Chris Montez concert tonight!

Pop music icon Chris Montez-- whom the LA Weekly calls "the great, underrated pop-rock legend," is in concert tonight at El Camino College in Torrance, just outside L.A.

Appearing with the singer known for Let's Dance and Call Me are the great lost Sixties pop group Help Light and a special preview of the 2011 Montez bio feature, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story.

Showtime is 8 pm at Marsee Auditorium on the El Camino campus.

General admission is $25, plus $2 for parking. Students: $20.For tickets call: 310 329-5345 (toll free at 800 832-ARTS), or visit the Marsee Auditorium box office.

The show's a benefit for the El Camino College Foundation and the Friends of the El Camino College Library’s Living Archives Project.

Collectible Chris Montez concert poster!

Click here, then click the image to enlarge, hang it up or pass it around!

Chris Montez returns to El Camino College!

Pop music legend performs
Friday, November 19th!
With sneak preview of the Chris Montez biopic!

It'll be a rock 'n' roll homecoming for pop icon Chris Montez when he plays at El Camino College on November 19th, along with another sneak preview of his film bio-in-the-making.

Montez grew up in nearby Hawthorne, California, and enrolled at the Torrance college back in the Sixties, after he washed out of the rock 'n' roll factory after hits like Let's Dance and Some Kinda Fun-- and before his rediscovery by Herb Alpert, which led to a revived career and classic cool hits like Call Me and The More I See You.

Film fans will recall that his hit Let's Dance served as the soundtrack to the frat house comedy classic, Animal House.


Sharing the bill with Chris Montez is Help Light, a band that fashioned a fresh new sound by incorporating the best musical elements from the Sixties, Seventies, Eighties and Nineties. Help Light’s musicianship and songwriting has earned high praise and admiration from a long list of fans and industry insiders, including Beatles producer and arranger George Martin.

The show is the latest stop in a Chris Montez revival that included a rousing appearance at the NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans in March, and a intimate performance with jazz guitar virtuoso Sid Jacobs at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival in May, and a rocking show that included a set by Gary Busey at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival last November. At each stop, the music was accompanied by a preview screening of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story.


The nonfiction film is still in production by our pals at Frozen Pictures, and features famous names like Herb Alpert, Tommy Roe and Andrew Loog Oldham. The preview focuses on Montez's 1963 concert tour of England, which featured the Beatles as the opening act-- just as Beatlemania was breaking out-- and Montez's distinct but little-known influence on the group's style and sound.


The concert is a fundraiser for the El Camino College Foundation and the Friends of the El Camino College Library’s Living Archives Project.

Showtime is Friday, November 19 at 8:00 pm in Marsee Auditorium on the El Camino campus.

General admission is $25.00, plus $2.00 for a parking permit. For tickets call: 310 329-5345 (toll free at 800 832-ARTS), or visit the Marsee Auditorium box office, Monday – Friday, 10 am to 6 pm.

Ron Nasty performs for Lennon's 70th

Neil Innes, star of the award-winning musical bio The Seventh Python, joins fellow stars of the Fests for Beatles Fans in New York City Saturday night for a 70th birthday tribute to John Lennon, whom he parodied wickedly in The Rutles.

The October 9th benefit concert at the Society for Ethical Culture takes place six blocks from the Dakota building where John Lennon lived and was murdered on December 8, 1980. Proceeds go to Amnesty International.


Other performers include pals Innes made at various Beatle fan fests throughout the years, including Mark Hudson, Earl Slick and Glenn Burtnick (and compère Martin Lewis), and a number of performers with tenuous Lennon connections like Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton and Marshall Crenshaw. Headliners are The Quarrymen, which includes founding members of Lennon's original 1956 skiffle group that spawned the Beatles.

Click here for information and tickets.

Did Wooden fall to Basketball Man curse?

The death yesterday of inspirational college basketball coach John Wooden at 99 is only the latest tragedy to befall stars of the documentary film Basketball Man, and has increased whispers that the acclaimed documentary film from our pals at Frozen Pictures is cursed.


Wooden's death at 99 follows the untimely demise of Chicago Bulls and broadcasting legend Norm Van Lier, who was found dead in his apartment on February 29, 2009 (fellow Bulls broadcaster and former Bulls head coach Johnny "Red" Kerr died later that same day), at 62.


Legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach died on October 28, 2006, months before the film's DVD release in 2007. He was 89.


In December 2006, Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony was suspended for 15 games for sucker-punching an opponent at Madison Square Garden. He was arrested for drunk driving in April 2008, and is having his upcoming nuptials broadcast on VH1.


A week ago, Steve Nash lost out on his chance to appear in the NBA championships finals when his Phoenix Suns were defeated by the Los Angeles Lakers, two games away from the fulfillment of his dream.

The film about the birth of the game of basketball and the incredible life of its inventor, Dr. James Naismith, was also cursed behind the scenes. A cameraman committed suicide. Star and producer Ian Naismith had a stroke. andReneé DiGiulio, president of the Naismith International Basketball Foundation, Ian Naismith's wife and a prime mover in the development of the film, died of cancer in February 2007, as wrangles among its executive producers led to promotion being ceased before its release and the project left to wither, despite acclaim from the Kansas City Star ("wonderful, great"), CBS Sportsline ("definitive"), Parade ("a slam dunk") and the New York Times ("remarkable").

The film also features Rick Barry, Jerry Colangelo, Bob Cousy, Kirk Hinrich, Michael Jordan, Sam Lacey, Steve Nash, Norm Nixon, Tayshaun Prince, Gator Rivers, Oscar Robertson, Bud Stallworth (who also lost his wife to cancer in 2007), David Stern and Pat Summitt, among others. (If you have information that any of them have been touched by the curse, please contact us here.)


Basketball Man is available in a deluxe, two-DVD set at Amazon.com.

More exclusive video! Chris Montez and Sid Jacobs perform 'All of Me' at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival

Thanks to the wonders of the Flip video camera, there's another clip of Chris Montez and Sid Jacobs performing at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival on Saturday night, following the hit outdoor preview screening of Frozen Pictures' El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story. Here, the Sixties pop icon and the master jazz guitarist, composer, instructor and recording artist work their magic on All of Me.


In the words of Chris Montez: "Life is fun, and fun is life."

Exclusive video! Chris Montez's triumph at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival

A crowd-pleasing screening of The Chris Montez Story, followed by an intimate live concert by the Sixties pop icon himself, made for a rousing close to the seventh annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival Saturday night.

The spectacular success of the event where Sunset Boulevard meets the Pacific, coming on the heels of an historic, emotional opening night in which actress Frances Fisher was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, was even more impressive coming after a year of financial and scheduling uncertainties that had founder Bob Sharka considering canceling this year's celebration of young filmmakers and veteran stars.


Saturday's cocktail party and outdoor screening took place at a magnificent private home in the exclusive Huntington Palisades. The program began with the short film A .45 at 50th, a surprisingly funny recounting of actor James Cromwell's experience with the Black Panther Party, followed by a never-seen 45-minute working cut of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story from our pals at Frozen Pictures. To most of the audience, the film served as an introduction to an artist whose influence on and connection to the greatest names in pop music has not been fully recognized, and most on the crowd were singing along with Chris Montez by the time the credits rolled.

Then the crowd moved inside to a spacious living room for an intimate fireside concert by the film;s star and his guitar teacher, acclaimed jazz guitarist Sid Jacobs. The duo loosened up with a sophisticated, swinging solo-filled version of Montez's signature hit Call Me, then swung into hip readings of standards like All of Me and solo instrumentals by the virtuoso Jacobs that included a showstopping version of Over the Rainbow that turned into a tour de force medley from The Wizard of Oz.

Saturday night: Pacific Palisades Film Festival presents Chris Montez movie preview and performance

The seventh annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival got its seventh annual off to a star-studded start last night with a lifetime achievement award for acclaimed actress and former resident Frances Fisher, and moves forard tomorrow with a screening of the never-seen expanded preview of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story along with a rare, intimate performance by Montez himself.

Bob Sharka kicks off the 7th annual Pacific Palisades Film Festival

Frances Fisher accepts her Lifetime Achievement Award


The opening night event took place outdoors at a bluffside mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and featured tributes from Fisher's acting coaches and Actors Studio colleagues, including Renee Taylor. Festival founder Bob Sharka hosted and emceed the event, as he will the Montez evening which begins at 6:30 pm at another residence nearby.

Tickets for the outdoor screening, cocktail party and Chris Montez performance can be found at the Friends of Film website.


The film about the legendary, influential and many-faceted Mexican-American musician, rock legend and pop star from Hawthorne, California, has been in production over the past year by our pals at Frozen Pictures.

The film preview will be screened outdoors at a home on Toyopa Drive in The Palisades. The evening kicks off at 6:30 p.m.

Ticket information for the Saturday, May 15th event can be found at the Friends of Film website.


The Frozen team opened last year's Palisades film fest with their Neil Innes musical comedy, The Seventh Python, which is set to be released by The Little Film Company.

Preview of The Chris Montez Story gets outdoor screening at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival this Saturday, May 15th

A new, expanded, special preview of El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, the nonfiction musical feature film from our pals at Frozen Pictures, will be featured Saturday night at the Pacific Palisades Film Festival off Sunset Boulevard.

Making the outdoor screening and cocktail party even more special and historic will be a special, intimate performance by Chris Montez.

The film about the legendary, influential and many-faceted Mexican-American musician from Hawthorne, California, has been in production over the past year, and in an unlikely turn of events, a preview section, devoted to Montez's time headlining the Beatles' first national tour of England amid the first rumblings Beatlemania, has proven to be a hit with screenings at The Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago and New Jersey, and at the prestigious Paso Robles Digital Film Festival in California.


This latest preview contains fresh Montez performances as well as appearances by music legends including Tommy Roe, Andrew Loog Oldham (manager and producer of The Rolling Stones) and Herb Alpert (above).

The film preview will be screened outdoors at a home on Toyopa Drive in The Palisades. The evening kicks off at 6:30 p.m.

Ticket information for the Saturday, May 15th event can be found at the Friends of Film website.

The Frozen team opened last year's Palisades film fest with their Neil Innes musical comedy, The Seventh Python, which is set to be released by The Little Film Company.

Brian Dunkleman profits from former co-host Ryan Seacrest's cheap shot on American Idol

The American Idol studio audience gasped and began to applaud when host Ryan Seacrest announced last night that Brian Dunkleman would co-host next week's Idol Gives Back charity show-- only to mutter in disappointment and distaste when Seacrest quickly said it was merely his latest misguided attempt at humour. It was a cruel, bitter joke from a guy who's profited so greatly from the starmaking Idol gig that he shared with Dunkleman on the show's first season (and which Dunkleman walked away from on moral grounds). Seacrest, who'd developed into a classy television presence in preceding seasons, has fallen apart this time around, with lame attempts to one-up professional comedian Ellen DeGeneres and uncomfortable sexual set-tos with his friend Simon Cowell. This latest display, following his dance with a male former contestant during one hopeful's performance and a reference to gay Adam Lambert's "tongue talents" made last night's episode especially unappealing.


The one who comes out on top, of course, is Dunkleman, who'd already won many new fans and was applauded for his self-deprecating hipness with his fictional comedy series American Dunkleman (produced by our pals at Frozen Pictures). In the aftermath of Seacrest's cheap shot, Andy Denhart writes:

"Brian Dunkleman is the real winner here, especially because he’s self-aware and humble in a way Seacrest will apparently never be."

Now it's up to Idol's producers to do the only right thing: book Dunkleman as a surprise co-host or guest on the Idol Gives Back show. The move will inspire goodwill and bring in the donations.

UPDATE: Click here to check out Lyndsey Parker's follow-up, "Brian Dunkleman back in the spotlight," at Yahoo music.

Postscript: Chris Montez at Beatlefest

The NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans is history, but the buzz is only building after Sixties pop legend Chris Montez rewrote Beatles history in his festival debut. Chris, who headlined a UK tour in March 1963 just as the first wave of Beatlemania broke across England, was on hand to share his memories and to introduce a preview of the new nonfiction film, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, which demonstrated how he not only influenced the Beatles' choice in electric guitars but their taste in fashion as they copied the round, collarless jackets he wore on stage.

The film from our pals at Frozen Pictures played twice to enthusiastic audiences on Saturday and Sunday, filming continued at the Fest and Chris rocked the packed ballroom two nights in a row with his triple-threat combo of Call Me, The More I See You and Let's Dance.

Backstage with The Chris Montez Story producer
and director of photography JB Blunck

Rehearsal with topnotch Beatles band Liverpool

Montez was only one of a group of crowd-pleasing cultural legends on hand including Mark & Brett Hudson, Martin Lewis, Spencer Davis, Andrew Loog Oldham and Denny Laine and Denny Seiwell of Wings.

Panel discussion on The Chris Montez Story with the Frozen partners

Chris with former Rolling Stones manager & producer Andrew Loog Oldham
(a name we remember from those album covers)
and Chris' publicist on that Match 1963 tour with the Beatles

Legendary publicist Sam Peters (second from lower left,
at the hairline of the big head in the corner)
adds his bongo beats to the nonstop Beatles music celebration
in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza

Fest for Beatles Fans is on

The NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans launched tonight with Sixties pop star Chris Montez (who headlined over the Beatles in a March 1963 tour of the UK) among the celebrity Beatles friends and colleagues including Denny Laine of Wings, Spencer Davis and Tabloid Baby pals Mark and Brett Hudson. A preview of the Montez biopic, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, from our pals at Frozen Pictures plays at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Chris Montez to rewrite rock history at this weekend's NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans

The NY Metro Fest for Beatles Fans that kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Secaucus, will feature for the first time Sixties pop star Chris Montez, who'll perform his hits and talk about the March 1963 UK tour he headlined with The Beatles as the opening act.


He'll also reveal how he influenced the Beatles in ways few have realized or acknowledged (as hinted above).


The Fest will also feature an exclusive screening of the nonfiction film in progress, El Viaje Musical de Ezekiel Montanez: The Chris Montez Story, (from our pals at Frozen Pictures, in an early bird sceening at 11 a.m. Saturday as well as Sunday afternoon.

Watch this space for live blogging and updates...