ENTERTAINMENT
Saturday, June 6, 2015
BRIEFLY
Wine event
celebrates Merlot
WALLA WALLA — Join
more than 60 Walla Walla
Valley winemakers, three
internationally known guest
winemakers, and wine critics
and experts in exploring one of
the world’s most beloved red
wine grape varieties – Merlot.
Included in the event
is special tastings of rare
vintage wines, one-of-a-kind
winemaker dinners and
receptions with some of the
Walla Walla Valley’s most
acclaimed winemakers and
much more.
Celebrate Walla Walla Valley
Wine: The World of Merlot is
June 18-20 at various venues
in Walla Walla. The Thursday
night Vintage Pour s $75 per
person, Friday morning’s
kick-off event is free, the
Friday afternoon winemaker
panel and tastings is $55, the
Friday wine tasting and dinner
is $90. In addition, tickets are
still available for several of
the Saturday night winemaker
dinners for $125.
For more information,
including a full schedule,
or to purchase tickets, visit
www.celebratewallawalla.
squarespace.com. For questions
or to buy tickets by phone, call
509-526-3117.
Heppner sets park
music program
HEPPNER — Heppner’s
Summer Music in the Park
series welcomes the return of
Bram Brata, a steel drum band
from the Tri-Cities.
The free performance is
Sunday, June 14 from 5-7
p.m. at the Heppner City Park,
444 N. Main St. In case of
inclement weather, the concert
will be held in the Heppner
Elementary School gym, 235
E. Stansbury St. People are
encouraged to bring a chair or
blanket and enjoy the music.
The Shared Ministry of
Hope Lutheran Church and
All Saints Episcopal Church
are hosting a fundraiser during
the event to raise money for
a mission trip to Haiti. Pulled
pork sandwiches will be
available for purchase.
Upcoming concerts include
Sunday, July 19 with the
Tailgate Trio and Sunday, Aug.
16 features Frazer Wambeke.
Akon: Singing has
given him a platform
to promote Africa
UNITED NATIONS
(AP) — Grammy-nominated
hip-hop artist Akon says being a
successful entertainer has given
him a platform to pursue his
dream of helping Africa grow
and prosper.
The performer, songwriter
and producer was born in the
U.S. of Senegalese parents
and reared in both countries.
He started an initiative called
“Akon Lighting Africa”
two years ago with a goal of
bringing electricity to a million
homes by the end of 2014. He
told a U.N. news conference
Wednesday on promoting
clean energy that the initiative
not only achieved that but has
spread to 14 African countries.
Akon, born Aliaune Thiam,
said the biggest obstacle to
Africa’s growth is the need for
infrastructure and energy.
That’s why he launched
“Akon Lighting Africa” with
two partners and a credit line
of $1 billion, he said. It now
employs over 5,000 mainly
young people who install and
maintain solar equipment.
“To be able to facilitate the
needs of millions of people in
Africa has always been a dream
of mine,” Akon said. “Our main
goal and initiative is to become
the key tool to help Africa’s
growth, utilizing the youth of
Africa to be the main catapults
of making that happen.”
With more than a dozen Top
10 hits on the Billboard Hot
100 chart, including “Smack
That,” ‘’I Wanna Love You”
and “Locked Up,” Akon said he
realized that as an entertainer
he has a big audience and is in a
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“I think ultimately ... where
God allows you to speak to a
billion people you always ask
yourself, when you get a chance
of that nature, what will you
say? What is your purpose?,”
Akon said.
“I felt that entertainment was
always the key that would open
the door to bigger and better
things in my life and I can be
able to pass on with a legacy,
and my name can ring towards
development of a full (African)
continent.”
East Oregonian
Page 3C
Weekly music offers free concerts in the park
By TAMMY MALGESINI
East Oregonian
Regional crowd favorites and familiar local
musicians are featured in Music in the Parks, a
free outdoor music festival that alternates weekly
between Boardman and Irrigon marina parks.
The 10-event series kicks off Monday, June
15 at 7 p.m. on the banks of the Columbia River.
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features Bram Brata, a talented and dedicated
group of high school students who pound out a
variety of upbeat classical and ethnic melodies
on various sizes of recycled steel drums.
The June 22 performance at Irrigon Marina
Park features Brady Goss, a Wallowa High
School graduate who is a wizard on the piano.
Goss tickles the ivories with incredible speed,
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tunes.
“We are thrilled this amazing musician can
return for a performance in Irrigon Marina
Park,” said Tami Sherer of the Music in the Parks
committee.
Additional dates and performers during the
season include the 70-member Walla Walla
Valley band, which includes a special Honor Our
Veterans night on June 29; and Bent on Blues,
which also includes music to honor veterans
July 6.
On July 13, an “early bird” show highlights
education birds from Blue Mountain Wildlife
at 5:30 p.m. and the music of Brass Fire lights
things up at 7 p.m. The July 20 event features
Nuketown, a Tri-Cities band that plays a little bit
of county, a little rock ‘n roll and blues, including
audience requests. The Irish/Celtic toe-tappin’
Staff photo by Tammy Malgesini
Brady Goss, a crowd favorite throughout the region, will perform during the June 22
Music in the Parks at Irrigon Marina Park. The free concert series begins June 15 and alter-
nates weekly between Boardman and Irrigon marina parks.
tunes of Skweez the Weezle are scheduled July
27.
Aug. 3 brings The Trio, who perform easy
listening music with some jazz and retro pop.
Morrow and Umatilla county talent are on tap
Aug. 10 as Eric Jepsen and John Wambeke
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music. Closing out the season on Aug. 17 are
The Outsiders, who perform country classics and
rhythm and blues.
People are encouraged to bring chairs or
blankets and a picnic and enjoy the free concerts
in the park. For more information, call 541-481-
9457 or 541 922-1560.
WHAT TO DO
Festivals
Wallowa Valley Festival of
the Arts
•June 5-7
•Joseph Community Center,
102 E. First St.
www.wallowavalleyarts.org
Friday night reception (7-10
p.m.) is $20 per person. Free
activities Saturday from 10 a.m.
to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 10
a.m. to 2 p.m., which includes
artist demonstrations, live music.
Saturday night 6:30 p.m. Quick
Draw event, which includes an
auction of items created, costs
$5.
Sacajawea Bluegrass
Festival
co
•June 12-14
•Sacajawea State Park, Pas-
www.mctama.org
$30/weekend pass, dry
camping/$13 night, daily tickets
are $12-$25. Features music,
workshops, Dutch oven cooking,
jam sessions and more.
Bourbon & Bacon Fest
•Saturday, June 13; 7:30-11
p.m.
•OMSI, 1945 S.E. Water
Ave., Portland
www.portland.bourbonand-
baconfest.com
$13. The 21-and-over event
features some of the best bour-
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west has to offer. You’ll get sips
of bourbon from distilleries large
and small and tastes of bacon
from tried-and-true to ways you’d
never expect.
Hogs & Dogs Family
Festival
•Thursday, June 18; 4-10
p.m.
•Bombing Range Complex,
West Richland, WA
Free admission. Features
stunt rider Craig Latimer, All Stars
Classic Car Show (register your
vehicle for $10), food and bever-
ages available for purchase. For
more info, call 509-967-0521.
Art & Museums
First Saturday Spin-In
•Saturday, June 6, noon-4
p.m.
•Pendleton Center for the
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Fiber-obsessed folks can
drop in and bring a project to
work on. Coffee, tea and work
space provided.
Naamí Nisháycht, Our Liv-
ing Culture Village
•Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
through Sept. 5
•Tamástslikt Cultural Institute,
near Wildhorse Resort & Casino.
www.tamastslikt.org
$10/adults, $9/senior citi-
zens, $6/youths, free/5 and un-
der or $25/family of four. June
6: Survival Skills: Fire Making,
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by experimenting with a burning
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Survival Skills: Tule reed. Visitors
will make a small tule mat, or tule
boat to take home.
Aaron Robert Miller
•Tuesday-Fridays, 10 a.m.-4
p.m.; Saturdays, noon-4 p.m.
•Pendleton Center for the
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www.pendletonarts.org
Free. Portland musician and
long-time instructor and camp
counselor at the Pendleton
Center for the Arts’ Rock and
Roll Camp, will display his print-
making exhibit. Runs from June
4 through July 31. In addition,
the paintings of Rosco “Carri-
co” Crooke are featured in the
Lorenzen Board Room Gallery
through June 26.
Hiroko Cannon exhibit
•Monday-Fridays, 10 a.m.-5
p.m.
•Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
•Pendleton Art + Frame, 36
S.W. Court Ave.
Free. Exhibit features original
paintings. Showing and sale also
includes her collection of greet-
ing cards. Continues through
July 3.
Heritage Station Museum
•Tuesday-Saturdays, 10 a.m.
to 4 p.m.
•108 S.W. Frazer Ave., Pend-
leton
www.heritagestationmuse-
um.org
$5/adults, $2/student, $4/se-
niors, $10/family.
“Our Old Quilts: Patterns
of Love & Memory”
•Wednesday-Saturdays; 11
a.m.-4 p.m.
•Dayton Historic Depot, 222
E. Commercial St., Dayton, WA
www.daytonhistoricdepot.
org
Admission by donation.
Quilts are a glimpse into the past,
providing a scrapbook of rela-
tionships and events. Continues
through Oct. 1.
Music
Pendleton Men’s Chorus
Spring Concert
•Saturday, June 13, 7 p.m.
•BMCC Bob Clapp Theatre,
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leton
$10/tickets. Features special
composition by Hermiston High
School chorale director Josh
Rist, as well as multiple soloists.
The program includes folk songs
form the United States, Canada,
England, Ireland and Scotland,
as well as several sacred selec-
tions.
Bram Brata
•Sunday, June 14, 5-7 p.m.
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Main St.
Pulled pork sandwiches
available for purchase. People
are encouraged to bring a blan-
ket or lawn chair.
Bram Brata
•Monday, June 15, 7 p.m. All
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•Boardman Marina Park
Part of the Music in the Parks
series, which alternates weekly
between Boardman and Irrigon
marina parks. Bring a blanket or
chairs and a picnic and enjoy the
music with the Columbia River as
a backdrop.
Jaime Wyatt
•Wednesday, June 17, 7 p.m.
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Co., 403 S. Main St., Pendleton
Blue Tattoo
•Wednesday, June 17; 10
p.m.
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First St., Hermiston
Carrie Cunningham
•Friday, June 19; Saturday,
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•Wildhorse Sports Bar at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, off
Highway 331, Mission.
Pajama Party
•Saturday, June 20, 7 p.m.
•Sub Zero Restaurant &
Lounge, 100 W. Highway 730,
Irrigon
Music, dancing, dress to im-
press and join the stuffy mad-
ness. For information, call 541-
922-4374.
Brady Goss
Brady Goss
•Saturday, June 6, 9 p.m.-1
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•Wildhorse Sports Bar at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, off
Highway 331, Mission.
Blackberry Bushes
•Monday, June 8, 7 p.m. All
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Co., 403 S. Main St., Pendleton
Highway 9
•Friday, June 12; Saturday,
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•Wildhorse Sports Bar at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, off
Highway 331, Mission.
•Monday, June 22, 7 p.m. All
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•Irrigon Marina Park
Part of the Music in the Parks
series, which alternates weekly
between Boardman and Irrigon
marina parks. Bring a blanket or
chairs and a picnic and enjoy the
music with the Columbia River as
a backdrop.
Shanks Pony
•Friday, June 26; Saturday,
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•Wildhorse Sports Bar at
Wildhorse Resort & Casino, off
Highway 331, Mission.
Walla Walla Valley Band
•Monday, June 29, 7 p.m. All
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•Boardman Marina Park
Includes a special salute
to Honor Our Veterans. Part of
the Music in the Parks series,
which alternates weekly between
Boardman and Irrigon marina
parks. Bring a blanket or chairs
and a picnic and enjoy the mu-
sic with the Columbia River as a
backdrop.
Night life
p.m. show is “Secret Lives of the
Stars” and 8 p.m., “Supervolca-
noes.”
“The Music Man”
•June 25-28, July 2-5; 7:30
p.m.
•The Reach, 1943 Columbia
Park Trail, Richland, WA
www.midcolumbiamusical-
theatre.org
$25/adults, $15/students via
www.mcmt.tix.com. The classic
Broadway musical is presented
on an outdoor stage.
Ye Merrie Greenwood
Renaissance Faire
Riverside Happy Hour
•Daily; 5-7 p.m.
•Riverside Sports Bar, 1501
Sixth St., Umatilla
Thursday Night Comedy
•Thursdays, 8 p.m.
•Wildhorse Sports Bar, Wild-
horse Resort & Casino, off High-
way 331, Mission.
Digital Karaoke
•Thursdays and Saturdays,
8 p.m.
•The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
Mac’s Trivia Night
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•Mac’s Bar & Grill, 1400 S.W.
Dorion Ave., Pendleton
21 and older. Teams of 2-8
compete in trivia contest with oth-
er teams. Live host and prizes.
Wine tasting
•Fridays, 4-8 p.m.
•Sno Road Winery, 111 W.
Main St., Echo.
Open Mic
•First/third
Friday
each
month, 8 p.m.-midnight
•The Packard Tavern, 118
S.E. Court Ave., Pendleton
www.facebook.com/groups/
pendletonopenmic
Karaoke
•Fridays 8 p.m. (9 p.m. if
game on)
•Riverside Sports Bar, 1501
Sixth St., Umatilla
DJ and dancing
•Fridays, 8 p.m.
•The Pheasant, 149 E. Main
St., Hermiston
Theater, stage &
film
Bechtel National Planetari-
um shows
•Saturday, June 6; 2 p.m. &
3 p.m.
•Friday, June 12; 7 p.m. & 8
p.m.
•Columbia Basin College,
1WK$YH3DVFR
www.columbiabasin.edu/
planet
$6/adults, $3/children 6-12,
$5/seniors. The Saturday 2
p.m. show is “Kaluoka’hina: the
Enchanted Reef,” and 3 p.m.,
“The Tree of Life,” the Friday 7
•June 27-28; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
•Howard Amon Park, Rich-
land, WA
www.yemerriegreenwood-
faire.org
$10-13/adults,
$8-11/chil-
dren, seniors or two-day family
pass for $45. Features magic
and puppets, music and danc-
ing, Shakespeare plays, jousting
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crafts.
Hot tickets
•Umatilla County Fair con-
certs: Dustin Lynch (Aug. 11),
John Michael Montgomery (Aug.
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der (Aug. 14) and Warrant (Aug.
15). Reserved seats ($12) via
541-567-6121 or 515 W. Orchard
Ave., Hermiston www.umatilla-
county.net/fair
•Pendleton Round-Up Con-
cert features Scotty McCreery
and Jackson Michelson. Sept.
12, Happy Canyon Arena, Pend-
leton. Tickets go on sale May 7
($40 to $130). 541-276-2553,
800-457-6336 or www.pendle-
tonroundup.com/events/2015/
concert.
•Watershed Festival. July
31-Aug. 2, Gorge Amphitheater,
George, Wash. Reserved seats
($493 and up for 3-day pass) via
www.ticketmonster.com.
•Creation Festival. July 30-
Aug. 1, Benton County Fair-
grounds, Kennewick. Reserved
seats ($45-$150, plus camping
packages) via www.creationfest.
com.
•Gentlemen of the Road
Stopover featuring Mumford &
Sons, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips
and other national, regional and
local bands. Aug. 13-15, Walla
Walla. Reserved seats ($199) via
www.mumfordandsons.com.
•Foo Fighters. Saturday,
Sept. 12, Gorge Amphitheater,
George, Wash. Reserved seats
($45-$75) via www.livenation.
com.
———
Want to get your event
listed in our calendar? Send
information to tmalgesini@eas-
toregonian.com, or c/o Tammy
Malgesini, 333 E. Main Street,
Hermiston, OR, 97838.
MOVIE REVIEW
McCarthy, Feig set their sights on 007 in ‘Spy’
By JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
Ridiculous questions about
the funniness and bankability
of women have clouded exactly
what’s going on here: Nobody is a
better comedic actor right now than
Melissa McCarthy.
She’s a combustible ball
of comic fury rolled up in
Chaplinesque sweetness, equally
capable of profanity-laced
verbal virtuosity as perfectly
timed pratfalls. In her latest,
the espionage comedy “Spy,”
McCarthy dons a host of identities,
a closet full of wigs and — in order
to stay undercover but really just
to switch things up — essentially
changes her entire performance
midway through.
It’s a globe-trotting tour of
McCarthy’s talent, throughout
which she’s practically always
kicking butt. Who was that double-
O-what’s-his-face, anyway?
“Spy” is the third collaboration
between McCarthy and director
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on “Bridesmaids,” and followed
“Spy”
ۻۻۻۼ
R, 122 minutes
Larry Horricks/Twentieth Century Fox via AP
This photo provided by Twentieth Century Fox shows, Melissa Mc-
Carthy, second right, infiltrating an arms dealing ring led by Rose
Byrne, left, in a scene from the film “Spy.”
that up with the very solid
buddy comedy “The Heat,” with
Sandra Bullock. They’re soon to
embark on a female-led update
of “Ghostbusters,” too, which is
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beginning to resemble that of Bill
Murray and Ivan Reitman.
Everything they’ve done,
starting with the sensation
of “Bridesmaids,” has been
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praise and tiresome overemphasis
on the female-ness of their
enterprise. “Spy,” too, is in many
ways a great inversion of the Bond
world, casting men like Jude Law
as the eye candy on the side while
the center of the movie is played
out between women: McCarthy
and Rose Byrne’s snobbish,
high-couture villain.
McCarthy plays Susan Cooper,
a contentedly desk-bound CIA
operative accustomed to aiding
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agents like the tuxedo-clad Bradley
Fine (Law). While Fine pursues
supervillains at a Bulgaria casino,
she’s whispering in his earpiece,
monitoring above from a drone.
When well-to-do arms dealer
Rayna Boyanov (Byrne) outs all
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volunteers to go undercover.
“Spy” is the biggest budget for
Feig and the action sequences are
unexpectedly robust — perhaps too
much. While entirely enjoyable,
it ought to be a tad funnier; the
set pieces clunk it up at times.
It’s almost as if Feig is actually
gunning for Bond territory. But
with McCarthy in tow, why not?