https://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/From-Skynyrd-to-Carr-The-Tobin-s-first-week-5736630.php
From Skynyrd to Carr: The Tobin's first week
Updated 3:52 pm CDT, Friday, September 5, 2014
Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitarists Rickey Medlocke, Gary Rossington and drummer Michael Cartellone perform for the crowd at the Laredo Energy Arena, Sunday evening.
Photo: Danny Zaragoza
Lynyrd Skynyrd starts it off
"Free Bird" will christen the H-E-B Performance Hall as the Tobin's first full concert. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members are led by Johnny Van Zant, younger brother of original lead signer Ronnie. Gary Rossington is the only original member still with the band, as he is one of the six members who survived the 1977 plane crash that killed three members, including Ronnie Van Zant.
"Sweet Home Alabama" and "Gimme Three Steps" remain as southern-rock standards, and Skynyrd's 2009 album "God & Guns" was its highest-charting debut since the crash.
Lorne Chan
8 p.m. Friday at H-E-B Performance Hall, $54.50-$325, 210-223-8624, tobincenter.org.
Mraz makes S.A. debut
The Tobin's first sellout, Jason Mraz had a giant hit in 2008 with "I'm Yours," which spent 76 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Wearing his usual fedora, Mraz, 37, has developed a large following with his laid-back vibe. His latest album, "Yes!" debuted at No. 2 in July.
Mraz has never headlined a show in San Antonio, giving an indicator for the acts the Tobin may attract that previously skipped this market.
8 p.m. Saturday, H-E-B Performance Hall, 210-223-8624.
Siempre S.A. on the River Walk
Free show at the Tobin's River Walk Plaza is headlined by Girl in a Coma's Nina Diaz; those who have an RSVP through Do210.com will get priority entrance. Diaz is performing her solo project with a backing band, while Austin singer-songwriter David Garza and local desert-rock duo Lonely Horse also are on the bill.
Diaz, who is 17 months sober, is making her first full performance in San Antonio of her solo material. "Writing this stuff on my own is what I had to do to save myself," she said.
7 p.m. Saturday at River Walk Plaza. Free. 210-223-8624, tobincenter.org.
'Iberian Epic' in the round, almost
The Chamber Orchestra of San Antonio launches its residency at the Tobin with a program titled "Iberian Epic." "We've got a whole Spanish motif going," said co-founder Paul Montalvo.
The program includes Joaquin Turina's "La oración del torero" ("Prayer of the Bullfighter"); Joly Braga Santos' Concerto for Strings; and Rodion Shchedrin's "Carmen" suite, a string and percussion arrangement of Bizet's "Carmen." Carlos Izcaray will conduct.
The performance will be staged "almost two-thirds in the round," Montalvo said. "It's not going to be completely in the round because of the space the percussion needs."
Deborah Martin
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater. $45, 210-223-8624, tobincenter.org.
Trace Adkins: One for the troops
The towering 6-foot-6 former Gulf of Mexico oil field roughneck from Louisiana sings with a matching, distinctively deep baritone. He once told GAC's "Day Jobs," "I'm not a singer who used to be a roughneck. I'm a roughneck who sings." That he does. He is known for a muscular mix of honky-tonk, rock and blues. that vaulted him to stardom beginning with the 1997 No. 1 single, "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing." He connects with fans with ballads such as "You're Gonna Miss This" and naughty romps including "Hot Mama" and the tail-shaking "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk." A Grammy-nominated member of the Grand Ole Opry, Adkins is a TV personality, film actor and author, he He also has a soft spot in his heart for U.S. servicemen and servicewomen. He is a spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Program and the American Red Cross. He also has performed seven USO tours, which makes him a great fit for this free USO concert that's open only to military members and their families.
John Goodspeed
6:30 p.m. Sunday. Opener: Mary Sarah. Free for active-duty troops, National Guardsmen, reservists, retirees and their military families. Advance tickets required. Contact MWR Office at Joint Bases-Lackland, Randolph, Fort Sam Houston or Brooke.
'Carnage' in the round
AtticRep has staged "God of Carnage," its Tobin debut, before. But it's a brand-new show.
"That's what's beautiful about theater," said Roberto Prestigiacomo, the company's producing artistic director. "It is never the same."
The show is about two sets of well-off parents — Andrew Thornton, Gloria Sanchez, Rick Frederick and Renee Garvens — who meet to discuss a violent episode between their sons. The adults' well-mannered behavior soon collapses.
The piece will be staged in the round, an option that wasn't possible in the company's previous home at Trinity University. Other aspects will be new, too. "We have discovered things that we didn't discover in the other production," Prestigiacomo said.
8 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 2:30 and 8 p.m. Sept. 13, and 2:30 p.m. Sept. 14, Carlos Alvarez Studio Theater, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. No performance Sept. 12. $18-$28. atticrep.org; tobincenter.org. 210-999-8524.
Vikki Carr with Mariachi Cobre
Grammy winner Vikki Carr achieved grand dame status long ago. But last year, the cherished singer of "It Must Be Him" fame showed she's still in the game when her self-produced album "Viva la Vida" was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the ranchera category. The lush effort was recorded with musical arranger Jose Hernandez and Mariachi Sol de Mexico.
She remains a consummate pro, and pioneering Latina voice, a vital force since bursting on the scene as a best new artist Grammy nominee in 1963 and the heady days four years later when "It Must Be Him" went head-to-head against the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" for album of the year.
Hector Saldaña
7:30 p.m. at H-E-B Performance Hall. $29.50-$79.50. 210-223-8624, tobincenter.org.