Guitar greats pay respects to Hendrix

You couldn't take your eyes off the man, like a moth drawn to a flaming guitar.

"Jimi (Hendrix) was just a tremendous presence onstage," guitar ace Kenny Wayne Shepherd says. "His guitar playing was enough for anyone, but his stage moves, he kind of let go of any inhibitions and really let loose, from burning his guitar at the Monterrey Pop Festival to playing behind his back and behind his head. Guys like me admired that about him."

And so Shepherd is paying his respects to the Voodoo Child in high fashion, participating in the "Experience Hendrix Tour" along with dozens of other guitar greats. At the Vegas stop, Shepherd will take the stage alongside the likes of Jonny Lang, Doyle Bramhall II, Eric Johnson and more.

"It's an interesting twist on the tour, because you've got people like myself who are influenced by Hendrix, then you've got people who actually played with Hendrix, which is Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell," Shepherd says. "And then you've got people who influenced Hendrix, which would be Buddy Guy and Hubert Sumlin. Hendrix called Buddy Guy the greatest guitar player in the world at one point."

Together, they honor Jimi -- and each other.

"They bring the artists out individually, and as the tour progresses, people are starting to get more and more comfortable and now other artists are starting to join each other onstage," Shepherd explains. "It's got a pretty good flow to it. It's what you would expect: in-your-face guitar, all night long."

See the "Experience Hendrix Tour" at 8 p.m. Saturday at The Pearl at the Palms, 4321 W. Flamingo Road. Tickets are $48-$78; call 942-7777.

The ladies love Maxwell like the dude sweats chocolate and never, ever forgets to put the toilet seat down.

Yeah, it's easy for the fellas to feel a little intimidated by the nouveau R&B lothario, who swipes hearts the way Ricky Henderson stole second base.

But hey, think of it this way guys: Someone has to benefit from all those inflamed passions that Maxwell arouses.

And you know what? It may as well be you.

Show up and get down when Maxwell performs at 8 p.m. today at The Pearl. Tickets are $50-$100; call 942-7777.

On election night, few bands will be offering a more impassioned call for change than Rise Against, the Chicago firebrands whose agit-prop punk is like whiskey spat out over an open flame.

The band's latest disc, "Appeal to Reason," is more Bad Religion-inspired, singalong social commentary that's like a musical Molotov cocktail hurled at the powers-that-be.

See Rise Against at 6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, 3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets are $37 in advance, $40 day of show; call 632-7600.

If you're more into Satan than sermonizing (political or otherwise), don't miss one of the best metal bills of the year when the latest installment of the "Blackest of the Black Tour" hits town like a cinder block to the sternum.

Headlined by blues metal badasses Danzig, the lineup also includes symphonic Norwegian black metallers Dimmu Borgir, gothy Portuguese dirge rockers Moonspell, Ohio thrash throwbacks Skeletonwitch and new jack deathcore upstarts Winds of Plague.

Break out the neck brace now, dudes.

See the "Blackest of the Black Tour" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, 4455 Paradise Road. Tickets are $28.50-$59.50; call 693-5066.

Finnish cello metallers Apocalyptica, 8 p.m. today at the House of Blues ($27; call 632-7600), Patti Labelle, 8 p.m. Saturday at the Star of the Desert Arena, Interstate 15 at Primm ($49.45-$71.45, call 800-386-7867) dance-friendly rockers The Faint, 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the House of Blues ($22-$25; call 632-7600), hard-rockin' cut-ups the Eagles of Death Metal, 10 p.m. Tuesday at the Beauty Bar, 517 Fremont St. ($10; call 598-1965).

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.