Boys of Summer

  The signs of summer are everywhere: longer days, baseball on the tube, restless teens ready for a break, and the smell of your neighbor’s barbecue blowing (at 70 miles an hour) into your backyard.  Freshly cut grass, water restrictions—you’ve gotta love it. 

  As spring fever gives way to the idle excesses of summer, children and adults alike grow more and more eager for a little fun in the sun.  And nothing—I repeat, nothing—says fun in the sun like The Beach Boys.  

  This weekend, the quintessential boys of summer will be taking the stage at Aggie Memorial Stadium for a Sunday evening show that’s sure to thrill the whole family.  The Beach Boys’ music speaks to the beach bum in all of us.  It transcends generations, and appeals to the teenager in all of us—that inner teen who is perpetually on a grail hunt, our quest for the holy trifecta of teen-hood: the fastest car, the perfect wave, the prettiest girl.  

  Generations of teens who have never even seen the ocean are drawn to The Beach Boys’ unique brand of surf music—and to the dream that lurks within it.  It is that dream with its mass appeal, and the group’s undeniable ability to capture it, that has given them 36 hits on the Top 40 charts during a career that spans more than 25 years.  With the exception, perhaps, of surf-guitar legend Dick Dale, no single act has done more to popularize surf-rock than The Beach Boys.

  In 1962 and 1963, surf-rock became the biggest craze to hit America since “The Twist,” and it would remain so until The Beatles stepped off that plane at JFK in February of 1964, marking the beginning of the British Invasion.  And while it may have been songs like “Surfin’ Safari,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Surfer Girl” that put The Beach Boys on the map, I think that their strongest music came later in their career with the 1966 album “Pet Sounds.”  That album, masterfully produced and alarmingly introspective, broke away from the pop-surf sound that fans had come to expect from the group.  It is seamlessly arranged so that the album is greater than the sum of its parts, and, in my opinion, is one of the greatest rock albums of all time.   The scene at Sunday’s concert will be a genuine summertime bash, complete with tailgating, barbecues, and cold drinks.  It’s my understanding that Burger Time’s Kevin McGrath with be grilling up free burgers for ticket-holders, and new regulations at the recently renovated stadium allow for beer sales during certain events.  When it comes to welcoming summer, what could be better than a burger from the grill, The Beach Boys and a frosty barley pop?

  Tickets for the concert are still available at the Pan-Am Box Office or online at www.ticketmaster.com.  This Sunday, there is only one way to ring in the sunny season.  After all, this could be your last chance to see one of Rock & Roll’s greatest bands in your own backyard.   

-From Pulse
   May 4, 2006

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Convention Center Blues

  Las Cruces has no medium-sized venues for live music.  And for would-be concertgoers in Las Cruces, this problem is larger than they may realize.  While it’s been a problem for several years, it seems that we’re in no hurry to do anything about it. 

  As music director for Hot 103, I receive calls almost weekly from potential concert promoters who would like to bring more concerts to town.  Invariably, the conversation goes like this:

  Fast-Talking Promoter:  “Hey, look buddy, I’m really excited.  We’ve got this great show that we wanna bring to town.  It’s gonna be big; it’s gonna be huge!  Fans’ll love it.  Listeners will love it!  LAS CRUCES WILL LOVE IT!  All we need’s a venue…

  Me: “Well, um, how many people ya lookin’ to pull?”

  FTP: “Between 1,000 and 2,000.”

  Me:  “Hmm…Well, pick a date and start praying for good weather, because it will probably have to be an outdoor show.”

  I go on to explain the nature of our problem.  Hurricane Alley would be a good venue for a smaller show, but it only holds about 300.  The Pan Am Center would be a good venue for a larger show—between 7,000 and 8,000.  And there is virtually nothing in between.

  I say “virtually” because there are a few options, none of which are ideal.  Dickerson’s Event Center is an option, but because of the poor acoustics and less-than-ideal location, it’s better suited for wedding receptions and gun shows.  And there are various hotel ballrooms, but few can accommodate a large crowd and most are opposed to hosting a noisy concert that may run late into the evening.

  A week ago, the country band Cross Canadian Ragweed played a sold-out show at Hurricane Alley.  With a little advertising and a larger venue, they probably could’ve tripled or quadrupled ticket sales.  But there’s another side to that story.  Four years ago, LL Cool J came to the Pan-Am Center, and drew fewer than 1,000 people.  The promoter lost a ton of money on that show, which was better suited for a smaller venue.

  Which brings us to the idea of the proposed convention center.  Remember?  About a year ago, there was a lot of talk about it.  In fact, it seemed imminent.  It was going to be the best thing to happen to Las Cruces in years.  It was to revitalize the economy, generate tourism, and solve all of our problems.  What ever happened to that?

  I’m not in economic development, but it seems to me that a new convention center, located downtown, would be an enormous leap in the direction of solving two of the problems we are facing locally: the aforementioned, and the “downtown revitalization” issue.  Albuquerque’s downtown is constantly cited as an example of the proposed revitalization, and the city’s convention center—located in the heart of downtown and the venue for many concerts—played a big role it that. 

  Before the plan to revitalize downtown can move forward, we ought to revitalize the conversation about the convention center that never was. 

-From Pulse
   April 13, 2006

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