In just over two hours Sunday night, “Weird Al” Yankovic showcased his talents as comedian, singer, songwriter, music video pioneer and accordionist before yet another delighted near-capacity crowd at Pacific Amphitheatre, this time on the closing night of the OC Fair.

Yankovic, 52, has been a trailblazing satirist since the dawn of MTV but has been able to successfully evolve with the subsequent arrival of the Internet and growth of social media to remain relevant.

Click here for more photos from Weird Al’s Pacific Amphitheatre performance.

In the ’80s and early ’90s he would merely skewer artists with popular parodies bolstered by accompanying videos. He has extended that approach over the years to include creative clips in which he’s seen interviewing everybody from Robert Pattinson and Jeff Bridges to Uma Thurman in a gleeful bashing of celebrities, along with take-downs of Craigslist and eBay and, in the piece “Another Tattoo,” the body-art trend. All of that played a major part of his show in Costa Mesa, allowing him to make quick costume changes at key points.

Mirroring how technology has quickened the pace of our lives, Yankovic’s show raced along as swiftly as features on a smart phone. The blend of live music, effective lighting, wide-ranging videos and rapid pacing all enhanced a series of great one-liners, with even some of his most effective satirical classics (including “My Bologna,” his send-up of the Knack’s “My Sharona”) folded into medleys. Yet the performance was never overwhelmed by that speediness, with Yankovic knowing when to let the show breathe.

Read more about Weird Al’s performance in Costa Mesa on the Soundcheck Blog.

Article by Robert Kinsler, for the Orange County Register; Photos by Kelly A. Swift, for the Orange County Register

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Slideshow: ‘Weird Al’ returns to Pacific Amphitheatre is a post from: Encore

Saturday night Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon sang about wild boys, but the band’s electrifying concert at Pacific Amphitheatre was all about the wild girls.

Female fans squealed with delight every time the frontman moved across both sides of the stage or a close-up of heartthrob bassist John Taylor graced projection screens. (Read our interview with him here.) Some even waved hand-drawn signs and stuffed toys from the OC Fair’s midway in time to the music. Others were decked out in totally ’80s DayGlo fashion.

Click here for more photos of Duran Duran’s performance.

Home Sweet Home, the fair’s 2012 theme, could easily apply to Duran’s return to Southern California, always among the group’s strongest markets in America (Taylor is also a longtime resident). Indeed, reserved seating in Costa Mesa sold out soon after the show went on sale months ago, and the lawn section – opened up only for a handful of the most popular shows this season – was quite full.

Attendance had to have exceeded 10,000. Before start time, the merchandise booth did brisk business while enthusiasts scrambled to get their hands on as many items as possible.

Read more on Duran Duran’s Pacific Amphitheatre performance on the Soundcheck Blog.

Article by George A. Paul, for the Orange County Register; Photos by Steven Georges, for the Orange County Register

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Slideshow: Duran Duran thrills fans at Pacific is a post from: Encore

OrangeCounty.com and the OC Music Awards caught up with Dirty J and Duddy B of the Dirty Heads during the bands sound check at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on July 27 to chat about the new album, Cabin By the Sea, and the current tour with Matisyahu.

The Dirty Heads return to the area with Matisyahu with a show at City National Grove of Anaheim at 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Tickets are on sale now. $39.50-$49.50.

Check out our video chat with the Dirty Heads in the player below.

OC Music Awards Video Series: Reel Big Fish unleash ‘Candy Coated Fury’ at House of Blues Sunset

OC Music Awards Video Series: Railroad to Alaska at Warped Tour 2012.

Photo by David Hall, for the Orange County Register

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Video: Catching up with the Dirty Heads is a post from: Encore

Tyson Ritter could define “energetic.”

The All-American Rejects’ lanky frontman worked up quite a sweat during the rock group’s vigorous Pacific Amphitheatre show Wednesday night. He rarely stood still and often ended up flat on the stage, stringy hair all drenched.

Since 2003, the Oklahoma-bred band has notched eight Top 40 pop singles (three received alternative radio airplay) and saw its first three infectious hook-laden albums reach gold or platinum status. The latest, Kids in the Street, came out in spring. Produced by Greg Wells (OneRepublic, Mika, Adele), the sound is more expansive (thanks to synths, programming and horns) and less polished than before.

Click here for photos of fans and performances.

Several tracks feature backing vocals by fellow Sooner State native Audra Mae, Alex Kandel (female vocalist for buzz band Sleeper Agent) and dramatic Russian singer Elizaveta. Lyrically, Ritter ruminates about a self-described “quarter- life crisis” he experienced during a temporary move to L.A., but the overall mood is far from downbeat.

At Pacific, a major chunk of impressive new material comprised the 85-minute, 18-song set. The Costa Mesa venue was slightly over half-full, yet there was no shortage in enthusiasm from high school and college-aged fans. Many of them sang along loudly whenever TAAR dipped into early effervescent hits like “Swing Swing,” “Move Along” and concert opener “Dirty Little Secret.”

Read more on All-American Rejects and Eve 6 on the Soundcheck Blog.

Article by George A. Paul, for the Orange County Register; Photos by Rose Palmisano, the Orange County Register

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Slideshow: The All-American Rejects work up a sweat at Pacific is a post from: Encore

Some concerts are all about the party. That was clear long before headliner Cinderella or opening act Sebastian Bach took the stage at Pacific Amphitheatre Friday night. Concert-goers, many wielding the biggest brews available, were mostly interested in chatting, snapping images of each other, texting pals on their cell phones or checking out the ’80s Sunset Strip attire of guys and gals who never saw Nirvana and Pearl Jam coming.

Against that summer-shindig backdrop, both Bach and Cinderella had the deck stacked in their favor.

Bach (real late name: Blerk) sang for Skid Row in the late ’80s and early ’90s before embarking on his solo career. Yet, despite an energetic effort to bring his best musical game to Costa Mesa, his rutted vocals marred the majority of his 45-minute set.

Read more on Cinderella and Sebastian Bach on the Soundcheck Blog.

Article by Robert Kinsler. Photos by Rose Palmisano, the Orange County Register.

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Slideshow: Cinderella, Sebastian Bach bring out the metalheads at Pacific is a post from: Encore

We have two pairs of tickets to give away to the All-American Rejects and Eve 6 at Pacific Amphitheatre at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8.

To be entered to win, send an email to kfadroski@ocregister.com with All-American Rejects in the subject line. Include your full name, mailing address and telephone number. Contest ends Friday, Aug. 3 at Noon.

The tickets also include free admission to the 2012 OC Fair on Wednesday, Aug. 8 only.

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Contest: Win tickets to the All-American Rejects at Pacific Amphitheatre Aug. 8 is a post from: Encore

So often at reggae shows, artists rely on cover songs – typically, at least one Bob Marley tune – to keep the audience hyped. That’s not a negative criticism. Many of the songs chosen are timeless and resound with good vibes each and every time.

That said, it was genuinely refreshing to witness sets on Friday at Pacific Amphitheatre from two groups – Huntington Beach mainstays the Dirty Heads and classic British roots reggae outfit Steel Pulse – comprised entirely of original material.

Though the Heads are budding stars, with only two albums (their latest, Cabin By the Sea, arrived last month) compared to Steel Pulse’s 11 discs spanning 35-plus years, the Orange County locals’ show garnered such an enormous turnout of early-bird fans that, in all fairness to the bill-topping vets, this event should have been sold as a co-headlining gig.

Click here for a photo slideshow of fans and performances.

Things didn’t look that way at first, however: two songs into the Dirty Heads set, not many seats were filled, which visibly frustrated frontman Jared “Dirty J” Watson.

“It feels great to be home, but there’s one problem,” he said, pausing briefly before yelling, “there are too many people sitting down! Did you guys come to party or what?!”

That exclamation certainly did the trick. Throngs of folks stood up to belt out the following two cuts, “Neighborhood” and “Stand Tall,” with hundreds more streaming into the venue and joining in wholeheartedly for new tracks “Disguise,” “Cabin by the Sea” and “We Will Rise,” among others.

Read more on Steel Pulse and the Dirty Heads on the Soundcheck Blog.

Photos by David Hall, for OrangeCounty.com.

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Review: Steel Pulse, Dirty Heads rock steady at Pacific is a post from: Encore

Sheryl Crow’s ultimately satisfying performance Wednesday night in Costa Mesa should have been the crowning gem of Pacific Amphitheatre’s short season, a standout amid predictable repeat visits from all manner of nostalgia peddlers and plenty of kid bait.

Maybe that was an unfair expectation, for Crow has never been anything more than solidly predictable herself since she emerged nearly two decades ago with the sleeper smash “Tuesday Night Music Club.” Yet unlike all but a few younger acts on Pacific’s roster, the 50-year-old rocker is still a relevant figure in contemporary music – more than she has been in the past decade, actually, thanks to recent forays into richer musical heritage and a successful crossover into the country market.

That’s why it was so disappointing to see Crow cruise through a hits parade with little regard for either the rest of her first-rate catalog or what direction she might take next.

Of course, the fact that she stuck almost exclusively to radio fare that built her reputation is probably reason enough for Wednesday’s near-capacity crowd to consider this among the best shows of Pacific’s five-week run. Give the people what they want, indeed, and Crow obliged: Out of 15 songs in roughly 90 minutes, only three tunes were less than familiar to even casual admirers – four if you count her “Cars” contribution “Real Gone.”

Read more on Sheryl Crow’s Pacific performance on the Soundcheck Blog.

Photos by Armando Brown, for the Orange County Register.

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Review: Sheryl Crow plays it safe at Pacific is a post from: Encore

Fresh off the plane after a performance at the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, Sameer Gadhia and Jacob Tilley of Young the Giant sat down for an interview with us backstage at Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa Sunday afternoon.  The show marks the Irvine-based quintet’s largest headlining show to date – nearly 10,000. As Gadhia pointed out during our chat, just a few years ago, when they were known as the Jakes, YTG was performing in small local clubs like Detroit Bar, Hogue Barmichaels and Chain Reaction.

“I’m really excited for it,” he says, speaking slowly and admitting that he’s tired and a little jet lagged. “Just even looking and envisioning it, right now it’s completely empty but imagining it being filled up with all the people that have been seeing us perform since we were the Jakes … I think it’s going to keep us going.”

“It’s a very good milestone for us,” Tilley adds.

Click here for a photo slideshow of Young the Giant’s show at Pacific Amphitheatre.

Read a full review of Young the Giant’s performance on the Soundcheck Blog.

The last time we checked in with YTG, the band was living in a four-story home in the hills of Los Angeles in December while in the beginning stages of writing songs for its sophomore album which is now due out on Roadrunner Records by spring 2013, Gadhia says. Since then the band has been touring non-stop, but got a quick break from the road to set up at friend and Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger’s Malibu pad for a few weeks to once again dive into songwriting.

Tilley says the band really got the ball rolling while in Malibu and that even though they had been writing through the whole touring process, it was good to have some time to actually focus.

“We’ve just been practicing the new songs in sound check and keeping it going,” he says. “We’re not letting it fall stagnant I guess.”

With the U.S. dates coming to an end with the Pacific gig and only a few festival shows in Canada on the books for the rest of 2012, Gadhia says the band will spend the rest of the year in the studio working on the new album.

Though they came together in 2004 as teenagers just wanting to play music for fun, Tilley says that the band has grown substantially in the last couple of years.

“We’ve become a lot more comfortable with our instruments and we’ve been exposed to other bands and watching live performances so we’ve learned a lot about space, texture and tonality of things,” he says. “I think the songwriting on the (new) album may stay pretty true to where we were on the last one, but in terms of the sonic spectrum and what we’re more capable of doing now as players, it’s going to step it up quite a bit. I’ve never played the guitar this much in my life. We’re all kind of coming into our own at this point and I feel like we’re becoming a lot more creative.”

Check out more with Young the Giant in our video interview in the player below:

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Video: Backstage with Young the Giant at Pacific Amphitheatre is a post from: Encore

Not that any critic with half a brain would think to do so, but there needs to be a moratorium on any music nabobs comparing Scotty McCreery to his prize-grabbing American Idol brethren. He’s simply not like the rest, and that’s a very good thing.

The fact that men alone have been victorious during the second half of that singing competition’s unstoppable 11-season run is lamentable but also utterly predictable from a show that pretends to be for everyone yet principally caters to teenage girls. For five years now it has produced exciting drama mid-season and totally boring results by the end of finale night, as one bland rocker after another has been crowned champ by viewers, then sent off into the (more or less) real world of pop music to capitalize quickly, then steadily fade from view.

Ironically, edgier (for Idol) stars who didn’t make it to the finals, like Chris Daughtry and Adam Lambert, are those who have remained on the ascendency, whereas nice guys like Kris Allen and Lee DeWyze are faring no better than Taylor Hicks at maintaining the fan bases they acquired from the program. Phillip Phillips, aka Dave Matthews Jr., is only the latest cute clone to sneak past more promising talents, in this case two powerhouses, Jessica Sanchez and Joshua Ledet, who can sing circles around him.

McCreery, who impressed in his first headlining appearance in O.C., Wednesday night at Pacific Amphitheatre, is so much – and so refreshingly – the opposite of all that, it’s a wonder he emerged from the same contest. He’s straight-up country with zero pop affectations, an instant Academy of Country Music award-winner (albeit for a fan-voted trophy) who ought to be compared not to the David Cooks of Idol but to his fellow Nashville newcomers.

Read more on Scotty McCreery’s performance on the Soundcheck Blog.

Follow the Encore Blog on Facebook at Facebook.com/encoreOC for more music news, contests and giveaways!

The latest from Encore:

Slideshow: Squealing fans greet Scotty McCreery at Pacific is a post from: Encore