Learning to love live music as well as live rock 'n' roll

Had the luck to hear two fine classical concerts in recent weeks, first the Carson Symphony with soloist Ana Vidovic playing the graceful "Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo and then the Reno Philharmonic with soloist Sarah Chang playing Sibelius' violin concerto. Both reminded me of the beauties of live music over the recorded versions, all too common in these days of iPods. Then last weekend at the Honda Ski Tour at Squaw Valley I sat in the giant tent for some of the 30 rock concerts on tap there. For someone who has had not a great deal on live contact with rock, this was a revelation. Finally, rock made sense to me. Maybe it was the enthusiastic audiences that did it, but hearing rock live made it much more fun. Now all I have to do is tap into some more local rock to go along with jazz and classics and I'll be a real music lover.

Renowned hip-hop-blues-acoustic artist G. Love & Special Sauce, reggae ambassadors The Wailers, acoustic/folk artist Donavon Frankenreiter, and the originator of Funkadelic-Parliament George Clinton all played at Squaw. Thanks.

On Saturday night, worldwide reggae ambassadors The Wailers played their third show inside a sold-out BaseCamp Pavilion. Philadelphia native G. Love & Special Sauce made their THST debut after The Wailers. "It was tough to come on stage after The Wailers, a band I've looked up to as a kid," said G. backstage after the show.

MORE MUSIC ROCKIN'

So you can do some planning and get ready to shell out some cash, here's the lineup at Harrah's Tahoe for the next couple of weeks:

Michael Crawford, $ 50, March 17; Craig Ferguson of "The Late, Late Show," $50, March 24; The Yardbirds, $27.50, March 31; Harrah's/Heavenly "Spring Loaded Jam" featuring Blue Turtle Seduction, $20, April 7; "Ricky Nelson Remembered" featuring Matthew and Gunnar Nelson & The Stone Canyon Band, $30, April 14.

Ferguson started as junk band drummer but gave up on that when he came to the United States. He's done sitcom shows and now does an original monologue to open this "Late Late Show." Well worth seeing.

DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY

Members of The Reno Dance Company are joined by talented vocal artists and a popular group of local dancers in "Dance2Xtreme," a production that combines sophisticated tradition with edgy and daring originality. This promises to be a rousing evening of movement.

"Dance2Xtreme" performs on March 30-31 at the Montbleu Resort & Casino in Stateline and April 14-15 at the Pioneer Theater for the Performing Arts. Tickets can be purchased at the box offices from $14.95 to $24.95

FROM THE VAULTS

Film: "Bride of the Wind" is a biopic about Alma, wife of composer-conductor Gustav Mahler and it offers some bits from his works. Sarah Wynter stars as a woman who just has to keep moving on, regardless of the cost to those with whom she romps. She has affairs with Oskar Kokoschka (Vincent Perez) and others, she weds Walter Gropius (Simon Verhoeven) but still has to taste life at its fieriest. Good story with limited nudity, rated R, one hour, 39 minutes in (at times) murky color.

Salma Hayek stars in the title role in "Frida," a film I accidentally had the luck to see for a second time. And a second time was worth it, for I found much that I had missed in the first viewing. Hayek is Frida Kohler, a Mexican women damaged as a teen in a bus accident. She goes on to meet and marry Diego Rivera, the famed Mexican mural painter and radical. Directed by Julia Taylor, it co-stars Edward Norton, Antonio Bandera, Ashley Judd and, as Rivera, Alfred Molina. This is more than a biopic; it tells not only Frida's story (a life spent in pain from the bus accident) but also a look at a period of Mexican and world history. Leon Trotsky appears at a time when Stalin had him on his hit list, and Frida has an affair with him. She also has affairs with others as does Molina, but they are truly inseparable. Stunning visuals of Frida's paintings, of her many operations; a mix of surrealism - much as Frida's paintings - a fantasy of medical science at work ... it's a full platter. The music is fiery, the dancing erotic and Hayek a spellbinder from teen to 47, when Frida dies. Much nudity, profanity, rated R at 123 minutes. A fine exploratory film.

•Contact Sam Bauman at 881-1236 or Sbauman@nevadaappeal.com