Gigantic news for Pixies fans: They’re coming to INB in October

(Posted Thursday) It’s been a week of big concert news.

First, in case you missed it, the Pixies are coming to the INB in October. Tickets are on sale now through TicketsWest.

KYRS has released the lineup for MarmotFest, July 12 at Glover Field in Peaceful Valley. The headliner is Oakland-based indie rock band Rogue Wave. Regional acts include the Hoot Hoots from Seattle and Boise’s Marshall Poole, and local favorites Floating Crowbar, Folkinception and the Angela Marie Project. Those tickets also are on sale now through TicketsWest.

In September, of course, it’s Pig Out in the Park. The lineup is mostly set, and an early look reveals an appearance by the legendary L.A. Chicano rock band Los Lobos. And because it wouldn’t be the same without them, Too Slim and the Taildraggers will Pig Out again. Also returning is the popular Seattle-bred band Rail. Locals on the bill include Mon Cheri, Cathedral Pearls, Acuff & Sherfey, Kari Marguerite, the Camaros, Sammy Eubanks and Milonga. Look for the lineup to be finalized in the coming weeks.

Northern Quest also released a partial lineup for its outdoor summer concert series. Among the acts heading for the West Plains are Tony! Toni! Tone! (replacing the previously announced En Vogue) and New Edition, KC & the Sunshine Band and the Village People, Rascal Flatts, and Jeff Foxworthy. Tickets for Rascal Flatts go on sale May 17. The other announced shows are on sale Saturday morning through the casino. The rest of the lineup will be announced later this month.

Coming next week: A list of who’s playing at the Festival at Sandpoint. Stay tuned.

Carolyn Lamberson

The word on movies

(Posted Monday) It used to be that, unless you mimeographed – now, there’s an antiquated term – together a bunch of paper and called it a fanzine, about the only way movie critics could get their work in front of a larger audience was to find employment with some sort of media company. A newspaper, maybe. Or radio station. Or magazine. Even, in those rare instances, a television station.

Times, clearly, have changed. Today, thanks to the Internet, anyone can write a blog (I’ve written this one since 2003). Furthermore, thanks to such online services as YouTube and Vimeo, both movie critics and moviemakers can post their respective work in visual form. Some of my favorite YouTube film critics are the folks behind Cinema Sins (www.youtube.com/ user/CinemaSins), who put out their clever “Everything Wrong About (insert film title here) in Five Minutes” reviews. One of my very favorite series of original works is “Transolar Galactica,” which is produced by a group of former Eastern Washington University students.

For those who aren’t as visually demanding, you can find any number of movie-themed podcasts. Two that are locally produced are certainly worth checking out. One is the Spokane Film Project (www.facebook.com/Spokane FilmProject), which is a cooperative of film fans/filmmakers who are trying to instill something that, in decades past, Spokane had despaired of ever seeing: a viable filmmaking presence. Or you can catch episodes of the SacCast Moviepod (www.facebook.com/SacCast) in which two of the “Transolar” guys – Isaac Joslin and Clancy Bundy – dissect obscure movies you’ve likely never heard of (but may want to check out).

Yeah, times have changed. And so have Spokane attitudes about the ability to make movies locally. Much of the despair of the past has transformed into something kids of the 1980s might have sneered at: hope.

Dan Webster