Monthly Archives: March 2012
Thunder Valley Casino Summer Concert Series UPDATED
Tesla receives the Key to the City in Sacramento CA – Click for more images
I just wanted to update everyone on Thunder Valley Casino Resort’s summer concert series which kicks off on May 18th with Sacramento’s own band Tesla.
Thunder Valley has brought a diverse lineup of acts to their summer stage in past seasons and 2012 is shaping up to be an awesome series, with everything from local favorites such as Tesla to cross border sensations including 3 time Grammy winner and Canadian, Diana Krall.
Mr. Fluffy himself – Gabriel Iglesias – Click for more images
Recently added to the summer lineup are two very funny people Gabriel Iglesias and Jeff Dunham, both funny in their own special way. You can read more about their last visit to the area at Fluffy Puffs Up Thunder Valley – Jeff Dunham – A Heart of Wood
For you country fans out there, they’ve added none other than country sensation Tracy Darrell Adkins, better known as Trace Adkins.
Foreigner drummer Mark Schulman – Click for more images
Let’s not forget Foreigner with their relatively new lead singer, and Steven Tyler look alike, Kelly Hansen, who brings a whole lotta energy to their shows. You can read about Foreigners appearance last year at Sleep Train Amphitheater here.
Don’t be left out, get your tickets early!
Thunder Valley Casino Resort Summer Schedule
| Tesla | Friday, May 18 – 8:00 pm |
| La Original Banda El Limon Con Carmen Jara | Saturday, May 19 – 8:00 pm |
| Creedence Clearwater Revisited | Saturday, June 2 - 8:00 pm |
| Super 70′s Soul Jam | Friday, June 8 – 7:00 pm |
| Filipino Entertainment Festival | Saturday, June 9 – 5:00 pm |
| Brett Michaels w/Night Ranger and Slaughter | Friday, June 15 – 7:00 pm |
| Trace Adkins | Friday, June 29 – 7:30 pm |
| Gabriel Iglesias (aka Fluffy) | Saturday, June 30 – 8:00 pm |
| Foreigner | Friday, July 6 – 8:00 pm |
| Steve Miller Band | Friday, July 13 – 8:00 pm |
| Earth Wind and Fire | Saturday, July 14 – 8:00 pm |
| Creed | Friday, August 3 – 7:30 |
| Jeff Dunham (aka Jeff fa fa Dun Ham) | Saturday, August 4 – 8:00 pm |
| Smokey Robinson | Saturday, August 11 – 8:00 pm |
| ZZ Top | Friday, August 17 – 8:00 pm |
| Diana Krall | Saturday, Aug. 18 – 8:00 pm |
| REO Speedwagon | Saturday August 25 – 8:00 pm |
| Styx | Thursday, September 6 – 8:00 pm |
| Morris Day and The Time | Friday, September 7 – 7:00 pm |
| Terry Fator | Saturday, September 15 – 8:00 pm |
| Ramon Ayala | Friday, September 21 – 8:00 pm |
| Cirque Du Thunder | Saturday, September 22 – 8:00 |
Obama, Clinton, Bush visit Thunder Valley Casino
Frank Caliendo - Click for more images
Well ““ sort of.
The very talented and slightly possessed comedian-impressionist Frank Caliendo entertained an overflowing crowd in Pano Hall, at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on Friday night.
Caliendo brought his “‘A’ game and a few of his friends, in the form of impressions of famous people including Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.
Fellow comedian George Cantor opened the show with his observational humor. The first few jokes fell flat, but being the stand-up comedian he is, Cantor changed gears and before the end of his set he had the audience on the floor laughing. Not ROFLMAO kind of laughing, but damn close.
Out of the gate Caliendo started with Bush, reminding everyone how Bush was famous for forgetting the last few words of a thought. In the voice of Bush;
“These terrorists, these guys are ah “¦ these guy are ah. . . I wrote it down here somewhere . . . these guys are bad.”
George Canton - Click for more images
Next up was his impersonation of Clinton and how Clinton would have behaved, if wife Hillary had won the presidential election. In his best Clinton voice he went on to describe his stay in the Whitehouse and not having any rules.
It’s extremely difficult to convey how funny and entertaining Caliendo is, it’s one of those shows you have to see to believe.
I grew up admiring the talent of Rich Little who did impersonations, but Caliendo takes impersonations to a whole new level. He flawlessly goes from one character to the next at lightning speed, and in some cases, leaves the audience behind only to catch up a few beats later.
As he went into more of the sports impersonations, Caliendo warned everyone, that some of the audience members would not get it, as he launched into his impersonation of Jim Rome, an ESPN personality.
After the show Caliendo answered some questions from the audience and signed autographs along with Canton.
Some of the personalities that Caliendo channeled were; Jack Nicholson, Ted Knight, Scooby Doo and Shaggy, Chris Rock, Terry Bradshaw, Al Pacino, John Madden, Jeff Goldblum, Dr. Phil, Jay Leno, Adam Sandler, Charles Barkley, Robin Williams, Morgan Freeman, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards, Jason Alexander, and Yoda
Ronnie Montrose Dead at 64
The Legendary rock guitarist and founding member of Montrose has died at the age of 64. An exact cause of death has not been announced, but Ronnie Montrose was battling prostate cancer in recent years. UPDATE: Coroner ruled suicide due to self inflicted gunshot.
Back in the 70′s Montrose teamed up with Sammy Hagar (frontman for Van Halen) to form the band Montrose along with bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi.
Montrose went on to play along with a long list of musicians including Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, just to name a few.
A post popped up on Montrose’s official website on March 3 announcing his passing:
A few months ago, we held a surprise party for Ronnie Montrose’s 64th birthday. He gave an impromptu speech, and told us that after a long life, filled with joy and hardship, he didn’t take any of our love for granted.
He passed today. He’d battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to form, he chose his own exit the way he chose his own life. We miss him already, but we’re glad to have shared with him while we could.
Montrose recently played at The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley, CA. Fellow Photographer John Tuckness was on-hand.
RIP Ronnie
Party Rock Sacramento!!
LMFAO - Click for more images
They opened for Kesha, shared the stage with Madonna at the Bridgestone Super Bowl halftime show, and now LMFAO is ready to take their party rock anthems on the road as Redfoo and Cherrytree Present: Sorry for Party Rocking Tour Featuring LMFAO and the Party Rock Crew.
The Live Nation promoted tour kicks off May 22nd in Columbus, OH at Nationwide Arena. Tickets go on sale beginning March 2nd at Ticketmaster.com and Livenation.com.
I had the opportunity to see LMFAO open for Kesha last year, and they should have been headlining the show. Their show is nothing but high energy with a few blowup dolls thrown in for good measure.
Sacramento is in luck too. they will be appearing at Power Balance Pavilion on June 6th with special guests Far East Movement, The Quest Crew, Sidney Samson, Eva Simons and Natalia Kills.
Electro-hip hop quartet Far East Movement will be bringing their ‘Dirty Bass’ sound, performing their big hits “Like A G6,” “Rocketeer,” “Jello”
Far East Movement - Click for more images
and new club & radio anthem “Live My Life.”
Before becoming MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew, Season 3, Quest Crew’s energy and charisma captured the attention of audiences with their numerous crew and individual performances on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance?. Members of Quest Crew have been featured in LMFAO’s videos and television performances.
Sidney Samson started DJ-ing at the age of 14. Not only is he a remixer, but a producer as well, all the while keeping the dance floors packed.
Noted in Billboard’s May 2011 issue as “One To Watch”, Dutch born & bred Eva Simons is ready to take the electro-dance world by storm with a brand new album this year. Having previously collaborated with LMFAO, will.i.am & Chris Brown, Eva gained much acclaim recently with the massive hit she co-wrote and featured with DJ Afrojack called “Take Over Control”.
Natalia creates razor-edged pop. Her debut album, Perfectionist, debuted #1 on the US Billboard Heatseekers Chart, and she has toured with Katy Perry, Black Eyed Peas, Ke$ha, Robyn, and Kelis. She is also featured on LMFAO’s hit track “Champagne Showers.”
LMFAO’s sophomore album Sorry For Party Rocking (Party Rock/will.i.am/ Cherrytree/Interscope) was recently certified gold and is quickly approaching platinum. The album has produced two #1 singles, “Party Rock Anthem” and “Sexy And I Know It,” while the third single “Sorry For Party Rocking” is climbing the Top 40 radio charts. The video for “Sorry For Party Rocking” premiered on E! last week and already has over 9 million views on VEVO. The video features LMFAO and the party rock crew in full on house party mode.
DATE CITY VENUE ON SALE DATE
May 22 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena March 2
May 23 Detroit, MI The Palace of Auburn Hills March 2
May 25 Minneapolis, MN Target Center March 3
May 26 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena March 3
May 28 Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre March 3
May 30 Salt Lake City, UT Maverik Center March 3
June 1 Spokane, WA Spokane Arena March 3
June 2 Seattle, WA KeyArena March 3
June 5 Los Angeles, CA STAPLES Center March 3
June 6 Sacramento, CA Power Balance Pavilion March 2
June 8 Oakland, CA ORACLE Arena March 2
June 9 San Diego, CA Valley View Casino Center March 3
June 12 Houston, TX Toyota Center March 3
June 13 Tulsa, OK BOK Center March 3
June 15 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center March 3
June 19 Charlotte, NC Bojangles’ Coliseum March 2
June 20 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena March 2
June 22 Miami, FL AmericanAirlines Arena March 2
June 23 Orlando, FL Amway Center March 3
June 25 Washington, DC Patriot Center March 2
June 26 Uniondale, NY Nassau Coliseum March 3
June 28 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena March 3
June 29 Newark, NJ Prudential Center March 3
June 30 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center March 2
July 1 Worcester, MA DCU Center March 3
July 4 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amph March 2
Thunder Valley Casino catches fire with Ohio Players
Sugarfoot - Click for more images
Sugarfoot’s Ohio Players took it old school Saturday night at Thunder Valley Casino Resort and turned Pano Hall into party central, or should I say funk central.
The 69 year old master of funk Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, along with eight of his friends, brought the house down as they played hit after hit from their massive collection of songs from the 70′s and 80′s.
Looking frail and using a cane from time to time, Sugarfoot started out with “Who’d She Coo,” and “Skin Tight.” The mixed crowd, of both young and old, were on their feet for most of the performance.
Joining Sugarfoot onstage was Grammy Award winning and longtime band member Trae Pierce (Musical Director/Bass), Derwin Daniels (Sax), Courtney “Big Luv” Girlie (Drummer), Emmanuel Cook (Keyboards), and Earl Fleming (Keyboards). I know that’s only five, but I didn’t catch all their names ““ so if anyone knows who they were, I would love to hear from you.
This was funk at its finest with a tight three horn section, a phenomenal drummer, keyboards, and of course one of the greatest bass players. The band weaved their way from one song to another, making for some wonderful transitions between songs.
Sugarfoot’s voice was no worse for wear. Granted he doesn’t sound the same as he did in his younger years, but he can still bring it. His signature sound came through as he continued with “Fopp,” “Jive Turkey,” and “Honey.”
The crowd erupted into cheers, and anyone not standing was soon on their feet, when the band started playing “Love Rollercoaster,” leading into a superbly performed bass interlude.
As the band left the stage, you could feel the tension in the room as everyone cheered for Sugarfoot and his team to come back out onstage and play just one more. Of course they came back out and finished with everyone’s all-time favorite “Fire.”
The funk doesn’t stop here!!
Catch George Clinton at Thunder Valley Casino Resort on March 25th.
Setlist:
Who’d She Coo
Skin Tight
Fopp
Jive Turkey
Honey
Let’s Love
Sweet Sticky Thing
Heaven
I Wanna Be Free
Love Rollercoaster
Encore
Fire
