- Singer-songwriter Kate Voegele (pictured at right), who appeared as a musician on the CW's bizarre drama "One Tree Hill," will play tonight at In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Doors open at 6. Tickets are $15, at SmithsTix or 24Tix. (Voegele is also giving a free live performance, being taped by her record label, tonight at 6 at the Graywhale, 390 N. 500 West, Bountiful.)

- The Utah Symphony finishes conductor Keith Lockhart's 10-year Mahler project with a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 9, tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $16 to $51, available at ArtTix.

- WiseGuys comedy club opens its new location in Trolley Square - within the new restaurant Poundcakes, at the site of the former Hard Rock Cafe, on 500 South between 600 and 700 East, Salt Lake City - with shows by Marcus (the "Last Comic Standing" runner-up) tonight and Saturday, at 8 and 10 p.m. Tickets are $15, at SmithsTix.

- New York alt-rock band Making April plays (in April - what are the odds?) Saturday at the Avalon, 3605 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening acts are The Record Life and Jimmy Robbins. Show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $10, at SmithsTix or at the door.

- The Utah Jazz try to even up the score against the Los Angeles Lakers, Saturday at 7 p.m., at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at TicketMaster.

- Real Salt Lake faces the New England Revolution, Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rio Tinto Stadium, 9256 S. State St., Sandy. Tickets available at the Real web site.

- Rocker Chris Cornell, (pictured at left), the Soundgarden and Audioslave lead singer whose latest album "Scream" found him collaborating with hip-hop producer Timbaland, performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Depot at 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $35, at SmithsTix.

- Heavy-metal champions Queensryche returns to one of their favorite haunts, The Depot at 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City, Sunday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $35, at SmithsTix.

Labels: Marcus, Real Salt Lake, Utah Jazz, weekend schedule

- The Organ Loft plays the 1917 anti-LDS silent drama "The Mormon Maid," starting at 7:30 at The Organ Loft, 3331 S. Edison (half a block east of State Street), South Salt Lake City. Admission is $5, at the door - call 801-485-9265 for reservations.

- The Utah Jazz try to dig out of their 0-2 hole against the Los Angeles Lakers, in the first of two home playoff games, starting at 8:30 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Plenty of tickets are available at TicketMaster - which, as the Tribune's Michael C. Lewis points out, is an indication of how uphill the Jazz's task will be.

- Portland indie rockers The Thermals play The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening acts are Shaky Hands and Point Juncture, WA. Show starts at 9. Tickets are @12, at 24Tix.

Labels: Tonight's schedule, Utah Jazz

Politics and sports usually shouldn't mix. In fact, sports is sometimes the one place where people with clashing political views can find common ground - whether you're a liberal or a conservative, we can all agree the Yankees suck.

(Feel free to replace "Yankees" with whatever group of overpaid thyroid cases you despise - Red Sox, Mets, Spurs, Manchester United, etc.)

However, a blogger for the L.A. Lakers fan site Lake Show Life has injected politics into the first round of the NBA playoffs, calling the upcoming series between the top-seeded Lakers and the 8th-seed Utah Jazz "The Prop. 8 Series.":

Not too long ago, it was Utah matched up against Los Angeles in another battle - California Proposition 8. Prop. 8, passed in last year’s general election, restricted marriage to heterosexual couples and eliminated homosexual couples' right to marry.

What the hell does this have to do with the Lakers-Jazz opening round NBA Playoffs series? Everything. In my opinion, the state of Utah was responsible for the passing of Prop. 8.

The blogger, who goes by "kareemadbuladam," notes that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (you know, the Mormons) and its members campaigned hard for Prop. 8 - and that 45 percent of the out-of-state donations to support Prop. 8 came from Utah.

The post goes on, accusing Salt Lake City of being "more close-minded than just about any other major city in the U.S.," and decrying late team owner Larry H. Miller's banning of "Brokeback Mountain" from his Megaplex theaters and what he perceives as discrimination in the Jazz organization's treatment of former player John Amaechi (before he came out of the closet).

"I am already a Lakers fan," continues kareemadbuladam, "but because of the bigotry of a lot of Utah I will be rooting twice as hard for my Lake Show to sweep, humiliate and obliterate the unjazzy Jazz."

Labels: Larry H. Miller, LDS, politics, Utah Jazz

- Florida pop/punk/emo band New Found Glory - with opening acts Set Your Goals and Verse - plays tonight at In the Venue, 579 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Doors open at 5:30. Tickets are $22, at SmithsTix and 24Tix.

- The Utah Jazz play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves (or, as Hot Rod Hundley always calls them, the Pesky Timberwolves), tonight at 7 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple. Tickets available at TicketMaster.

- The Sundance Institute's Short Film Showcase, featuring nine short films with ties to Sundance - including the 2009 Sundance Film Festival's jury prize winner "Short Term 12" and a new work by "Napoleon Dynamite's" Jared Hess - runs Saturday, with screenings at 5 and 8 p.m., at the Rose Wagner Center for the Performing Arts, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. A panel discussion, featuring the directors of all nine films, takes place between the two screenings, at 6:30 p.m. All free.

- Hip-hop rockers Kottonmouth Kings are the headliners at a big rap show, Saturday starting at 7 p.m. at Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, Magna. Also on the bill: La Coka Nostra (Ill Bill, Slaine, Everlast, DannyBoy, Dj Lethal and Big Left) and Blaze Ya Dead Homie, Big B, Potluck and Short Dawg. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day of, at SmithsTix outlets only (not online).

- California folk-pop singer-songwriter Brett Dennen performs Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Murray Theater, 4916 S. State St., Murray. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 day of, at SmithsTix and 24Tix.

- A benefit show for Salt Lake City film student Paul Gibbs - to raise money for a kidney transplant - is set for Saturday, starting at 8 p.m., at The Woodshed, 60 E. 800 South, Salt Lake City (across the street from Sears). The lineup includes music by The Gearbox, Rev. Mayhem, Jen and Danny Tarasevich, Ginger Bess and the Heathen Highlanders, along with poetry slam artist Jesse Parent, stand-up comic Ricky Kimball and the Laughing Stock comedy improv troupe. Admission is $7, at the door.

Labels: Tonight's schedule, Utah Jazz

- The Utah Symphony, conducted by Larry Rachleff and featuring violinist Boris Brovtsyn, present "An Evening in Vienna" - featuring Ablan Berg's Concerto for Violin and Beethoven's Third Symphony ("Eroica") - tonight and Saturday at 8 p.m., at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $16 to $60, available at ArtTix.

- Hit rapper The Game is the headliner on a bill (which includes Nipsey Hussle, Chino-4-Real, Ace-High and Strangerz) starting tonight at 8 at Saltair, 12408 W. Saltair Drive, Magna. Tickets, at $35 each, available at the door.

- The Provo band Fictionist - the official strangely-named band of the Culture Vulture blog - plays on a bill that includes Paul Jacobsen & the Madison Arm and Nate Pyfer, tonight at 8 at Velour, 135 N. University Ave., Provo. Admission is $7, at the door.

- The Utah Jazz go for their 10th straight win - and their last home game before a five-game East Coast road swing - against the division-leading Denver Nuggets, tonight at 8:30 at EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are available through TicketMaster.

- "Charette: The Search for Utah's Iron Choreographer," Repertory Dance Theatre's annual competition, plays out Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $50, available at ArtTix.

- Jazz vocalist and one-man musical instrument Bobby McFerrin - who is so much more than "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - performs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle on the University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City. Tickets, from $19 to $49.50, available at the Kingsbury Hall web site.

- The Young Dubliners, the acclaimed Celtic-rock band, brings St. Patrick's Day a wee bit early, Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets, at $20, available at SmithsTix.

- California death-metal band Decrepit Birth plays Sunday at 8 p.m. at Club Vegas. Tickets are $10, at SmithsTix and 24Tix.

- And don't forget that Daylight Savings Time starts Sunday morning. Set your clocks ahead one hour on Saturday night.

Labels: Fictionist, Utah Jazz, Utah Symphony, weekend schedule

The death Friday of Larry H. Miller - car magnate, entrepreneur, Utah Jazz owner, racing enthusiast - is going to leave a gaping hole in Utah's cultural fabric.

In so many ways, the idea of going out for a night on the town in Salt Lake City - whether it's a Jazz game, a concert at EnergySolutions Arena, or a movie at one of the Megaplex Theatres - wouldn't be the same without Miller's influence.

I interviewed Miller a few times about movies, which sparked his interest as an exhibitor - his Megaplex chain covers 70 screens in Utah - and, briefly, as a movie producer on "The Work and the Glory" series.

Movie producing was foreign territory for Miller, and it wasn't a good fit for him. In Miller's experience - selling cars and building an NBA franchise - quality means success; you put out a well-made car or a winning team, and people will buy.

Movies don't always work that way. "There can be some really well done stuff - cinematography-wise, story-wise, even acting-wise - and not have it do well," Miller told me in 2006.

Then there was that whole dust-up in 2006, when Miller pulled "Brokeback Mountain" from the Megaplex 17 because he was offended by the idea of gay cowboys. With that decision was the added hypocrisy that the theater, at the same time, was okey-dokey about booking a gruesome torture-porn horror movie, "Hostel."

"It's not my favorite business, just because it's one I'm not that engaged with like the car business and the basketball business," Miller said. "I don't understand it as much as the others."

Labels: Larry H. Miller, movies, Utah Jazz

At 5 p.m., it's still pretty calm outside EnergySolutions Arena - where the Utah Jazz starts its regular season tonight against the Denver Nuggets. But you can feel the energy building, as all the parts are falling into place.

A plane heralds the arrival of the new season.


The arena ushers arrive for a night's work.


A ticket broker works the corner of South Temple and 300 West.


Radio stations get their promotional vehicles in line.


Autograph seekers hanging out by the back gate.

Labels: Utah Jazz