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Last Saturday, the Irvine Barclay Theatre hosted an evening with The Side Deal, our own local (Newport Beach) harmonious collection of Charlie Colin, formerly of the group, Train; Stan Frazier, formerly of Sugar Ray, and the brothers Joel and Scott Owens, from the PawnShop kings....

  What does it take for musicians to bond with one another? For the four members of The Side Deal, it was a patch of black ice. The band was in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. They were driving to a morning gig in a rented car, and it was snowing. Coming down...

KAABOO is almost here! For those not in the know, KAABOO is a three-day concert-art-comedy-food festival held Sept. 14-16 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego county. Unlike the craziness of Coachella and other festivals that are focused mainly on music, KAABOO showcases art,...

Have you made it out to the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa to catch one of the sensational Sunset Jazz at Newport summer concerts? The series runs through Sept. 19, which means there are only five evenings of swinging jazz left in this annual musical ode to classic jazz....

The Hyatt Regency Summer Concert Series returns to the hotel’s intimate Back Bay amphitheater July 13 – October 12. It’s packed with notable names from the jazz and pop worlds, from trumpeter Chris Botti to Chicago vocalist Peter Cetera to the dynamic Chaka Khan. The series kicks...

Cool cocktails, balmy evenings, hot jazz—three ingredients that make for a perfect summer evening under the stars at the Sunset Jazz at Newport concert series that starts July 11 and runs through Sept. 19 at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa in Fashion Island. Held in...

There’s a really big show happening at Newport Dunes this weekend, and it’s for a good cause. The Really Big Show will be held on Saturday, June 23 from noon to 6 p.m. Four bands are scheduled to perform, including Swingin’ Tikis, Electric Cool-Aide, Superdelux, and The Side Deal...

What does it take for a band to bond? In the case of Side Deal, it was a patch of black ice. The Newport Beach-based band was in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival. They were driving to a morning gig in a rented car, and it was snowing. “We were coming down a steep...

Their fans are fanatic, their music videos clever and compelling, and their live concerts sell out around the world. Not bad for a group that’s only been around for a few years, but then Postmodern Jukebox is not your ordinary band. Since Scott Bradlee created the project in...

What do the drummer/songwriter for Sugar Ray, guitarist for Train, and members of PawnShop kings have in common? They all grew up in Newport Beach, went on to noted music careers, and have teamed up in a new band called Side Deal. Stan Frazier (Sugar Ray), Charlie Colin (Train),...

They say good things come in threes, but in the case of the Quebe Sisters, the musical trio is more than just good—they are astoundingly talented. All three Quebe Sisters –  Hulda, Sophia and Grace – play violin, which itself is unusual. But then they open their mouths and...

Back in the days when New Wave was taking over the airwaves, everyone I knew (including me) owned a copy of Gary Numan’s iconic and groundbreaking 1979 album “The Pleasure Principle,” which contained his smash hit “Cars.” Numan’s android-ish style and unique vocal phrasing, plus...

Richard Marx is something of a songwriting legend—he’s penned hit songs for everyone from Luther Vandross (“Dance with my Father”) to Josh Groban (“To Where You Are”). Fortunately, the personable performer has also written music for his own albums—albums that have sold more than...

For many years the Pacific Symphony has ended its outdoor summer concert season with a night of spectacular music by Tchaikovsky. This year was no different, but the venue was. Since the Irvine Meadows/Verizon Wireless Amphitheater closed last year, the Symphony has been staging...

Music’s worst format. That’s one of the monikers most frequently given to the cassette tape. Others include obsolete, antiquated, and out-of-date. Still, the compact cassette refuses to die, thanks to the small but mighty group of nostalgic music nuts, fanatical collectors, and...

Drummer or chef? That was the question Stan Frazier pondered when he was growing up in Newport Beach, but fortunately he was able to pursue both music and the culinary arts. As the drummer and principal songwriter for the popular band Sugar Ray, Frazier toured the world, had six...

It’s Election Day, but Dave Wakeling can’t vote. Although he’s lived in Los Angeles for the last 20 years, the frontman and guitarist of seminal new wave-ska band The English Beat that plays at The Coach House Nov. 26 is still a green card-er: a citizen of the United Kingdom, his...

They had 21 consecutive Top 40 hits, 12 gold albums, three #1 hits (“Mama Told Me Not To Come,” “Joy To The World,” and “Black & White”), and launched numerous careers for songwriters like Randy Newman and Harry Nilsson (and one wine-loving bullfrog named Jeremiah). Between...

 Jazz lovers, take note: October 7 through 9 will be pure musical heaven as Segerstrom Center offers three days of jazz concerts that range from musical salutes to Miles Davis to the centennial celebrations of four musicians born in 1917: Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Mongo...

It’s sunrise in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Ottmar Liebert is taking a stroll on his ranch, listening to music through his headphones. But it’s not just any music. The Grammy-nominated guitarist has been working on a new solo album, and he listens to the tracks as he records the...