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I did not "come on, get happy," at Nokia Theatre on Saturday night. Nor did I wake up in love this evening. If you're a Partridge Family fan who attended the David Cassidy concert, I suspect you feel the same; Cassidy did plenty from the PF catalog, but at least half the songs were with new arrangements that did nothing for them. Do I really want to hear a disco-ized version of "I'll Meet You Halfway" or a jazzy "C'mon Get Happy"? I do not. All was almost -- but not completely -- forgiven at the end, with a mostly traditional "I Woke Up in Love This Morning."

Honestly, I understand Cassidy and other pop stars wanting to move beyond the 60s or 70s or whenever their heydey was ... but I also think you should respect the audience that's paying $50 or $70 to see you. During Saturday's concert, Cassidy kept telling the crowd how much he loves and adores them and how we got him there, etc., but he also kept going on about how he doesn't rehearse. No kidding. I would think that if everyone in the audience knows the lyrics to "Point Me in the Direction of Albuquerque," the guy who made it a hit could be bothered to remember them. And it's really, really bad form to proclaim that seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan changed your life, and how John Lennon has made "more of a difference than any other human being in the world" (really?) and then not be able to get through "In My Life" without flubs. Cassidy had a number of sound problems, including a dead electric guitar, but we could have forgiven that. It happens. It was his willful, downright boastful lack of personal preparation that grated.

On the up side, Cassidy's voice was in fine form, and he's still got the sexy moves. Ditto Davy Jones of the Monkees, who seemed more genuine in his appreciation of the fans, and never once forgot his lyrics. Nor did he mess with the arrangements of treasured Monkees classics like "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer." Jones was billed as an opening act, but he sang just as long as Cassidy did, and delivered more of what the audience craved.

Check here Sunday evening for our full review.

PHOTO of David Cassidy: Bobby Bank/WireImage

Denver indie rockers Flashbulb Fires are on a mission. These fellows are intent on delivering their music to the masses.

"It's our breakout tour," said vocalist and keyboardist Patrick McGuire. "We want to expose our music to everyone we can."

For legendary bluesman B.B. King, performing is life-affirming. He was totally joyful Sunday night before an appreciative crowd at Nokia Theatre. Backed by a stellar band of eight musicians, King and his trusted guitar Lucille spent nearly 2 hours on the platform. He joked, chatted, played and sang all while sitting on a chair center stage. We got the classics, from "The Thrill Is Gone" to "When Love Comes to Town." His guitar playing remains unmistakable. His sound is clear, full-bodied, effortless. All of this from an 84-year-old icon that has worked enough, who's entertained in 90 different countries around the world. He's got diabetes, bad knees and a bad back. But you'd never know it. King may sing the blues, but he always makes us smile.

For a full review of B.B. King's concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday or pick up GuideDaily Tuesday.

Photo: King jubilant as ever in 2008 (Mel Melcon).

For Trans-Siberian Orchestra, bombast is part of the charm. Nothing about this ensemble is subtle, at least not that we saw Wednesday during the matinee performance attended by more than 11,000 fans at American Airlines Center. Some of it was pure excitement -- laser lights, pyrotechnics explosions, hydraulic risers and multiple panel lighting. There were a slew of musicians onstage -- six violinists, two cellists, two keyboardists, two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer -- as well as several vocalists and a narrator. Rock power conquered the classical-fortified drama, too. But 3 hours is just too much. Plus, the proceedings were disjointed. Part of it was dedicated to Christmas, and then the rest was a hodge podge with some material from the new CD, Night Castle. Some songs failed, while others succeeded. It was all overly-padded, though. This orchestra is desperately in need of a fine-tuning director.

For a full review of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or pick up a copy of GuideDaily Friday.

Photo: TSO in full-throttle (Rex Curry/Special to DMN).

Last night's New York Voices/Manhattan Transfer/Jon Hendricks concert brought a little bit of jazz history to the Winspear Opera House stage. Actually, it brought a lot of jazz history to the stage. And its name was Jon Hendricks.

Hendricks, 88, qualifies as legendary for his work as a singer and lyricist half a century ago with the trio Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. The vocal groups onstage last night repeatedly cited him as a prime influence on their careers. His words dance and collide in ways that still have the ability to amaze, decades after he crafted them.

He electrified the Winspear merely by walking onstage, sporting a long white coat, a black derby and a twinkle in his eye that surely was bright enough to be visible even from the cheap seats.

And yes, the guy can still sing.

I was able to chat with him for a few minutes after the show, at a reception where he was posing for pictures with starry-eyed fans of all ages. After hearing so many singers say what an influence he had been, I wanted to hear who his influences were.

LINDEN, Texas - My friend and colleague Mario Tarradell recently asked how many Jackson Browne shows I've attended. I had to think for a second, then said it had to be at least 50. At 58, I'm three years younger than Browne, a 2004 inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, whose shows I have seen in the Black Hills of South Dakota, near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; on the shores of Mission Bay in San Diego; and twice now in Linden, in the Piney Woods of deep East Texas, where Thursday night he performed a solo acoustic show for the second time since 2004. We all have our favorites, right? So, please consider this more a fan's observations than an actual review. I first saw Jackson live at McFarlin Auditorium on the campus of Southern Methodist University in November 1974. And I spent innumerable hours listening to his music while cruising the frozen streets of Anchorage, Alaska, with my buddy Paul Nussbaum in 1975 and 1976, when the scratchy record players in our overheated, swampy apartments played a combination of Jackson's first three albums along with Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and Willie Nelson's Red Headed Stranger. No 8-track cassette got more use in my blue 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle during those years than Jackson's Late for the Sky. But I digress.

Browne offered his services for free Thursday night as a benefit to the 420-seat Music City Texas Theater, an absolute jewel of a music venue. Anyone who loves music and has yet to go there needs to jump behind the wheel and drive the 150 miles or so from Dallas just to see the place. He welcomed the sold-out gathering with "Barricades of Heaven," which proved to be a fitting choice, since it serves as a remembrance of his early years as a singer-songwriter and chronicles a period when he got to know such people as Richard Bowden, who founded Music City Texas, and Eagles' great Don Henley, who, like Bowden, grew up in Linden, performing on the same stage (of the town's former American Legion hall) where their long-time friend played for more than two hours.

Photo: Jackson Browne, during his 2004 appearance at Music City Texas Theater

Poor David's Pub continues to be a venue I love. In just a few short weeks, I've had the pleasure of seeing Jimmy LaFave, David Bromberg and Moon & the Starz give terrific shows there. On Thursday night, Poor David's is bringing in the incomparable John Gorka. For more information about Gorka's show and Poor David's in general, click here. Last Saturday night brought to Poor David's Lamar Street location Moon & the Starz, whose five-band piece is made up of ace keyboardist Mark Vidito (who lives in Dallas) and four characters from Linden, Texas, where Moon's home court, so to speak, is the state's best live music venue, the 420-seat Music City Texas Theater. For the second time in its short history, Music City Texas is hosting Jackson Browne on Thursday night. But regulars of MCT get to hear Moon & the Starz all the time, which is no small privilege. This Piney Woods quintet is headed up by lead guitarist Richard Bowden, who once manned that position for Linda Ronstadt and Dan Fogelberg. He is also hilariously funny. One example: The show started at 8 p.m., but one contingent trooped in around 8:25. "Oh, some other folks have decided to join us," Bowden said. "So happy to see you. Can we get you anything? Like a friggin' watch!?"

Photo: Richard Bowden of Moon & the Starz

The music was sublime at Bass Hall on Tuesday night, but with Lyle Lovett and the Large Band in the house, that's pretty much a given. The long tall Texan was in fine form, singing a hefty batch of songs from his recently released Natural Forces, and also a rousing crop of favorites from albums past. "Church," "Penguins," "That's Right (You're Not From Texas)" and "Here I Am" all made appearances, to the audience's obvious delight.

Lovett, an amazingly gifted singer and songwriter, also proved himself a master of Lone Star charisma and banter. He told a hilarious song about writing "It's Rock and Roll" (which is on the new CD) with Robert Earl Keen when both were students at Texas A&M. They wrote it for a theater troupe that was doing a show that spoofed the music industry. "You can imagine the incongruity of the fact that there even was a theater group at Texas A&M in the early 1980s," he said. "Me and Robert and a couple of girls -- we were the college of liberal arts."

He also joked with band member Keith Sewell, who plays acoustic guitar and mandolin, about Sewell's Duncanville origins and their influence on his music. "That Duncanville sound. ... It's seductive."

Bass Hall appeared to be sold out on Tuesday, but at last check, tickets were still available for tonight's show at 8 p.m. Check here to get your seats. You won't find a better way to spend Thanksgiving Eve.

For a full review of the show, visit us at dallasnews.com/entertainment on Tuesday afternoon.

Remember when R&B music had soul? Raphael Saadiq does. Backed by a spectacular 8-piece band, featuring a saxophonist, trumpeter and two background vocalists, soul brother Saadiq performed Tuesday night at House of Blues. His 90-minute show was a glorious throwback to the days of wicked grooves and feel-good beats that made you want to strut, skip, shimmy, glide, bounce and snap your fingers in cool rhythm. Saadiq channeled the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson and the late Marvin Gaye. And he didn't even have to dip into his past much if at all. His solo work, especially 2008's marvelous The Way I See It, is so potent that we don't miss Lucy Pearl and Tony! Toni! Toné!

For a full review of the Raphael Saadiq gig, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Wednesday or pick up GuideDaily Thursday.

Photo: Saadiq in soulful mode (BEN TORRES/Special to DMN).

Hoodie-wearers of all ages gathered at the Dallas House of Blues Tuesday night to hear alternative rock group Switchfoot.

Although the group is best known for singles from their 2003 album The Beautiful Letdown, Switchfoot opened the show by playing every song from their most recent album, Hello Hurricane, which was released last week. (Of these songs, "Hello Hurricane" was undoubtedly the most fun to hear.)

Frontman Jon Foreman noted the unusual nature of using their most recent album as an opening act of sorts and thanked the audience for putting up with it. He observed that it must not have been terrible for everyone, because many fans towards the front already knew the words to each song, despite the album's recent release.

Performing under plastic seagulls hanging from the ceiling, the group hit their stride when they began to play their hits such as "Meant to Live." The high point came when Switchfoot performed "Only Hope" (which Foreman said hadn't been played in Dallas before) followed by "Dare You to Move." (Fans of A Walk to Remember: Rejoice!)

The audience was made up of a small group of casual fans hoping to hear radio hits, but mostly die-hard fans who sang along, waved their hands and took pictures with their phones during each number. But by the time Switchfoot came out for an encore, everyone in the venue had been charmed by the band's unassuming charm and passion for their tunes.

When I go see a group called Celtic Thunder, I can't help expecting something ... well, a little more Celtic. Alas, the Celtic Thunder show at Nokia on Monday night was a mismatched, disconcerting musical hodgepodge of everything from the Police ("Every Breath You Take") to 1960s pop ("Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen") to Don McLean ("Castles in the Air") to opera-esqe balladry ("Remember Me") ... and oh, yes, a little bit of Celtic rhythm thrown in for good measure. All told, perhaps a third of the two-hour show brought the pipes and drums and Irish-Scottish heat: "Ireland," "Caledonia," "Raggle Taggle Gypsy," "The Homes of Donegal" and "Yesterday's Men" were all splendid.

If only the quintet and their fabulous backup band had stuck to those types of songs and steered away from all the covers, which were mostly carbon copies of the originals with nothing inventive in the arrangements. The all-over-the-place musical variety was a little too Lawrence Welk Show for me (including the hilariously bad choreography -- seems like each singer was given his very own, trademark dramatic gesture, to be used at least 10 times in every song) -- all it needed was some bubbles and a few polka chords, and we'd have been good to go. Still, these boys have their ardent fans; the atmosphere at Nokia evoked a Jonas Brothers concert attended mostly by middle-aged women and their moms. And to paraphrase Fried Green Tomatoes, we have more money and we can buy better tickets and concert tchochkes.

For our full review, visit here on Tuesday afternoon.

PHOTO: Decca Records

By MANUEL MENDOZA
Special Contributor

It may sound counterintuitive, but have you noticed how the mellowest music can be made when there are a whole bunch of musicians onstage, and the most intense when it's just one or two?

That's what the Swell Season was like Saturday night at the Palladium. The show really took off during Glen Hansard's hard-rocking solo performance in the middle of the set - one passionate guy, one beat-up acoustic guitar.

After 17 years with the Frames, who remain his backing band, the Irish troubadour became an overnight sensation when he and his songs starred in the hit indie film Once. Hansard and co-star Marketa Irglova won the Oscar for "Falling Slowly" and have continued to work together as the Swell Season ever since.

(Photo of the Swell Season by Conor Masterson)

Regina Spektor has some loyal fans in Dallas and they were out in force tonight at Nokia Grand Prairie. Gaggles of young girls in skinny jeans, patterned leggings, tiny dresses, and printed scarves loitered at the merch table before the show started while misfit theater kids in vintage blue suede blazers and a plethora of black hung out just outside the auditorium doors. Hip, young couples and pretty coeds rounded out the scene.

Jupiter One opened for Spektor and seemed to have many fans of their own in the crowd. Not surprising considering their edgy sound and modern lyrics that partnered nicely with Spektor's own off the beaten path style.

Dressed in a knee length black and white tuxedo style dress, Spektor finally took the stage just after 9:00pm sitting at her grand piano with a drummer, violinist, and cellist behind her and opening with Calculation. The crowd filling the auditorium recognized the tune from the very first note as they seemed to do with every piece Spektor sang during the show. The songs Eet, Folding Chair, Ode to Divorce, and Machine followed and fans sang every word, every note, much to Spektor's delight.

And when the crowd cheers in the middle of a song and she smiles shyly and bows her head, you can imagine a young Spektor at the piano as a child imagining this very day.

She's one of those singer songwriter musicians who considers her voice an instrument to be used not just in the most obvious of ways but in a multitude of inventive ways, injecting a sense of surprise in all of the songs she sang tonight.

In fact, it can be hard to differentiate her voice from the string instruments behind her. It was so nice to be at a show where the performer sounds like she does on the CD for one simple reason - there's nothing manufactured about Spektor and it's a pleasure to listen to.

Spektor gets tongue tied on some of her own lyrics and giggles when she does, her trademark red lipstick framing her smile as she goes on to play Blue Lips, Anthem to the 80's (at the synthesizer), Bobbing for Apples (with her aqua guitar), and That Time. She also sang a really interesting piece acapella about, who would have guessed, eye color.

Between the layered, flouncy skirt of her dress, the black cardigan, cropped leggings, and simple flats, you can also imagine Spektor not in a huge theater, but instead in her living room, sharing her music with friends, especially when she sings, Apres Moi alone on stage seated on the padded bench at the grand piano.

The clarity, strength, and richness of her voice is truly impressive and downright refreshing really in this time of bubble gum pop, label created stars, and engineered voices.

At one point in the show, a stagehand brings out a single wooden chair and a drumstick. Spektor "plays" the chair like she was seated at the drums, though she continues to play the piano, tap her foot, and sing as well. Suddenly she is the strangest sort of one man band. Spektor goes on to sing Human of the Year, bathed in the glow of a single spotlight and Man of a Thousand Faces.

When Spektor then bows and leaves the stage, thanking the fans again and again, the entire audience is instantly on their feet awaiting her surely inevitable return. And just when you think the crowd can't get any louder, she sits back at the piano and they go even crazier. She plays Sampson and light emanates from Spekter literally and figuratively. "I loved you first," she sings and the violinist and cellist return to the stage. She hardly has a chance to play a note before the crowd is screaming.

She then plays Us (blue light flooding the stage), as well as Fidelity, and Hotel Song before she closed with what she calls her "country song." "I am in the middle of the country," she says. "I'll give it a try." Tonight at Nokia, she did more then give it a try, she gave one heck of a show.

If you go to see Son Volt for the first time, you will notice that singer and band leader Jay Farrar doesn't engage the audience very much. He doesn't have to -- he and his band let the music do the talking, and their fans don't seem to mind.

Son Volt played Granada Theater on Thursday night, performing tracks such as Dynamite, Down to the wire, Roll on and Cocaine and Ashes from its most recent album, American Central Dust.

You know it's going to be a party when the D-O-double G comes to town, especially if he has Method Man and Redman in tow (how high, indeed). Evidence of that was plenty at House of Blues on Sunday night.

1. Almost a dozen dancers from XTC Cabaret ("What people don't understand is it's just a party.") helped to get the party started on the boardwalk of the Music Hall.
2. The bartenders were hopping even more than usual.
3. I saw more than one drink thrown at the crowd (and spilled) and no one seemed to mind.
4. That couple -- yeah, you know who you are -- would rock out, then kiss, then rock out, then, well, you get the picture.
5. Girls wore T-shirts, ironically of course, proclaiming "I'm in Love with a Gangsta" and "Thugs Need Love, Too."

I rest my case.

Snoop didn't hit the stage until 11:39 p.m., but the crowd was ready and had even grown, jumping to their feet as soon as they saw him. And that was just on a video screen with Snoop put in various movies, from The Godfather to The Blues Brothers in what turned out to be an add for yoostar.com and Snoop's soon-to-be-released album, Malice in Wonderland.

(Photo of Snoop Dogg in July 2008 at Superpages.com Center taken by Vernon Bryant)

Those who worried that David Cook's status as an American Idol winner might soften his rock edge needn't have fretted. At Sunday's show at the Palladium Ballroom, Cook played and sang pounding, feel-it-in-every-cell-in-your-body rock that had the audience -- which, no doubt due to Idol, included a boomer contingent much larger than you'd normally see at that venue -- frenetically grooving for more than an hour. One song, the psychedelically addictive "Bar-ba-sol," gave me the pleasantly loopy feeling that I had somehow ingested large amounts of mind-altering drugs, even though I was stone-cold sober.

The singer-guitarist performed a hefty chunk from his platinum 2008 album David Cook: "Declaration," "Light On," "I Did It For You," the current single "Come Back to Me," and an especially blistering "Lie to Me."

Note to Palladium Ballroom: It'd be nice, since no one ever actually answers your box-office phone, if you'd post the start times of the opening acts on your Web site, along with the time the star performer is going on. The posted time for Sunday's concert was 6:30 p.m. Cook didn't go on till nearly 9:30, after opening acts the Script and Green River Ordinance. No one should have to stand for three or four hours (Palladium is SRO) before the act they came to see, just so the opening acts will have an audience. If you want to see them, fine; if not, you should have the option to show up just for the headliner. And the Palladium should have the courtesy to at least answer its box-office phones an hour or so before the stated start time of any concert.

For a full review of the concert, check here on Monday afternoon.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping

Sadly, Bobby Womack's fans perhaps had too much fun Saturday night at Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie.

The boisterous crowd -- so generous to earlier performers Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Manhattans and Millie Jackson (I love you, Millie!) -- started filing out slowly (walking carefully so as not to spill their drinks or just carefully because of the drinks) two songs into Womack's set.

Womack, resplendent in white from head to toe, started things off right with "Across 110th Street," perhaps as an early reminder to the crowd of why he headlined the night of "Legends." But he seemed out of sorts and a bit winded until he sang a duet later in the night with backup singer Mary Hilton. Hilton's voice filled the venue, but there was no clarity. There was no telling if it was an indication of the sound men or her overly powerful vocals.

Country superstar Reba McEntire inaugurated the fab new 8,600-seat Allen Event Center on Friday night in grand style. The new venue is a treat -- OK, it doesn't have that "wow" factor that Cowboys Stadium had when it opened, but it's a gorgeous facility, with nicely downplayed decor in golden tan and blue tones. No pretense here, but you will find reasonably priced concessions (my friend and I scored two soft drinks, chicken nuggets and fries, and a gigantic chili dog for a total of $21.50), free parking and -- get this -- excellent acoustics. My only complaint is the parking garage -- we were trapped on the top level and it took us a good 40 minutes to wait out the other three floors emptying out. So you have to either get there WAY early to snag a first-floor spot, or wait forever after the concert. Either way, it's going to add nearly an hour to your overall time outlay.

The sound, at least from our perch almost at the top of the first balcony, about halfway back in the oval-shaped mini-arena, was terrific. I could make out all the lyrics, even on the songs I didn't already know, and the sound is surprisingly warm, given the concrete and exposed-steel-beams ambience of the space. The seats are comfy, and even though I was far up, I didn't feel like I was going to sky-dive onto the floor every time I stood up (are you listening, Winspear architects? Just a hint for your next big job).

And Reba? Fabulous, glowing, perfection. Is she never not? She's a performer who always brings it, whether she's selling out a stadium, playing to a smaller house such as this, or opening for George Strait. For our full review, and more on the venue, check back here on Saturday afternoon.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Reba McEntire lights up the big screen while singing "Fancy" at Allen Event Center on Friday night.

Oh, Dallas, for shame. Fewer than 100 people turned out Wednesday night to hear Mindy Smith in the Cambridge Room at House of Blues. I love Taylor Swift, but it's a musical travesty when she can sell out American Airlines Center (twice in one year, if her March concert does as well as the one in September), but someone as talented and endearing as Mindy Smith can't sell out the itty-bitty Cambridge Room. C'mon, Big D, we keep bitterly muttering about how we've got the chops to be as musically hip as Austin, but we get no respect. Turnouts like this sure won't change that. Assignment: Expand. Musical. Horizons.

Those of us who did show up Wednesday were gifted with an extremely intimate 14-song set, with Smith pouring her soul into her voice and guitar. She didn't seem to mind the sparse crowd, and indeed joked with and answered questions from the audience. It was just her and her guitar, accompanied for about half the set by Lex Price on tenor guitar. And that was plenty.

Oh, and about halfway through the set, Smith made a joke on herself. "She's SO profound," she said, in perfect Valley Girl voice. "Oh, really, I never get [called] profound," she followed up with a laugh. "Patty Griffin gets profound." OK, Mindy, let me be the first to say it. With lyrics as heart-rending, sweet and thought-provoking as yours, you're definitely in "profound" territory. I laughed, sang along and teared up a couple of times during your stripped-down, no-special-effects-necessary set. In today's fireworks-and-lip-gloss driven musical environment, if that doesn't qualify as profound, I don't know what does.

For a full review of the show, check back here on Thursday afternoon.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping; Mindy Smith shows big heart despite a small crowd Wednesday night at House of Blues.

AC/DC made a return stop at American Airlines Center Monday night on its Black Ice tour, following its first visit in January. Fans were treated to songs spanning the band's extensive career.

The band opened with "Rock 'N Roll Train" and played three other tracks from "Black Ice," but the new songs failed to rivet the crowd like old favorites such as "Hell's Bells," "Shoot to Thrill" and "You Shook Me All Night Long" from 1980's "Back in Black." AC/DC finished with a strong stretch of classics, ripping through "TNT," "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "Let There Be Rock" before exiting the stage and returning for encores "Highway to Hell" and "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)."

Friday night marked yet another terrific concert at Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse. The inimitable David Wilcox made his debut at Uncle Calvin's, where, incredibly, he had never played. Wilcox has a loyal cult following, and the place was packed. His adoring troupe of fans included a delightful couple, Mike and Mer Dunbar, who attended a Wilcox concert at McDavid Studio in Fort Worth on their first date in 2006. They were married last May and now share the distinction of having attended additional Wilcox shows during 2007, 2008 and Friday night. Mike is 27, Mer is 22, so they're a bit younger than the regulars who return like homing pigeons each Friday night to Fellowship Hall at Northpark Presbyterian Church, where Uncle Calvin's is based. I, like most of the Ballad Tree types who go there, vastly prefer seeing shows at Uncle Calvin's than having to endure the crazy din of American Airlines Center. Those days are gone, and you can have them. There's nothing better than a quiet corner at Uncle Calvin's, a slice of hot apple pie and several cups of hot, black, steaming, flavorful, delicious coffee. Uncle Calvin's offered the chance to fully appreciate Wilcox's rare blend of pristine vocals, dynamic guitar play and songwriting that merges the best of music and storytelling. At times, you feel like you're hearing Jackson Browne, at others F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Photo: David Wilcox, who has just released his 16th album, Open Hand

You know the drill. R. Kelly, the king of salaciousness, was all about his libido Thursday night before a packed house at Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie. His "Ladies Make Some Noise" tour stop was exactly what you would expect -- 70 percent sex romp filled with tunes such as "Your Body's Callin'," "Strip For You," "Bump N' Grind" and a few others that would make some blush. He's so one-note. But the women in the audience loved it. And the men in the crowd loved the women. Musically, however, Kelly needs less repetitive beats and interchangeable lyrics, and more of the material during the final 30 percent of the show. "Step In the Name of Love" and "Happy People" were actually musical, with old-school grooves and feel-good vibes. Do more of that, R!

Did you go to the concert? What did you think?

Photo: Kelly sexed it up Thursday night (Kye R. Lee/DMN).

Gary Allan and his seven-man band rocked Superpages.com Center Saturday before 8,500 fans. Emphasis on rocked since the California native has all but transformed himself from a rugged country honky-tonker to a super cool arena rocker. And that's just fine. Allan's been steadily moving in that direction for years, so nothing felt forced or calculated. The show was loud, though, and very guitar-heavy. He employed two guitarists, one of which wore a kilt. Plus, Allan's drummer loved to pound on the skins. So tracks such as "Still Learning How to Bend," "I Just Got Back From Hell" and "Watching Airplanes" were amped up and raucous. Even the countrier cuts, "It Would Be You" and "Songs About Rain," ripped to maximum effect.

If you were at the show, tell us what you thought.

For a full review of the Gary Allan concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or pick up GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Gary Allan (MCA Nashville).

For about 15 minutes Friday night, I was 16 again, transported back to 1977 and experiencing the thrill of seeing Star Wars for the first time. At Cowboys Stadium, a full symphony took up those opening notes, and BAM, it was all fresh again via the wonderful Star Wars in Concert.

The concert was splendid, with a symphony sounding WAY better than it has any right to in Jerry Jones' Death Star of a football stadium/palace. The film clips were themed, showing scenes from all six Star Wars movies not in sequence, but according to various topics such as battles, droids or romance. Anthony Daniels, remembered fondly as C-3PO from the films, provided live narration that put everything in chronological context. As he noted in an interview we did with him, if you've somehow escaped the films by having been on Tatooine for the last 35 years, this gave you plenty of ammo to bluff your way through a cocktail conversation.

PHOTO by JOY TIPPING: Lasers were a big part of the Star Wars in Concert experience.

Miley Cyrus brought out brother Trace Cyrus to the stage Sunday night during her sold-out concert performance at American Airlines Center. The siblings sang a tune titled "Hovering." It gave more platform time to Trace, who had already been under the spotlight for 40 minutes as lead singer of his band Metro Station, which opened the show. Trace told us earlier that Miley had fought for he and his group to be part of her tour. Hey, little sis pulls for big bro.

Anyway, Miley's gig left her Hannah Montana TV character in the dust. Her 80-minute stint focused on tracks from 2007's Meet Miley Cyrus, 2008's Breakout and the new EP, The Time of Our Lives. She also whipped out a cover of Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll." She sang it while atop a motorcycle hooked up to cables that slowly soared above the audience.

Coincidentally, Miranda Lambert also covered "I Love Rock 'N Roll" Saturday night during her State Fair of Texas show in Fair Park. Joan Jett must be flattered. Or not.

Were you at the show? What did you think?

For a full review of Miley Cyrus' concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday or pick up GuideDaily Tuesday.

Photo: Miley Cyrus works the stage Sunday night (John F. Rhodes/DMN).

In between songs from three CDs -- 2005's Kerosene, 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and the new Revolution -- Lindale's Miranda Lambert pulled out a few choice covers during her concert Saturday night on the Chevrolet Main Stage of the State Fair of Texas in Fair Park.

She did Gillian Welch's "Dry Town" and Fred Eaglesmith's "Time to Get a Gun." But those are tracks on two of her discs. She scored rock chick points for tackling Joan Jett & the Blackhearts' "I Love Rock 'N Roll," then got all R&B on Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour."

Her remake props came during an unplanned encore. She did an acoustic rendition of Patsy Cline's "Crazy" (written by one of her musical heroes, Willie Nelson). Then slid into Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," and ended with a blistering take on Led Zeppelin's "Rock and Roll."

Were you at the show? What did you think?

For a full review of Miranda's show, see www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or pick up GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Miranda's got it covered (Jason Janik/Special to DMN).

This show was not about Maxwell's voice, which was a bit compromised Monday night. Not in the least. This show was about Maxwell coming back to the place he owned for several years: the top. I kept thinking how much I would have enjoyed the band in a more intimate setting -- the Music Hall at House of Blues, Bass Hall, Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie. Heck, I would have driven to Frisco and back for Maxwell. But then I realized that I was being selfish.

Maxwell's fans (including me) wanted, needed to see him in an arena, because it meant that their faith in his return was justified. The crowd was mostly women, natch, and most of the men that were there were tethered to their dates, dancing front to back in front of their seats. When BLACKsummer'snight was released in July, they eagerly snapped up the CD and eagerly learned the words to "Pretty Wings."

Here are the facts: More than 70,000 people attended U2's concert Monday night at Cowboys Stadium. That stage for the 360 Degrees Tour was mammoth, a spaceship-meets-spider contraption with four claw-like structures, two movable bridges, a circular stage that led to an outer ring and a stunning rotating video screen that stretched into a funnel-cloud shape and was always glittering with lights.

Amazing show, folks. U2 defines stadium rock. I'm going to focus here on one song they sang, "Sunday Bloody Sunday." It was that song, as well as "New Year's Day," that introduced me to U2 in 1983. "Sunday," with it marching beat and anthem-like chorus, mesmerized me from the get-go. So did "New Year's Day," which was so haunting with that signature keyboard intro. Loved them both. Still love them both.

Onstage, "Sunday Bloody Sunday" was passionate, penetrating. Bono, Larry Mullen Jr., Adam Clayton and The Edge haven't forgotten how powerful that song is.

Were you there? What did you think?

For a full review of U2, see www.dallasnews.com/entertainment or pick up GuideDaily.

Photo: U2 in 360 Degrees! (Louis DeLuca/DMN)

I continue to be mystified as to why Little Big Town hasn't hit it ... well, bigger. They've had a couple of strong hits (singles "Boondocks" and "Bring It on Home," both from 2005's The Road to Here, cracked the country Top 10, and that album went platinum) and they've opened for major acts such as Sugarland and Carrie Underwood. They've been nominated for vocal group of the year at the Country Music Awards for four years running. The critics adore them, and their pristine harmonies earn regular comparisons to Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles (don't even get me started on wannabes Lady Antebellum and Gloriana -- they're good, but they're not anywhere close to the same league as LBT).

With all that going for them, though, there was still plenty of empty room Saturday night at the LBT concert at the State Fair. The Chevy Main Stage area comfortably holds about 4,000 people, and it was about two-thirds full. This for a band that's good enough to be selling out stadiums. So I hereby challenge LBT fans: Make this your cause. Make them superstars. Make their next album (rumors are starting for something next year) go to No. 1 on the country charts.

Highlights from Saturday's show included a gorgeous version of the spooky, October-appropriate "Bones" (which was the closing-credit music for the very first episode of True Blood), with a seamless segue into Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain." The band -- Phillip Sweet, Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman and Jimi Westbrook -- stuck mostly to songs from its last album, 2007's A Place to Land, mixing up lead vocals and giving lots of spotlight time to their three-man backup team. The crowd loved the feisty "Novocaine" and "Firebird Fly," reflective "Time Is a Vapor" and singalong-in-the-making "I'm With the Band." The show ended with encores of two covers that LBT did better than the originals: "Life In a Northern Town" (quick, who did the original? yeah, I couldn't remember either -- it was Dream Academy) and "Heartache Tonight." Yeah, yeah, Eagles fans, I know. Start your hate-mail engines. I can take it. I'm with this band: There's nobody better in country music today than Little Big Town, and they're among the best ever.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Karen Fairchild (left) and Kimberly Schlapman at Fair Park on Saturday night

If Jeff Tweedy and his Wilco bandmates weren't having the time of their lives on stage earlier tonight at the Palladium, they sure fooled me. During a mammoth 135 minute performance (which included two encore sets), Tweedy seemed giddy when interacting with the capacity crowd.

He commanded their handclaps, directed them during singalongs and even traded shirts with a lucky audience member. That dude ended up with Tweedy's flannel getup, and the singer found himself performing in a cheesy '80s gold-lamé top for the remainder of the show. Admiring himself in his new shirt, Tweedy told its old owner, "Yeah, you got screwed on this deal, I'm pretty sure."

Silliness aside, the six-piece Chicago band delivered the kind of expansive, experimental takes on tunes that drew so many fans to the groundbreaking albums Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. Even some of the more back-to-basics songs from the latest two Wilco records, Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (the album), benefited from added live muscle.

Tweedy's voice was in top form; he sounded particularly strong and clear on fan favorite "Kamera," and let out piercing rock 'n' roll screams on the very last song, "I'm a Wheel." But the biggest revelation in seeing Wilco live in its current lineup is guitarist Nels Cline. He proved as versatile as they come, creating chaotic, rapturous noise with pedals during some songs and finding countless ways to attack melody lines during others.

There's no question that Wilco's one of the most skilled rock (or, if you insist, alt-country) bands you can see live. And the players seem to enjoy the concert experience just as much as their audience does.

Done with the gushing; find the set list from tonight after the jump.

If you were anywhere but House of Blues on Thursday night, you weren't having as much fun as we were. New Orleans-based Southern rockers Cowboy Mouth whipped a modestly sized but raucously enthusiastic crowd into a ball of pogoing ecstacy. Two hours really wasn't enough.

Lead singer/drummer/acoustic guitarist Fred LeBlanc (who bears a striking resemblance to Meat Loaf, both physically and vocally, and I mean that in a really good way), showed that he knows what "October in Texas" means by showing up barefoot and in shorts. Bass guitarist Regina Zernay rocked out in a miniskirt and white go-go boots so cute they probably made every woman in the audience want a pair (I just did a search on E-bay).

We knew it was gonna be a crowd-participation-required event when LeBlanc started the show with a rousing singalong of "Amen" and "This Little Light of Mine" -- it felt like an encore, five minutes into the show.

I've never understood why Cowboy Mouth isn't a superstar act -- it's got energy to burn, tunes that both make you want to rock till you drop and sing along (yes, you can understand the lyrics), and New Orleans humor and feist. The downstairs area of HOB's Music Hall was full, but that nearly empty balcony broke my heart. Next time this foursome is in town, don't let the fact that it's a weeknight or that torrential thunderstorms have been forecast keep you away -- after all, these guys KNOW how to handle a hurricane.

For a full review of Thursday's show, check back here Friday afternoon.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Drummer Fred LeBlanc and bass guitarist Regina Zernay get down.

Those Kings of Leon guys do have a few rock anthems in their repertoire, as they proved Wednesday night before a large, adoring crowd at American Airlines Center. And I'm not just talking about "Use Somebody," the group's breakthrough US radio hit that arrived during the more than 90 minute concert's encore.

"Sex On Fire," one of those soaring rockers that throbs at every note, had the audience singing loudly, fist-pumping and jumping. Ditto for "Manhattan," with its irresistible chorus that explodes effortlessly.

But hey, my fave remains "Closer," the first tune they played. I love that moody mix of synthesizer pulses and drum beats. The band was bathed in blue hues, which added to the song's mystique.

Now it's your turn. Were you at the show? If yes, what did you think?

For a full review of Kings of Leon, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or pick up GuideDaily Friday.

Photo: The Kings on their AAC throne Wednesday night (Jeffrey Porter/DMN).

I saw the Arctic Monkeys at their first show in Dallas, back in 2006, when they were riding a wave of unrelenting yet largely justified hype from the U.K. press. On Monday night they returned to Big D, with longer hair, a smokier stage and the slower, sludgier songs off their new album, Humbug. Yet they were still all business on stage, efficiently plowing from one song to the next.

This was the final stop on the Monkeys' U.S. tour. And why was Dallas chosen? "We hear it's party town," lead singer Alex Turner said. Some of his later comments were a little harder to decipher with his accent, but that was still no excuse for the guy in the crowd who yelled, "Speak English!" Embarrassing.

The young lads from mid-decade have grown up a bit. They're no longer hassled by club bouncers or forced to settle for taking home the pub girl with a bad fake tan (Turner is dating model and MTV host Alexa Chung), so their songs were bound to change. From the opening notes of "Dance Little Liar," the Palladium Ballroom crowd was treated to both the grinding riffs of the Monkeys' newer material and the propulsive catchiness of their older tunes.

Let's talk about concert pyrotechnics. Metallica has that mastered as well. The metal messiahs brought more than 19,000 fans to American Airlines Center Tuesday night for its Dallas stop on the World Magnetic Tour.

But back to the fire. Literally. The stage floor shot bursts of flames. At one point vocalist James Hetfield was standing at the mike mighty close to the sizzling hot orange-yellow glow. He didn't seem to mind. Also, flanking drummer Lars Ulrich, who was center stage, were banks that shot eight tall flames on either side. Cool, I mean hot, visual!

It was a great show, folks. Metallica remains astonishingly tight. They are consummate musicians still incredibly focused nearly three decades after starting the group.

If you were there, what did you think of the show?

For a full review of the Metallica concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Wednesday or pick up GuideDaily Thursday.

Photo: Metallica burns up the stage (Kye R. Lee/DMN).

No, you're not seeing double. That's not Taylor Swift in the lower right corner of the photo; it's 16-year-old Haley Githens of Dallas, who attended the Swift concert Friday night at American Airlines Center (that's Taylor on the video screen behind Haley and her friends). The packed-to-the-rafters arena was full of little girls, preteens and teens adopting the "Taylor look" -- spiral curls, relatively demure minidresses, glitter and tutus were all the rage -- but Haley pretty much won hands down, at least in the section I was sitting in.

Swift proved once again that's she's no flash in the bubbly-blonde-singer pan, putting on a two-hour show rich with emotion, cleverness, wit and energy. For someone who's a mere 19 years old, she showed an amazing range of maturity and depth in her songwriting, and even had a little fun with her reputation for "revenge songs." "I try really hard to be a nice person," she said late in the concert. "But if you break my heart, or hurt my feelings ... I'm gonna have to write a song about you." Let's see -- what rhymes with Kanye?

Her adoring fans, which in addition to the preteen- and teenage-girl set also included a good number of middle-age and grandparent types, both with and without children in tow, showed Swift plenty of love. After the sweet "Tim McGraw," which launched her career, she received one of the longest ovations I've ever witnessed at American Airlines Center, or any concert venue for that matter.

Opening acts Gloriana and Kellie Pickler also rocked, although I'd rather have heard more of the gorgeous harmonies of Gloriana and less of Pickler, who more and more seems like "Taylor light."

For a full review of Friday's show, check back here on Saturday evening.

Photo by Joy Tipping

Terrell's Jamie Foxx kept the Nokia Theatre stage busy, busy, busy Friday night during the first of two concerts at the Grand Prairie venue. Most of the night's material came from two Foxx CDs - 2005's Unpredictable and 2008's Intuition. He paid tribute to Ray Charles, whom he portrayed in his Oscar-winning Ray performance, with "I Got a Woman." We also got a throwaway homage to Michael Jackson that featured snippets of Jackson tunes played by DJ Irie with Foxx egging the crowd to sing along, then doing his best Jackson dance impersonation. That was it. Never did Foxx actually cover a Jackson song. Anyway, the finale was a lot of fun. It was an explosive rendition of "Blame It," Foxx's most recent radio hit.

Did you go to the concert? If so, what did you think?

For a full review of the Jamie Foxx show, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Saturday or pick up GuideDaily Sunday.

Photo: Foxx on the prowl (Jeffrey Porter/DMN).

There were no flowing robes, and the bouncing inflatable Southern Comfort bottles were a little off-putting. Other than that it was just another Thursday night with Dallas' own Polyphonic Spree.

Donned in street clothes, facing a crowd with more than a few newbies who hear "free show!" and flock to the venue regardless of the artist (tickets were given away via text message), the Spree brought their symphonic choral rock to originals and a wide array of covers, including the Rolling Stones' "She's Like a Rainbow," Paul McCartney's "Live and Let Die" (aces all the way) and Nirvana's "Lithium," with tinkling piano making Kurt Cobain's depression a lot less depressing.

As for the ubiquitous SoCo: They threw this shindig and footed the bill; free concerts don't pay for themselves and corporate logos (and free drinks) are part of the package. But next time make mine a Knob Creek, and hold the lime. I'll pay for it. Citrus is nice, but it gets along better with gin and tonic.

Last night's show at Superpages.com Center brought forth equal parts pop-punk and potty humor, as headliner Blink-182 and opening acts Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects and Asher Roth played to a near-capacity crowd.

Roth, the up-and-coming rapper who appeared earlier this summer at House of Blues, and AAR thrilled early arrivers with their respective biggest hits, "College" and "Gives You Hell." Fall Out Boy's 12-song set (including "Dance, Dance" and a tongue-in-cheek cover of "Don't Stop Believin'") was a bit of a mess soundwise, and bassist Pete Wentz was the only member who seemed to care about connecting with the audience.

By contrast, Blink-182's never looked or sounded better. The San Diego three-piece's reunion (after a band breakup five years ago and drummer Travis Barker's near-death experience in a plane crash last year) seems to have lit a fire. Flawless renditions of all their hits were embellished by state-of-the-art lighting, dramatic black curtains and a flying drum platform. Not that Barker needs tricks -- he's an amazing drummer on his own, as evidenced by a couple of breakneck, unbelievable solos.

Read more about the show tomorrow in Guide Daily. After the jump, check out last night's setlists from Fall Out Boy and Blink.

Since I got a chance to see both Britney Spears (on the 18th) and Pink (Wednesday night), thought I'd do a quick comparison of Pink's Funhouse and Britney Spears' Circus tours:

Most literal interpretation of the theme: Britney's tour had a lot of circus to it, including a long stretch that was just performers from the Big Apple Circus jumping on trampolines, hula hooping, clowning, etc. And she danced in a cage, gyrated on a pole attached to the back of a bike and bonked her backup dancers on their heads with a giant, pink-headed mallet. Pink's Funhouse was more of a backdrop for her performance, though there were plenty of related elements -- aerial acrobatics (which the super-tough performer took part in during the final song, in spite of recently having separated her shoulder), giant inflatable clowns, slides and mirrors. Britney wins this round, but whether that's a good thing or not is open for interpretation.

Best cover: Britney just did one, but she made it count. Her version of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know" was the least slick, most emotionally true moment of the show. You could tell Pink loved all the songs she covered -- Divinyls' "I Touch Myself" (more on that one later), Led Zeppelin's "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." But "Bohemian Rhapsody" topped the rest as a showcase for that powerhouse of a voice. You really have to be able to sing to pull that one off. Pink wins here.

Most surreal moment: Britney makes her male backup dancers do pushups after they do a group pelvic thrust around her (and they're all wearing pink underwear). Pink sings a sloooow version of "I Touch Myself" on a chaise longue as roving hands poke out of the cushions to caress her, much to the delight of a guy sitting near me. Pink gets the, er, climactic victory here.

Opening videos: Pink wakes up from a nap, goes on a rampage through a closet, burns down a house, rides a motorcycle (while her version of "Highway to Hell" plays in the background), and waltzes with a mime. In Britney's video, Perez Hilton plays a demented Queen Elizabeth type, and Brit shoots him in the crotch with an arrow. Britney's the clear leader here, since her motivation is so obvious (who doesn't want to harm Perez Hilton?).

Stage banter: Britney comes up short here, without much more than a "Hey, Dallas." Pink gave a shout-out to the members of the military who were on hand, introduced her bandmates (some of them twice), heaped deserved praise on her guitarist, talked about the first-ever show she played as combat-boot-and-kilt-wearing 13-year-old, and generally endeared herself to the locals.

Opening acts: Jordin Sparks opened for Britney, the Ting Tings opened for Pink. They're very different, but "Battlefield" is just as catchy as "That's Not My Name." Let's call this one a draw.

OK, Pink was a blast Wednesday night in front of a near sold-out crowd at American Airlines Center. For about an hour and 45 minutes, the woman born Alecia Beth Moore gave us spectacle and substance. Her "Welcome to the Funhouse" tour is one big roller coaster ride. And who better at command center than the explosive Pink.

Highlights of the evening included "So What," "Funhouse," "Just Like a Pill" and "Get the Party Started," among others. Pink also dared to strip it down, bared her soul and sang "I Don't Believe You" and "Dear Mr. President." Very cool.

So were you there? And what did you think of the show?

For a full Pink concert review, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or pick up GuideDaily on Friday.

Photo: Pink flies into American Airlines Center (John F. Rhodes/DMN).

So I was surprised by the relatively small crowd Tuesday night at Superpages.com Center for the Creed/Staind concert. There were only 7,000 people there. That's less than half the capacity of the venue. It makes me wonder if the Creed comeback -- this is the band's first tour since 2002 -- doesn't bode well for the upcoming new album, Full Circle, which arrives Oct. 27.

I will say that Creed frontman Scott Stapp was in good voice (strong, throaty), was all about energetic drama onstage, and seemed to be connecting with his band mates. But, man, an hour of Creed is more than enough. 100 minutes is just too much. The songs all sound the same after a while and Stapp doesn't know any other vocal setting but full-throttle.

Staind were really good. I love that melodic intensity, that mixture of melody and hard rock punch. Aaron Lewis is a most intriguing lead singer, a guy that always seems ready to explode but keeps his combustion in check.

If you went to the show, what did you think?

For a full review, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Wednesday or pick up GuideDaily Thursday.

Photo: Stapp pours on the drama (Ben Torres/Special to DMN).

Kudos to the legendary Poor David's Pub for back-to-back weekends of terrific shows. I had the pleasure of being at the Jimmy LaFave-Zane Williams doubleheader on Sept. 12 and again on Friday night, Sept. 18, to hear folk music giant David Bromberg. (Check out the fascinating feature on Bromberg written by my colleague Mario Tarradell.) Poor David's has been around for years, of course, but its new location on Lamar near downtown Dallas is really cool. As John Inmon, LaFave's ace lead guitarist, told me, it has terrific acoustics. The sound is absolutely perfect. LaFave put on his usual dynamite show, with Inmon laying down his amazing licks on lead guitar and Bryan Peterson playing the lights out of the piano. No one can move from Chuck Berry to Bruce Springsteen to his own heartfelt ballads as well as LaFave. And Zane Williams, LaFave's warm-up that evening, is a real find. The Abilene native moved to Nashville in 1999 after graduating from Abilene Christian University.

Photo: David Bromberg

"I didn't expect quite this much literal circus."

That's what my friend and Guide editor Ann Pinson said at the beginning of Britney Spears' set Friday night at American Airlines Center on her Circus tour. One could only agree. The Big Apple Circus had come to town, with Perez Hilton introducing Britney via video. Dominatrix gear ruled the night and fans could tell that Britney was there to tell her own story -- not the one from any tabloids and not the least bit subtly.

Spears, looking healthy and happy, ruled the night; that wasn't too hard considering the short sets from newcomer Kristinia DeBarge ("Goodbye") and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks ("Battlefield"). The little girls sitting near us certainly thought Britney was in fine form and voice; they knew every word and "Toxic" reduced one of them into the spasms of a frenetic backup dancer.

(Photo from Bossier City, La., performance Saturday night by Val Horvath/The Times)

Brad Paisley put on a wonderful show Saturday night at Superpages.com Center, despite the nonstop rain that left the lawn crowd soaked and the under-the-canopy-crowd feeling like we'd been sucked into a cool sauna. Very rainforest, except without the trees (unless you count the tall man in front of me).

Paisley and opening acts Jimmy Wayne and Dierks Bentley (either of whom would have been worth the admission on his own) played for three-and-a-half hours, with Paisley taking us on an electric, emotional musical trip from his first CD 10 years ago through the recently released American Saturday Night. Like Keith Urban (with whom he recorded "Start a Band"), Paisley is a formidable guitar player who both draws from and transmits energy to the audience.

Some local kids were on hand before the show to meet Paisley backstage -- they'd been selected by KSCS-FM (96.3) as the winners of a video contest, and short clips of the 10 youngsters, each telling his or her dream for the future, appeared in the video playing behind Paisley during the encore number "Welcome to the Future." Members of the extremely happy group were: Madalyn Lewis (she wants to be a songwriter) of Hillsboro , Nina Rodriguez (teacher) and Lily Rodriguez (doctor) of Mansfield, Brooklyn Ryder (veterinarian) of Flower Mound, Hayden Hawkins (bronc rider) of Weatherford, Allison Williams ("fisher person") and Elijah Terrell (cowboy) of Arlington, Saylor Williams ("kid") of Waxahachie and Kimberleigh Lewis (rock star) of Joshua.

Paisley said he loves playing Dallas -- "This is an important town to country music," he said, noting that "at one time all my exes were from here" -- and shared a memory from early in his career. Scheduled for a live early-morning interview with KSCS DJ Hawkeye, he arrived to find that Hawkeye had asked one of those exes to join them in the studio. "And then he spent the whole interview quizzing me about why it didn't work," Paisley said with a sigh. Hawkeye, on hand for the press conference, responded with a wicked cackle.

About the local crop of video kids, Paisley said, "This is the best group we've ever gotten. These kids are hams." He also quipped that "You can tell they were filmed in Dallas because every one of them has construction in the background."

For the full review of the show, check here on Monday.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Brad Paisley backstage with local kids before Saturday's show.

Kelly Clarkson, the pride of Burleson -- and still the most talented of the American Idol alumni -- wowed an intimate crowd of about 2,500 Sunday night at WinStar World Casino, just across the Texas-Oklahoma border in Thackerville, Okla. It's an easy hour-and-15-minute drive from downtown Dallas, and the concert venue is a cut above the ballroom-meets-high-school-auditorium vibe of most casino halls. If you factor in the traffic difficulties of, say, Nokia or Cowboys Stadium, it doesn't take any longer to get there -- and hey, the parking's free!

Clarkson did numbers from all four of her albums, but stuck mostly to hits from her second CD, Breakaway, and this year's release, All I Ever Wanted (including the irresistible "I Do Not Hook Up" by Katy Perry). Her swampy, bluesy rendition of "Walkin' After Midnight" had me wishing she'd do an entire CD of Patsy Cline covers.

For a full review, check back here Sunday afternoon.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Kelly Clarkson rocks out at WinStar Casino.

Dang. I wish I could take credit for this, but it was, in fact, my husband who perfectly characterized the Elvis Costello concert Wednesday night at Grand Prairie's Nokia Theatre. "It wasn't what he usually does," Jim mused as we left. "But then, it's never what he usually does."

Exactly. He may have made his name as an "angry-quirky young man" New Wave rocker, but Costello, 55, has moved far beyond those boundaries into a place where boundaries are just a fleeting memory. If you had to, under gunpoint, label his new CD, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, you might call it country-Americana. But the album, and Wednesday's concert, also had strong elements of bluegrass, blues, soul and jazz. He may be British, but Costello's got the whole "melting pot" thing goin' on, at least musically.

Backed by the fabulous six-piece Sugarcanes band, he sang several songs from the new CD, including the swinging but slightly creepy "Sulphur to Sugarcane" (it begs to be an end-title song for True Blood), the beautifully mournful "Down Among the Wine and Spirits" and the ... erm, well .. complicated "Complicated Shadows." There were also nods to rock, with takes on the Rolling Stones' "Happy" and the Grateful Dead's "Friend of the Devil."

For a complete review, visit here Thursday afternoon.

It's funny how songs that stiff on the charts later turn into concert regulars. Seeing the Moody Blues in concert Wednesday night at the Meyerson Symphony Center, the first of two sold-out nights with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, made me think about this. I've seen the Moodies live, oh, at least three times and they always perform 1986's "The Other Side of Life" and 1968's "Ride My See-Saw," as they did Wednesday night. Great tunes. One's a stomping yet melodic pop-rocker and the other is a swirling, harmonious rocker. Neither were hits -- "The Other Side of Life" stalled at No. 58, while "Ride My See-Saw" couldn't get further than No. 61. And yet every time the band play them live, the audience reacts as if they were huge radio staples. Very cool.

For a full review of The Moody Blues, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or pick up GuideDaily Friday.

Photo: Justin Hayward and John Lodge amp it up Wednesday night at the Meyerson (Kye R. Lee/DMN).

Depeche Mode's song, "Never Let Me Down Again," which the band performed Saturday night before 15,000 fans at Superpages.com Center could very well be the theme for my thoughts on the concert. I've seen Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher (along with supplemental musicians) onstage on four separate tours. They've never let me down. These guys are pros at not only blending synthesizers and real instruments to make a full-throttle dance-rock repertoire, but also at persevering. More than two decades into this game, Depeche Mode continues to thrive during packed shows. And they keep delivering new music, the latest disc being Sounds of the Universe, that's always bold and daring.

So if you went to the show, what did you think?

For a full review of Depeche Mode, check out www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Dave Gahan in technicolor! (Rex C. Curry/Special to DMN)

Last Thursday afternoon I was in Waxahachie with three friends. We toured some of the lovely vintage homes, marveled at the refurbished courthouse downtown, had dinner at 1879 Chisholm Grill and took in Michael Martin Murphey's concert that night at Texas Theater. It was just Murphey and his acoustic guitar (also, sometimes a banjo) with occasional accompaniment by guitarist Steve Weisberg. For more than 2 hours, Murphey traveled through his pop, country and cowboy songs. He was in fine voice, especially during his soaring rendition of "Wildfire," his 1975 pop smash. Murphey can still hit the notes. Also, it was cool to hear "What's Forever For," "Long Line of Love," "Cherokee Fiddle" and "Carolina In the Pines." But the set did seem excessively long, especially when it was so instrumentally spare. Murphey's a talker and storyteller. That's great. It makes him accessible, warm. However, just about every song was preceded by a lengthy tale. You can imagine how that made 2 hours and 15 minutes seem endless. Still, all in all the Dallas native put on an intimate show at a most historic venue.

Photo: Murphey picking and singing (Courtesy of Ron Dougherty).

Ranchera and Latin pop fans surely relished the Pepe Aguilar and Marco Antonio Solis concert Sunday night at American Airlines Center. These two men are pillars of the regional Mexican music genre. Plus, they brought platforms full of musicians. Aguilar, who performed first, had with him a 12-piece mariachi and a 9-piece band. Solis, who closed the show, toted a mini-orchestra complete with string and horn sections, percussionist, drummer and three female background vocalists. Aguilar kept it traditional with a few excursions into pop, while Solis was mostly pop with brief trips to ranchera. They were contrasting artists, but immensely talented all the same. Highlights were plenty, but let's quickly mention Aguilar's jaunty "He Venido A Pedirte Perdon" and lush "Miedo" as well as Solis' dramatic "O Me Voy O Te Vas" and rhythmic "Tu Carcel."

For a full review, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday or see GuideDaily Tuesday.

Photo: Aguilar in charro brilliance Sunday night (Nathan Hunsinger/DMN).

On my way home from seeing Morris Day & the Time Saturday night during the second day of the Fort Worth Musicfest, I popped in my CD copy of Ice Cream Castles and cranked up "Jungle Love" and "The Bird." I just had to have some more. Day and his Time musicians, performing on the parking lot of the Masonic Hall, left the crowd hungry for more soul and funk. That's good showmanship, not to mention serious grooves from bass, drums, guitars and keyboards. Obviously, "Jungle Love" and "The Bird" were highlights of the 75-minute set. But so were "Cool," "Pandemonium" and "777-9311" -- still the funk phone number. OK, now I need to go play What Time Is It?

For a full review, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or see GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Morris Day in his primping perfection Saturday night (Ben Torres/Special to DMN).

It's all about the funk! The first night of the three-day Fort Worth Musicfest funked out with headliners Zapp and Bar-Kays. Friday night was cool and breezy, so the crowd easily got up and danced. You couldn't stay seated with these groups playing the platform.
Zapp -- "More Bounce to the Ounce," with the signature talk box in amped-up mode, was a big ole funk jam. Ditto for "Nuthin' But a Party." And, oooh, "Computer Love" was all electronically sexy.
Bar-Kays -- Lead singer Larry Dodson is an over-the-top master of showmanship. He chewed up funk gems "Shake Your Rump to the Funk," "Move Your Boogie Body" and the totally wicked "Freakshow On the Dance Floor." Uh-huh, it sure was.

For a full review, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment or see GuideDaily on Sunday.

Photos: Zapp (left) and Larry Dodson of Bar-Kays funking it up Friday night (Mark Rogers/Special to DMN).

More than two-and-a-half hours of Paul McCartney Wednesday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington almost wasn't enough. He performed 36 songs backed by a great four-man band. But think of all the songs he didn't do. That could be another show...or two. Anyway, among the many highlights, here are three of my faves:
"Jet" -- The propulsive rocker with the shout-out chorus was an in-your-face blast from the word go.
"Back In the U.S.S.R." -- How can you not get caught up in the vibe? All together now..."Back in the U.S.S.R."
"Live and Let Die" -- Those pyrotechnic explosions were unexpected and startling. But the sparkly fireworks during the hard rocking part of the song added visual excitement to the sonic thrill.
"Helter Skelter" -- Speaking of hard rocking, this one's a fist-pumper. It was part of his second encore.

OK, now it's your turn. Did you go to the show? What did you think?

For a full review of the Paul McCartney concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or see GuideDaily Friday.

Photo: Paul in action (Tom Fox/DMN).

Mos Def signaled early on that he would march to the beat of his own drummer at House of Blues on Tuesday night. Literally.

He began his almost 3-hour set behind the drum kit, beating the drums while rapping in his unmistakable rasp. He was dressed for game time in a red T-shirt, black pants and a ball cap. And he took no prisoners with the sonic assault, mostly from his newest CD, The Ecstatic.

And, despite entreaties from the crowd, the night mostly belonged to that critically acclaimed gem, as the name of the tour was Mos Def Presents: The Ecstatic Tour Featuring Mos Def and Jay Electronica. But when Mos Def took centerstage and got rid of his cap, he looked as if he was gaining such joy from his performance and most fans couldn't help but smile back. That's except for those fans in the top seats that were yelling for his classic "Miss Fat Booty."

There are few ways to make the line-up from Friday night's "Bob Dylan Show" concert at QuikTrip Park in Grand Prairie much better. With folk/rock/roots icons Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan on the line-up, I knew we were going to be in for quite a treat.

After The Wiyos, a bluegrass jazz group from Brooklyn, warmed the stage, Willie Nelson kicked off with "Whiskey River," dropping a giant Texas flag from the rafters of the stage. Even with a new album set to drop on Tuesday, Willie knew exactly what his Texan fans wanted, the classics. In his short set, he packed in plenty of his classic hits like "On the Road Again" and "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up To Be Cowboys."

Because the ballpark was open seating both in the stands and on the field where the stage was, we were able to get pretty close to the stage for Willie, even though were running late at first. After Nelson left the stage, many of his fans left as well. My friend and I were able to get about five people away from the stage by the time John Mellencamp started his set with "Pink Houses."

Mellencamp found the right balance between new songs and his old classics. He threw in hits like "Crumblin' Down", "Check it Out" and an a capella "Cherry Bomb" as well as new songs like "Troubled Land". Hailing from Bloomington, Ind., Mellencamp took the crowd back to his early days playing in Midwestern bars in a sing-along encore of "Authority Song." As a fellow Hoosier, Mellencamp was my favorite act of the night, even if he did leave out "Jack & Diane" and "Hurts So Good." (The crowd was still chanting "'Jack & Diane! Jack & Diane!'" as the stage was prepped for Dylan.)

Then came Dylan. Just like after Nelson, as soon as Mellencamp left the stage, the crowd shrunk, putting us at the railing for the headlining act. Dylan played few older songs, and the few he played were indistinguishable because he played them differently than back in the '60s. It was like Dylan playing a cover of a Dylan song. "Don't Think Twice" was country-ified with blues and jazz influences and a new rhythm and melody. "Like a Rolling Stone" could be better understood by the singing fans than Dylan himself. One fan said it best, "He doesn't need to remember the words, we know all the words." Dylan played a lot of songs off his last studio album, Modern Times, and wrapped up with "All Along the Watchtower."

Overall a great show, one of the best I've seen in a while. All three musicians proved that some things just get better with age.

Chris Isaak was in true chameleon form Sunday night at the House of Blues -- at various times, he seemed to be channeling Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison and Hank Williams Jr., yet at the same time stayed completely, utterly Chris. He treated the audience to a big chunk of his latest CD, Mr. Lucky, including the rocking, should-be-a-huge-hit "Big Wide Wonderful World" the bluesy "You Don't Cry Like I Do," and the mournful "Take My Heart." The staples were also there, including a fabulous take on "Wicked Game" with that oh-so-sexy Herb Ritts-directed video playing in the background, and an ultrasultry version of "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" that brought the temperature of the room up quite a few degrees.

Opener Kristina Train is an act to keep an eye on; her blue-infused-folk reminded me of a young Norah Jones, minus the piano and plus a fiddle, a guitar and a tambourine.

For the full review, check back here Monday afternoon.

Photo by Joy Tipping: Chris Isaak gets in the groove Sunday night at House of Blues.

American roots music veterans Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan, along with New York City outfit The Wiyos took the stage Friday at QuikTrip Park. Here's a quick recap of the concert:
The Wiyos - Bob Wills by way of Brooklyn. Swinging Americana with an urbanized, eclectic feel. Loved the trumpet, megaphone and upright bass combo.
Willie Nelson - An hour of Willie is not enough, but he packed 'em in. "Whiskey River," "Me and Paul," "On the Road Again," "Crazy," "Always On My Mind." Classic Nelson.
John Mellencamp - No "Jack & Diane" or "Hurts So Good." Gasp! Still, Mellencamp roots-rocked hard during "Crumblin' Down," "Troubled Land" and "The Authority Song."
Bob Dylan - Great 5-piece band blending folk, blues and rock. But, wow, onstage Dylan's voice is really an acquired taste. He was in intermittent growl mode.

For a full review of the shows, see www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Saturday or GuideDaily Sunday.

Photos: Nelson (left) and Mellencamp at QuikTrip Park (John F. Rhodes/DMN).

For the first half of Saturday's concert at Superpages.com Center, Toby Keith seemed a little bit off his game -- little energy, no sparkle in his eyes, a beat or two off the music in singing some of the lyrics. I got the feeling he might not feel well. He seemed almost subdued, which is oh-so-not-Toby.

But whatever it was, he finally shook it off about two-thirds of the way through his 22-song set, and the last part of the concert was pure energetic, bad-boy Toby, that naughty Oklahoman that Texans can't seem to get enough of.

And, even a not-quite-perfect Toby Keith show is still a Toby Keith show, and he makes sure the audience has a great time. The show started with a hilarious video depicting Keith up against faux bands for bragging rights as "toughest." (I especially loved the "Jehovah Brothers," a teen trio that couldn't stop breaking into "spontaneous choregraphy.") Keith, of course, abetted by a gleaming Ford truck and a very cute bulldog, took the prize.

Taking the stage to fireworks and confetti, he launched right into his fast-moving current hit "American Ride." Given the audience reaction, he's probably got another No. 1 song on his hands.

For a full review, check here tomorrow afternoon.

As co-headliners of the Great Hangover Tour, up-and-coming rappers Asher Roth and Kid Cudi couldn't differ more in their approach to playing live. Roth's set tonight at House of Blues was silly and celebratory, while Kid's followed in the conceptual footsteps of Kanye West's last tour (think spaced-out lighting effects and introspective tunes).

But the capacity crowd there (of mostly college-age fans) seemed completely engrossed in the performances of both artists, and it welcomed two opening acts with just as much enthusiasm. Yeah, this show was a party. A very weird party at times, but a party nonetheless. We'll have much more on the whole night tomorrow, but for now we'll leave you with the two headliners' setlists (after the jump).

Among the thrills of going to a concert is leaving with one song whose words and melody won't get out of your head. It's usually a new song, and being among the first to hear it is one of the thrills of live performance. I got to hear two on Friday night, July 17, and can't stop thinking about either. The incomparable Gretchen Peters, who headlined that night at Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse, played a new song titled "Mother," which she wrote for a CD tribute to the activist, Mary Harris "Mother" Jones. Despite enormous personal tragedy (she lost her husband and their four children in a yellow fever epidemic and later lost her shop, her home and all her possessions in the Great Chicago Fire), Mother Jones rallied American miners and championed workers' rights like no one ever had. "You were the Madonna of the mines/our Lady of the Picket Lines," Peters sang, to terrific accompaniment by Barry Walsh, her keyboardist, accordion player and fiancé. I'm often skeptical of warm-up acts, so I was pleasantly surprised to hear John Fullbright, whose hometown is Okemah, Okla., the same as Woody Guthrie. The parallels don't stop there. Fullbright looks a lot like Woody, sounds a lot like Woody, and from early indications, writes a lot like Woody. His song "The High Road" is a tale of an extraordinary love. Jack and Suzy are young lovers but share a bond so strong and enduring that it underscores the power of Fullbright's lyrics, which state, "Living comes natural to many/love comes naturally to few ... you take the high road to freedom/And I'll take the low road to you." It was a gift getting to hear such a magical young talent perform. I hope we have many more such chances in the future. Woody would be proud: He could not have a better clone.

Photo: Gretchen Peters

Rod Stewart played it smart Sunday night before a nearly sold-out crowd at Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie. He surrounded himself with a strong band, including a female violinist and saxophonist plus three background vocalists, and had the good sense to keep his 90 minute set to recognizable tunes that showcased his talents, not his weaknesses. That means he didn't do a single pop standard from his awfully misguided Great American Songbook CDs of late. Instead the 64-year-old London native quickly settled into a nice groove that found him exploring hits from the '70s, '80s and '90s. He was in decent voice, able to dance and move about the stage and eagerly played into the hands of the enthusiastic crowd, particularly the women. Highlights included the classics "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)," "Maggie May," "Hot Legs" and "The First Cut Is the Deepest." It was totally cool to hear him do "Young Turks" and "Forever Young," two of his better '80s staples, and pay homage to soulsters Sam Cooke ("Having a Party," "Twistin' the Night Away") and the O'Jays ("Love Train"). Sure, he went overboard with the soccer fan thing, throwing soccer balls into the audience when he should have been concentrating on his singing and using too much video footage of soccer games. But that's part of Rod, love it or leave it.

For a full review of the Rod Stewart concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday or see GuideDaily Tuesday.

Photo: Stewart performing in Germany in 2007 (Volker Hartmann).

Sound and vision make an intensely powerful pair, especially when talking about progressive metal band Tool. Maynard James Keenan, Danny Carey, Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor take that artistic merger to arguably the loftiest level of any current hard rocking group. There's a deep, metaphorical reason for every beat, riff and chord progression and its accompanying video image. Nowhere was that more pronounced than in concert Saturday night before a sold-out crowd at Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie. For nearly two hours, Tool used screen pictures, strobe and laser lights to not merely augment, but interpret its brand of metal. That's no small accomplishment. Tool is all about precision. Nothing is sloppy; it's all methodically well-executed. Drummer Carey, dressed in his signature basketball shorts and tank top, pounded with perfection, all the while making sure that the rhythm section was tight, piercing and profound. Tool's songs rattle your core, for sure, but they aren't noise. They represent the intricate, ambitious talents of four men who are as enigmatic as they are professional. During "Lateralus," one of two encore tunes, we got dual drumming from Carey and Ashton Bird (of opening outfit Tweak Bird) that was both tribal and rock-fortified. For "Vicarious," Keenan, the "anti-frontman" who never had a spotlight on him, stripped down to just boxer briefs. It's as if he was trying to give the audience a, well, vicarious thrill.

For a complete review of the Tool concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or see GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Keenan in pouncing mode (G.J. McCarthey/DMN).

Denver pop-rock band the Fray ended its show at Superpages.com Center about thirty minutes ago with a four-song encore set that included its gorgeous cover of Kanye West's "Heartless." But impressive a take as it is on the hip-hop hit, it wasn't the final tune.

Lead singer Isaac Slade saved that closing slot for "Happiness," one of the slower tunes on the band's second full-length album, The Fray. It kept most of the near capacity crowd around until the final note and provided closure to a live experience that touted big-budget lighting backdrops and studio-quality singing and playing.

There's a reason the Fray's gotten as big as it has -- whether or not the lyrical content is too safe or earnest for some, the music and the voice are powerful, evocative and extremely catchy.

And the guys tried their best to overcome the mope-rock stigma by including several of the faster-paced songs from the latest album. Slade put in his time behind the piano, Chris-Martin-style, but he also spent much of the night standing and posing out front. The rock star role fits him better than you'd think.

We'll have more on the Fray and its not-nearly-as-entertaining opening acts in Sunday's paper, but for now, find the setlist from tonight's show after the jump.

I learned two things at Superpages.com Center in Fair Park on Tuesday night. Don't believe anything you read about Chris Martin. And two, butterflies are free.

Confetti in the shape of butterflies was in abundance as Coldplay finished a performance that trumped anything I had read about the band. They were energetic, in fine musicianship and seemed to be having as much fun as the crowd they were delighting. And about lead singer Chris Martin? He revealed himself to be self-effacing and crowd-pleasing before an almost packed house in direct contrast to how he's been portrayed as an egomaniac with ambitions of world domination. And that piano that certain music mags go on and on about? Well, he was in fine form.

There wasn't a speck of grass to be seen on the lawn, with so many people there. But the row behind me was strangely empty. But the crowd, which stayed on its feet for the entire concert, was behind Coldplay. All the way. When bright yellow balloons bounced among the crowd during "Yellow," the crowd sang along when prompted and playfully kept the balloons bouncing from fan to fan. When the group went into a playful version of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," the crowd provided the background vocals. When Martin asked everyone to join "a sort-of-cellphone wave," everyone obliged.

Coldplay may have its detractors, but not Tuesday night.

(Photo of Chris Martin, right, and Jonny Buckland by Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer)

A couple of memorable visuals come to mind when thinking about Aerosmith's headlining performance Sunday night before a massive crowd at Superpages.com Center. First there's Steven Tyler blazing his way through "Dream On" while he stands on the stage's catwalk as a fan blows his hair and a wall of steam rises up from the floor. He looked like some kind of rock 'n' roll aura. Then, during "Love In An Elevator," the lighting rigs and four rectangular video screens hanging over the band went up and down like, well, an elevator. Way cool. Aerosmith, after an hour-long set from that rock 'n' blues Texas trio ZZ Top, proved age is for seasoning, not withering. The group from Boston rocked hard for nearly 90 minutes delivering many career classics, from the signature "Walk This Way" to the brooding "Janie's Got a Gun." What a kicking rhythm section comprised of drummer Joey Kramer, bassist David Hull (subbing for Tom Hamilton who is recovering from surgery) and guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. A major highlight of the evening: A sizzling blues-rock jam that brought ZZ's Billy Gibbons back to the platform.

For a full review of Aerosmith and ZZ Top go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday or see GuideDaily Tuesday.

Photo: Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top during his group's opening set Sunday night (Jason Janik/Special to DMN).

Smokey Robinson is one dapper dude. He can wear a slick blue suit, a black and white tuxedo, even a flaming red outfit and always look cool. He's still mighty youthful at 69, able to dance, gyrate and swoon with ease. So naturally he enthralled the crowd of 1,200 Saturday night at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Armed with a nine-member band and two female dancers, the Motown legend performed for two hours. He did everything you'd expect -- the Motown classics when he was part of The Miracles; the hit solo material; and pop standards from his 2006 CD, Timeless Love. Robinson was the quintessential old-school entertainer. He told stories of the Motown glory days, name dropping The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes, among others. He worked the audience, particularly the ladies in the house, some of which ended up onstage with him. Three numbers geared toward the women were showstoppers. "Being With You," his 1981 crossover smash, was sultry. He sang a part of it in Spanish while in tight embrace with one of his female background vocalists. "Just to See Her," from 1987, was a melodic delight. And "Cruisin'," which closed the show, was a slow, sexy, rhythmic manifesto.

For the full review of Smokey Robinson, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Sunday or see GuideDaily Monday.

Photo: Robinson smoked! (Brandon Wade/Special to DMN)

I was prepared to see -- and love -- the same show NKOTB put on at American Airlines Center in October.

But the guys surprised me at Friday's show at Superpages.com Center.

Asia and Yes shared a guitarist (Steve Howe) Wednesday night at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth during a nearly sold-out concert by both progressive rock groups. And keyboardist Geoff Downes spent a little time tickling the ivories for Yes before he helped inaugurate Asia. But performing back-to-back on the same night boldly highlighted the stylistic differences between the two bands. Asia, which opened the show, peppers its brand of progressive rock with plenty of pop hooks and soaring choruses. Lead singer John Wetton remains in outstanding voice. With Yes, however, those characteristics are the exception, not the norm. That gave Asia's set more immediacy and instant familiarity, particularly during the radio staples "Heat of the Moment," "Only Time Will Tell" and "Sole Survivor." Yes, on the other hand, is prone to long, winding, heavily instrumental pieces that are great showcases for the musicians but not the singer. Plus, the Yes vocalist is currently Canadian Benoit David since longtime wailer Jon Anderson is ailing at home. David is a decent singer, but he's miles away from Anderson's distinctive pipes.

For a full review of the Asia and Yes concert, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Thursday or see GuideDaily on Friday.

Photo: Howe and Wetton of Asia in action (Khampha Bouaphanh/Special to DMN).

Keith Urban is a terrific singer, but after seeing him for the first time in concert, I can tell you that's not the reason to pay whatever it takes to get in the next time he's in town. That would be his pure, blow-you-away musicianship. As good a singer as he is, that talent completely pales in comparison to his virtuosity as a guitarist. At Saturday night's concert at American Airlines Center, one of the standout moments was an extended duet of Urban on electric guitar with Chris McHugh on drums. I closed my eyes for a minute, and I think I know now what it must've felt like to be at a Jimi Hendrix concert.

Another highlight was when Urban sang his hit cover of Del Rio native Radney Foster's "Raining on Sunday" -- and out came Foster to sing it with him.

Urban seems an extraordinarily generous performer, both with his band and the audience. He gave each of his five band members a lengthy solo, and he played every side of the packed house. At one point, he went to the opposite end of the floor area from the stage, where a smaller stage was set up. "Who's got the good seats now?" he asked the ecstatic back-of-the-room crowd.

For a full review of Urban and opening act Jason Aldean, check back here on Sunday evening, and in the print paper on Monday. G'day, as Keith would say. Or, g'night.

During one between-song moment Monday night at Nokia Theatre, Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts reached for a mug set atop a nearby stool. "Just like an Englishman," he said, "I have my tea handy." Such casual quips, not to mention stories about opera, about growing up listening to classical music and about his beloved wife, filled the time that Potts wasn't exercising his operatic tenor. Those asides made him all the more human, endearing. But every time he opened his mouth to sing, Potts really showcased his talents. His voice has such a pure tonality, almost an earnest innocence to it that makes him sound refreshingly honest. Surely his story is one of unassuming everyman emerges out of nowhere to capture the world with sheer musical power. There's no image steering this gravy train. With 12 local musicians onstage - strings, harp, french horns, timpani drums, clarinet, flute - and pieces from his second CD, the all-Italian Passione, as well as his heralded debut, One Chance, Potts thoughtfully and fervently sang for a small but engaged crowd. Sandwiched into his show were special guests Neal E. Boyd, winner of America's Got Talent, and Diane di Stasio, a soprano from Nashville. Potts was gracious to share the stage with them, but the attention was all for him.

For the full review of Paul Potts, go to www.dallasnews.com/entertainment Tuesday.

Photo: Potts in full vocal power Monday night (Michael Ainsworth/DMN).

Even from the nosebleed perch -- Section 308, Row B, Seat 1, to be exact -- it was easy to grasp the gist of a Beyoncé concert: The woman is 70 percent fashion plate and 30 percent artist. Her show Sunday night at American Airlines Center, part of her current "I Am Tour," was all about windblown hair, leg-baring, bust-hugging costumes, runway dance moves and diva perfection. To be fair, she is gorgeous. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why the Houston native is making millions shilling hair products, lipstick and perfume. She has that striking, supermodel appearance. But artistically she's as empty as they come. Yes, Beyoncé can sing. She can carry a tune and has plenty of lung power. However, there's nothing special or instantly recognizable about her voice. And her music, solo and when she was with Destiny's Child, is utterly disposable. Whether delivering uptempo numbers such as "Crazy In Love" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" or ballads such as "Halo" and "Broken-Hearted Girl," Beyoncé couldn't get passed the prefabricated, perfunctory vibe of the songs. Even with a large band behind her, including a percussionist and horn section, it all sounded soulless. Nothing about her musically sticks, nor does it say anything about her as an artist other than she aims for mass appeal and exposure.

For a full review of the Beyoncé concert, go to dallasnews.com/entertainment Monday.

Photo: Beyoncé was all modeled up Sunday night (Lara Solt/DMN).

LONDON -- The Anschutz Entertainment Group, the commercial monolith that promoted the 50 Michael Jackson concerts here that will never happen, pretty much had the whole town riled up by Wednesday morning. AEG, which is part of the same Philip Anschutz empire that brought "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" to the Dallas Museum of Art (and which owns the Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie), came up with a no-refund alternative to Jackson's ill-fated concert series that provoked a Fleet Street frenzy of angry headlines. AEG Live says that anyone who wants a full refund to Jackson's ill-fated series of 50 concerts at the O2 (the London arena and exhibition enclave where the King Tut show played before coming to Dallas) can get one, but, if you're willing to consider a no-refund alternative, have they got a deal for you! Fans can have their very own souvenir ticket, to a concert that will never happen! And, claims AEG, it's one that Jackson himself designed shortly before his death! (Please click below to read on.)

Photo: Michael Jackson performing during halftime of the Jan. 31, 1993 Super Bowl, won by the Dallas Cowboys 52-17

LONDON -- This city may come to be known as the beginning of the end for Michael Jackson. That certainly appeared to be the conclusion of the London Evening Standard on Friday night, when the blaring headline read: "JACKSON FAMILY BLAMES LONDON." The story quoted family lawyer Brian Oxman as accusing "enablers" of "pushing Jackson too hard physically in preparation for the 50 comeback concerts in London" that were scheduled to begin July 13. And where were those shows supposed to take place? The O2, the sprawling arena and exhibition enclave in East London where "Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs" took place before heading to the Dallas Museum of Art last October. The O2 has welcomed through its doors Celine Dion, the Eagles and Tut. Its owner is the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which, of course, is headed up by reclusive Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, who also owns Arts and Exhibitions International, which, along with the Egyptian government, staged the Tut show at the DMA. MTV reported that the Anschutz Entertainment Group faced the "daunting task" of having to refund $85 million in ticket sales for 50 sold-out concerts and that Jackson had passed a physical to obtain insurance for the 50 concerts. The Los Angeles Times reported that AEG had invested a reported $20 million in production costs for the "This Is It" concerts with an expected profit of about $115 million and a three-year worldwide tour that could have grossed $450 million. By Monday, the focus had shifted a bit, with the London papers quoting Joe Jackson, the singer's father, about allegations of foul play, almost as though London itself were getting a reprieve when it came to the blame game. (Please click below to read on.)

Photo: Michael Jackson

Yes, I was there. Yes, the JoBros put on a cool show Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Read what I thought of the concert, which opened the Westlake-based sibling trio's 2009 world tour, here. I also want to once again mention how impressed I was with Jordin Sparks, who came off so full of talent, earthiness and sexy sass without being all sexed-up. She did it with class. Honor Society, the unsigned New York City band that have been plucked out of obscurity by the Jonas Brothers and given a head-spinning golden opportunity, were fun, too.

Were you there? What did you think of the gig?

PHOTO: The JoBros in action Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium (Tom Fox/DMN).

Rascal Flatts brought its Unstoppable Tour to Superpages.com on Saturday, and Gary LeVox and team rocked the full house. Starting the show with a fireworks and video extravaganza so elaborate that most acts would CLOSE with it, Rascal Flatts kicked things off with the perfectly appropriate "Summer Nights" from their recently released Unstoppable CD, from which they also played the No. 1 single "Here Comes Goodbye" and the lovely ballad "Love Who You Love." The audience showed the most love for old favorites -- hearing the audience singing along to "Bless the Broken Road" in what seemed like perfect harmony would have melted the most cynical soul.

As good as Rascal Flatts was, the group was matched by opening act Darius Rucker, who sang songs from his hit country album, but also gave the audience a couple of gems from his Hootie & the Blowfish days: "Let Her Cry" and "Only Wanna Be With You." He also came back for the RF encores, with both acts singing Hootie's "Hold My Hand" and RF's "Life Is a Highway." It was a high, all right -- a near-perfect concert experience for a muggy June evening. By the end of the concert, I didn't even care about the sauna-like conditions. I would've been happy to stay there another couple of hours.

For the full review, go here on Sunday afternoon.

It started out sweaty. The crowd of people outside American Airlines Center was thick in preparation for the posted 7 p.m. time for Andrea Bocelli's concert on Saturday, with plenty of button-downs blotchy with moisture before the doors opened around 7:15. But once the doors opened, the crowd was nothing but a warm bath of affection for the Italian tenor and the familiar songs he sang. Classical-music critics may not always love him--or an arena as a venue for his concerts-- but his fan base sure adores him.

It was a multi-generational audience. As Bocelli stepped onstage, the 30-something woman next to me, who came with her excited mother, said "Mom's going to faint!" Fortunately, she didn't faint. Along the way, one man yelled, "We love you, Andrea," which drew a smile from Bocelli. His guests included soprano Eglise Gutiérrez, singer Heather Headley and flutist Andrea Griminelli.

The encore was particularly well-received by those on hand. After the first encore song, "Besame Mucho," the audience caught on to the fact that if Bocelli stopped on the stairs and took a sip of water, he'd be back out there shortly. Sips of water were met with enthusiastic applause.

"My voice is finished," Bocelli said before his last song, but it wasn't quite yet. He launched into "Nessun dorma."

At the end of the concert, after the lights came up, the man sitting next to me said, "It's not over." But it was.

If you went to the concert and want to share your experience, leave a comment. I'll post the program and the encore songs after the jump.

OK, Jerry: One complaint -- I just got stuck in the ladies' room outside the media area for, oh, 10 minutes. I closed the door for privacy, only to discover -- NO HANDLE on the inside. I understand about being "still in progress," but still ... it was a little scary. I had to text-message my cohort, Mario Tarradell, to come get me, and the first time it wouldn't go through (the TRUE terror of seeing "no bars" on the cellphone). It did finally go through ... but I had been pounding on the door for about 10 minutes by then. LOVELY bathroom, but I didn't want to spend the last 10 minutes of George Strait in there. Invest in door handles, soon.

Haven't had much time to blog from the George Strait concert, what with actually trying to cover the concert, but I must say, I'm surprisingly impressed by Cowboys Stadium as a co