If you are in the mood for a little comedy but also want to hear some music and can’t seem to make up your mind, then don’t choose!  Weird Al Yankovic provides both that will having tapping your toes until you fall out of your seat laughing.  Even better than downloading a track onto your iPod is listening to the genius live and in person!  Fans are happy to know that Al is back on the road and touring the US once again.

So just what has the funny man been up to lately?  On September 25, 2012 “Weird Al: The Book” was released.  The book features stories and images of the man himself, spanning from his childhood and throughout his musical comedy life, until today.  As the funny man often parodies the popular things of the day it is also like a pop culture look back, from Madonna to Gaga, and all the good times Weird Al had poking fun at us all along the way.  Weird Al also recently appeared on The Annoying Orange comedy show on Cartoon Network, on the “Generic Holiday Special” singing a duet with the orange one himself.  Al was also a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards, as he understands the importance of encouraging the independent spirit when it comes to music making.

Then of course there is the music!  In 2011 Weird Al released his 13th album entitled “Alpocalypse” which had songs like “Polka Face” and “TMZ”.  Some of his biggest hits to date are “Like a Surgeon”, “Eat It”, “White and Nerdy”, “Amish Paradise”, “Fat”, and “Don’t Download This Song”.  Of course every fan has their favorite Weird Al Yankovic song.

Currently the singer has a few shows already scheduled for the 2013 year.  On April 10th he will be in Raleigh, North Carolina performing at the Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.  On April 16th he will make his way down to Jacksonville, Florida to the Florida Theatre Jacksonville.  Finally on April 25th he will be at the Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri before heading to Canada for some further shows.  Be sure to check him out when his concert tour is near you!

The king of country music is on the road again, thrilling fans with his traditional Western trade mark that shot him to stardom in the 1980’s.  Beginning in his home state, Texas, he’ll be singing his way cross-country, from Oklahoma, to Utah, California, and finally hitting the Eastern Seaboard.

Born and raised in Texas, Strait began playing music while a teenager, joining a rock and roll garage band.  After his graduation, he signed on with the army.  After a two-year stint, he was stationed in Hawaii, where he began playing country music, initially with a military band called, Rambling Country.  In 1975, he left the army and returned to Texas, intent on finishing his education.  In between classes, he formed his own country band, Ace in the Hole.

Ace in the Hole never went anywhere, but George Strait had his eyes set on the country music charts.  Determinedly, he knocked on Nashville doors, but with very little success.  His big break came in 1979, when he became friends with Erv Woolsey, a Texas club owner who had once worked for MCA Records.  It was Woolsey who convinced some MCA executives to give the talented young musician a chance.  With Strait’s first single, “Unwound”, released in 1981, he skyrocketed to number one on the country music charts.

After that, it was platinum and gold for the country music singer, hitting the country music charts over and over again.  He never slowed down.  In 1992, he made his first movie, Pure Country, which featured him in the leading role.  He released a four-disc box set, “straight out of the Box”, in 1995.  By 1996, it had become one of five biggest selling box sets in country music.

He has continued to perform and produce country music, co-writing seven of the eleven songs on his 2011 album, “Here’s for a Good Time”.  Co-produced with Tony Brown, and recorded at Jimmy Buffett’s Shrimpboat Sound Studio in Key West, Florida, this makes his 39th studio album.

Tickets are selling fast, with some locations already sold out, so if your love is for country; check your schedule for the next George Strait performance.  Beginning at the United Spirit Arena, January 18, 2013, the tour ends back at his home state at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, June 1st.  Don’t miss your chance to see George Strait live, as it’s a performance you’ll never forget.

A Christmas Story began showing on Broadway on November 7 and audiences only have a chance to see Ralphie nearly “shoot his eye out” for a few more weeks, as this one wraps on December 30.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know how this one turns out. Ralphie gets his tongue stuck to an icy pole, the entire family still makes a mess of dinner at a Chinese place, the big pink bunny still makes an appearance, and Ralphie still gets his BB gun. Much of it is done by 12-year old Johnny Rabe that pulls off a brilliant Ralphie with each and every performance, as well as Joe West who steps in for the role on alternating evenings.

Erin Dilly dons the role of Ralphie’s mom, the first to warn him that he’ll “shoot his eye out” with the beloved BB gun; and Zac Ballard plays the role of Ralph’s little brother Randy. The play also features Eddie Korbich as the Santa Claus that gets Ralphie all tripped up on his Christmas list, Dan Lauria as Jean Shepherd, and John Bolton as The Old Man.

This isn’t the first time the story has made it onto the stage. In 2011 it was on tour before settling down in Chicago for a small run. Now after seeing the success on the Chicago stage, it can be seen at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway.

Metal Trash fans prepare to increase the tempo and turn up the volume in hard-hitting, classical annihilation style; Megadeth style, that is.  It’s the Countdown to Extinction of their twentieth anniversary tour, and the window to grabbing your favorite concert seat is small; very small.  Only three appearances left for this fabulous tour to get your adrenalin rushing and your blood pumping, and what will you say to your friends who thrashed it out live to the vigorous resurgence of hot metal’s favorite performers?

Dave Mustaine surges forward as the original band creator and only constant member, that has included twenty gifted artists in its long career.  Formally the lead guitarist for Metallica, he was expelled for bad behavior; that is drugs and alcohol and all the bawdy things rock and roll artists often do.  With his ejection, he wanted blood.  He wanted revenge, and formed the heavy metal group that trashes louder, sizzles hotter, and crunches out messages faster and heavier than anything ever heard before.

“Killing is My Business and Business is Good” muscled through into hot, heavy metal headlines in 1985, securing Megadeth’s place in the classical line-up of heavy metal.  But it wasn’t until they signed up with Capitol Records, who released “Peace Sells…  but Who’s Buying”, that they jumped to the top of record charts, with more than a million copies of the album sold in the United States alone.  The album’s title track, “Peace Sells”, ranked number 11 in VH1’s greatest metal songs, and was chosen as their first musical video to receive regular air play on MTV’s Headbanger Ball.

Has Mustaine gotten his revenge yet?  In January of 1988, Megadeth released the album, “So Far So Good”, hitting platinum in the United States, and featuring a cover version of the Sex Pistols, “Anarchy in the UK”, with lyrics altered by Mustaine.  Later, Mustaine admitted he simply heard them wrong, but who could blame him when he’s busy winding up the fastest, hottest music on stage?

Megadeth received International acclaim when they rolled onto stage with “Rust in Peace”.  For the first time in their rowdy career, the band remained sober while working on the album, reducing a few of their earlier production problems.  “Rust in Peace” debuted at 23 on the US billboard charts and number eight for the UK.  It sold over a million copies in the United States and received Grammy award nominations in 1991 and 1992 for Best Metal Performance.

Countdown to Extinction has been considered their finest performance, and is the theme for their twentieth anniversary tour.  Revel in the clash of the metals, as Megadeth is prepared to rock you down like you’ve never been rocked before.

The year 1964 is one heavily marked with history.  It was the year of the Kennedy’s, civil rights victories with the signing of the Civil Rights Act, and of musical highlights.  The Beatles were seizing the charts with number one hits and American pop music had come into its own.  Leading the American pop music industry was the unforgettable rhythm and blues icons, the Temptations.

It was quite a heyday.  Young girls screamed at the gates for “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, the Temptations captured national attention with “My Girl” and at the same time, Motown jazz artists, The Four Tops, bumped into the number eleven place on the popular billboard charts with, “Baby, I Need Your Loving.”  Music had set a pace that would last for the next four decades.

The Four Tops have established themselves quite a career in the music industry.  Beside establishing a number of number one hits of their own, they have been paired with such musical greats as Diana Ross and the Supremes, and featured vocals with the Moody Blues, in the single, “A Simple Game”.  Although the song did not do well on American charts, it made number three in Great Britain.  They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1997.

The group has never stopped touring and recently joined forces with the magnificent vocal qualities of the Temptations.  The Temptations, listed by Rolling Stone as one of the top fifty bands of all time, recently completed a new CD, a concept album that features their music from its beginnings to present day, bringing the history of the award-winning group into its music.

The combination of the two groups on national tour is bound to please anybody whose tastes run deep in jazz, rhythm and blues, and popular music.  Still carrying the big band sound, along with the pleasing, perfect melody of blues artist voices in harmony, they are not only a nostalgic journey into the past, but a statement of modern day easy listening.

With an opening night at the Wilbur Theater in Boston December 5, the east coast tour winds up June 27, in Vienna, Virginia.  This may be your only chance to hear the two chart breaking groups together, and will certainly be considered history in the making.  Discover the quality that made the Temptations one of the most popular American groups to remain on the top billboard charts and the artistic performance of the Four Tops that put them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We’ve been watching them turn their chairs around for three years now as coaches on The Voice and now for the fourth season, the show is saying good-bye to Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green. But only temporarily, and in the meanwhile, there are some other pretty big voices filling those chairs.

The voices, and new coaching style, will be those of Usher and Shakira, who will join current coaches Adam Levine and Blake Shelton while Christina and Cee Lo venture off into different projects.

“We’re artists first,” said Christina recently when talking about leaving the show to promote her current album Lotus. “In order to remain great coaches and stay relevant, we have to go out and we have to still tour, see our fans one-on-one. I have to feel creatively fulfilled in order for me to do my job as a coach and be on that show.”

And be on that show she will again. The leave for both Christina and Cee Lo, who will be performing at Planet Hollywood, is just for a season. In the meantime, what does Christina think of Usher stepping in?

“I have all the faith in the world that he will do a great job,” she says.

But she also has some words of advice for both of her successors. “Get ready, get ready for a wild ride!”

If you’ve heard anything about The Phantom of the Opera on the Internet then you’ve probably been directed to the Joel Schumacher-directed film starring Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson and Gerard Butler.  The film actually helped to catapult these newcomers into movie stardom, particularly Patrick Wilson who went on to appear in dozens of non-musicals playing angsty older white men facing a midlife crises.  (If not Little Children check out Watchmen)  Gerard Butler’s best triumph post-phantom was possibly PS I Love You, costarring Hillary Swank.

Of course, we have nothing to say about the movie.  It was arguably Schumacher’s only great film, as he delicately balanced adherence to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music and also delivered a visionary experience, even going so far as to give us a final ending to the age-old story, visiting Phantom and Raoul long after Christine’s death.

However, you have never truly experienced Phantom unless you’ve seen it in the theater–that is the “theatre” where music is sung live, and painstaking efforts are put into the choreography and the set decoration.  While much has been written about “The Music of the Night”, “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Learn to be Lonely”, which was actually written for the movie and not as part of the musical play, don’t forget to listen for the brilliant subtleties of “Think of Me” and “All I Ask of You.”

“Think of Me”, sung twice in the play, including by the show stopping Christine character, is particularly chilling and poignant, as it speaks to any lover who has left someone dear behind.  “All I Ask of You” is also a triumph of music, as it celebrates the emotional and spiritual bliss of coupling, only to be reminded of darkness, as a vengeful Phantom laments Christine’s betrayal in the same tone.

Of course, the main reason to see the play live and in person, instead of flipping on a DVD or Blu-Ray of the film, is to enjoy the music live–delivered in person and with amazing power by real singers and not Hollywood-embellished actor-singers.  The Phantom of the Opera was certainly Andrew Lloyd Webber’s creative peak, and for an illustrious career spanning Jesus Christ, Superstar and Evita, that certainly says a mouthful.

Well, if you saw the “Broadway Bro Down” episode of South Park then you are probably very excited to see a Broadway play this season. It’s as much fun for guys as it is for girls! And that’s just the South Park brand of humor you can expect when you go to see Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s ode to Mormonism in The Book of Mormon.

A small curiosity for you: The “Broadway Bro Down” (probably the greatest anti-commercial for a musical Comedy Central has ever aired) was actually co-written by Robert Lopez, a Broadway veteran who also worked on Avenue Q (another foul-mouthed singing satire) and The Book of Mormon.

Lopez is also no stranger to mainstream success. The Book of Mormon and Avenue Q, both of which he won Tony Awards for, were scored and partly written by him. The Book of Mormon, despite its edginess, was actually a big Tony Award winner last year and took home several awards including Best Musical, Best Book and Best Original Score.

The Book of Mormon is not just a two-hour South Park episode with music. It is a satire on all organized religion following the adventures of two Mormon missionaries sent to a remote village in Uganda. Coming from US roots, they immediately have problems identifying with the locals who face issues of war, famine, poverty and AIDS.

Since the play took seven years to develop, it’s safe to assume Parker and Stone probably got musical fever as early as the big South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut movie, which featured several Broadway-worthy moments. (Including the song, “Blame Canada”, which was actually nominated and performed at the Academy Awards)

You may be surprised to learn that Stone and Parker are not as liberal-minded as it might appear. Sure, they are vulgar and purposely offensive, but they actually do find Mormons “fascinating” and both have confessed that they are not liberal, nor necessarily atheistic. How are their personalities manifested on stage and in song? The unique voice does come through, and like the South Park show, it is full of offensive humor, deep questions and a bit of silliness.

If you can only see one musical this year then go down and see The Book of Mormon, featuring the most creative minds on television and on Broadway.

Sesame Street has been through a lot of turmoil in 2012, first with Mitt Romney and the Republican Party’s promise of cutting funding for PBS (which led to a massive campaign online to bash Romney for Muppet hating) as well as the recent news that the puppeteer behind Elmo, Kevin Clash, was accused of an unspeakable crime.  In fact, the latest news from the “block” (as in the street of Sesame) is that Elmo’s creator is taking a leave of absence.

However it appears that Clash is not necessarily fired, but is merely being given time to sort out his legal problems.  Sesame Workshop also went on record to say “Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of ‘Sesame Street’ to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years.”

So while Elmo is not in trouble, it is safe to say that Sesame Street may be feeling a bit frazzled after a tumultuous year.  (This was also the year Jerry Nelson, who voiced The Count, passed away) Of course, teaching children to slow down in adversity has never been in Sesame Street’s curriculum.  So it should surprise no one that the show must go on.  And the “show”, as in the live Broadway show of Sesame Street, has never been better!

One of the most successful shows the team has done has been “Elmo Makes Music”, an episode featuring Jenny, who shows her new Sesame Street friends that ordinary household items can be used to create musical instruments.  She then invites the audience to help sing along.  The show also features appearances by Cookie Monster, and Burt and Ernie, who do a 1970s spoof of “Saturday Night Fever Bert.”  And of course, it wouldn’t be Sesame Street without Big Bird who comes along for the ride.

Why not treat the whole family to Sesame Street?  Like any American Institution, Sesame Street keeps surviving through thick and thin, as it has transcended a show and become a part of the culture.  Perhaps like George Lucas’ Star Wars (recently purchased by Disney) or Fox’s The Simpsons, Sesame Street is simply too popular and beloved to ever stop entertaining!

Those looking for the perfect band to rock out to this spooky autumn will be happy to know that Alice Cooper is back on tour.  Don’t miss your chance to see the shocking legend himself live and in concert in your home town.

Blood, sizzling electric chairs, guillotines, creepy dolls, and snakes may sound like the terror you’d find at haunted houses, but those are in fact a list of things that can be seen at an Alice Cooper concert.  Think a mix of horror movie, live theater, and some great heavy rock songs and you have the first inkling of what an Alice Cooper concert is like.  There really is a mix of music and styles here, a sound for everyone from pop rock to industrial heavy metal, and back to what is known as art rock.

The man has had quite the decade too.  The original band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the man was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and he was given a degree from Grand Canyon University.  Of course the most important part to fans is the fact that he released a string of albums with some amazing songs.

In 2011 the singer released his 19th solo album from his long, four decade, career, entitled Welcome 2 My Nightmare.  This album is one of his highest ranking ones, with several popular hits.  Hit tracks included “I Am Made of You”, “Caffeine”, “The Nightmare Returns” and many more.  The songs off his newest album will be performed at his shows, along with fan favorites from the past.  “Poison”, “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “Only Women Bleed”, “Halo of Flies” are some of his memorable songs, but every Cooper fan has their favorites.

The current tour is making stops in New York, Nevada, Washington, Colorado, California and a few other states as well as some stops in BC.  Fans of this shock rocker won’t want to miss this chance to see the legend on stage once again.  Hear brand new hits sung live as well as your favorite (and possibly shocking) songs in person again.  Buy your tickets today before the concert in your home town is sold out.