Party Rocking at the Maverik Center

By Pat Reavy, Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 9:47 am MST

WEST VALLEY CITY — Well, they certainly know how to throw a party.

Dance/hip-hop/pop/electro/rock duo LMFAO – currently one of the hottest acts in music – brought their Sorry For Party Rocking Tour to the Maverik Center on Wednesday night.

If the goal was to give a few thousand people an excuse to go crazy and keep shuffling for 90 minutes, then mission accomplished.

Their lyrics aren’t particularly original. But the success of Redfoo and SkyBlu – the driving forces behind the LMFAO – can be attributed to mixing infectious dance music, a backup crew of insane dancers, and an unapologetic irreverence on stage (think of a wild college fraternity party in Miami on spring break).

The high energy set included everything from dancing zebras, a pink bear, high wire acrobatics, the first few rows being doused with beer and champagne, a ton of strobe lights and confetti, and Speedos.

Both Redfoo and SkyBlu were strong with their vocals. And the large bi-level stage provided plenty of room for the group’s extremely talented dance posse to provide some sick moves.

Many of those who attended the show were ready to party rock along with the band. The audience looked like a throwback to 1983. I haven’t seen such an explosion of neon pink and green, and leopard print since that era, not to mention an abundance of tank tops, Bermuda boardshorts, big sunglasses and afro wigs to resemble Redfoo’s real hair. The T-shirts with band song titles and lyrics in large letters also brought back visions of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Even the keytar used on stage made for an MTV-like 80s atmosphere.

The interesting contradiction with LMFAO is that while their audience was a dominantly high school and college-aged crowd and those under 30, there was also an abundance of pre-teens at the show. Only LMFAO’s concert isn’t really a family friendly outing.

That’s not to say the performers weren’t talented and the show wasn’t entertaining. But parents who only know LMFAO from their radio hit “Party Rock Anthem” may not have been prepared for some of their more explicit songs and antics on stage. If you’re not OK with your 8-year-old singing “Sexy and I Know It,” you may question whether you want your son or daughter listening to Redfoo and SkyBlu sing, “I am Not a Whore” and “Put That (butt) to Work.” It’s just another reminder to parents to make sure you know what your kids are being exposed to before sending them off to a concert.

Overall, however, LMFAO was a highly energetic show and entertaining evening of music and party rocking.

Bad cell phone pic of the show below:

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers, The State Room 5/25

By Pat Reavy, Friday, May 25, 2012 at 7:13 am MST

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SALT LAKE CITY — Good rock-n-roll isn’t always accurately measured by radio airplay, platinum records or the size of crowd at a concert.

Good, honest, unadulterated, uncompromised rock is measured by the passion the band puts into its records, its live performances and the passion of their audience, both feeding off each other to create a euphoric synergy in concert.

It’s in that spirit that veteran rockers Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers are one of the best live bands in America.

RCPM (as they’re known by fans) return to Salt Lake City Friday at The State Room for what’s sure to be the city’s best fiesta to kickoff the holiday weekend.

Lead singer and Arizona native Clyne has been called both the Troubadour and the Springsteen of the Southwest. The combination of his lyrics and passion on stage, the crunching guitar of Jim Dalton, and the backbone rhythm section of bassist Nick Scropos and PH Naffah (one of the best still relatively unknown drummers in the country) make the Peacemakers one of the tightest and most energetic live bands on tour today.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers have released albums on an independent records label for nearly 13 years. They are the only independent band to debut in the Top 10 on Billboard’s Internet Sales chart for six consecutive albums, including two #1 entries.

Their latest release is Unida Cantina, a guitar-driven roots rock-n-roll record that reached #2 on Billboard’s Heatseekers chart and #4 on iTunes Rock Albums list in 2011.

Prior to RCPM, Clyne & Naffah enjoyed an accomplished stint with The Refreshments in the 90s. Their cult-classic album Fizzy Fuzzy, Big & Buzzy produced the hit singles “Banditos” and “Down Together” and was Radio & Record’s ninth Best-Selling Debut Album of the Year and went to #1 on Billboard’s Heatseeker Chart.

This time around, RCPM comes to Salt Lake on their Road to Circus Mexicus Tour. It’s the tour leading up to their annual celebration in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, the Mecca of RCPM concerts each year. Thousands of fans from all over the world travel to Mexico for what has become a three-day celebration of music next to the Sea of Cortez and beach soccer.

Unofficially, this year’s event, June 8-10, has been stretched to four days. Austin-based Americana rockers Shurman along with RCPM’s tour manager Jason Boots will give a free show on June 7 at cantina on the beach.

Also appearing at this year’s shows, Virginia roots rockers Sons of Bill whose latest album was produced by David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven.

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers own their tour bus, which they have literally driven around the U.S. and Mexico enough times to flip the odometer back to all zeros a couple of times.. But the band also wants to do all they can to protect the environment. This year, they’ve added solar panels to their tour bus to complement the existing eco-friendly, bio diesel generator. The band expects to save 500 gallons of diesel fuel on this tour alone with solar panels.

Bieber Fever

By Pat Reavy, Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 7:27 am MST

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Never say never, Salt Lake City. That collective shrieking of young female voices you just heard was in reaction to the news that pop heartthrob Justin Bieber is coming to Utah.

The concert isn’t until next year, but tickets go on sale next week. Tickets for the Jan. 5, 2013 show go on sale June 2.

In other news, The Civil Wars are at The Depot tonight (5/24). It’s a sold out show!! So if you don’t have tickets, you’d better find a friend who has an extra.

USANA turns 10

By Pat Reavy, Friday, May 18, 2012 at 10:07 am MST

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If you grew up along the Wasatch Front in the ’80′s and ’90s, you remember the summer concerts at the old Park West/Wolf Mountain Amphitheater.

Many of those memories come back quickly with just a quick stroll through the offices of United Concerts in downtown Salt Lake City where pictures of some of the classic concerts from that era hang on the wall.

Unfortunately, because of growth, changes and expansion to the ski resort, those nights eventually came to an end. United Concerts president Jim McNeil was left trying to find a new venue to host the music world’s top artists during the summer concert season.

“That was a real roller coaster ride, trying to find a venue, trying to find the land. Because you really need about 100 acres to do an amphitheater, and finding a piece of land that has minimal interference with the neighborhood and a community that wants an amphitheater,” he said.

As fate would have it, West Valley City was very interested in getting an amphitheater.

“It all came together in about a month,” McNeil said. “(At first, our plans) weren’t working and they weren’t working and couldn’t make a deal and this wasn’t happening and attorneys…and suddenly it just all came together, It fell into place. I guess all the work paid off.”

The result was the state of the art USANA Amphitheatre which turns 10 years old this summer.

“It’s really worked out better than I had hoped for,” he said. “The kind of attendance we’re getting, the support from the community, few crowd control problems…everything has worked out better than I could have anticipated. It’s nice when you beat your own expectations.”

In the past decade, more than one million people have attended more than 120 shows at the USANA Amphitheatre.

This summer there are ten scheduled concerts at USANA including a Beatle, a group that holds the distinction of being one of about five who have sold-out the 20,000 person capacity venue, and one of the most anticipated outdoor concerts of the summer.

“We’re ahead in (pre-sales) all of our shows. The advances are very good,” McNeil said.

This year’s shows are the typical mix of rock and country, as well as show for both a younger and veteran audience.

Ringo Starr will have the distinction of being the first Beatle to play USANA on July 11. Veteran rockers Scorpions, Def Leppard and Poison – who all have Park City memories of their own – will play in June. The Scorps are calling this their final farewell tour while Def Lep and Poison kick off their entire summer tour in Utah.

The rock act that is gaining the most attention, however, and the one that McNeil decided to take a chance with because he wanted to see the show himself, is Iron Maiden on August 1. Based on the ticket sales already, McNeil wasn’t the only one who wanted to see Maiden play in Utah for the first time in 16 years, and the first time in more than 20 years with Bruce Dickinson fronting the band.

“I really wanted to do Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden hasn’t played here since the Salt Palace…..that show is doing extremely well. It’s nice when you guess right,” McNeil said.

One of the big changes this year at USANA will be the parking situation. Because of some development by UDOT over the summer, United Concerts was forced to do some land exchange.

“I’m excited about the parking situation. I certainly wasn’t excited when UDOT showed up a year ago and said, ‘We’re going to run this road through here, is that a problem? Oh, and we’re going to take 17 acres of your parking. That shouldn’t be a problem, should it?’” McNeil said.

But after negotiations, some trading of property and some purchasing of property, McNeil says USANA ended up with about 500 more parking spaces than before, which should accommodate about 1,500 more people.

“We will have more entrances and exits,” he said. “We spent a lot of time working on (parking).”

He hopes that will knock 15-minutes off the time it takes to get everyone out of all the parking lots at the end of a show.

In addition, there will also be a second box office made at the new parking lot for walk-up sales, giving fans, for the first time, another option for day-of-show sales.

The USANA Amphitheatre remains one of the greenest in the nation, garnering praise from the likes of Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson.

In 2007, USANA was the first venues of its kind to be designated as a ‘Green Amphitheatre’ by incorporating recyclable beverage cups, carpool lots, and an increased number of recycling containers on site.

The 2012 USANA summer concert lineup:

• Scorpions/Queensryche (June 11)
• Toby Keith (June 14)
• Def Leppard/Poison (June 20)
• Ringo Starr And His All Starr Band (July 11)
• Big Time Rush (July 25)
• Iron Maiden/Coheed and Cambria (August 1)
• Journey/Pat Benatar/Loverboy (August 3)
• 311/Slightly Stoopid/SOJA (August 22)
• Sugarland (September 1)
• The Australian Pink Floyd Show (September 28)

Van Halen returns to Utah!

By Pat Reavy, Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 8:43 pm MST

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****UPDATE #2***** Rumors of an implosion in the Van Halen camp may be exaggerated.

The real cause of the tour postponement may simply be due to old age.

Van Halen went on the PR offensive after the band postponed more than 30 dates on what has otherwise been a highly successful tour and the Internet rumor mill went into overdrive with stories of the Van Halen brothers and David Lee Roth being at each others’ throats.

The band’s PR peeps – including their own personal PR machine, David Lee Roth – released statements and Roth released a video saying the band just needed a break before getting burned out. Roth said the band has been getting along better now than they had been in decades. He claims, in the video, that after a little break, they’ll be back on the road.

As always with the Van Halen camp…..stay tuned!

***UPDATED*** When the Van Halen tour started, my wife told me if I wanted to see a show, I’d better do it on the first leg.

Turns out her prediction may have been right.

Van Halen has “indefinitely postponing” all shows after the June 1 homecoming show at the Staples Center in L.A.

No official reason has been given. But the web is buzzing with rumors that the David Lee Roth and the Van Halen brothers aren’t getting along at all…again. Some are even predicting the June 1 show could be the last Van Halen show ever.

But, that’s all yet to be seen.

All we know for sure it that Van Halen’s scheduled Sept. 4 show in Salt Lake City is currently postponed.

Stay tuned.

Most of you already know this. But in case you were sleeping, while I was up in Tacoma doing my day job, tickets for Van Halen went on sale. Coincidently, Van Halen played in the Tacoma Dome the night before I arrived in Washington. All the local radio DJs were talking about the show the next morning. Their consensus was this: outstanding show! Eddie Van Halen is healthy and playing like the Edward of old. Although many longtime fans miss Michael Anthony on bass, Eddie’s son, Wolfgang Van Halen, appears to be holding his own. The only mixed reviews I heard were about Dave. Some saying Diamond Dave is still a great showman, while others said his vocals just aren’t there anymore.

Overall, however, this is still a show not to be missed. For rock fans, it will easily be one of the most anticipated concerts of the year in Utah.

Although some are mistakenly calling this a reunion tour, this is actually the second tour for the reunited Dave and the Van Halens. However, this is the first time a David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen will have played in Utah since the mid-1980s.

Can’t wait for this one!

An Eagle landing in SLC

By Pat Reavy, Friday, April 27, 2012 at 7:30 am MST

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Eagles and James Gang guitarist and former presidential candidate Joe Walsh will be delivering an intimate performance at the Gallivan Center this summer.

Tickets for the Aug. 21 show go on sale Friday (Apr. 27). Enjoy a night under the stars the Rocky Mountain way with ordinary average guy Joe Walsh.

Life’s been good to him so far.

Musicians Leave Mark On Depot Wall

By Pat Reavy, Friday, April 27, 2012 at 7:20 am MST

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I recently got to take a tour of the area under The Depot’s main stage. It’s like a scene out of This Is Spinal Tap where the band gets lost under under the stage in Cleveland. I’m told that scene has played out in real life in Salt Lake City.

There is also a wall down there that more than 250 artists have signed, left messages for other artists or drawn pictures.

Here’s a link to my newspaper and TV story:

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=20159454&title=musicians-leave-their-mark-on-the-depot&s_cid=queue-13

One Direction coming to Utah…..next year

By Pat Reavy, Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at 8:44 am MST

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I remember when I was a teen and purchased a concert ticket and couldn’t wait for the show to roll into town a few weeks later.

British-Irish boy band One Direction is taking the waiting game to a whole new level.

Tickets go on sale Saturday for One Direction’s Maverik Center show in July of 2013. No, that’s not a typo. Tickets go on sale Saturday, April 21, for a show that doesn’t happen for 15 months.

Maybe it’s marketing strategy gold – sell tickets while the group is surface-of-the-sun hot (they recently sold out Madison Square Garden in 10 minutes).

On the other hand, I wonder how many teens will lose their tickets between now and next year or how many will simply move on to another band? Maybe they’ll switch allegiance to the The Wanted.

So I present the question: What is an acceptable amount of time between when tickets go on sale and the actual concert date?