Inqlings | Phila. band Valencia loses out as Spin's band of year

By Michael Klein

Inquirer Columnist

So close for Philly emo-punk band Valencia, which made it to the final eight in Spin.com's online polling for band of the year.

Valencia, which had beaten Motion City Soundtrack and The Academy Is... in previous rounds, lost yesterday to Nightmare of You, which captured 54 percent of nearly 20,000 votes cast.

Both Motion City Soundtrack (Epitaph Records) and The Academy Is... (Fueled By Ramen Records) are on bigger labels than Valencia, signed to I Surrender.

Despite the loss, "it's really cool," said bassist George Ciukurescu, 20, on the line from Detroit, where he and singer Shane Henderson, drummer Max Soria, and guitarists J.D. Perry and Brendan Walter are on tour. All are ages 19 to 23.

"This has actually helped us on the road," said Ciukurescu, pointing out that the band's last two shows were sold out.

"Not that they were huge venues," he added.

Friday's show was at the Elk Grove VFW in Elk Grove Village, Ill., on Friday, and Saturday's was the Purdue University Church in West Lafayette, Ind.

Valencia played before larger crowds at the Knitting Factory in New York and helped sell out Philly's TLA in January. The band's next Philly date is March 5 at the First Unitarian Church in Center City.

Coming up

Talk-show host Maury Povich will be here May 1 to keynote the induction of Bonnie Squires into the Philadelphia Public Relations Association Hall of Fame. Povich and Squires were classmates at Penn.

The touring production of The Lion King, coming to the Academy of Music starting June 8, has extended its run, from Aug. 15 through Sept. 10. Tickets for the new dates will go on sale March 5.

Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel will be in Saturday night for a show to benefit the Friends of the Wissahickon at the Conkey Center on Valley Green and Springfield Avenues in Chestnut Hill. Band cofounder Ray Benson played in the Wissahickon as a kid in Wyndmoor. Tickets are $100, but $65 for those under 35 years old. Info: 215-247-0417 or www.fow.org.

South Philly-born, South Jersey-raised style guru David Evangelista (CBS's The Early Show) and Joe McMenamin of Center City's Groom Salon will tame the hair of random attendees of March 2's Bald Ball, a cancer-awareness fund-raiser for the Wellness Center of Philadelphia and Locks of Love. Evangelista is a childhood friend of Bill Mignucci, who co-owns DiBruno Bros. in Center City, which will host. It's $45 a head. Info: 610-649-6330 or www.baldball.com.

Tommy Chong (one-half of Cheech & Chong) has reset the local date for his Off-Broadway comedy show, The Marijuana-Logues: two shows May 6 at Glenside's Keswick Theatre. He was supposed to be here in March, while he was on probation after pleading guilty to conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia. But fans at his first few dates kept throwing joints onto the stage. Rather than violate terms of parole - as in, being around pot users - Chong put the tour on hold. The Marijuana-Logues, a parody of The Vagina Monologues, is a three-man show about what else.

Radio activity

Talk-show host Reggie Bryant, let go from WHAT-AM (1340) in mid-January, started last week on WURD-AM (900) doing 3 to 5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

WBEB-FM (101.1) owner Jerry Lee will pick up the National Association of Broadcasters and the Broadcast Education Association's Hugh Malcolm Beville Jr. Award in April. It's given to honor contributions to the field of broadcast audience research.

If Lorraine Ranalli sounded a bit frosty on Sunday doing her shift on WBEB-FM (101.1), it's because she joined in the 12th annual Sea Isle City Polar Bear Plunge, sticking her toe into the Atlantic with a few thousand other nuts on Saturday. It was part of a day of promotions for the book The Adventures of Dayne Traveler, which she wrote with Daniel Pope.

Perhaps Wired (WRDW-FM, 96.5) might want to rethink a poll on its Web site that pokes fun at rival Q102 (WIOQ-FM, 102.1). It's headlined "Kinko's 102 Proudly Presents: Death Pool 2004," and it asks, "Which no-talent ass clown is next to be fired?" The choices include "The Weak Show" and "Chico" - clearly alluding to Q102's former nighttime "Freak Show" and its former morning man, Chio. But, ummm: That's the same Chio that Wired just hired to host mornings, starting in mid-March. The poll was still up yesterday at www.wired965.com/death.php.

Contact columnist Michael Klein at 215-854-5514 or mklein@phillynews.com. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/michaelklein.

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