She's a twentysomething brunette singer-songwriter and preacher’s daughter, with bedroom eyes and cute bangs, who moved to Los Angeles to pursue music and became a MySpace phenomenon. Who is ... Katy Perry? Wrong, fanboys. It's Diane Birch -- the 27-year-old pianist who paid some dues as a lounge singer at the Beverly Hills Hotel before moving to London and then being snapped up by ex-Columbia Records honcho Steve Greenberg’s S-Curve Records. Birch’s soulful debut album, 2009’s “Bible Belt,” earned comparisons to the likes of Duffy and Adele, but it’s her stark honesty that sets her apart from other preacher’s daughters with cute bangs. Having supported Nick Jonas earlier this year at the Wiltern, Birch embarks on her own U.S. headlining tour this week, with L.A.’s soul-folk-pop hybridizer AM as the opener. Wednesday, May 12, at the El Rey Theatre.

Steve Schiltz’s “day band” Longwave has never reaped the commercial rewards it deserves — the quartet released four stellar neo-shoegaze albums between 2000 and ’08. And he harbored no big ambitions for his more ethereal side project, Hurricane Bells, either. That is, until “Monsters,” a B-side from his homemade album “Tonight Is the Ghost,” made it onto “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” soundtrack. Now Hurricane Bells are ringing, along with the chiming guitars that underscore his tender balladry and otherworldy excursions. Friday, May 7, at the Echo.

The first incarnation of promoter Sean Carlson’s Fuck Yeah Fest was a neighborhoody thing. Held in Echo Park with the Echo as its locus, the 2004 event used multiple venues, each within walking distance, which was brilliant in concept even if that first festival did turn into something of a cluster … well, you know. Carlson’s brand has evolved, becoming the F Yeah Fest and now the stultifyingly redundant FYF Fest, but the bills he curates remain cutting-edge. This weekend’s FYF Fan Appreciation Show — featuring the likes of Canadian punks Fucked Up, Austin faux-folkies the Strange Boys and a cadre of L.A. bands including Darker My Love, the Like, the Growlers and Abe Vigoda — returns to original idea. Eight bucks gets you a wristband at the Glass House and access to all three walking-friendly venues. All we can say is, watch out, Pomona. Saturday, May 8, at the Glass House.

Tickets to the Hollywood Bowl: $85 (give or take). “Superfan Bundle” of the double-disc CD/DVD “Carole King & James Taylor Live at the Troubadour,” along with booklet, hat, tote bag and Lucite key chain: $119.99. A chance for middle-agers to get their warm-and-fuzzies by flashing back to 1970: priceless. Yes, iconic songsmiths King and Taylor are making the rounds supporting their new live release (also available as a less pricey package), the material for which was culled from a three-night run they did at the Troubadour in November 2007 — which itself was a reunion of their historic shows in 1970 at the West Hollywood venue. Original band members Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Lee Sklar are on board for this four-month tour, and setlists have reached the 30-song mark, a greatest-hits parade that will darned near let fans feel the earth move. Thursday-Friday-Saturday, May 13-14-15, at the Hollywood Bowl.

“For a nightlife reporter, being woken up before noon on a Sunday is harsh enough, let alone having that text message be the first thing you lay your sleep-crusted eyes on. It's been nearly one year since Marilyn Manson issued death threats towards journalists via his MySpace blog, written in response to what many believed was my L.A. Weekly cover story, "Buddyhead Redux," which detailed a night of drug-fueled debauchery at Manson's hotel and in which Buddyhead founder Travis Keller essentially called Manson a coked-out fraud.” Read more >

“A few weeks ago Meat Loaf released a new single, with the unfortunate title "Los Angeloser," which could be the stupidest West Coast song title since the Red Hot Chili Peppers turned "Californication" into a big single, a major tour and a raunchy cable sitcom.” Read more >

“Henry Rollins and Glenn Danzig are in a loving, committed relationship. Henry (who sometimes looks like Chester Gould's Dick Tracy) loves Glenn dearly, even if occasionally his anger issues get in the way. Glenn keeps a journal about his ambitions and projects, like being in a band wearing corpse-like makeup ("Just be yourself!" recommends Henry). Oh, their neighbors are Hall & Oates, who are just your average neighborhood Satanists with a penchant for D&D. This is the premise of Henry & Glenn, the new minicomic by art collective Igloo Tornado presented last week at Silverlake's comics mecca Secret Headquarters.” Read more >

“Former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters offered his apologies for defacing Elliott Smith's memorial mural with his viral campaign for his upcoming The Wall Live shows. "It was absolutely an accident," Waters said. "I didn't want to disrespect Elliott Smith's fans, and I've instructed (the team) to remove the wheat paste immediately. It was a random pasting in the normal course of this, and I want to make it public that we had no intent to offend or cover up something precious." Read more >

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> THIS WEEKEND

Peter Gabriel
Fri., May 7, 7:00pm First, the bad news: Scratch My Back, the recently released covers album Peter Gabriel is currently touring in support of, is an ... Read more >

The Tallest Man on Earth
Fri., May 7, 8:30pm The Tallest Man on Earth isn't really the tallest. He just looks tall. But while you're down there gazing up in semi-rapt ... Read more >

Ian Whitcomb
Sat., May 8, 7:00pm Ian Whitcomb, the multifarious provocateur whose four decade career has taken him from a groundbreaking 1963 big beat start with Dublin based ... Read more >

Les Savy Fav
Sat., May 8, 6:00pm-9:00pm The difference between a good Les Savy Fav show and a bad one really comes down one thing: whether or not you ... Read more >

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> PLAN AHEAD

Patrick Park, W. Scott Warren
Sun., May 9 Read more >

Les Savy Fav
Sat., May 8, 6:00pm-9:00pm The difference between a good Les Savy Fav show and a bad one really comes down one thing: whether or not you ... Read more >

Ben Folds, Kate Miller-Heidke
Daily from Wed., May 12 until Thu., May 13 It's time for America to get curious about Kate Miller-Heidke. The Australian songstress' stateside debut Curiouser was released in March after topping ... Read more >

Jakob Dylan & Three Legs
Thu., May 13, 8:00pm If you're one of those people who think that Jakob Dylan's old band the Wallflowers sounded more like wallpaper music, you might ... Read more >

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> THIS JUST IN

5/27 Booka Shade at the Fonda Theatre

5/31 Miike Snow at the Fonda Theatre

7/16: MGMT at the Greek Theatre

9/24 Willie Nelson at the Greek Theatre

More Concert Listings >