Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre

It is difficult not to watch Carl St. Clair when he is on the podium. Visually, he is an engrossing presence, his movements bold outlines of his musical intentions and reactions. He gets his entire body involved, yet never does so with undue showmanship. He is among the most eager conductors one is likely to see. Luckily, the members of the Pacific Symphony think so too. They seem especially alert whenever St.

After voicing reluctance and distress, planning commissioners broke their stalemate with Verizon Wireless on Thursday and unanimously approved the communication company's sign for the former Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. "I'm deeply disappointed Verizon hasn't shown itself as a better neighbor," Commissioner Chris Mears said.

"Thank you. Thank you." The two young ladies stand on stage, bowing to the left and to the right. They wave majestically to the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. But the seats are empty, and they start laughing. It's 5:30 a.m. and the two have work to do. Irvine Meadows backstage caterers Sara Medico, 17, and Amy Baggs, 20, will help pull together a concert that thousands of other teens will only watch.

Concerts in the meadows will give way to music in the Verizon as Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the county's only major outdoor rock-pop concert venue, gets a new name: Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. The new moniker will be evident to roughly 30,000 Jimmy Buffett fans who turn out for his two Irvine shows next week, an amphitheater official said Friday.

Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, the popular outdoor concert site threatened with destruction in a recent dispute, is being sold to a financier who helped propel the Hard Rock Cafe chain to international fame. In an agreement disclosed Friday, Thomas "Jock" Weaver III's Nashville Country Club Inc. will buy 51% of the theater from a group headed by Robert E. Geddes, the theater's managing partner. Weaver also is buying control of Geddes' Avalon West Coast, a leading concert producer and promoter.

A Harbor City man was stabbed in the neck, chest and stomach Sunday night during a heavy-metal concert at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, raising new concern about security measures at the popular venue, police and city officials said Monday. Phillip Delarosa, 23, was listed in guarded condition at a local hospital after the 11 p.m. attack during a concert by the group Anthrax, said Irvine Police Sgt. Tom Hume.

The Violent Femmes' concert Sunday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre has been canceled due to scheduling difficulties, according to an amphitheater spokesman. There are no plans to reschedule the show. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

Ratt's previously announced concert July 1 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre has been canceled. Tickets had not gone on sale yet. No explanation for the heavy-metal band's cancellation was given, according to an Irvine Meadows official.

Tickets go on sale today for Lollapalooza. The show is Aug. 3 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. . . . Michael Bolton plays Sept. 23-24 at the Greek Theatre and Sept. 28 at the Pond of Anaheim. Tickets for all three shows go on sale Sunday.

No word yet on when tickets will go on sale, but fans of this year's Grammy golden girl, Bonnie Raitt, should mark down Sept. 30, when she'll play at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The opening act will be those quirky, unclassifiable pop 'n' roots masters, NRBQ.

Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair will conduct his first "Tchaikovsky Spectacular" program, the traditional finish to the orchestra's summer season at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. St.Clair will conduct the Tchaikovsky program Sept. 9, to close the Pacific's 12th outdoor series. The concert will be one of three programs he will conduct and one of three featuring fireworks.

Don Quixote had a better chance tilting at windmills than concert promotion's oddest couple, Bruce Marich and Don Brigham, do at pulling off a successful, large-scale rock 'n' roll charity show at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Monday. On paper, it looks as if these two utter innocents in the thorny woods of the concert business have no chance of attracting even a half-filled house for the 10-hour show they have dubbed Rock of the Century.

* The final edition of the Lilith Fair tour will make its Southland stop on July 17 at the Rose Bowl, with a lineup of Sara McLachlan, right, Sheryl Crow, the Pretenders, Dixie Chicks, Mya and Luscious Jackson (plus Beth Orton, Cibo Matto and Sixpence None the Richer on the second stage). Tickets go on sale Sunday. . . . Tickets go on sale Saturday for the pairing of Santana and Mana on Aug. 19 and 20 at the Arrowhead Pond. . . . Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos join forces on Sept.

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.

Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre was awarded $543,000 in legal fees Tuesday from its long battle against the former owner of the defunct Lion Country Safari animal park. During 12 years of litigation over use of the site in Irvine, Lion Country owner Harry Shuster and his United Leisure Corp. had threatened to tear down the outdoor concert venue, which had subleased land from him. Shuster settled lawsuits last summer with The Irvine Co., which owns the property.

Music Pioneering minimalist composer Terry Riley makes a rare local appearance, taking to the piano for a program of his own music. UCLA Schoenberg Hall Auditorium, (310) 825-2101. 8 p.m. Pop Music Jimmy Buffett, the mayor of Margaritaville, cruises over with his Coral Reefer Band to the Pacific Rim (and actually goes slightly inland). Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine, (714) 855-4515. 8 p.m. Also Sunday at 4 p.m.

The annual LOLLAPALOOZA tour, which kicks off June 18 in West Palm Beach, Fla., will wind up Aug. 17-18 at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. The main-stage lineup includes Tool, Korn, Snoop Doggy Dogg, left, Tricky and the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Tickets are expected to go on sale early next month.