Blockbuster Pavilion

Three novice concert promoters from Costa Mesa and a huge amphitheater in San Bernardino County got their first taste of large-scale punk rock promotion last weekend--and found it not altogether sweet. The show also held a sour note for a rowdy young Huntington Beach punk singer who wound up briefly behind bars on suspicion of inciting a riot at the Punk Show '95 festival on Sunday.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY Acme Comedy Theatre, 135 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 525-0202. Actors Alley, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 508-4200. Actor's Circle Theatre, 7313 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 289-2999. Actors' Gang, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Actors Gang El Centro, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 660-8587, (323) 465-0566. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 628-2772. Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd.

Lollapalooza tickets go on sale today. The show is Aug. 3 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. . . . Tickets go on sale Sunday for three Michael Bolton concerts: Sept. 23-24 at the Greek Theatre and Sept. 28 at the Pond of Anaheim. . . . Also available Sunday are tickets for Boz Scaggs, Sept. 8 at the Greek, and Steve Miller, Sept. 12 at the Greek and Sept. 14 at the Blockbuster Pavilion. . . . The Buzzcocks play July 25 at the Palace. Tickets go on sale today. . . . Ani DiFranco returns to town for an Oct. 25 Wiltern Theatre show.

Lollapalooza tickets go on sale today. The show is Aug. 3 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. . . . Tickets go on sale Sunday for three Michael Bolton concerts: Sept. 23-24 at the Greek Theatre and Sept. 28 at the Pond of Anaheim. . . . Also available Sunday are tickets for Boz Scaggs, Sept. 8 at the Greek, and Steve Miller, Sept. 12 at the Greek and Sept. 14 at the Blockbuster Pavilion. . . . The Buzzcocks play July 25 at the Palace. Tickets go on sale today. . . . Ani DiFranco returns to town for an Oct. 25 Wiltern Theatre show.

The Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino County can now seat as many as 35,000 concert-goers, more than doubling last year's opening-season capacity. County officials restricted the Pavilion's capacity to 16,800 in 1993. The limit has been eased following $750,000 in traffic improvements near the amphitheater, according to Stuart A. Zanville, a Blockbuster Pavilion spokesman.

R.E.M. fans know that the band wasn't exactly thrilled about playing big arenas on its last tour, in 1989. The intimacy and character of the Georgia rockers' music was often lost in the cavernous settings--which is one reason the group has taken nearly six years off from live shows. So now that R.E.M. is returning to the road, guess where they'll be playing in the U.S. Big arenas.

Faye Dunaway's isn't the only mystery voice around. After more than two decades in the public eye, formerly close-mouthed Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker put himself into the public ear in a direct way for the first time last summer on the duo's reunion tour by singing a few new numbers of his own. Becoming a lead vocalist this late in the game, and in front of tens of thousands to boot, bespeaks a certain confidence, one would assume.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY Acme Comedy Theatre, 135 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (323) 525-0202. Actors Alley, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 508-4200. Actor's Circle Theatre, 7313 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 289-2999. Actors' Gang, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, Actors Gang El Centro, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 660-8587, (323) 465-0566. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 628-2772. Alex Theatre, 216 N. Brand Blvd.

Bye-bye Blockbuster, hello Hyundai. The Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in Devore has a new corporate sponsor and a new name: Hyundai Pavilion of Glen Helen. The change became effective Thursday and is part of a five-year naming-rights contract with Los Angeles and Orange counties' Hyundai dealers.

McCartney Sings Live: Paul McCartney will perform his first live television concert for Fox TV on June 15. The concert, part of McCartney's New World Tour 1993, will be broadcast live in the East Coast from the Blockbuster Pavilion in Charlotte, N.C. Locally, it will air tape-delayed at 8 p.m. The show includes both new material and classic Beatles hits.

Three novice concert promoters from Costa Mesa and a huge amphitheater in San Bernardino County got their first taste of large-scale punk rock promotion last weekend--and found it not altogether sweet. The show also held a sour note for a rowdy young Huntington Beach punk singer who wound up briefly behind bars on suspicion of inciting a riot at the Punk Show '95 festival on Sunday.

R.E.M. fans know that the band wasn't exactly thrilled about playing big arenas on its last tour, in 1989. The intimacy and character of the Georgia rockers' music was often lost in the cavernous settings--which is one reason the group has taken nearly six years off from live shows. So now that R.E.M. is returning to the road, guess where they'll be playing in the U.S. Big arenas.

Faye Dunaway's isn't the only mystery voice around. After more than two decades in the public eye, formerly close-mouthed Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker put himself into the public ear in a direct way for the first time last summer on the duo's reunion tour by singing a few new numbers of his own. Becoming a lead vocalist this late in the game, and in front of tens of thousands to boot, bespeaks a certain confidence, one would assume.

The Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion in San Bernardino County can now seat as many as 35,000 concert-goers, more than doubling last year's opening-season capacity. County officials restricted the Pavilion's capacity to 16,800 in 1993. The limit has been eased following $750,000 in traffic improvements near the amphitheater, according to Stuart A. Zanville, a Blockbuster Pavilion spokesman.