The OC Gazette Pays Tribute To Late Icons

{ All Photos by Gary of TourBusLive.com }

Jill and Gary, the dynamic duo behind our EntertainMe column, made a trip up to LA this weekend for KLOS 95.5FM's Breakfast with the Beatles. You may have even heard a few shout out's to The OC Gazette while you were listening to the show in your car! Hopefully we'll have an audio of that soon to share with those of you who missed it, although I can't think why someone would be listening to anything other than Breakfast with the Beatles on a Sunday morning. While Jill and Gary were in the LA area, they made a pit stop by the Hollywood stars to pay tribute to the late Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon. It was quite an affair, which isn't suprising considering what huge icons each of them were. My phone nearly imploded from the flood of texts I got on Thursday, not to mention all the emails, facebook threads, and tweets. They will all be missed. We're still listening to the anthology of MJ in the office... as I'm sure people all over the world are too.

-Amy

For more concert photos of all your favorite bands, visit Jill and Gary at TourBusLive.com.

On my iPod right now: The Jackson 5's I'll Be There

Coming soon: The OC Housewives

The newest issue of The Gazette will be hitting homes early next week! This is the first month of our new Central OC issue and we like to come in with a bang! Both issues will feature the OC Housewives, a candid interview with Troy Tanner - the Olympic coach from San Clemente who led Misty May and Kerri Walsh to a gold medal in Beijing for volleyball, front row coverage of the Joe Cocker show, and our list of over 75 things to do this summer in Orange County! On the cover of our South OC edition will be Cal Elite Kids, an awesome youth sports venue in RSM, and on the cover of our Central OC edition will be GiGi Goddard of Pure Indulgence along with her faithful customers Lynne and Jeana from The Real Housewives of Orange County (pictured above - photo by Tracie Taylor). Look for them in your mailbox or at one of our local rack locations!

-Amy

On my iPod: Glasvegas' Geraldine

Mannequin Hands Find Good Home

Some of you might recall our previous post concerning our need for mannequin hands (If you didn't please refer to the post Wanted: Mannequin Hand).  To our pleasant surprise, we arrived to work with a package atop our desk.  Attached to the package, a note. 

"Just thought you gals deserved a "hand" for all the great work you do. Press release: Mannequin Hand Finds Good Home.  Love Jill". 

 For those of you who don't know, Jill is half of the dynamic duo TourBusLive.com (the other half is her photographer husband Gary) who write one of our most popular Gazette columns, Entertain Me. So we grab a box cutter (in a safe manner, of course - it's all fun and games till someone loses a finger), rip open the box, and inside...

two of the most beautiful mannequin hands a person could ask for.  Not only can you count on TourBusLive.com for front-row-so-close-you-can-feel-the-sweat coverage of all of your favorite local shows, but you can count on them to be the best coworkers and friends a design team could have.

How she found time to hunt down two mannequin hands between her intense schedule of concert hopping (this month you'll get the full scoop on the Joe Cocker show), setting up press passes, and all of her writing duties, is beyond me.

You can all rest assured that these mannequin hands have found a good home in the graphic design team of The OC Gazette. Our newest member of the design team, Blythe (second to the left) is still on the prowl for a business card holder she can call her own - be it mannequin hand or otherwise.  So if you got any ideas, let us know!

-Amy

On our iPod: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Skeletons

Dave Alvin. Photo by Issa Sharp

Hello Orange Countians!  To all of you guys who went out to see the Dick Dale show at the Coach House, we hope you caught the shout out he gave The Gazette!  To be mentioned from the mouth of such a legend is truly an honor.  The show was everything we expected and more!  He played the trumpet and sang Louis Armstrong, did a killer rendition of Johnny Cash's Walk the Line, and even tackled The Animal's House of The Rising Sun, ON TOP of his own incredible catalog.  We hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did.  

Another event you won't want to miss coming up at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano is Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women.  Below is a press release about Dave and his two new albums, available now. One is dedicated to Chris Gaffney, Alvin's longtime friend and accordionist.  Alvin called in the big guns to perform on this tribute to his fallen friend. Should be amazing. 

The Coach House, Saturday June 20th, Doors open at 6, Show Starts at 8, tickets are  $15.

Dave Alvin to Release New Album with All Female Band

Curates Chris Gaffney Tribute Album

February 24, 2009 (Chapel Hill, NC) – Dave Alvin will lead his new band The Guilty Women on their new self-titled album due out 5/26 on Yep Roc Records. Simultaneously, Yep Roc will release the Alvin-curated tribute to late friend and band mate Chris Gaffney, Man of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney.

 Dave Alvin’s current labors of love, the albums Dave Alvin & The Guilty Women and Man of Somebody’s Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney are inextricably linked. After the death of long-time Guilty Men accordionist and best friend Chris Gaffney, Alvin set out compiling a tribute to the man and his songs, racking up tracks by heavyweights like Calexico, Los Lobos, Alejandro Escovedo, James McMurtry and many others.

 Even though Alvin knew that Chris would want him back in the studio creating and doing what he loved as fast as possible, Dave felt the wound was still too raw to record with the Guilty Men. However, turning his considerable creative forces to a fresh project was just what the doctor ordered. The Guilty Women line-up of Cindy Cashdollar, Nina Gerber, Laurie Lewis, Christy McWilson, Sarah Brown, Amy Farris and Lisa Pankratz debuted at the 2008 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Alvin knew instantly this was the band he would record with. “It just felt so natural,” says Alvin. “It was like I had been playing with them for a hundred years.”

 Tracklist:

 1. “Marie Marie” (Dave Alvin)

2. “California’s Burning” (Dave Alvin)

3. “Downey Girl” (Dave Alvin)

4. “Weight of the World” (Christy McWilson)

5. “Anyway” (Dave Alvin/Amy Farris)

6. “Boss of the Blues” (Dave Alvin)

7. “Potter’s Field” (Christy McWilson)

8. “River Under the Road” (Sarah Brown/Anna Egge/Jimmie Dale Gilmore)

9. “These Times We’re Living In” (Kate Wolf)

10. “Nana and Jimi” (Dave Alvin)

11. “Don’t Make No Promises” (Tim Hardin)

12. “Que Sera, Sera” (Raymond Evans/Jay Livingston)

This Weekend in The OC, 6/12

Something we'll be catching this weekend is The Visual Art of Mark Mothersbaugh, Postcard Diaries, this Saturday at the Irvine Fine Arts Center.  Oh his name sounds familiar?  Maybe you've heard of Devo?  Yep, the former lead singer/guitarist and mastermind behind the smash hit Whip It is also an artist. His work could be described much like his music: fun, colorful, quirky, strange, New Wave... and the list goes on. Devo were pioneers in the art of the music video and no one could say they were lacking in stage presence, so it should be a great show!

Opening Reception

June 13th 6-8pm

Irvine Fine Arts Center

www.mutatovisual.com

Also this weekend: Orange County legend, Dick Dale, will be at The Coach House!  Quentin Tarrantino, Walt Disney, and Jimi Hendrix can't all be wrong: This guy is a true Guitar Hero. So young and old, don't miss this show!  

$25

June 13th 8pm

The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano

www.thecoachhouse.com

-Amy

On my iPod right now: The Last Shadow Puppets' The Age of Understatement

Joe Cocker Ladies & Gentleman

Just to get you guys pumped about the upcoming July issue of The OC Gazette, we are posting a photo of our lovely Entertainment section writer, Jill of TourBusLive.com, with the one and only Joe Cocker.  That's right, ole' Deep Throat will be our feature in this month's EntertainMe column!  Jill and Gary were lucky enough to meet the legend in person and get this photo op.  So brace yourselves.  As always we're striving to make the magazine more interesting for you, our faithful readers, every month, and this upcoming issue is going to be better than ever!

On my iPod right now: Joe Cocker's Bye Bye Blackbird

Wanted: Mannequin Hand

Wanted: Mannequin Hand

Are you into dumpster diving? 

Jen, our senior graphic designer, was exiting the Mission Viejo mall when she stumbled upon this mannequin hand. It now serves as our trusty business card holder, and conversation piece for clients visiting the office. It's been with us through thick and thin and it's never let us down. We are on the prowl for three more for the rest of our design team. Any color will do. So if you happen to work at the mall, or if you're just into dumpster diving and happen to find one and feel like sharing, please contact us at amy@theocgazette.com, or drop them off at 27601 Forbes Road Suite 6, Laguna Niguel CA 92677. 

On my iPod: Whiskeytown's Easy Hearts

Our Interview With Dick Dale

The new magazines are out! Check out our interview with Dick Dale, the Father of Surf Music and King of Loud. We talked about everything from how to greet a lion, his pet lions, why bees are going extinct, what he's listening to now, and how he got in with the likes of Leo Fender, Jimi Hendrix, and Johnny Cash.

Next month we'll have an interview with Troy Tanner, the coach who led Misty May and Kerri Walsh to a gold medal in women's beach volleyball at the Beijing Olympics. A quote to hold you off until then and to get you excited about tonights Laker game!

Amy Hood: So last question. Do you think the Lakers will win the NBA finals?

Troy Tanner: (laughs) Yeah, I think they're the best in the west.

Amy Hood: You're not worried?

Troy Tanner: No I think they have a way. They've got a couple players on that team that know how to win the big matches.

Free Show This Thursday!

The Union Line

This Thursday night, KROQ Locals Only presents four awesome local bands at the Gypsy Lounge for the low low cost of zero dollars. What a bargain. Especially for these four fine specimen. We can personally vouch for the quality of both Janu And The Walesharks and The Union Line. Our newest recruit, the lovely Blythe Hill (who is the one to credit for the beautiful photo above), is dating Jordan, one of the guitarists of The Union Line, and I used to take tennis class with John Wilson, the other guitarist, back in highschool at SCHS. But these affiliations don't cloud our vision when it comes to the talent of these boys. Good rock n' roll is just good rock n' roll. End of story. And the same goes for Janu and the Whalesharks. Although Jared Slaybaugh, bassist of Janu, is a friend of ours and a stand up citizen, you can't deny the good ole' folksy rock that Janu and the Whalesharks puts out. We can't wait to hear Yellow Red Sparks and Planes Over Bridges. It should be a fun night! We'll see you there.

The lineup is as follows:

Planes Over Bridges at 9:00

Yellow Red Sparks on at 9:45

The Union Line on at 10:30

Janu And The Whalesharks on at 11:15

At the Gypsy Lounge. 21+

- Amy

On my iPod right now: Rocky Votolato's The City Is Calling