The Regent Theater downtown is smack dab in the middle of the buzzing few blocks on Main between 4th and 6th Streets, home to the monthly artwalk and a handful of forward-thinking developers and business owners trying to make a buck in this infernal economy. The theater for the past few years has been sporadically used for film screenings and live performances — most recently it's served as the home for Safari Sam's when the Hollywood club was shuttered.

The mighty Internet concern Little Radio recently moved next door to the Regent, setting up its broadcasting center in a little storefront that looks out over Main Street, and on nice days with the doors open, the music from the DJs pours into downtown and the occasional crazy person stops to enjoy a moment of beat-solace. The studio has a drum kit in the corner, which bodes well for in-studio performances, and, lo, a record rack lines one wall — and more on the way. The reason: Little Radio boss Dave Conway is opening a vinyl store in the space — the second new vinyl store to be announced in the past few weeks, since Origami Records has announced its intention to create a little vinyl store on Sunset.

(Now would be a good time to tell you that I do a show on Little Radio — coincidentally, on Thursday mornings from 10 a.m. to noon! Like, in a couple hours!)

Anyway, a few shows at the Regent have been announced. The first, which is co-presented by Aquarium Drunkard and Little Radio, occurs on Saturday, March 14, and it's a doozy:

Phosphorescent

Viva Voce

The Donkeys

The Rafters

We'll be talking more about this show next week, but for now, know it's going on. Also going on at the Regent on April 11 will be a benefit for the great KXLU, home to this city's most adventuresome and forward-thinking programmers. The bill:

Live sets by:

The Happy Hollows

Devon Williams

Kill Kill Kill

vOICESvOICES

Meho Plaza

and more TBA

DJ sets by NO AGE, Fred and Octavius of Demolisten, Michael Stock of Part time Punks and other KXLU DJs.

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