannered S-mart housewares employee into a demon-killing hero with a chainsaw arm and double-barreled shotgun, or “boomstick.”
Limbs are severed. Demons tell bad jokes in between possessions. Blood flies so far and with such frequency that the first five rows are dubbed the “splatter zone.” And it’s all set to a musical score that includes a country song, a ’50s doo-wop number and a spoof of the “Grease” theme “Summer Nights.”
“We just keeping adding more stuff to, adding more blood, adding more makeup,” Newman said. “We’ve added a lot more blood, so that’s been good.”
In other words, people who purchase “splatter zone” tickets can expect to get drenched with “real fake blood,” because the show has become more splattery with each passing performance.
“Now it looks like a lake when you’re done,” he said. “And it seems like the more (blood) we add, the happier they are.”
For information and tickets, call (918) 409-0274 or go to www.evildeadok.com.
For more Halloween events going on in Oklahoma this weekend, check back here Friday for my extensive list of your spooky season options.
-BAM
“My Kinda Party”: Jason Aldean playing Oklahoma City Thursday, releasing new album next week
Along with his hits like “She’s Country,” “Big Green Tractor” and “Johnny Cash,” fans of Jason Aldean can expect the country star to play new music when he brings his latest tour to Oklahoma City Arena (formerly Ford Center) Thursday.
Aldean is releasing his anticipated new album “My Kinda Party” on Tuesday. It’s the follow-up to his breakout 2009 album “Wide Open,” which spawned the consecutive chart-toppers “She’s Country,” “Big Green Tractor” and “The Truth.” For the new record, he’s stayed on indie Broken Bow Records, which has been his label throughout his career.
“I’ve been lucky,” Aldean told The Oklahoman correspondent Ben Scott in a recent interview. “A lot of artists that come out have everything happen really quick. The first single explodes, and that instant fame can be hard to handle. But we’ve had a slow and steady calm to my career. Speaking of my own personal life, I’ve had time to adjust from ’05 until now. When you start on top of the mountain, you don’t really have anywhere else to climb.”
To read more of Ben’s story on Jason Aldean, click here.
-BAM
Luke Bryan just doin’ his thing, playing Oklahoma City Thursday
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From Wednesday’s Life section of The Oklahoman.
Country singer’s doin’ his thing
Luke Bryan, who is having a breakout year, will play Thursday at Oklahoma City Arena with fellow Georgia native Jason Aldean
“Just Doin’ My Thing” has paid off for Luke Bryan in a big way.
The country singer-songwriter has experienced a breakout year since releasing his sophomore album last October: He scored his first two No. 1 hits with “Do I” and “Rain Is a Good Thing,” won top new vocalist and new artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards and snagged the breakthrough video trophy for “Do I” at the CMT Music Awards.
“No question, it’s been the biggest year of my career, and a lot of things have happened, a lot of positive things,” Bryan said in a phone interview from Champaign, Ill., where he was watching hunting shows in his bus before a concert. “Certainly, I love the position I’m in now, so I can’t complain about anything. Not one thing.”
He certainly isn’t complaining about playing for packed arenas before fellow Georgia native Jason Aldean on his tour, which is stopping Thursday night at Oklahoma City Arena (formerly Ford Center).
“Jason and I, we’re real good friends, and to get to be out here with friends and playing music makes it a good time,” said Bryan, who next year will tour with Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher. “As an opener, your job is to get everybody ready and get the whole vibe started of the whole concert. … Try to get everybody’s energy up and get the blood flowing.”
While he often sings laidback country anthems, Bryan, 34, takes his job seriously. He grew up on a peanut farm in Leesburg, Ga., and moved to Nashville, Tenn., after his dad threatened to fire him from the family business if he didn’t take a chance on his musical dreams. The singer-songwriter credits his gold-certified success to working hard, picking the right songs and putting on the best live show he can.
“The main thing … is working hard and being true and being good to your fans,” he said. “For me, it’s always been the fans that kept it going. They’ve kept me around and I hope they can share in the fun of all this. It’s all kind of a partnership between me and them.”
For instance, he added a cover of OneRepublic’s pop hit “Apologize” to his show one night, and the crowd loved it so much that he made it a regular part of the show.
“We started doing it live and had so many fans comment on it. And it was going ever so great, and I love the song, so we put it on the album,” he said. “It was fun. I think it showed a different side, that I’m not trying to be a one-trick pony.”
Although he now lives in Nashville with his wife Caroline and their two young sons, — Bo, 2, and Tate, 2 ½ months — “Doin’ My Thing” pays homage to his rural upbringing with songs like “Rain Is a Good Thing,” “That’s What Country Is” and “Welcome to the Farm.”
“I think your best songs come from personal experiences and pulling from stuff you’re familiar with. I enjoy that. I love writing songs and saying what I want to say in my own way,” he said.
Bryan co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks on his second album, the follow-up to his 2007 debut “I’ll Stay Me.” He penned the ballad “Do I” with Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley of hot country trio Lady Antebellum and the playful “Rain Is a Good Thing” with Dallas Davidson, which made the thrill of taking the songs to No. 1 even sweeter.
“To get a No. 1 song is pretty good stuff,” he said. “It was awesome, a big party, and we’re just glad that it all happened that way. It was a fun experience and (I) certainly hope there’s many more.”
In addition, Bryan hopes to add more award show wins and performances to his resume. He played the ACM Awards briefly before accepting the top new artist prize, a title he also will vie for at the Nov. 10 Country Music Association Awards. He earned four nominations for December’s inaugural American Country Awards: male artist and album of the year, along with best single and top single by a male artist for “Do I.”
“It’s nice being recognized for awards; you know, if you’re not getting recognized, then you’re not turning any heads,” he said.
Turning heads just seems to be part of his thing these days.
In concert
Jason Aldean with Luke Bryan
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Where: Oklahoma City Arena (formerly Ford Center), 100 W Reno.
Information: (800) 745-3000 or www.theokcarena.com.
-BAM
