A&E
Stage
The River That Never Runs Dry
A chat with the queen of comedy before her stand at the Venetian
June 2nd, 2011
Joan Rivers was fucking funny before women were fucking funny. Dressed prim and proper back in the ’60s, the blond New York fireball spouted jokes about abortion, and race, all packaged up nicely and sealed with an f-bomb. Now, Rivers is bringing Joan Rivers Live to the Venetian. Read more »
Music
On the Road Again … and Again
Tim McGraw reflects on his musical workload as he heads to Vegas
June 2nd, 2011
He’s won every major award in country music, but Tim McGraw wants more. “I’m only about 30 percent as good as I want to get in music,” the 44-year-old says. In an effort to expand his artistic boundaries, McGraw has released a crossover hit with Nelly (“Over and Over”), co-wrote a single for Def Leppard (“Nine Lives”) and hopes to work with Bruce Springsteen one day. The self-described “Blue Dog Democrat” has also hinted at running for governor of Tennessee one day, but he’s not sure why. Read more »
Soundscraper
Zombies, doom metal and Deadheads
June 2nd, 2011
The headline for this week’s Soundscraper only seems downbeat and mortality-fraught on the surface. It’s actually a very lively, buoyant week in live music, with everything you can possibly ask for—a benefit concert for special-needs kids, heavy-as-sludge stoner metal and a Grateful Dead tribute band from Cali. I will be at two of the three shows, so look for me. I just bought a whole new wardrobe of loud polyester dress shirts from Savers, so I should be pretty easy to spot. My editor laughed when I suggested this event last year, but I’m telling you this is the coolest (and slowest) aggressive music event of the year—the second Doom in June at Cheyenne Saloon, June 4 from noon to dawn. Read more »
Concert Review
Punk Rock Bowling
June 2nd, 2011
The 13th annual Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival brought some classic bands out of hiding this Memorial Day Weekend and put them on the outdoor stage at Sixth Street and Fremont. Read more »
Concerts
Tour Buzz
June 2nd, 2011
COWPOKE CONVERGENCE: Helldorado is over, and the National Finals Rodeo is months down the road—so what’s with all the cowboys riding into town?EVERYTHING OLD IS GOO AGAIN: It’s tempting to smack-talk the Goo Goo Dolls, who are playing the Red Rock Resort on June 3 ($30). Read more »
Music
CD Reviews
Crisis Works, Escape Velocity and A Godlike Inferno
June 2nd, 2011
Young Legionnaire, Crisis Works (Wichita); Zombi, Escape Velocity (Relapse); Ancient VVisdom, A Godlike Inferno (Shinebox) Read more »
Book Review
The Man Who Stares at Himself
The Psychopath Test pretends to search for meaning
June 2nd, 2011
The amygdala is a region of most vertebrate brains that acts as a gatekeeper to memory, assigning priority to memories on the basis of emotional intensity, and in the process molding our emotional reflexes. Anyone who has been in combat or a car accident should get the idea. But psychopaths, who suffer from a total deficit of amygdalal activity and its attendant empathy, never acquire such searing long-term memories. As a result, we learn in the British journalist Jon Ronson’s The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (Riverhead, $26), they have trouble relishing their pleasurable experiences for a sustained period of time. Read more »
Television
America’s Got Nothing to Watch
The sad reality of summer TV seems to be getting worse every year
June 2nd, 2011
Although I have startlingly low standards for television, the summer lineup always manages to get me down. The final weeks of May seem rife with endless possibilities—who knows what long-awaited sexual encounters, weddings, births or even grisly demises will finally unfold during the bevy of jam-packed, super-size season finales, which stack up in my Hulu queue like glittering precious gems, their clarity flawed only by extended Geico commercials. But then, after the climax, a crushing lull. Read more »
Movie Review
The Hangover Part II
★★★☆☆
June 2nd, 2011
If you loved The Hangover, you’ll love The Hangover Part II ... because it’s an exact replica! The Wolf Pack (Bradley Cooper, Zack Galifianakis, Ed Helms) is back, this time in Thailand. Read more »
Movie Review
Kung Fu Panda 2
(PG) ★★★☆☆
June 2nd, 2011
It takes somewhat longer for the awesomeness to turn all that awesome. And you can’t really replicate that element of surprise that the first movie had going for it: a fan boy panda that gets to team up with his martial arts heroes. But Kung Fu Panda 2 delivers more heart than laughs, and is, if anything, more visually dazzling than the 2008 original film. Read more »
