Two more dates added for ‘Walking With Dinosaurs’

The upcoming “Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular” event at the Yakima Valley SunDome is billed as the biggest show to ever play Yakima.

Now, officially, it is.

SunDome officials announced today that “Walking With Dinosaurs,” which comes to town the end of April, is the highest grossing ticketed event in the venue’s 19-year history.

And it isn’t even sold out.

Tickets are still available to the five previously announced performances, plus tickets to two added shows — 7 p.m. April 23 and 3 p.m. April 24 — go on sale at noon this Friday.

“We’re far from being sold out,” Greg Lybeck, SunDome assistant general manager, said in a news release. “In fact, we still have plenty of good seats for most the shows. But sales are brisk and we obviously are expecting huge crowds at each performance. We are really pleased with the response to this show.”

“Walking With Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular” is a mix of animatronics, puppetry, science and theater magic that brings to life 15 full-size dinosaurs, including a 36-foot tall Brachiosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus Rex that’s 18 feet tall at the shoulder. It’s based on the Emmy Award-winning BBC television series “Walking With Dinosaurs,” originally broadcast in 1999.

Tickets for all shows — which are now 7 p.m. April 23; 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 24; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 25; 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. April 26 — are available through TicketsWest, 800-325-7328, www.ticketswest.com, or the State Fair ticket office, 509-248-7160. Tickets range in price from $19.50 to $47.50.

NKOTB to hang tough at the White River Amphitheatre

The group with the least applicable name, New Kids On The Block, are coming to the White River Amphitheatre this summer. The play the Auburn venue on July 7.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. this Saturday, April 4, and $10 lawn tickets will be available from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. that day only. Other tickets cost $19.50, $39.50, $59.50 and $79.50, and are available through LiveNation.com, select Blockbuster locations or by calling 877-598-6659.

SXSW: Day 4-5 — The Hold Steady and, umm, more music (better late than never, right?)

Friday, Sara and I took a taxi from our friends’ condo to downtown. We called up the one with the coolest name — A Cheap Ride — and the driver was a blast. We didn’t catch his name but he is a fifth-generation Texan and gave us a great narrated tour of downtown Austin.

AND, as it turned out, he dropped us off in the right place at the right time.

About a block from where we got out of the cab, we walked by this club that had a very familiar sounding band playing. I peered over the gate and saw it was The Hold Steady!

After watching from the fence we realized it was free to get in and there was NO LINE! We must have hit the beginning of the set because the band played for a good 45 minutes, rolling through “Yeah, Sapphire,” “Stuck Between Stations,” “Constructive Summer,” “Your Little Hoodrat Friend,” “Party Pit” and “Most People Are DJs,” among others.

And everyone was clapping and singing along.

It was wonderful.

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Off the Record to celebrate Record Store Day April 18

For the second year, Off the Record will join hundreds of other independent record shops around the world to celebrate Record Store Day on April 18.

Now observed the third Saturday every April, Record Store Day is marked by special — and super cool, might I add — limited edition vinyl and CD releases made exclusively for the event, plus special performances, cook-outs and parties.

“We’re still in the planning stages but we hope to have a couple of bands playing in the parking lot and food and drinks,” says Off the Record owner and founder Rich Koch.

Koch wasn’t exactly sure of the special releases they’d have on hand — a complete list is here — but he’ll let me know by next week and, of course, I’ll let you know as soon as I do. (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for The Thermals/Thao with the Get Down Stay Down split 7-inch.)

— Kim Nowacki

Star Anna gets some CMT love

Ellensburg alt-country songstress Star Anna got a shout-out today on CMT’s blog. About time!

Legends Casino announces summer concerts

The Yakama Nation Legends Casino recently announced its line-up for its summer outdoor arena concerts, and more may be announced:

• 8 p.m. June 27 — Hot and fluffy comedian Gabriel Iglesias. Tickets cost $35, $25 and $17.50 and go on sale at noon April 4.

• 7 p.m. July 19 — Rocker Pat Benatar with husband and longtime guitar player Neil Giraldo. Tickets cost $45, $35 and $20 and go on sale at noon April 11.

• 7 p.m. July 30 — Country music tough girl Gretchen Wilson. Tickets cost $50, $35 and $25 and go on sale at noon April 11.

There are also mixed martial arts fights slated for June 6, which includes celebrity guest Tito Ortiz, and Aug. 8.

Tickets to all Legends events are available through the gift shop, 509-865-8800, ext. 5271, or Ticketmaster, 509-453-7139, www.ticketmaster.com.

SXSW: Pics — Snapshots from the front and back row

I’ve put up some pictures on Flickr from my recent trip to the South By Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas.

— Kim Nowacki

SXSW: Day 2-3 — Long lines and great shows

(Pretend that I didn’t have computer problems and actually posted this yesterday.) 

 

Well, I didn’t see any of the bands I had hoped to Wednesday night here at SXSW except the two guys from Massy Ferguson, Ethan Anderson and  Adam Monda, who are sharing the living room of our friends’ condo with my friend Sara and me.

Despite having their gear damaged on the flight down from Seattle, they put on a great set at this bar called Shiners that’s sandwiched, vertically, between a rooftop dance club full of very pretty 21-year-olds and, well, I don’t know what the bar on the ground floor is.

Massy Ferguson has a very Americana feel. I think I’ve described them before as sounding more like they’re from the Heartland than the Pacific Northwest – they are named, with slight variation, after a tractor company. I’ll need to ask Ethan what that’s about. (On a side note, they’re also pretty funny guys who, when there’s no other booze in the house, will do shots of Bud Light. Oh, and they also performed a cover of “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker Band complete with a flute solo.)

Before we closed out the night with them, though, Sara and I attempted to get into Stubb’s where the Avett Brothers and the Decemberists were playing. How the line system works here is those with badges get in first, those with wristbands second and those with cash and who are crossing their fingers might get in. It’s kind of a bummer but if I paid $600 for a badge I’d want special treatment, too. Anyways, the cover was $25 and the line long, so we decided to wander around and get a lay for the land.

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SXSW: Day 1 — The Thermals travel coach and beer-spitting punk bands

 

So, for my job I talk to well known musicians from time-to-time and generally don’t get star-struck. (Mostly because our conversations are over the phone.) But I was totally a giddy fan when I saw The Thermals on our flight from Portland to Austin, Texas. I managed to sneak a pic of them (pictured) during our layover in the Houston airport — where Thao (of the Get Down Stay Down) also joined them — and while we were waiting for our luggage I finally got up the nerve to tell The Thermals bass player, Kathy Foster, what a big fan I am.

 

One of the main reasons I finally made it down to SXSW this year is two friends from Yakima, Jen and Brandon, moved to Austin and are being gracious enough to let us stay with them. They are great hosts and took us Tuesday night to Casino El Camino and Headhunters. Both were very cool joints. Headhunters is this Temple of Doom/tiki kind of punk bar and they had several bands play that night. The second band, Krum Bums (pictured), were this sneering, fists-in-the-air outfit that spit beer on the rowdy, moshing crowd. I hadn’t been to a punk show like that in a long time. (The third band, though, were who I really liked. Too bad I didn’t catch the name.)

 

Today’s been slow-going. Jen is about to pick up two of the guys from the Seattle Americana band Massy Ferguson who are also staying here. They’re not “officially” part of SXSW but are playing a couple shows and Brandon’s sitting in with them on drums. Once they get here we’ll have a Texas-style BBQ (everything here is “Texas-style”) and then hit downtown.

 

The SXSW schedule is sooooo overwhelming and we don’t have wristbands but my hope for tonight is to see The Avett Brothers, The Decemberists, Massy Ferguson and Hillstop. Hopefully I’ll get into at least one of these shows.

 

– Kim Nowacki

SXSW: Getting excited!

T-minus a handful of hours until my friend Sara and I fly down to Austin, Texas, for South by Southwest, a huge indie music festival.

I’m super excited but also a little overwhelmed by just how many bands there are (more than 1,000) playing at so many venues. (Just take a look at the schedule.)

So aside from a few bands I’d really, really like to see (The Thermals, Handsome Furs, Blitzen Trapper, The Hold Steady), my basic plan is to let the discoveries happen serendipitously.

Wish me luck!
Oh, and if you’d like to check out a sampling of the bands playing at this year’s SXSW, NPR has a handy-dandy stream of 100 bands they like, plus a 10-song sampler you can download for free from iTunes. Links to both are HERE.

This year, On mag is going to SXSW!

For a couple years now, I’ve been pointing out where on the Web to hear the latest buzz-worthy (and over-hyped) bands playing the Austin, Texas, hipster fest known as South by Southwest.

This year, though, I’m tired of living vicariously through SXSW blog posts and online music players and am finally going to see for myself what all the hoopla is about.

Starting next Wednesday, check the blog for dispatches from my first trip to SXSW (pending Wi-Fi availability).

— Kim Nowacki

$20 Beyoncé tickets go on sale Friday

If you like it then you better put a $20 on it.

A limited number of $20 tickets to Beyoncé’s April 1 KeyArena concert go on sale at 10 a.m. tomorrow, March 13. (Right now tickets cost $59.75-$99.75.)

Tickets are available through LiveNation.com or Ticketmaster outlets.

A minister of music: Remembering Mitch Weary

The Rev. Mitch Weary will be remembered by a lot of people in a lot of different way: as a pastor, teacher, mentor, leader, husband, father and friend.

And as all of those things in one.

Weary, 46, died this past Sunday at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital of cardiac arrest.

With an unfailing smile and positive attitude, Weary was a man devoted to his faith, music and the community. He was the assistant pastor of Greater Faith Baptist Church, the guy who sold you saxophone reeds while manager of Mills Music, a steady hand guiding generations of musicians and prominent member of Yakima’s black community.

“He was such a talent, first of all,” says Eisenhower High School Assistant Principal Sharon Harris, who grew up in the same neighborhood as Weary and is a member of the church choir at Greater Faith. “He was a minister of music.”
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Billy Joel and Elton John to play … Seattle

Well, we all know the Billy Joel/Elton John double bill isn’t coming to the SunDome, but it is coming to the state.

The two pop piano men will play the KeyArena in Seattle on Nov. 4 (that’s a Wednesday).

According to a news release:
Elton and Billy open the concert with a series of duets, playing twin pianos and trading vocals. Each artist then performs a set with his own band. A grand finale brings the two superstars and their supporting musicians back together for a closing encore. This includes some of both Elton and Billy’s greatest hits along with an unpredictable selection of rock and roll classics.

Tickets to the Face 2 Face tour go on sale at 10 a.m. next Monday, March 16. Tickets cost $54, $99.50 and $179.50 and will be available through LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster outlets. There is a limit of six tickets per customer.

Taiwanese puppetry company’s visit CWU postponed

The visit from the Taiyuan Puppet Company to Central Washington University I told you about here last week, has been postponed until spring quarter.

Check back with the Central Theatre Ensemble for updates as they become available.

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