Credit: Glen Wilson " id="firstimg"> click to enlarge

I had been so excited to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall Friday night because I think anything with Judd Apatow's name attached to it is bound to be edgy and witty (Apatow prodcued the film). Even if I wasn't a huge fan of stars Kristen Bell or Jason Segel, this movie had the potential to make me an admirer of them.

When I left, though, the only person who really stuck in my mind was hot Brit Russell Brand. Brand's lothario rock star character, Aldous, stole the show with his sassy, love-to-hate-him attitude. As for the rest of the cast, they were pleasant and mildly amusing throughout, but none of them were charming enough to really carry the movie.

As if you didn't know from all the ads and previews, Segel plays Peter, whose television star girlfriend Sarah (Bell) leaves him for rock star Aldous. Peter heads to Hawaii for a distraction, but lo and behold, Sarah and her new beau are staying at the same hotel he is, making for plenty of awkwardness.

Impressively, Segel (who played a supporting role in Knocked Up) wrote the script, which also included penning some some of the songs featured in Peter's vampire musical (which provides some chuckles.) I give the guy props for pulling double-duty, but there are many moments in Forgetting Sarah Marshall that were reminiscent of Knocked Up but not as funny--average guy lands beautiful girl, married couple tries to give advice throughout, lots of sexual humor...even Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd are part of the cast.

Not that the players don't have great chemistry, but Forgetting Sarah Marshall just doesn't shine like Knocked Up. Forgetting Sarah Marshall has a been there, done that type feel, and the whole movie, I was wishing something would happen that was really unique or original. It never happened.

Thankfully, the ridiculously-coiffed Brand is a great foil for Segel's more straight-laced style, and Mila Kunis also shines as Rachel, who helps take Sarah off Peter's mind. Cute is what describes the film best, and at it's worst, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is simply forgettable.

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Saturday night, I saw a couple of great improv shows at Space 55 Theatre (636 E. Pierce St., Phoenix, 85004)--Remember the AlMaBo, a special show featuring local performers, and Phoenix Neutrino Project, which came to Space 55 after being venue-less the past three months.

I miss the days of Phoenix Neutrino at The Paper Heart, but Space 55 worked well for the event because of its staggered seating in the theater and downtown Phoenix location.

Three teams from the troupe take objects from the audience and run around town filming a live, improvised movie. I'm still waiting to get my Ashlee Simpson CD back from the troupe, but at least it made for a funny scene.

Phoenix Neutrino has monthly shows, the third Saturday of the Month, at Space 55. Visit www.phoenixneutrinoproject.com to see Saturday's movie and for more info.

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This past weekend, I got to see two of my future husbands in concert: Brendon Urie from Panic at the Disco and Nick Thomas from The Spill Canvas. You can read my reviews of their concerts here (Panic) and here (The Spill Canvas).

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Tuesday night I ate at Salty Senorita (3636 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 85251). A step above Ra and The Gelato Spot, Salty’s is the most coveted spot for patio dining on Scottsdale Road to me. The peeps who frequent the spot are usually lively and fun, and it’s a great atmosphere.

That being said, the tacos at Salty’s were not impressive at all. And to me, chips and salsa are a key ingredient to a satisfying Mexican food experience, and Salty’s does not deliver—the salsa has no spice to it and lacks a chunky texture.

The margaritas were pretty good, though, and the pitchers were only $22. You can read a full review by the Taco Tuesday experts here.

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Wednesday night, after some vegetarian deliciousness at Pita Jungle at 1949 W. Ray Road, Chandler, 85224 (I had the dolmades and garlic mashed potatoes—yum!), I saw Smart People. I wanted to see this mostly because I love Ellen Page’s dry nature, and also stars like Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church and Dennis Quaid were a draw.

I was disappointed because I assumed Page’s character, Vanessa, would be more of the focus of the movie, while in actuality it was Vanessa’s father Lawrence (Quaid) who took center stage.

Lawrence is a cold college professor/widower out of touch with both his students and his family. Though Vanessa adores him, his relationship with his son James (Ashton Holmes) is strained, and he wants nothing to do with his adoptive brother Chuck (Church).

When the freeloading Chuck comes to get some free shelter from the resistant Lawrence, Chuck encourages Vanessa to ditch the seriousness of her Young Republican, Stanford-bound, high-strung lifestyle and become more carefree. In-between smoking pot and getting drunk, her relationship with him takes an interesting twist.

Meanwhile, Lawrence starts dating Janet (Parker), a former student who challenges him to be more compassionate amid her own personal drama.

I love movies that focus on relationships (Closer is my favorite movie ever), and I definitely appreciated the honest and sometimes brutal approach Smart People took to examining isolation and love.

I couldn’t help but wish, though, that the movie spent more time delving into Vanessa and Chuck’s idiosyncrasies, though, considering they were the most captivating characters. Janet and Lawrence majorly lacked chemistry, so watching their romance unfold was sort of uncomfortable.

And it may be true, but I found it really hard to believe Janet was 10 years younger than Lawrence. I would have liked to see a different actress in Janet’s role, like Catherine Zeta-Jones or Julia Roberts—one with more charisma and spark.

If you were a fan of Juno, though, go see Smart People for Page’s performance alone. I can’t wait to see what she appears in next.

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Yellowcard

Marquee Theatre- April 14, 2008

Nicki Escudero

Yellowcard gave its loyal fans a special treat on its current tour, where the band stripped down their rock songs for an all-acoustic set of old and new favorites.

Tonight the band consisted only of vocalist/guitarist Ryan Key, guitarist Ryan Mendez, violinist Sean Mackin and a guest cellist. The band played songs from their whole catalog, including tracks from 2001s One for the Kids and 2002's The Underdog EP.

The band kicked off their show with Rough Draft, a song from One for the Kids. Key came out and sang the song by himself. The audience sang right along with him, proving there were many older fans in the crowd who appreciated the more obscure song choices.

Tempe was the last date of the five-week tour, and Key had several anecdotes about Arizona spots. He told a story about one of Yellowcard's early failed shows at The Nile. The band was locked out, so the band went to someone's practice space and played a show for about 50 people.

He was also candid when he admitted to the crowd that the band's newfound fame with their album Ocean Avenue.

"I felt like I took you guys for granted for a long time, and I just want to apologize," Key said.

That kind of banter created an intimate atmosphere for the rest of the show. Several times, Key and Mackin called the audience members their friends and said they recognized lots of familiar faces, and thought about 3/4 of the venue was full, it still felt like the audience was small because the band had such great crowd interaction.

It was also evident the bands were having a great time with each other, too, since there were many pranks throughout the night. While opener PlayRadioPlay's vocalist/guitarist Dan Hunter got covered in stickers during his set, he and the other opening bands, Treaty of Paris and The Spill Canvas, rushed on-stage during Yellowcard's Cigarette to perform an interpretive dance as they wore Yellowcard T-shirts.

Yellowcard closed with their hit Ocean Avenue, letting the audience sing many of the lyrics.

"It has been one of the most amazing time we've had touring," Key said, and judging by the energy of the audience and other bands, his statement was totally believable.

PlayRadioPlay

got the crowd going early on in the night, when Hunter said, "I don't want you to take offense to this, but I think you guys are the quietest crowd on the entire tour so far."

The audience took his statement as a challenge and upped their screaming and clapping the rest of the night.

"That's more like it," Hunter said later.

The Spill Canvas seemed to have just as many loyal fans as the headliners,

as their songs inspired the crowd to sing along and crowd surf.

Vocalist/guitarist Nick Thomas had an extremely powerful performance,

spitting and sweating throughout the set and screaming his lungs out. His voice never wavered, and he impressively hit all the high notes found on the band's current album, No Really I'm Fine.

The band played several older tracks, too, and while they rocked out as a full band, there were a couple slow moments with songs like the sexy Connect the Dots.

"Regardless of your sexual nature, I hope at one point before you leave this earth, you get intimate to this song," Thomas said.

The family-like atmosphere throughout the night proved to be more than enough intimate for the blissful fans.

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Honda Civic Tour with Panic at the Disco

April 13, 2008- Mesa Amphitheatre

Nicki Escudero

True to the name of their current album, Panic at the Disco put on a "pretty odd" show Sunday night at Mesa Amphitheatre.

It was pretty odd to hear guitarist Ryan Ross have so many singing solos.

It was pretty odd that the electronic songs fans grew to love on their debut, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, were stripped and slowed down to become granola-y rock songs. And it was pretty odd to see the circus set-up the band brought out on their last two Arizona stops traded in for flowers and 60s-style vests, accompanied by graphics of flying fish and horse skeletons on the screen behind.

Amid all the dramatic changes the band has made since writing and releasing Pretty.Odd., the guys in the band genuinely seemed happy with their newfound folkiness. They may have lost some fans tonight, but at least it seems they're being true to themselves.

The band kicked off the show with Pretty. Odd.'s opener, We're So Starving, then dove right into first single Nine in the Afternoon. Those songs set the tone for the night--vocalist/guitarist Brendon Urie sings, "You don't have to worry/'Cause we're still the same band," as if trying to convince the mostly teenage audience to still like them minus the flash.

For fans who came out to hear replicas of the older material, they were probably disappointed because those songs weren't backed up by any electronic elements. Sometimes this worked (I Constantly Thank God for Esteban's slow start was surprisingly sexy), but hearing uptempo tracks like Time to Dance played acoustically was disappointing for the most part. Even their hit I Write Sins Not Tragedies almost sounded happy with the new slower arrangement, which made no sense considering the lyrics.

Unfortunately, Urie's scratchy voice didn't help the situation. Forgivably, he celebrated his 21st birthday last night.

"The best part was you made it through your birthday. You didn't die," Ross said to Urie. "Almost."

Maybe it was that celebration that caused his vocals to crack several times throughout the night.

Thankfully, Ross and bassist Jon Walker

helped out, singing back-up, and in Ross' case, lead vocals. Their three-part harmony wasn't always in sync, though, and the vocals sounded messy at times. It was best when Urie took control himself, though tonight he wasn't strong.

For people who have no interest in 60s music and who didn't check out Panic's new album before the show, they probably weren't happy with the concert. Several audience members left before the very end of the show, which was surprising considering how loyal their fans usually are.

Panic deserves some respect for making bold new choices, though, and not sticking with one sound just because it was successful. And judging by how many times the crowd sang "Happy birthday" to Urie, it didn't seem like the band should be too worried about losing admirers.

"I can't think of a better follow-up birthday present than this show right here," Urie said.

Panic closed the show with another Pretty. Odd. track, Mad As Rabbits. It was an interesting choice, considering it wasn't one of their hits, but it further solidified that in future concerts, the band may abandon their old stuff altogether.

While their set only lasted about an hour, there were three more bands who played before and made for a well-rounded, fun spring show. Phantom Planet, The Hush Sound and Motion City Soundtrack all had their share of fans, too, and the line-up had diverse sounds.

While The Hush Sound had people clapping and singing along,

Motion City Soundtrack really commanded the crowd, who filled up the grassy standing area to watch them play.

That's when the crowd surfing started, and the audience sang along through the band's songs, which was good for vocalist Justin Pierre.

It seemed like he had partied with Urie, because his voice was scratchy, too, and he sounded his worst of recent Valley appearances.

Next time, hopefully Arizona won't be booked after one of the musician's birthdays.

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Last night, after some tasty (but not vegan) pizza from Cibo (603 N. 5th Ave., Phoenix, 85003), one of my fave downtown restaurants, I checked out day two of the Phoenix Improv Festival.

The first show at Herberger Theater (222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix, 85004) was almost sold out, which was amazing!! I was happy to see such a huge turn-out, and Phoenix’s The Remainders kicked off the set with energetic improvised musical scenes.

I was so stoked Scott Shapiro,

who is currently up for Best Local Performer on azcentral’s BEST, was hosting. He’s an awesome stand-up comedian, and I really enjoyed his witty banter in-between introducing acts.

Then one of my favorite troupes of the night, The Mighty Stumps, performed.

The Los Angeles troupe wore costumes, and each member’s character had a Russian name, since their style is to do improv as if in an Anton Chekhov play.

I really liked their format. There were usually only two people on-stage at one time, and by the end of the show, each person had created a relationship with everyone else. That kept the show moving at a fast pace and made for a lot of interesting dynamics within the plot.

Closing out the first show was T.J.

& Pete,

who got their improv starts in Chicago and have starred in commercials for Sonic fast food. The duo was absolutely hilarious, creating one long 45-minute scene with two main characters and some supporting ones thrown in.

Both guys played every single one of the characters, and it was so cool to see the pair read each other so well and create such an engaging story.

For the second half of the night, The Apprentice alum Jenn Hoffman hosted,

and I love her sassy New York attitude!

She introduced Phoenix troupe Galapagos first, and the five members interestingly played basically the same two characters.

It was cool to watch every person’s interpretation of the paraplegic woman and her date at Sea World/your local park.

Then, Salt Lake City’s JoKyR and Jesster came up,

and of course, some Mormon references were thrown into their scenes.

This is also the troupe I’ve seen with the best beatboxing skills, as they built an entire scene with just beats and no dialogue.

The all-female Phoenix troupe Mail Order Bride was up next.

In between scenes based off the suggestion of dog park, the five ladies literally yelled at the audience about whatever they were mad about.

Not exactly pleasant, but still funny.

Closing out the night shows was Hollywood’s Trophy Wife, who are pros at teamwork.

Often, all five of the members were on-stage at once, and those scenes were especially strong because everyone’s characters fit together so well.

Today is the last day of the festival. The shows run from 2-5:30 p.m., so stop by any time for some local stuff during the Arizona showcase. Tickets are only $10 for the entire day.

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Wednesday night, I saw one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and it was at the tiny venue Modified Arts (407 E. Roosevelt St., Phoenix, 85004).

The place was packed for the Long Hair, Don’t Care tour, which featured five, count ‘em, five bands on one bill—Sing It Loud, Charlotte Sometimes,

The Cab,

Valencia

and We the Kings.

I was very disappointed with The Cab’s performance because the band was only able to play three songs due to technical problems in set-up. The group started about 20 minutes later than they should have, but they still managed to tear down the house with singer Alex Deleon‘s powerful vocals and the rest of the band’s high energy.

Valencia brought a harder rock sound than the rest of the band’s, and that just made the crowd dance even more.

The guys coordinated nicely in black, and by the middle of their set, the speakers on each side were almost pushed down because of the hyper crowd.

We the Kings headlined, and they’ve managed to gain a lot of notoriety due to relentless touring, including recent dates with Cobra Starship and Boys Like Girls in Arizona.

The guys got the crowd to coordinate in clapping and fist pumping, and the show ender, Check Yes, Juliet, had the whole mess of mostly teens jumping in unison.

It was New York band Charlotte Sometimes that stole the show for me, though. The young band is signed to Geffen, which isn’t surprising considering the lead singer’s amazing pipes.

I would describe the band as “emo jazz,” considering the members’ look and stinging lyrics couple with the music’s bouncy sound.

Charlotte Sometimes’ debut album comes out May 6, and I am seriously counting down the days.

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Thursday night, I headed to the Tempe Improv (930 E. University Drive, Tempe, 85281) for a special show by one of my favorite stand-up comedians, Aaron Karo. Karo, as he refers to himself, wrote two best-selling books—Ruminations on College Life and Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, both two of my fave books.

His comedy revolves around two main things—drinking and women, along with some tales of friendship and random everyday happenings mixed in.

Karo, a 28-year-old New York native, is very sharp and natural. He has great crowd interaction and never gets stuck throughout the act. This was my second time seeing him at the Improv but my first in the new cabaret, a smaller room within the Improv. It was  more intimate, and since the show was sold out, there were a ton of good vibes in the room. Check out www.aaronkaro.com to get signed up for his online newsletters that are hilarious to read.

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Last night, after hanging out at Space 55 (636 E. Pierce St., Phoenix, 85004) Theatre (where my paintings are this month—go check them out!), I went to the Herberger Theater (222 E. Monroe St., Phoenix, 85004) for day one of the Phoenix Improv Festival. There were two blocks of shows, and I was very impressed with the local and national talent last night.

Phoenix Neutrino Project uses objects thrown on-stage by the audience to shoot and improvised movie. I’m sure they loved that I tossed some panty liners up there.

Austin, Texas’ Coldtowne also performed and had some funny characters based on the suggestion of Mapquest.

I was super-pleased with Zumpf, from Hollywood.

This duo performed for about 45 minutes, changing characters throughout the scenes and coming up with some very funny situations—everything from family relationships to jail inmates to a hostile library encounter. It was amazing to see just two people captivate the audience for such a long time!

The second block kicked off with local troupe Apollo 12 (they had lots of puppets in their scene, fake, of course),

and then Hollywood’s BillyHawk duo performed.

This was another pair that really knew each other’s styles well and how to build each other up.

Also, somehow they managed to find humor in a scene about terminal cancer…not the easiest thing to do.

The Light Rail Pirates is one of the best troupes I’ve ever seen out of all the national performers I’ve checked out, and lucky for us, they’re from here in Phoenix!

Each member of the troupe makes such great choices, and everyone is so supportive of each other.

Their show had the suggestion of “orange,” and the opening scene had all six members competing for the title of strongest women by carrying and lifting oranges—and there were three guys in the troupe, so the result was awesome.

Closing out Friday night was COG, also from Hollywood.

The troupe had eight people, but they were respectful of each other and never really let the scenes get chaotic. This was another troupe with lots of crazy characters, and their set was engaging and action-packed.

Tonight there are two shows—one at 7 p.m. with The Remainders, The Mighty Stumps and T.J. & Pete. The Remainders are a local musical improv troupe, The Mighty Stumps perform improv in the style of Russian playwright Anton Chekhov and you probably know T.J. & Pete from the Sonic commercials as the two guys sitting in the car arguing about burgers. (I dare someone to throw “Sonic” or “fast food” out as a suggestion! I just might…) I highly recommend seeing this set tonight.

Then, at 9:30 p.m., a couple local troupes, Galapagos and Mail Order Bride, join two national troupes—Utah duo JoKyR & Jesster and Hollywood troupe Trophy Wife. Last year, Trophy Wife was mos def one of my favorite out-of-town troupes, so I am stoked once again to check them out as the show closer.

Each set is only $15, and that sure beats a bad movie.

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Here’s a secret for you: while I’ve heard phenomenal things about how chic and trendy the Mondrian Hotel, 7353 E. Indian School Road, is (celebrities galore! hot crowds! beautiful ambience!), my cousin stayed there last week, and here’s the truth: the place is dirty!!!

Her $750 a night suite was gorgeous, I admit. The room was decorated in black and white, with two balconies, huge flat-screen televisions, and artistic touches. There were little apples in the room lit up by red lighting, that, while they made no sense whatsoever, were unique touches.

However, the floor was filthy and barely walkable. Also, the reason why my cousin’s room was upgraded $400 was because her first room had trash all over the floor and bugs in the bed. In the new room, there were still empty beer bottles, presumably left over from spring breakers.

I did really like the Red Bar and think it’s a great happy hour place because of it’s pretty décor, but at $12 for a mojito, you might only be able to afford a couple drinks. Bottom line: go to Mondrian for the clubs, but don’t recommend the pricey place to bunk up at.

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This past weekend, I had a wonderful time at the Tempe Music Festival. The fest was so much fun because the weather was perfect, and with more than 30 bands at the fest, there was never a dull moment.

And My Chemcial Romance was phenomenal as usual.

Read my blog and see some pictures from Friday here.

Saturday night, I enjoyed watching Drew Alexander

and The Loveblisters, but Fergie was SO disappointing.

And I heard she stayed at the yucky Mondrian. Coincidence? I think not.

She sounded like she lost her voice, and she never reached the high notes, instead cracking in the higher ranges, which was really laughable.

Her performance also reminded me a lot of Britney Spears’ dreadful MTV Video Music Awards appearance. Fergie looked like a zombie, with no energy. She spent more time complaining to the audience about the tabloids and hater-websites than singing. Maybe that’s why people don’t take her seriously—because she really can’t perform live.

At least she kept her bladder under control.

There are crazy rumors circulating that she’s pregnant, but she sidestepped giving a clear answer, instead telling the crowd that she supports bigger girls out there. Whatever, Fergs, you are so preggers!! I highly doubt she suddenly stopped working out or loaded up on Twinkies…it’s much more likely her fiancée, super-hottie Josh Duhamel, knocked her up.

Speaking of Josh-ster, I stood next to him during the concert! He bumped into my guest, and yes, the man is as drop-dead ravishing as you thought. Though he could have lost the newsboy/beret cap he was sporting.

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Last night, I ate at Frank and Lupe’s (4121 N. Marshall) in Old Town Scottsdale. If you go here, make sure to request the patio, and load up on their $8 margaritas, which are HUGE and strong. I could do without the thickly cut chips, but the restaurant has a fun party atmosphere.