February’s Sounds of the Strand
Though January's big shows at the House of Blues Myrtle Beach - The Fray (1/20) and Incubus (1/25) - are sold out, fear not. Hot on their heels is a February concert schedule on the Grand Strand that still features an eclectic mix of prominent musical acts.
First up is renowned blues artist Delbert McClinton (pictured, appearing Fri., Feb. 2, 9 p.m. at the House of Blues). As long and seemingly infinite the list of contemporary performers who've been influenced by The Beatles, there's a very limited collection of performing artists today who can lay claim to doing the same for the boys from Liverpool.
Count Delbert among this elite group. He counseled a young John Lennon on his harmonica technique, resulting in the timeless sound you hear on The Beatles' number one U.S. hit from 1964, "Love Me Do." He's been a mainstay on the blues scene ever since, cracking the Billboard Top 40 in 1980 with "Givin' It Up for Your Love" (seen and heard here on this YouTube clip of his Austin City Limits performance) and the Top 5 of the country charts in 1991 with the Tanya Tucker duet, "Tell Me About It." You can also hear Delbert during the opening credits to Bill Murray's 1993 hit film Groundhog Day, as he recorded its popular title song ("Weatherman").
That was around the time that Don Imus turned me onto this guy's talent, and prompted me to add his Great Songs-Come Together CD to my Stevie Ray Vaughan/Robert Cray collection. It's been there ever since.
If alternative rock is more your scene, check out The Van Wilder Tour featuring Everclear (Thurs., Feb. 15, 8 p.m. at the House of Blues). Best known for its 2000 smash hit "Wonderful," Everclear released its latest album in fall 2006, Welcome to the Drama Club. That album's latest single release, "Glorious," is currently streaming on Everclear's MySpace page.
Metal heads, rejoice! Slayer comes to town toward the end of the month (Thurs., Feb. 22, 8 p.m. at the House of Blues). Considered on of the "Big Four" thrash metal bands along with Megadeth, Metallica and Anthrax, Slayer has received two Grammy nominations since its 1983 debut, and has regularly headlined Ozzfest and other music festivals worldwide.
The Myrtle Beach concert scene heats up in March, with Taylor Hicks, The Roots, The Doobie Brothers, George Jones and Sugarland among the artists on the docket. More on those acts in the next few weeks.
Everclear should be a great show. I’m really waiting for The Roots next month at HOB, though.
Some pretty good shows coming up, but what I’m really interested in seeing is the type of acts that’ll be coming to the area once the Hard Rock Park and Coastal arena open up. The combination of those two arenas alone should vault MB to a whole other level, and get some real A-list acts to play here.
I know you’ve got a job to do by letting people know about the upcoming shows, but SLAYER????? Who’s next, Twisted Sister?