The Killers

The Killers - Los Angeles Sports Arena - 5/2/13

The Killers Los Angeles Sports Arena 5/2/13 "Tonight, the City of Angels and Sin City are getting together," said Brandon Flowers last night at the Sports Arena, lead singer of the Las Vegas based Killers. "We'll try not to corrupt you." For 90 minutes, Flowers and company danced and moved on stag ... More >>

The Unorthodox Punk Odyssey of Matt Caughthran

After five years fronting hardcore band The Bronx, cherubic Angeleno native Matt Caughthran and his band did something bizarre, risky and potentially brilliant. They formed a mariachi group. Mariachi El Bronx would go on to open gigs for Foo Fighters and The Killers; quite a successful 180. They'v ... More >>

The Five Best Concerts in L.A. This Weekend

Friday, December 7 Black Mambas THE REDWOOD The Black Mambas -- along with The Neumans and The Hurricanes -- are L.A. label Wild Records' newest signees. But instead of building into the label's Sun Records-style sound of '56, the Mambas stagger into 1976 with gutter-glam songs and dawn-of-punk vel ... More >>

Music Picks: Bloc Party, Metric, KROQ Acoustic Xmas

Murs and Fashawn On Their Kinship and Their New Album

California-bred rappers Murs and Fashawn have much in common. They're both former graffiti writers, skateboarders and independent-minded rappers who have affinities for collaborating with one specific producer per album. But they're also more than a decade apart in age -- Murs is 34, Fashawn 23. *M ... More >>

What the Dodgers' Musical Taste Says About Them

[Editor's note: Weekly scribe Jeff Weiss's column, "Bizarre Ride," appears on West Coast Sound every Wednesday. His archives are available here.] Forget phrenology, both the overrated Roots album and the 19th-century pseudo-science. Ignore palmistry, psychotherapy and Rick Warren. The best way to b ... More >>

Kurt Vile, Santigold, Rusko

Also, Star & Dagger, Charli XCX, Church of Misery and others

Thurz on Reinventing Himself, U-N-I's Break-Up, and Why West Coast Hip Hop Hasn't Gone Mainstream (Yet)

Thurz​In "Los Angeles," the first single from Inglewood rapper Thurz's debut solo project, L.A. Riot-- out yesterday --a girl chirps, "To me, L.A. means home, sunny skies, and happy people." But in Thurz's next verse, he flips the city over to examine its underbelly, "Cats would raise a gun b ... More >>

Jane's Addiction at Tim Burton's LACMA Bash, plus Some of Burton's Best Movie Music

Lina Lecaro LACMA CEO Michael Govan, Tim Burton and Slash​ There is seemingly no rest for the wicked mind of Tim Burton. With current/recent projects ranging from the film version of Dark Shadows to a reworking of his stop-motion short Frankenweenie to Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (sadly, ... More >>

Yo Gabba Gabba's 'Party In My City' Entertains Breeding Hipsters and their Kids ("Kidsters"?)

Lina LecaroThe biggest show -and wildest crowd- Nokia Theatre may have ever seen. ​ Kiddie faux-hawks, fashionably mismatched tutu ensembles and tattoos (fake on tykes, real on moms and dads) swarmed upon L.A. Live in downtown this past weekend, when the trendster tyke sensation Yo Gabba Gabb ... More >>

Tonight: Brandon Flowers, A Perfect Circle, Lila Downs, All Time Low, Candy Claws, Nobunny

Brandon Flowers​His late-summer round of warm-up shows having done nothing but stoke the fires of adulation in fans' hearts, Brandon Flowers is now taking on bigger rooms in a U.S. tour that begins this week. The Killers frontman has received a warm embraced for his solo debut Flamingo, which ... More >>

This weekend: Sunset Strip Music Festival, Boris, Cyndi Lauper, the Antlers, Morris Day, Cap'N Jazz, Something Corporate, Chemical Brothers

Christina M. FeliceVanaprasta​By now, we're sure you have your strategy mapped out for Saturday's street festival portion of the Sunset Strip Music Festival. You're hitting the Sunset Strip early for Semi Precious Weapons; you're darting between outdoor stages for the likes of Travie McCoy, ... More >>

Nightranger: Gamer Gauche

Nightranger: Everybody Talk About Pop Muzik

Unexpected Dance Hits of the '00s: From Peaches to The Knife

There are dance club songs that scream "Hit!" Tunes like "Can't Get You Out of My Head" by Kylie Minogue or "One More Time" by Daft Punk encompass everything that is larger-than-life about the clubland, from massive, happy synths to sing-along hooks to beats that force you to keep on dancing. Then t ... More >>

Club Hypothetical: What's the One Album That a New Goth Fan Should Own?

Trends may come and go, but there will always be young people gravitating towards music that's dark, dramatic and a little raw around the edges. Though the kids dressed in black now might be more into Interpol, The Killers and AFI than Joy Division, The Cure and Sisters of Mercy, they're probably re ... More >>

Last Night: Morrissey (and McLovin) at the Gibson Amphitheatre

Morrissey at the Gibson Amphitheater, December 10 It's no surprise SoCal is the last stop on Morrissey's current tour. He may be homeless and rootless at the moment, but L.A. has always been the big bosom of his fan base. And with the media curiosity over his local popularity fading years ago, only ... More >>

Rock Picks: Broken Nobles, Anny Celsi, Seu Jorge, the Killers

Rock Picks: Broken Nobles, Anny Celsi, Seu Jorge, the Killers

Also, Destroy L.A., Sunset Strip Music Festival, the Drones and others

Ten Great Cover Songs from Coachella 2009 (and a few extras)

Timothy NorrisEven the machinery was flashing the horns. Nothing says "I love you" like a cover song. Artists at Coachella like to acknowledge their influences, love to thrill the crowd with a surprise singalong. This year bands drew from music of many genres, from ragtime to post punk to hip hop. ... More >>

Coachella Saturday: Off-site Parties, On-site Tripping, M.I.A's Dayglo Circus & Do-Lab Love

Almost as soon as it began, sponsors and magazines have tried to find ways to promote themselves to Coachella's massive audience (as well as its performers), and there's no better way to do that than a party. Booze, food, DJs and other amusements are laid out at some swank Palm Springs/Indio pad, an ... More >>

SXSSXSW Day 4/Days Late (Pt. 1): On Rap/Rock, The Legacy of the Beasties, and Asher Roth Vs. The Knux

Other than freshman Delta Sigma Theta rushes at Cal-State Chico, no substrata of the American population has worse taste in rock than rappers. Sure, your little brother likes Fall Out Boy, but eventually, he's going to grow up and discover The Clash, then weed, then hopefully Junior Murvin and Lee ... More >>

Amy Winehouse Pulls Out of Coachella, Leaving Saturday Night Looking ... Tepid

Honestly, the only reason were looking forward to the Saturday night headlining bill of Coachella was Amy Winehouse. She's out, which leaves an already tepid evening of music even less exciting: The Killers and Thievery Corporation are expected to carry the night. Fat chance. Expect a lot of calls f ... More >>

Maybe We're Amazed: Notes on the Fairly Odd Coachella 2009 Lineup

Our only hope — that Macca gets Ram tough

Coachella 2009 Announced: Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney, My Bloody Valentine ... Throbbing Gristle! Leonard Cohen!

Yeah, so all the silly speculation probably isn't done yet, as Goldenvoice always adds a few heavy-hitters after the initial announcement, but the initial line-up is up. Click through to see it in all it's glory. We'll start analyzing it soon, but for now: Throbbing Gristle! No Pavement? Let the ... More >>

Coachella Rumor Mill Works Overtime, but the Confirmations Continue to Trickle In

(Michel Gondry's video for the Chemical Brothers' "Let Forever Be.") Here's a list of "confirmed" (so far) acts to appear at Coachella 2009, according to the very reliable Monklish blog. His guarantee: "I've been told that these have been making arrangements to attend the festival as contractuall ... More >>

Film Chinois and Gulliver’s Travels: Now, Voyagers

Tales of men adrift in metaphor

Oops! Year-Ended Again!

Rock Picks

For the week of December 28 - January 4

Killer Fashion Instincts

Quick: name that band. Who is it, the latest art damaged country punks to stagger out of Joshua Tree? Some long lost side project of J.D. Souther, Jackson Browne and Neil Young? The Devendra Banhart fan club? Any way you look at 'em, their beards are impressive: it takes a long time, and a total dis ... More >>

Heady Metal, Britain's Favorite DJ, and a Defense of Americana's Best Killers

Born in the USA

Killers summon their inner Springsteens

Love, Magic and the Quest for a New Suit

The 88 sound like teen spirit but smell like a rock band

Going to the Grammys...

Considering I may be tone deaf, can't sing to save a life, it's pretty safe to say performing at the Grammy's is a dream out of reach. That is until I was chosen to be a stage performer for the Gorillaz's duet with MADONNA at this year's Grammy Awards!!  I was a little older than their projec ... More >>

Beauty Bar Superstar

Nightranger

Live in L.A.

Can't Let It Go

This Boy’s Writing Life

Youth and literature in Tobias Wolff’s first novel