Music Festivals

The Worst of SXSW

Security and Cops Gettin' Wild: Look, I get it. Every drunken dickhead in town "knows someone" or thinks he has pull at the door, but that doesn't mean the hammer goes down on everyone. I was stopped by two cops who didn't want me to walk 50 yards from where the Smashing Pumpkins would be playing an ... More >>

How Easy Is It to Bang at SXSW?

By Kiernan Maletsky "All the single dudes put up your phone. Now all the single ladies put up your phone. Turn to the nearest person with a phone up. Now type in your phone number. Now you have something to do after this." That was Chuck D, talking from the Doritos Main Stage. Or at least I think ... More >>

Quit Hating on Kings of Leon, Even If You Disliked "Sex On Fire"

[Editor's Note: Fuck Guilty Pleasures celebrates the over-produced, commercial, artless, lowbrow music that we believe is genuinely worthwhile. Like, among the best music ever.] I have several friends who should ostensibly like everything about Kings of Leon, but they strongly dislike the Nashville ... More >>

Angel City Jazz Festival - Ford Amphitheatre - 10/7/12

Angel City Jazz Festival Ford Amphitheatre 10-7-12 Is the Angel City Jazz Festival the best jazz festival in Los Angeles? It depends on how you measure it. If you are going by quality of acts, quantity of acts, accessibility of venue, price of parking or friendliness of crowd, then yes, it is the b ... More >>

Top 5 Weekend Food Events: FIG Sausage Fest, Feria de los Moles, Wine & Jazz Festival, BAM Fest Planet Taco Talk

FIG Inaugural Sausage Fest Chefs Vartan Abgaryan (Public Kitchen), Greg Daniels (Haven Gastropub), Daniel Mattern (Cooks County), Bernhard Mairinger (BierBeisl) and Kris Morningstar (Ray's and Stark Bar) join FIG chef Ray Garcia to grill up their best homemade brats. Sides, snacks and beers from Smo ... More >>

Tweet-A-Beer: Buying Your Idiot Friends Drinks Has Never Been Easier

At South By Southwest last week, Fiona Apple took the stage outside of L.A. for the first time in five years. Bruce Springsteen referenced "blue balls" in his keynote speech. In other news, the Tweet-A-Beer Twitter app also made its official debut, which is fitting considering many SXSW attendees ... More >>

SXSW: Ten Things Your Outfit Says About You

By Reed Fischer Some folks attend South by Southwest to look at bands, but a good many passing through the 2012 edition seem to enjoy the added benefits of being looked at, as well. Even without haute couture, music fans and opportunists on the streets of Austin send a wealth of subliminal messages ... More >>

Cloud Nothings, Bleached - SXSW - 3/15/12

See also: *The Best of SXSW: Wednesday 3/14/2012 *Five Attractive Strange People Working for Tips at SXSW Yesterday it was sticky, but Consequence of Sound threw a day party with a killer lineup that let us cool our heels and laugh at the East coast kids who were marveling at how awesome the weath ... More >>

Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender On Raw Meat And Sexism In Mexico

See also: *Teri Gender Bender is the Most Volatile Woman in Rock *Our review of Iggy and The Stooges and Le Butcherettes at Hollywood Palladium, 12-01-11 This week's feature story is about Teri Gender Bender -- neé Teri Suarez -- of Le Butcherettes. Let's just say she has no intentions of going q ... More >>

Eagle Rock Music Fest Preview: Feeding People On Their Debut LP And A Particularly Memorable Encounter with the Devil

See also: Eagle Rock Music Fest Preview: Flying Lotus Plans To Direct A Feature Film On the cover of Feeding People's debut LP, a lifeless pink lady with blue nipples is sprawled out over a three-eyed rainbow-colored lion and a blue devil with blood spilling out of its mouth over a row of tiny jagg ... More >>

Wu-Tang Clan Headline Village Voice Media's SXSW Party

Nate "Igor" SmithNot to be confused with the Wu-Tang Clan.​Last night Wu-Tang Clan, Yelawolf, Wild Flag, Fishbone, Trae Tha Truth, Marz Lovejoy, Rocky Business, Trouble Andrew, Ume, Times New Viking and DJ Erykah Badu all provided music for the Village Voice Media/Frank 151 SXSW Showdown at th ... More >>

Dance Club Pick: Silence, Steampunk, Submission

Wu-Tang Clan, Yelawolf and Many Others to Play SXSW Party, Courtesy of the Village Voice and Frank151

Wu-Tang: Forever bridging the gap between hip-hop and indie​ We've just received word from our sister publication the Village Voice in NYC that they have something pretty special planned for the upcoming SXSW music and media conference in Austin, Texas. The 2011 Village Voice SXSW party, cosp ... More >>

Raves: How Do You Get L.A. Politicians to Get Behind Parties and Ecstasy? Here's How ...

Caesar Sebastian / InsomniacRavers at 'EDC.'​It was a day of magical thinking Wednesday at the L.A. Coliseum, where officials essentially said yes to another edition of a two-day rave that saw 60 mostly drug-related arrests, more than 200 medical emergencies and the ecstasy-related death of a ... More >>

Concert-Goers Endure Three-Hour Wait At Coachella

Dennis Romero​With reporting from Bill Jensen Concert-goers waited for as long as three hours in near 90-degree heat Friday afternoon to get into the annual Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a three-day affair in Indio, Calif. Organizers seemed ill-prepared to deal with an onslaught o ... More >>

Music Picks: Gary Numan, Ana Moura, Mark Sultan, XBXRX

Also, California E.A.R. Unit, Bonobo, Mr. Gnome, Grouper and others

Last Word on SXSW: Drew Tewksbury's Top 3 Picks (LA Band, Coming Soon, Wild Card)

Last Word on SXSW: Drew Tewksbury's Top 3 Picks (LA Band, Coming Soon, Wild Card)

Last Last SXSW Dispatch (for reals): Sewer Divers, D-bags, and Japanese peace signs

Last Last SXSW Dispatch (for reals): Sewer Divers, D-bags, and Japanese peace signs

5 Questions: Best Coast @ SXSW

5 Questions with... Best Coast

Feel Like Shit After SXSWi? You Might Have a Case of the SX SARS

​A new epidemic has taken over Austin, TX and is currently making its way to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and a multitude of other cities filled with tech heads. The SX SARS first infiltrated the geeks of South by Southwest Interactive last week. Now that the music portion of SXSW i ... More >>

Interview: Armand Van Helden 'Doesn't Get' Lady Gaga, But He Tries

Few DJs have ridden the wild waves of club-land as long as Armand Van Helden has and still survived with their careers intact. The New York spinner's anchor is soul, disco and hip-hop, and no matter how far dance music drifts from its roots, he's in the mix, a buoyant reminder of where it all comes ... More >>

Over the Weekend: Back to School Burlesque, Sunset Strip Music Festival, L.A. Derby Dolls

Despite a "Back to School" themed burlesque show, the Sunset Strip Music Festival and a Derby Dolls bout, the most jaw-dropping event of the weekend wasn't an event at all, but rather a successful bank robbery held by a senior citizen wearing an oxygen tank. Are times really that tough or was the 70 ... More >>

The Mustache Circus at the Echoplex: Henry Clay People, Fol Chen, Others Perform Death-Defying Hooks

View more photos in the "Mustache Circus" slideshow. Friday night was mustache night in Echo Park. At least it was supposed to be. That and circus night. It was way more of the latter than the former. There was cotton candy. There were balloons twisted into funny shapes. There was ski ball. Timo ... More >>

What's That Funky Smell?

THE NANCI GRIFFITH SHOW

SXSW Update: Devo to Debut New Songs

Devo lead singer Mark MothersbaughAt a Thursday afternoon press conference at the South by Southwest Music Festival, punk-art band Devo revealed they will perform new songs at their concert in Austin, Texas, on Friday, March 20. Two of the songs are titled "Don't Shoot, I'm a Man" and "Fresh." The ... More >>

Weird Things We Found at SxSW

It speaks volumes for the nature of a media industry event when, along with the requisite Diet Sodas and veggie plate, there are mini Colgate wisp toothbrushes given out at the concessions table. While we'll leave you to consider the implications of why you would need a mini toothbrush at a tech con ... More >>

SXSW Life in the Lobby: Wavy Gravy and Pet Fish at the Hilton

SXSW Life in the Lobby: An L.A. Weekly Moment with Wavy GravyErin BroadleyWho: Wavy Gravy - Peace Activist, Comic, "Official Clown" of the Grateful DeadLocation: Lobby on the ground floor of the Hilton on 4th Street, across from the SXSW convention centerQuote: "You! I used to have a desk at the L.A ... More >>

The Moment You've All Been Waiting For: We're Coming Out!!!

Erin BroadleyEvacuation ChairBetween 7-9 p.m. is a crazy time at SXSWi Austin; everyone is drinking at the free happy hours trying to chat, tweet, and ping in order to find the night's parties, hookups, and alternate sleep opportunities. Two that are on our radar right now are the Techset party at ... More >>

Hard 13: Boyz Noize, Erol Alkan, Diplo, L.A. Riots

Also: Heart of the City with I&I Soundsystem

From the (Unofficial) Bigg Digg Shindigg to Sex Lives of the Microfamous: Your Ultimate Guide to SXSW Interactive

With the biggest conference presence of the entire SXSW festival, SXSW Interactive is more than just a place where, as ace SXSW Interactive Press and Publicity coordinator Tammy Lynn Gilmore put it, "you get to meet all those people you follow on Twitter." Unlike music and film, it's difficult to ma ... More >>

Bonnaroo Crowd Says F*ck You Mister West and Your Awesome Awesomeness

For the dirt on Kayne's five in the morning show and why that didn't go down too well with the kids, let's check in with Sean Maloney at the Nashville Scene. Early word in the press tent was that Kanye West disappointed the 'Roo crew with an untimely, five-o-clock-in-the-fucking-morning set. Rumor ... More >>

Prince added to Saturday's Coachella Line-Up

This just in: Prince has joined this year's line-up for the ninth COACHELLA VALLEY MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA (Friday, April 25, Saturday, April 26 and Sunday, April 27) as the headliner for the second night of the critically acclaimed festival.

Droid Behavior: Robot Rock

Rekindling L.A.'s love for a misunderstood genre

Brick's Picks: Golden Moments '07

Jazz picks around L.A. — plus a look back

Greetings from Suburbia

The Vegoose Music Festival pleases some of the people some of the time

Nightranger: Frocked Up

When the lights go down

Aaron Cohen: Sex Slaves, Drug Trade and Rock n' Roll

In his quest to free slaves around the world, Aaron Cohen thought he’d seen it all. Then he went to Myanmar.

Echo Park Cuban Music Festival

Salsa, cigars, and chicharrones

Stagecoach Country Music Festival

At Empire Polo Grounds, Indio

Magical Mystery Tour

SxSW journal

Paint It Black

Geesh, a lot of songs have the word "Black" in them don't they? Okay, this is my last time using one as a headline. Promise. The above is the best, anyway. Forgot to mention that the "goodie bag" for the Imitation of Christ show was Smashbox makeup: a magenta lipstick called "Enchanting," black cre ... More >>

Crank that Crunk

Got in last night. Don't even ask about the airplane flight. OK, ask. Horrible, horrible drunk musician-esque type guy sitting behind me, using f-words muchly, trying to impress the unimpressed female next to him. He was under the unfortunate impression that everything he thought, and then said, was ... More >>

Erasure and Smashing Pumpkins News

FRIDAY, 7:30 p.m. Viper Room There was a lively and fashionable crowd at the Viper Room Friday night for MSO PR's soiree celebrating the launch of their new website. Grande dame of public relations, Alexandra Greenberg, introduced me to the MS in MSO, Mitch Schneider. Mitch (above, in black hat) i ... More >>

I Just Shit My Pants

Well, no. Not really. But I just heard that Golden Voice is adding a first ever COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL (it hasn't been given an official name yet) to their Coachella festivities! They are also adding another day to the Indie rock fest, that's right 3 days (Friday, April 27, Saturday, April 28 and ... More >>

Too Much Sexy

Pedro Winter and the French funk of Ed Banger Records

The Fuzz and the Fury

Chaos at the Greasy Spoon

South by Southwest: Music, money and madness

Pander's Box

We asked for it; Jane’s Addiction reopened it

Insane Clone Posse