Hip-hop maven MC Hammer and rockabilly bandleader Brian Setzer will both party hardy in the Cowlitz Ballroom at ilani later this year. Tickets for both concerts go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday.
The famously untouchable, parachute-pantsed Hammer comes to ilani at 8 p.m. Sept. 12. Tickets are $69 and $99.
Hammer became a superstar in 1990 by creating rap music that crossed over into mainstream culture, notably his “U Can’t Touch This” from “Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ‘Em,” which remains one of the top-selling rap albums of all time.
Some purists dissed the Hammer sound as derivative “pop rap,” and Hammer’s fortunes have fallen and risen since then. Today he’s considered a hugely influential musician, dancer, showman, businessman and fashion trendsetter for those baggy pants that took over the world.
If You Go
What: Hammer’s House Party.
When: 8 p.m. Sept. 12.
Where: Cowlitz Ballroom at ilani, 1 Cowlitz Way, Ridgefield.
Tickets: $69 or $99.
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What: Brian Setzer Orchestra’s Christmas Rocks!
When: 8 p.m. Dec. 12.
Where: Cowlitz Ballroom at ilani, 1 Cowlitz Way, Ridgefield.
Tickets: $39 or $59.
Venue website:ilaniresort.com
Hammer’s House Party also features other hip-hop and rhythm-and-blues acts from the 1980s and 1990s: Biz Markie, Sisqo and Kid ‘n Play.
Later this year, guitarist and singer Brian Setzer will rev up some Christmas favorites with his unique blend of rockabilly and swing. Setzer and his band Stray Cats made a splash in the 1980s with their unlikely throwback hits “Stray Cat Strut” and “Rock This Town.”
Although Stray Cats still occasionally reunite, Setzer has spent the last several decades staying busy as a solo artist, sideman and leader of his own 19-piece Brian Setzer Orchestra.
The orchestra will rock it up on Christmas favorites and Setzer’s own signature hits. Tickets for the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s Christmas Rocks! show, set for 8 p.m. Dec. 12, are $39 and $59.
