Red Hot Chili Peppers

Coachella's Apocalyptic Finish

The lights on the main stage went dark and Coachella was over. As folks headed toward their cars (and their demolished tents) I went in the opposite direction, to the press tent. A high wind had caused its imitation canvas flaps to buck in the wind. The tent was empty except for me and one photograp ... More >>

The Economics of Music Festivals: Who's Getting Rich, Who's Going Broke?

By Chris Parker It's as though the sad, lamentable death of recorded music was accompanied by a kick-ass wake. Sure, label executives have had to sell their fancy homes and put their kids in public schools, but the rest of us have been feasting on a musical smorgasbord. Nothing better exemplifies ... More >>

Under-the-Radar Acts to See at Coachella

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Beware any tutorial about the "right way" to do Coachella. Stay sentient, steer clear of phosphorescent forms in spirit hoodies, drink water, and never m ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Lineup Announced

The Coachella lineup is here. It's actually here! There have been ten tons of fakes, some quite convincing, and many of which had the Rolling Stones headlining. (West Coast Sound, however, broke the story that they would not appear.) But never mind all that! The lineup is here, and the headliners a ... More >>

The Best Concerts To See in L.A. This Weekend: Nov 2-4

Friday, November 2 Grace Potter & the Nocturnals THE WILTERN If anyone should be a star, it's Grace Potter. Commercial enough to sing duets with Kenny Chesney, she's also freaky enough to trip out occasionally with folks like Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, who produced part ... More >>

Peelander-Z - Bootleg Theater - 10-27-12

Peelander-Z with Electric Eel Shock Bootleg Theater 10-27-12 Better Than: That "Masquerade Ball" down the street. I face a dilemma before going to see Japanese punk rockers Peelander-Z on Saturday night: What the hell should I wear? It's the Saturday before Halloween, and this is a band that dres ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, August 10 Bomba Estéreo LEVITT PAVILION, MACARTHUR PARK Bomba Estéreo draw upon traditional styles of music like cumbia and champeta, but the Colombian quintet is too musically restless to be strict revivalists. Instead, band leader Simón Mejía pumps up their folkloric influences with h ... More >>

Music Picks: As Blood Runs Black, Kelly Hogan, Regina Spektor

Also, Agalloch, Antibalas, Power of the Riff and others

Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication": Why This Song Sucks

[Editor's note: Why This Song Sucks determines why particular tracks blow using science. It appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday.] Song: Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication" History: "Californication" is from RHCP's Californication, an album that people high-fived when it was released b ... More >>

Fishbone - Bootleg Theater - Oct. 20, 2011

Lina Lecaro Moore gives more. ​See also: The Never-Ending Story of Fishbone Gets Another Chapter with a New Documentary Fishbone Bootleg Theater October 20, 2011 Better than... bands they've influenced like the Chili Peppers and No Doubt. We had actually forgotten about one of our gnarlies ... More >>

Fish Tale: The Never-Ending Story of Fishbone Gets Another Chapter with a New Documentary

Steve Appleford​The oracle came to Angelo Moore in 1989. It was during a tour with his band Fishbone, as they waited to cross the U.S.-Canadian border in the misty, early morning hours. Moore suddenly found himself face-to-face with the great bluesman B.B. King, who had a profound message for ... More >>

Clamor Over Venice 311

Maybe It Should Be Retitled Lost Weekend?

The Ettes, Sade, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Benefit for Nick Curran

Also, Kendrick Lamar, the Punk Rock BBQ, Katy B and others

Top Five Videos Featuring School Girl Uniforms in Honor of Club Suicide's Summer School

Lina LecaroStraight to the principal's office missy!​As we suspected Carma (-you know what) was a bust this past weekend. In fact, traffic was better than ever on the streets of Los Angeles. Still, we did see one big casualty of the freeway closure and subsequent hype: nightlife. Indeed, with ... More >>

Top 5 Edible Rider Requests By Los Angeles Bands

robert_rex_jackson/flickrJane's Addiction. Ginger gives you wings. ​ Anyone who has wasted an afternoon at work bouncing around The Smoking Gun's collection of hospitality riders -- an artist's list of demands, like towels, booze, food, guest tickets -- understands that musicians can be fair ... More >>

Page Two: EsotErykah

Watch: Actress Rain Phoenix Returns to Music with Papercranes' New Video, 'Synapses'

Rain Phoenix makes pretty pop as Papercranes on L.A.'s Manimal Vinyl.​In a brand new video directed by Antoine Wagner (Phoenix's "Lisztomania"), we get a first glimpse at the new record from Rain Phoenix's Papercranes project, via the song "Synapses." The older sister of Joaquin takes a much ... More >>

Across the Universe: New Flying Lotus Video, Weezer Best Coast, RHCP Lawsuit, R.I.P Eyedea

Across the Universe: New Flying Lotus Video, Weezer Best Coast, RHCP Lawsuit, R.I.P Eyedea

Over The Weekend: Rancid at The Music Box

Timothy NorrisRancid mosh-pit at the Music Box looking exactly like you thought it would​ [For more exclusive photos, see Timothy Norris' slideshow "Rancid @ The Music Box".] Last Friday night the Music Box was stuffed to the brim with the unwashed masses of Los Angeles. Rainbow mohawks, bla ... More >>

Who Cares About Bieber, Gaga, or the VMA's? You Do! Winner Recaps Past and Present

Who Really Cares About Bieber, Gaga, or the VMA's? You Do! Winner Recaps Past and Present

Red Hot Chili Peppers Guitarist John Frusciante Makes It Official: He's Out

​Longtime Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has explained the rationale behind his departure the band on his website. For longtime fans, this shouldn't come as a surprise. He and band members have skirted around the issue for the past year (at least), and Frusciante has been as f ... More >>

Gobi Mongolian BBQ House Brings Sizzle to Silver Lake

Its cleanliness was questionable, but before it closed several years ago, Colonel Lee's Mongolian Barbeque joint on Hollywood Blvd. near Western Ave. enjoyed not just steady, but consistently crowded, cult-like business. The novelty of toddling in line, piling uncooked food into a bowl with assorted ... More >>

Flea to Obama: "Give Me Your Pennies!"

​CNN recently interviewed Flea about his wonderful nonprofit The Silverlake Conservatory. The Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist gives a moving testimonial to the saving power of music education for children and teens. "I was heading for a disaster, I was on drugs, I was robbing people's houses, ... More >>

Kanye Who? VMA Moments That Didn't Suck

Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift, continuing a long tradition of unspontaneous VMA quackery. Back in the day, VMA's didn't suck, here's evidence.

Thelonious Monster to Play Surprise Echo Show Tonight in Advance of Warped Dates, Feature Film

Thelonious Monster is reuniting for their first show in 5 years tonight at the Echo, a surprise gig featuring a pretty impressive line-up of LA punk veterans, including: Mike Martt (Tex & The Horseheads, Steve Earle), Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks, Two Free Stooges) and Dix Denny (The Weirdos), bassi ... More >>

A Little Something for the Lakers Fans: Great Songs About Our Team

It might be a hellish commute tonight with a host of Lakers flag-sporting vehicles anxiously crawling across the freeways in the hopes that their drivers can get home in time to catch the first game of the NBA Finals, where the Lakers square off against Orlando's Magic at 6 p.m. Instead of stressin ... More >>

Capitol to Reissue Key Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beach Boys, Ben Harper Releases on Heavy Vinyl

Capitol Records has just announced its next round of 180 gram vinyl reissues, and it's a fantastic list. This next batch will arrive June 16. The Beach Boys / Sunflower (1 LP, single jacket) The Beach Boys / Surf's Up (1 LP, single jacket, lyrics sheet insert) Plastic Ono Band / Live Peace In To ... More >>

Jose Roque Body & Paint, Echo Park

On Sunset near Parkman. This area has seen a lot of terrible stuff going on, not only with street art but beyond that. See Christine Pelisek's story about Raven for one tragic story that took place across the street from here. One mural along the underpass of Silver Lake and Sunset was dedica ... More >>

a Star Is Reborn

At Lot 1, Josef Centeno’s dishes are as improvised as free jazz

Go Fourth and Boomify!

What to do in Los Angeles this week

Eddie Vedder, Mickey Avalon and Red Hot Chili Peppers at Hullabaloo

Uplifting mofo party

Coachella And the Cure for the Common Festivalitis

Roller Coaster of Wub

Disneyland goes all Chili Peppers and shit

The Vest of the Grammys

Grammy fashion, supposedly, is "anything goes" – an opportunity to let your freak flag fly, get a little rock 'n' roll, show some skin, etc. But the looks on display last night - with the exceptions of a wonderfully courageous Imogen Heap who dressed, I think, as a tree? and OK Go, who perso ... More >>

The Right to Die... Onstage!

Between rock and a sidesplitting place with “World’s Funnyman” Neil Hamburger

Middle-Aged Bastards and Still Monsters of Rock

The Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam once again roam the earth

Festivus Maximus

Do you enjoy crowds, music and exhaustion?

After Sunset

Life is a carousel, old chum

Live in LA

Sunset Junction August 27-28 Snoop Dogg/Red Hot Chili Peppers/Ice Cube at the Greek, August 25

The New Originals!

Gang of Four reunite — again — to show how it’s really done

High Times

The Contemporaries

It’s Too Funky in Here

Rockers invade Groovetown

Letters

Sons of the City

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have made an unlikely pop masterpiece by singing bittersweet songs of salvation that could have only been born in L.A.

This Ain't No Juilliard!

Life and violins at the school that Flea built

Outfest

Edited by Kateri Butler

13: A Metal Glossary of Styles

1988 Timeline