Red Carpet Pose of the Week:
Now this is how you accept an award. Singer Michael Buble isn't afraid to show his excitement upon receiving a Juno Award in Calgary on Sunday. Thirty-two statuettes were handed out at the kudofest that honors Canada’s brightest music stars. Other winners included Feist and Blue Rodeo. (photo: WireImage)
It was a Ruttling good time for all at the Egyptian Theater Monday night as the American Cinematheque presented a 30th anniversary screening of NBC's 1978 Beatles spoof, "All You Need is Cash," starring the Rutles.
All four original members were in attendance: Eric "Dirk McQuickly" Idle (who wrote and co-directed the spesh), Neil "Ron Nasty" Innes (who wrote the songs), John "Barry Wom" Halsey and Ricky "Stig O'Hara" Fataar. Since the Rutles had never had a public event in their original incarnation, Idle quipped, "It's the first time a band has reunited before they've united."
Asked how it felt to be back in the Rutles saddle, Innes said "We're not really in the saddle, we're more in the sidecar." The group had no plans to perform, leaving that to the Fab Four (pictured above with the Rutles), the cover band who are performing "Rutlemania" at the Ricardo Montalban Theater. Yet at the after-party, the original Rutles were coaxed onstage to play in public for the first time.
Before the show, Idle called the Rutles the ultimate in "unreality TV" and denied he would be basking in the adulation of his fans. "Basking is done at home, in the bath," he said. Fataar, who has toured as the drummer for Bonnie Raitt and other music notables, deadpanned that "(The Rutles) have dogged me every step of the way," before admitting "It's a musician's band, they're musicians' jokes, and musicians really like it."
Which may explain why Mick Jagger, who appeared in the spesh as himself, sent a message: "After all the on-and-off promises and canceled shows, I can't believe you have finally decided — at your great age — to defy all the odds and recreate your magnificent past. I wish I could be there. If only to laugh."
Notables in the aud included The Police's Andy Summers, Jeff Lynne (E.L.O. and Broadway's "Xanadu"), Aimee Mann, Stephen Bishop and Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta.
VIPs at the pre-show reception received copies of Monday's Variety with its Rutles page, which Idle called, "The end of news as we know it." (D. Cohen)
Pictured above: The Rutles - John Halsey, Neil Innes, Eric Idle and Ricky Fataar - with their tribute-band counterparts in The Pre-Fab Four/ Photo: Lee Christian
The Grammy festivities kicked off in full swing as Sunday's big award show draws near. will.i.am and Fergie lit up the stage at Avalon Hollywood Thursday for the Peapod Foundation benefit concert hosted by the Black Eyed Peas and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Fergie wowed the crowd with multiple one-arm cartwheels while will.i.am demonstrated that a foot cast didn’t hinder his dance moves. Prior to the show, the Peas front man expounded upon this year’s leadership honoree, Paradigm chairman Sam Gores, as well as the grand opening of the groups' Peapod Music and Arts Academy at the Watts/Willbrook Boys and Girls Club. “Sam believes in us outside of our music and pushes us to do other things. His life story of coming from nothing and becoming something has inspired us and that’s exactly what the Peapod Academy is trying to do with younger kids.” (A. D'Alessandro)
Meanwhile, over at Goa DJ siblings Samantha and Mark Ronson hit the Fuse TV party where they were joined by Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz. Nearby, at Area Nightclub, Eric Benet sang at the Lexus Listening Lounge event honoring Cathy Hughes. At a sophisticated soiree at the Getty Center, Grammy nominated classical pianist Lang Lang and musical child prodigy Marc Yu celebrated Lang being named Intl. brand ambassador & chairman of the Montblanc de la Culture Foundation. Earlier in the day, singers Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli were at the Staples center rehearsing for the show while No Doubt's Adrian Young picked up some swag at the Grammy Style Studio at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. On Friday night, People and Verizon Wireless hosted a pre-Grammy party at Avalon where guests were treated to a line-up of performances that included: One Republic, Missy Elliot and Taylor Swift.
Photos credit: WireImage
The event: "Little Chenier" premiere
The details: Saturday in New Orleans at the Prytania theater followed by an after-party at Grand Isle.
The guest list: Pic’s stars Johnathon Schaech, Fred Koehler, Tamara Braun, Clifton Collins Jr., Chris Mulkey, Isabella Hofmann, director-writer Bethany Ashton Wolf and writer Jace Johnson plus members of the local community.
The menu: Cajun cuisine like gumbo and fried alligator and a local cocktail called Sazerac made from a 200-year-old recipe.
The entertainment: Zydeco music from the Abe Manuel Band (whose members appear in the film) joined by 16-year-old fiddler Amanda Shaw.
The talk: The tale of two brothers, which Louisiana lieutenant governor Mitch Landrieu called “the most accurate depiction of Cajun culture” that he had ever seen, finished shooting just one month before Hurricane Rita devastated the southwestern Louisiana community where the pic was filmed. The preem was a fund-raiser for those in the region who are still in need. Money was raised for Rita Remembered (P O Box 145, Lake Charles, LA 70602), which aids people through an arts and literacy program; and Musicians’ Village — a cornerstone of the area’s Habitat for Humanity program — which was conceived by Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis’ to provide a community for the city’s displaced musicians.
From left: Jace Johnson, Chris Mulkey, Isabella Hofmann, Johnathon Schaech,
Bethany Ashton Wolf, Clifton Collins Jr. and Tamara Braun. (Photo by Catherine Victoria)
The event: A performance by Dewey Cox to tub-thump his musical-comedy biopic “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”
The details: Monday night at The Roxy in West Hollywood
The guest list: pic’s producer-scribe Judd Apatow, pic’s helmer-scribe Jake Kasdan, Gina Gershon and Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly).
The talk: In his dressing room before the show, Reilly reflected on what we can all learn from the foibles of his tortured rock star alter-ego, Dewey Cox. “It’s funny what the rock star life does to you. At some point it will make you a narcissist and you’ll try to medicate your pain in unusual ways and woman often get worked up around rock stars. With that comes trouble,” explained Reilly, “even through his darkest days and worst decisions, Dewey really thinks he’s doing right.” And on that note, Cox took the stage, greeted his fans as “Cox Lovers” and threw his sweaty towels at them as souvenirs; thus making the ladies scream. The set list included such Cox standards as “Let’s Duet,” “Guilty as Charged” and the women’s rights song “Ladies First.” (A. D’Alessandro)
The songs of Bob Dylan came to Gotham's Beacon Theater Wednesday night for the "I'm Not There" - The Music of Bob Dylan Benefit Concert. Dylan took the film's title to heart and was not at the event but a slew of well-known musicians including Jim James, The Roots, Al Kooper & Funky Faculty, Yo La Tengo with Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural and John Doe hit the stage to belt out a few well known anthems including "The Times They Are a-Changin," "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "All I Really Want to Do."
"No one has really mentioned Bob Dylan tonight," Doe said before beginning his song set. "He is probably out there tonight performing on some stage and that makes me happy."
"I'm Not There" helmer Todd Haynes and pic's thesps Bruce Greenwood and a barely audible, gum chewing Heath Ledger presented bands while fellow actor Marcus Carl Franklin performed. (A. Morfoot)
At Sunday's Hollywood Bowl performance, "The Big Picture: The Films of Paramount Pictures," composer David Newman reminisced about the music making of the '70s.
“Film composers were experimental during this era; their scores were more minimalist and eclectic versus the homogeneous sound from the ‘30s through the ‘50s." Newman told On the Town before stepping on stage to face the 100 degree heat and conduct the Bowl orchestra.
The evening began with host Leonard Nimoy greeting the crowd with the “Star Trek” Vulcan sign and went on to boast several orchestral highlights, including John Williams’ “Raiders of the Lost Ark” opening music synced to the film’s footage as well as a faux snowfall encore of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas.”
But it was that ‘70s moment, which proved the most moving when four pianos, four harps, some percussions and a horn pierced the humidity with Jerry Goldsmith’s “Chinatown.” "There couldn’t be a more ‘composerly’ score," said Newman. "It starts with a pianist inside the piano and then the music spills like water." (A. D’Alessandro)
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr came together to celebrate their late Beatles bandmates, John Lennon and George Harrison, in a bittersweet ceremony at The Mirage in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
As though introducing one of the band’s tunes Starr shouted, “One, two, three, four,” prior to the unveiling of the plaque portraits of Lennon and Harrison. The commemoration coincided with the one-year anniversary of “Love,” the Beatles-based Cirque du Soleil production at the Mirage, which pays tribute to the group’s musical legacy. Also feted was the 40-year anniversary of the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Starr said, “George was a great musician and a dear friend. I love him and I miss him."
McCartney recalled, “They were magnificent men and it is an honor to unveil this plaque to them.”
Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison joined in the event as well as Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.
The plaque portraits will permanently reside inside the “Love” lobby. (B. Scherzer)
Jermaine Dupri heated things up at his House of Courvoisier BET Awards after-party in Hollywood Tuesday night. A lively crowd packed the dance floor while Fabulous and Ne-Yo performed their single, “Make Me Better,” followed by Chris Brown who swayed the crowd from “Wall to Wall.” The reigning king and queen of the night — Janet Jackson and Dupri — held court in a VIP booth and mingled with guests Anthony Hamilton, Rihanna, Alicia Keys and Tyler Perry. (K. Hunt)
Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. reopened Wednesday night thanks to its new owners: the White Stripes.
As part of the band’s week long celebration of its 10th anniversary and new album “Icky Thump,” the Stripes rented out LA’s former vinyl sacred cow, renaming it “Icky Thump Records,” for a fans-only show.
Barking like a southern preacher before 200 fans, Jack White cried, “Welcome to the grand opening of our record store. We specialize in the sale of tangible records. You know what those are. Can I get an ‘Amen,’ for records you can hold in your hand? Can I get an ‘Amen’ for non-disposable music?”
With its low ceilings and lack of a.c., the former Tower flagship store accentuated the Stripes’ garage stylings and caused Jack to sweat profusely. However, keeping the mob’s mind off the lack of cool air during the show were the pill box cigarette girls donned in satin candy-stripe dresses and handing out peppermint sticks and ice cream.
There to jump-start the Stripes’ set was none other than Jack Black, whose wry introduction, “I’m the other Jack. Not the color,” immediately triggered the crowd for the band’s onslaught of fresh tracks “A Martyr for My Love to You” and “You Don’t Know What Love Is."
Finishing out the gig, Jack White exclaimed, “It’s a big honor to play here. This place is a big institution for this town and we don’t take it for granted.” (A. D’Alessandro)
