PERHAPS IT'S A good thing bachata boy band Aventura grew up in the South Bronx rather than the Dominican Republic.
While the bachata Latin genre is popular in the DR, it was considered hick music for older folks due to its origins in the rural countryside. But there were no stigmas attached to the music in New York, where Dominican-Yorkers like Aventura's lead singer and heartthrob Anthony "Romeo" Santos could sing enchanting and soulful love ballads to his heart's content.
"Many people thought that bachata was for middle-aged guys who would kill themselves if their wife didn't come back for them. It's sad stuff, man."
BOB DYLAN'S NEW album, "Christmas in the Heart," is one of the weirdest major-label releases this year — and certainly the strangest holiday album since Bing Crosby dueted with glam-era David Bowie.
It's an archivists' sleigh ride through several decades of cool Yule tunes, some well known ("Do You Hear What I Hear?") and some fairly obscure ("Christmas Island"), with little time for the sanctimonies of typical holiday fare.
On the other hand, "Christmas in the Heart" is a concept album that measures the considerable discrepancy between the sentimental music and the aggressively unsentimental instrument. Hearing Dylan croak out a particularly phlegmatic "Little Drummer Boy" won't get the kids in the holiday spirit. (However, all proceeds from the album will be donated to Feeding America and its international counterparts.)
Part sincere celebration and part outright goof, the album ultimately is a thoughtfully wrapped package disguised as a lump of coal. In other words, it's typical Dylan, who throughout his nearly five-decade career has zigged left when conventional wisdom says to zag right.
So, to celebrate his mind-boggling stocking stuffer, we came up with his top five WTF moments.
Continue Reading "What About Bob? Dylan's Top Five WTF Moments" »
TUESDAY: Oh, Dane Cook. It's always sad when a comedian who's actually funny — yes, he can be stupid and sexist, but he's got great timing — goes off to do idiotic movies about bumbling blue-collar workers and Jessica Alba's underwear. We're happy to see Cook back doing comedy on a stage, with no bimbos or shopping carts in sight. It's where he belongs.
» Patriot Center, George Mason University, 4500 Patriot Center, Fairfax; Tue., Nov. 3, 7 p.m., $33-$103; 202-397-7328.
Photo by Jonathan Alcorn/The Washington Post
SATURDAY: Mastodon makes epic prog-metal concept records such as "Crack the Skye" with straight faces, many riffs and killer musicianship. The same descriptors apply to Dethklok, the extreme animated band from Adult Swim's "Metalocalypse" show, spearheaded by co-creator and guitar virtuoso Brendon Small. Sure, it's all cartoonish — and totally killer.
Click on the links above to access our previous stories on Mastodon and Dethklok, plus there are several videos after the jump, including the latter's "Bloodlines" clip from its new CD, "Dethalbum II."
» Patriot Center, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, Va.; with High on Fire and Converge, Sat., Oct. 31, 6:30 p.m., $35; 703-993-3000.
MONDAY: Pink isn't the most accomplished musician or lyricist you've ever encountered, in fact, she sort of embodies the concept of getting by on personality. But what a personality — she's angry and funny and sassy in a way that makes you want to be her friend. And you can dance to every single song. Bonus: The Ting Tings are her opening act.
» RELATED: "Still a Rockstar: Five Reasons Why Pink Rules" [Express, Sept. 2009]
»Patriot Center at George Mason University, 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax, Mon., Sept. 28, 8 p.m., $40-$50; 202-397-7328.
Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
DON'T CALL Ricardo Arjona a Latin lover-type singer. Although he has the looks and charisma to be marketed as such (and was, early in his career), Arjona prefers to play the role of storyteller in his pop ballads.
"I'm a chronologist; I talk about everything, not just about love," said Arjona in Spanish while in Miami preparing for his 18-city U.S. tour. "I talk about the undocumented [people]; I criticize Latin American society, but also sing about everyday life."
Arjona's storytelling has made him one of the most sought-out Latin artists in his two decade-long career, regularly filling stadiums in Latin America and arenas in the United States. While big-arena concertgoers can expect bright lights, video backdrops and pyrotechnics, Arjona also employs a theatrical musical-like setup and actors who play the roles of characters in his songs.
SUNDAY: SQUEEEEEE!
Sorry. We didn't mean to do that. Every time the New Kids on the Block come to town, all the hormones of junior high come flooding back. You probably had a poster of at least one of these proto-Jonas Brothers hanging up in your seventh-grade locker. They sold more than 80 million albums in the '80s and early '90s. Take that Joe, Nick and Kevin.
Just off of their New Kids on the Block Cruise that embarked last month, everyone's favorite man band (40 is the new 30, right?) will be back in town with old hits like, "Hangin' Tough" and "Step By Step." You'll be able to hear new music like, "2 In The Morning" and "Single" from their latest album, "The Block."
Go on and indulge your inner 13-year-old. We won't judge.
» Patriot Center, 4500 Patriot Circle, Fairfax; with Jabbawockeez, Sun., June 7, 7 p.m., $13-$78; 202-397-7328.
Written by Express' Nicole Ocran
Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
SATURDAY: The art of the impersonation had fallen into disrepute; it took modern comics, especially Frank Caliendo, right, to restore luster to the subgenre. The star of "Frank TV" comes to the Patriot Center on Saturday with Bill Engvall.
» Patriot Center, GMU, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax; Sat., May 9, 8 p.m., $49.50; 703-573-7328.
Written by Express' Arion Berger
THIS WEEKEND: Eat your heart out, Cirque du Soleil. There's a new cast of awe-inspiring air tumblers on the scene and we don't have to go to Vegas to see them. The National Acrobats of China put on a dazzling display of juggling, illusions and otherfeats that is guaranteed to make you wish you hadn't given up gymnastics when you were 8.
The group has won numerous awards and has toured extensively around the world. Hey, and it solves the age-old question: what do those 14-year-old Chinese gymnasts do after puberty hits?
Center for the Arts at George Mason University, Route 123 and Braddock Road; Fri. and Sat., April 17 and 18, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., $23-$46; 703-993-8888.
Written by Express' Brian Austin
Photo courtesy IAI Presentations Inc.
THIS WEEK: One of opera's most enduring tragedies — and that's saying a lot — "Tosca" remains as riveting as it was at its 1900 premiere in Rome. Puccini's tale of a headstrong singer's downward spiral, tugged along by her heart and the jealousies of men around her, comes to George Mason University's Center for the Arts in a Virginia opera production of lavish fidelity to the soul of the story.
» GMU, Center for the Arts, Braddock Road & Route 123, Fairfax; Fri., Feb. 13, 8 p.m., Sun., 2 p.m., $44-$98; 888-945-2468.
Written by Arion Berger
Addison Road