The Daily NonpareilARTS & ENTERTAINMENT8A Thursday, July 24, 2008

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The mega concert at theMid-America Center Tuesdaygave thousands of fans anexcuse to sing loudly andwithout abandon. Journey,withgreatopenersCheapTrickandHeart,rockedthearenaplayingtheclassicsand bal-ladsevery-one craved to hear live.Whether you were a Journeyfan needing to belt out“Faithfully,” a Cheap Trickfollower wanting to singalong to “The Flame” or aHeart lover who needs tosing and sway to “TheseDreams,” there was some-thing there for you.

Cheap Trick was an ener-getic opener, playing withgusto as the crowd trickled in(traffic was the worst I’d everseen). Rick Nielsen, donninga baseball cap, threw bucket-loads of guitar picks, itseemed, to further rile up thecrowd. While the guys havedefinitely aged, they soundedgreat playing fan favorites“Surrender” and “DreamPolice.”

Ann and Nancy Wilson,with an excellent accompany-ing band, took the stage next,playing great Heart hits like“Magic Man,” “Alone” and“Crazy on You.” Ann’s voice isstill stellar and hasn’t dimin-ished a bit. Nancy soundsgood, too, singing “TheseDreams” sweetly. Heartplayed two encore songs todeafening applause fromfans, including a slow LedZeppelin cover of “Going toCalifornia.”

Journey was the big drawfor people seeking to relivethe ’70s and ’80s musically, orthe curious seeking to see ifthe new singer, Arnel Pineda,really could sing on par withthe great Steve Perry. Pinedawas, indeed, a great andenergetic singer. During mostsongs, he had an uncannyPerry-esque sound, such as in“Open Arms,” but occasion-ally diction got in the way.

Neil Schon was asimpressive as ever on theguitar. Drummer Deen Cas-tronovo was also amazing towatch, as waskeyboardist/guitaristJonathan Cain and bassistRoss Valory. Most of thesemen have been with the bandfor ages, or since the begin-ning as is the case withSchon. Perhaps Journey does-n’t need the voice of Perry ifit keeps these guys on board.

The band played quite abit of newer stuff that was

received unequally from fans,with more than a few people

taking their seats for somesongs, particularly duringsongs off of the new album“Revelation,” “After All TheseYears” and “Change for theBetter.” It wasn’t until aboutthe sixth song, “SeparateWays (Worlds Apart),” thatthings started to heat up.Clearly, fans came to hearthe classics, and eventually,they got what they came for.

Hearing live versions of“Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Wheelin the Sky” and “Open Arms”made the wait worth it.About four hours into therock show, fans were finallysatisfied. Pineda could holdhis own on stage singing clas-sics with these music legends(most of the time), and Jour-ney proved it could still bringdown the house. By theencore, especially while“Faithfully” was played, faith-ful fans couldn’t ask for muchmore.Arts & Entertainment Editor Kim Bousquet

can be reached at (712) 325-5736 or by e-mail at kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com.

KIM BOUSQUETStaff Writer

kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com(712) 325-5736

Men have approached Jackie Collins listingtheir trysts and telling her they’d make greatcharacters for a book. She tells them sheprefers to use her imagination. The late direc-tor Louis Malle didn’t call her a “raunchymoralist” for no reason.

Collins knows whereprime material for herscandalous novels can befound.

“I know all the makeup artists … they tell meeverything,” said Collins.

Living in Hollywoodmeans she’s never at alost for stories or outra-geous characters. Sheknows all the big players, the girls that runaround, movie producers and more. But it’sthose working closest to the tabloid fodderthat can get her the real scoop.

On the sixth week of a nonstop booklaunching tour, Collins spoke on the phoneabout her fans, her Web site and where shegets her celebrity gossip. Collins will be inCouncil Bluffs Friday meeting fans and sign-ing copies of her new book, “Married Lovers.”She’ll be at Harrah’s Council Bluffs Casino &Hotel convention center at 5 p.m.

Jacqueline Jill “Jackie” Collins was bornOct. 4, 1937, in London to a British-born nov-elist and former actress. She is the youngersister of actress Joan Collins. Jackie has soldmore than 400 million copies of her books, andwith some 26 New York Times bestsellers toher credit, Jackie is one of the world’s top-sell-ing novelists.

Jackie interacts with fans regularly, onlineand in person. Her Web site, jackiecollins.com,not only includes a section titled “Questionsfor Jackie,” it also has a blog she keeps whileon this tour, and a section updated monthlyabout “Jackie’s Favorites” (in June, she postedshe loved the movie “Sex in the City” andMadonna’s “Hard Candy” CD).

If they’re lucky enough to have the booktour come near them, they get to talk to her inperson. Besides suggesting the British authorwrite about their intriguing personal lives,fans usually ask her whether people evercome up to her and accuse her of writing abouttheir lives?

They do. And Jackie usually assures themthe character is not based on them. Of course,online, she admits to writing about real peoplein disguise. She is known for giving her read-ers an unrivaled insider’s knowledge of Holly-wood and the glamorous lives and loves of therich, famous and infamous. When her book,“The Stud,” was published, Jackie said “everyguy in Hollywood said it was him.”

On the road for six weeks at a near con-stant pace, Jackie said she’s enjoyed thechance to interact with all of her fans. Herfans are as varied as her books’ characters –teens, mothers, men, grandmothers. She saidshe has a large gay following and a large blackfollowing.

Meeting so many people on the road, shesaid she’s come to realize how nice people are,in spite of all the bad news and violence thatmake the evening news day in and day out.

“Generally, people are so nice. Wonderful,”said Jackie. “It was a real revelation drivingacross the south.”

One particular tour stop left an impressionon the author.The fans there were no differentfrom her typical fans: Dressed nicely, happy tomeet her and happy to have her latest book intheir hands. It was a big event, said Jackie.

However, being residents in New Orleans,these fans spoke to Jackie about losing every-thing in Hurricane Katrina.

“They were great people,” said Jackie. “Itmakes you realize how difficult (recoveringfrom Hurricane Katrina) was.”

Her fans all read for their own reasons, saidJackie.

“Some read because they think my booksare sexy,” said Jackie. “Some read thembecause they think they’re incredibly funny,intentionally.”

Her fans also read because they can iden-tify with her characters, said Jackie, whichrun the gamut of all sizes, shapes, ages, sexualorientations and races. One of her most wellknown characters is Lucky Santangelo, fea-tured in six books. Jackie said a new one is inthe works, titled “Goddess of Vengeance.” Alsoin the works, the three Lucky novels thathaven’t been adapted to the screen will beadapted hopefully in a year, she said.

Lucky Santangelo is a character Jackiecould see living the life of for a day; she’s awoman Jackie described as a James Bond forwomen.

“She says what nobody dares and doeswhat nobody dares,” said Jackie.

Of course, that’s also the case for Jackie,who said she has no problem telling peoplewhat’s on her mind.

“I don’t hide behind my characters.”

“Married Lovers”Synopsis:Cameron Par-adise, a stunninglybeautiful 24-year-old personaltrainer, flees herabusive boyfriendin Australia andends up inL.A. Paradise soongets a job at a pri-vate fitness clubwhere sheencounters the

city’s most important players. She has plans to openher own studio, and while every man she meetscomes on to her, she is focused on working hard andsaving money to achieve her goal. Until she meetsRyan Lambert, that is. An extremely successful inde-pendent movie producer, he’s married to overly privi-leged Mandy Lambert, the daughter of Hamilton J.Heckerling, a Hollywood power-player son-of-a-bitchmogul. Ryan has never cheated on his demanding Hol-lywood Princess wife, but when he meets Cameron, allbets are off.

IN THE WORKS

“Poor Little Bitch Girl”Synopsis: Three strong, sexy, powerful friends wholost touch are reunited.

“Goddess of Vengeance”Synopsis: The next installment of the Lucky Santan-gelo series.

HER NEWESTBOOK

Collins

People magazine‘Star’ to performtonight in C.B.

KIM BOUSQUETStaff Writer

kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com.(712) 325-5736

If you haven’t heard ofJeremy McComb, just wait.Thecountry singer was named onCountry Weekly’s “Who’s Hot’08” list and in People Maga-zine’s country special edition,he was named one of the “NineNew Stars Worth Listening To.”

McComb will perform July24 at the Whiskey Roadhouseinside Horseshoe Casino. Thefree show is part of KAT 103Kickin’ Country Music Series.

In a recent telephone inter-view, the young singer saidbeing named on those lists wasa surprise.

“When People talks aboutyou at all, it’s pretty amazing,”said McComb. But, he takes theflattery in stride, keeping alevel head about the exposure.

McComb calls Nashvillehome now, after being raised inthe northwest on legendarysongwriters/performers likeKris Kristofferson, Jim Croceand The Marshall Tucker band,whose founder Paul T. Riddleproduced McComb’s debutrecord, “My Side of Town.”

‘They’re so genuine, youcan’t help but relate,” saidMcComb. That relatability iswhat he strives for in his per-formance – relating a song andstory to the audience.

Nashville is a beacon forcountry music songwriters, butMcComb landed there throughan unusual route – with thehelp of a comedian.

In his early 20s, McCombhad already played withregional touring acts; his dayjob, however, was as a musicdirector and afternoon DJ at aradio station in Spokane,Wash.His job at the station led to hislucky encounter with Larry the

Cable Guy.The two hit it off, started

hanging out and eventually satdown and wrote some goofyparody songs together. In 2004,Larry offered McComb thechance to be his tour manager.McComb was just 23 years old.

Not only did McComb gain abest friend out of the deal, healso got the opportunity towrite songs for Larry’s movies,including “Blue Collar ComedyTour” and “Larry the CableGuy: Health Inspector,” whichincludes his hit song “ThisTown Needs a Bar.”

The friendship with Larryalso taught McComb what ittakes to make it in the enter-tainment business.

“Just the way he treats hisfans,” said McComb, wasenough to show him the virtueof accessibility. To McComb,Larry is every bit the kind,down-to-earth guy he presentshimself to be.

He said he was excited toreturn to the Whiskey Road-house.

The July 24 show starts at 7p.m. McComb will perform at 9.

Submitted photo

Country singer JeremyMcComb will performtonight at 9 at the WhiskeyRoadhouse inside Horse-shoe Casino. An openingband starts at 7 p.m.

Trio of great bands rock Mid-America Center Tuesday

Willie Nelson’s mellowshow a real crowd pleaser

There are few musicians inthis world that can presentsuch a mellow show and yetkeep the audience thirsty formore after two hours. WillieNelson relaxed the crowd atthe Stir Concert Cove at Har-rah’s Council Bluffs Casino &Hotel Wednesday for a gooddozen tunes, letting peoplesway tosongslike“Still IsStillMovin’To Me”and“BeerFor MyHorses.”

Then,the sub-duedsingerpicked itup a notch to play out the restof the two-hour show with amix of upbeat goodies like“Bloody Mary Morning” andslower tunes like “Blue EyesCrying in the Rain,” “MamasDon’t Let Your Babies GrowUp To Be Cowboys,” “AlwaysOn My Mind” and “Angel Fly-ing Too Close To The Ground.”

It’d been a long time sinceNelson had last played inCouncil Bluffs (2003). The lasttwo scheduled shows were can-celed, with the latest one inJune being rescheduled toWednesday. He made up forlost time, playing more than 30songs to a very relaxed and

content audience. His unhur-ried, instantly recognizablevoice invited listeners to sitback, sip a beer and enjoy thenight’s show.

His sister, Bobbie, playedalongside him, getting a fewsolo opportunities on the piano.His back-up band was low-keybut talented, and included agreat harmonica player.

The night included classics,protest songs, gospel songs andstories of rowdy exploits, aswell as some covers, includingHank William’s “On TheBayou” and the FredFoster/Kris Kristofferson great“Me and Bobby McGee.” Thecrowd was also treated to a fewof Nelson’s trademark red ban-danas – including one smartlady who traded a beer for one.

Nelson broke the streak ofshorter-than-expected shows atStir, without even needing anopener to stretch out the nightof music. At 75, the countrysinger still plays and enter-tains with the best of them.Arts & Entertainment Editor Kim Bousquet

can be reached at (712) 325-5736 or by e-mail at kbousquet@nonpareilonline.com.

Staff photo/Josh White

Arnel Pineda, lead singer ofJourney, sings during Tues-day’s concert at the Mid-America Center. See moreJourney photos online atwww.nonpareilonline.com.

Author talks to Nonpareil before her visit Friday

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