Tonight kicks off a nice run of holiday season benefit rock shows for good causes around town. Basically, you have no excuse for not coming out and digging some music and giving a little something back.

Tonight, Friday 11/20

When You Awake & The Fold Present A Tribute To Neil Young w/Delta Spirit, Ferraby Lionheart, Jason “Dead Meadow” Simon, Leslie and the Badgers, Stevens, The Parson Red Heads, Restavrant, Chapin Sisters & more @ Bootleg Theater. Proceeds benefit Children’s Music Fund.

Saturday, 11/21

Band of Horses, Tom Morello, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tom Gabrel, Shirley Manson, Butch Walker, Jarrod Gorbel, Charlotte Martin & more @ Avalon Hollywood. Proceeds benefit the Pablove Foundation.

Sunday, 11/22

Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Billy Idol, Travis Barker, Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother), Dave Navarro & more @ Avalon Hollywood. Layn Rocks: Los Angeles Youth Network Homeless Benefit.

Wednesday, 12/8

Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis. w/ Black Francis w/ Flea, members of Pixies, Love & Rockets, The 88, Michael Penn & more @ Echoplex

Thursday, 12/9

Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis. w/ Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, Dave Lovering (magic act) @ The Echo

News out of Manchester, TN. Bonnaroo 2010 now has dates you can touch-type into your iCalendars: June 10-13, 2010. (Was it always 4 days?) Ticket pre-sale begins on 11/27 and runs through 12/31. Handy layaway plan of five $50 payment is available. No word on the headliners or any of the line-up as of yet. Let the wild speculation begin.

Establishment: Caffe Luxxe.
Location: Montana Avenue, Santa Monica.
Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009.
Time: 3 pm-ish.
Beverage(s) consumed: Latte (2%).
Price: $3.75 + $1.00 tip (unacknowledged [paid w/ a fiver and a quarter felt too little.])
Service: Efficient and polite, if a bit cool.
Review: Smooth, rich, maybe a bit nutty on the coffee back end, maybe a bit too milky; overall, very good and well above average.
Latte art: Rosetta pattern. (B+ – good for a latte, lines could have been a bit tighter.)
Crowd: Full house. Well-dressed business dudes talking excitably in Italian. Mandatory unshaven writer type guy staring at Macbook Pro front and center. Possible grad student with a bunch of academic type books against the wall. Couple gay dudes at the counter stools.
Overall visit score: 7.6/10.0

Full photo gallery below.
»continue reading Exclusive Photos: UC Regents Fee Hike Protest at UCLA

Quick heads up here from the Losanjealous Ticket Update Desk: If you were planning on picking up an “Off Da Hook” ticket package for the hotly anticipated The Guy Fieri Roadshow 12/17 date at Gibson Amphitheater, we’re sorry to have to let you know that you are out of luck–they are now sold out.

Your “Off Da Hook” package ($250.25 + service fee) would have included a seat on stage with the man himself, so everyone in the audience can see you, as well as:

- Tour Laminate
- A copy of Guy’s More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: A Drop Top Culinary Cruise Through America’s Finest and Funkiest Joints
- 2 Squirt Bottles
- Pre-Show Meet and Greet

The good news is that there are still “Kulinary Krew” packages ($150.25 + service fee) available. It includes everything the “Off Da Hook” package includes–the tour laminate, the copy of Guy’s book, the 2 squirt bottles and the pre-show meet and greet–however your seat is in the first 7 rows, not on the stage.

If for some reason you cannot make the show, Guy Fieri brand squirt bottles are available at the Food Network online store ($9.95/2-pack).

As we close in on Miller Time around these parts, here’s a round up of a few of the day’s top stories that for one reason or another your humble editors considered–but ultimately rejected–for individual posts today.

― Authorities search for robbers who made a Gold Line getaway
God bless, The News. Never one to let the small details of the story pass up a good catchy alliterative headline. If you actually read the story, you will see that the crime was a stolen cellphone. Not to down play it if it was your phone that was swiped, but with the breathless headlines of robbers on this you’d think it was a bank heist or something big.

― Disputes Continue Over Jackson Estate and Public Memorial
NYT finally jumps into the mix to solve our Michael Jackson funeral costs debacle. First comment out of the box about sums it up:

PLEASE (Yes-I’m screaming) Can we stop talking about this family? Yikes.
— Francine

― DA announces new tool to combat dog fighting
FINALLY, a 24-hour dog fighting hot line. (877) NO-2-FITE. HOW many times have I witnessed a dog fight at 4 a.m. and thought if only there was a number I could call to stop this dog fight. Standing $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of individuals involved in dog fighting. Cock fighting is still OK.

― Prolific ‘BMW bandits’ steal parts from more than 50 luxury cars on the Westside
Wait a minute… Something’s not right here…. BMW’s? On the Westside? What are the odds?

― Aprons are no longer for the matronly
And, on the lighter side, Sabrina Enayatulla, our favorite LA Muslim Women’s Style Examiner, breaks it down for us on aprons.

New 9-minute feature “Oil of L.A.” worth checking out went up on VBS.tv today. Directed by Joseph Patel and hosted by Nate Harrington, and sharply shot and tightly edited, it’s a great quick look at current and former oil wells that are hidden in plain sight right around town, including spots such as Beverly Hills H.S. (who knew?), the Farmer’s Market and the Beverly Center. The film doesn’t really aim to delve into the implications of its findings beyond just acknowledging the wells’ existences, but packs a lot in its 9-minutes–definitely a compelling pitch for some funding to support a longer piece on the subject.

Bruins go down in 2OT to CSU Fullerton at Pauley last night. I didn’t catch most of the game. How bad did the Bruins look in this season opener? Forget it, don’t answer that. I see Roll and Lee put up some numbers. But even Lavin never lost to CSU Fullerton. This does not bode well for the season to come. Next up are Bakersfield and Pepperdine, usually two automatic W’s to pencil in, but, now, maybe not so automatic.

The Getty has a pair of great British cinema double-bills this Saturday and next in their Four Angry Young Men film series. Tomorrow, November 14, screens Look Back In Anger and Satuday Night and Sunday Morning (starring Albert Finney, above). Next Saturday, November 21 features This Sporting Life and The Loneliness of the Middle Distance Runner.

Any self-respecting Smiths, Decemberists, Belle and Sebastian or Arctic Monkeys fan no doubt knows these influential films well (or should) but it’s always nice to see them on a big screen in the dark with similarly minded, tastefully dressed fans. I only wish they would have dug a bit deeper and thrown in a film or two from this era that is a bit harder to catch, such as not-on-DVD The L-Shaped Room.

The series is free but you must to make reservations individually for each film online at the above link.

Nearly one year after I first dropped the word of a pending Westwood Village Barney’s Beanery back in December 2008, a “Coming Soon!” sign has finally been hung on the former Good Earth, former Straton’s spot (and about 150 feet from the Westwood C.P.K.). Year-long delays, along with unexplained sudden shutterings, are unsurprising when it comes to the fickle zoning and real estate winds in the Village. Let’s hope that a) Barney’s can take root and stick around for a while; and b) that the village idiots will stick to O’Hara’s and not ruin the vibe at Barney’s.

For some strange reason, I get a lot of Las Vegas related e-mail. I mean, like, a lot. Could have something to do with the fact I’m there just about monthly, but who knows. This offer that hit my in-box was too good to not pass on to all of you–Have your photo taken with the Lakers 2009 Championship Trophy, today through Sunday at The Mirage just $299.

Or, if $299 and a drive to Vegas is too steep for you, e-mail us a photo and we will Photoshop the trophy in your hands for only $199–a savings of $100 plus the cost of going to Vegas.

Full trophy time and location details if you insist on going to Vegas below.

»continue reading Take Your Photo with the Lakers Trophy in Vegas, $299; Losanjealous Photoshop Job, $199

As the Clippers continue to underachieve under Dunleavy, the idea to bring B. Scott home to run that team–moving Dunleavy to full time GM–does have a nice ring to it. Even though the Lake Show Life is campaigning for him to take Rambis’s former spot on Phil’s bench in hopes of him eventually sliding to head coach, I can’t–nor can Fanhouse–see him waiting for Phil to retire, going back to being an assistant or usurping what seems like Brian Shaw’s inevitable turn at the Laker reins.

Beloved yellow Los Angeles-founded casual dining eatery and home to no small number of contentious Losanjealous staff subcommittee meetings, the California Pizza Kitchen (NASDAQ:CPKI), is getting a revamped menu for fall:

Guests will now be able to order any of California Pizza Kitchen’s innovative pizzas on a new honey-wheat with whole grain crust and any of their twelve pastas on multigrain penne.

New items include (tasty emphasis mine):

»continue reading California Pizza Kitchen Launches New Menu Options

Nice piece on Fender in today’s Times Business section. A visit to the Corona manufacturing plant has all kinds of guitar nerd details. I do, however, wish that the writer would have probed them a bit more on the wide disparities between the Corona-made and Mexican-made models. If you want to kill some time, check out our Fender Jazzmaster archive which we have been told is one of the biggest online collection of shots of active artists using the popular guitar with the patented offset body.

Jazzmaster shot by Sung from Thom’s recent Orpheum Theater show.

Late breaking afternoon news From CBS2.com:

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBS)―The Los Angeles Police Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying a robber who has been dubbed the “left-handed eyeglass bandit.”

The man has been linked to eight business robberies in South Los Angeles since Oct. 21.
»continue reading Losanjealous Newswire: “Left-Handed Eyeglass Bandit” At Large

Reports are surfacing that maverick Marverick owner Mark Cuban may be interested in taking the Dodgers off the McCourts troubled hands:

“For the right deal, I’m always interested, but I’m not on a mission,” Cuban said Tuesday. “I’ll make an inquiry like I have in the other deals, then we’ll see what happens.”

And this coming on a day where Jamie McCourt is digging in and crying on T.J.’s shoulder over on Page Two.

Seriously, just how much plain fun would it be to have Cuban in town, beyond his passion and business savvy that could make the Dodgers winners again? Factor in his Hollywood enterprise, 2929 Entertainment, and it just makes sense.

»continue reading Mark Cuban, Please Buy The Dodgers

PICK OF THE WEEK

Band of Horses
w/ Warpaint
Club Nokia 1st Anniversary Show
Mon 11/9
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 

Bishop Allen & Throw Me The Statue Tues 11/10 Echoplex | Info [ENTER TO WIN]	Buraka Som Sistema Thurs 11/12 Mayan Theater Info [ENTER TO WIN]
Huey Lewis & the News Thurs 11/12 Club Nokia Info [ENTER TO WIN]	Fuck Buttons w/ Growing Thurs 11/12 The Echo Info [ENTER TO WIN]
Dead Meadow w/ Imaad Wassif Thurs 11/12 Echoplex Info [ENTER TO WIN]	Bomba Estereo Fri 11/13 The Echo Info [ENTER TO WIN]
The Raveonettes w/ Crocodiles Fri 11/13 Henry Fonda Theater Info [ENTER TO WIN]	Mission of Burma Sun 11/15 The Echo Info [ENTER TO WIN]
The Mountain Goats w/ Final Fantasy Sun 11/15 Henry Fonda Theater Info [ENTER TO WIN]

Jaguar Love @ The Smell Fri 11/20
Mental Head Circus @ King King Sun 11/22
Johnny Echols Turn featuring The Quarter After & Sweaters @ Spaceland (Classic-era Love lead guitarist) Thu 11/19
Foreign Born @ Spaceland Fri 12/18
Cold Cave @ The Echo Sun 12/6
Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis / Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, Dave Lovering (magic act) @ The Echo Wed 12/9
Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis / with perfomances by Black Francis w/ Flea, members of Pixies, Love & Rockets & and many more @ Echoplex Tue 12/8
Stevie Wonder’s House Full of Toys with The Jonas Brothers & More @ Nokia Theater Sat 12/12
Black Lips @ Detroit Bar Wed 1/20
Black Lips @ Glass House Fri 1/22
Black Lips @ El Rey Sat 1/23
Fink @ Spaceland Fri 12/4
An Albatross, All Leather (members of the Locust) & more @ The Smell Sun 11/15
Pocahaunted @ The Smell Sat 12/12
Dengue Fever & Pollyn @ The Mint Thu 12/31
Fruitbats w/ Citay @ Echoplex Thu 1/28
Dirty Projectors with the LA Phil @ Disney Concert Hall Sat 2/27
Jay-Z @ Staples Center (Presale 11/10) Fri 3/26
 

TUESDAY
Best Fwends @ The Smell
Bishop Allen @ Echoplex
Inara George w/Ferraby Lionheart, Eleni Mandell & Daniel Martin Moore @ Bootleg Theater

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: Nov. 9 – 15

PHOTO by Sung. Full set here.

Debuting the Doolittle show to the U.S. at this first of a three-night-stand at the Hollywood Palladium, Pixies have the crowd won over before a note is played. But nonetheless, they will proceed to deliver the goods over the course of the hour and half set that unfolds. One of the side effects of the play-a-classic-album show is that the fixed script largely eliminates the element of surprise and prunes out the most casual fans. The collective vibe is thus more akin to that of something like Rocky Horror screening; the converted going to church. It’s heartening to see multiple generations of fans, even if the mean age might skew a bit towards the Gen X’ers. One little ‘tween girl skipping around has an endearing tiny iron-on shirt with their four faces in silhouette.

After a pixelated projection of Buñuel and Dali’s Un chien andalou, famously source material for the poetry of Debaser, they take the stage, three of the four of them clad in slimming all black, David the lone hold out in a white button down. A quartet of conjoined glowing globes, something between a science fair molecular model and rosary beads, dangles over them. Lo-fi but effective stage art (to go along with projections of unique new song-length films assigned to most of the songs). They ease into the set with four Doolittle-era B-sides. And while I had hoped for Kim’s “Debaser” bouncing bass eighth-notes to be the first sounds of the night, going with the B-sides proves to the be right way to go–a nod to the deeper fans, serving to build the anticipation, while setting the album in some kind of context.

»continue reading Pixies, Peforming Doolittle, Hollywood Palladium, November 4, 2009

PICK OF THE WEEK

Pixies
Doolittle Tour
Wed 11/4 w/ No Age
Thurs 11/5 w/ Black Gold
Fri 11/6 w/ Rain Machine
Hollywood Palladium
 

Ian Anderson
Performs the Acoustic
Jethro Tull
Fri 11/6
The Wiltern
Info | [ENTER TO WIN]

Bostich + Fussible
Nortec Collective Presents
Thurs 11/5
Echoplex
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]

Múm
w/ Sin Fang Bous & Hildur Gudnadottir
Fri 11/6
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 

The Books @ Hollywood Forever Masonic Lodge Mon 11/23
Cold War Kids @ The Wiltern Fri 1/22
Fishbone, Less Than Jake, Cage, The Swellers & screening of the Warped Tour 15th Anniversary Movie @ Glass House Sat 12/5
The Start w/ Mellowdrone @ Troubadour Sat 12/12
Tom Morello, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tom Gabrel, Shirley Manson, Butch Walker, Jarrod Gorbel, Charlotte Martin and more @ Avalon (Pablove Foundation Benefit) Sat 11/21
U2 @ Anaheim Stadium Sun 6/6/10 (On sale 11/9/09 10 am)
U2 @ Oakland Alameda County Colosseum (On sale 11/2/09) Wed 6/16/10
City and Colour @ Henry Fonda Sat 1/23
Squirrel Nut Zippers @ El Rey Fri 1/1
Lady Gaga w/ Kid Cudi @ Nokia Theater Wed 12/23
Lady Gaga w/ Kid Cudi @ Nokia Theater Tue 12/22
Fat Freddy’s Drop @ The Roxy Fri 11/20
The Cribs w/ The Blood Arm @ The Roxy Mon 11/9
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Miquel Atwood-Ferguson Quintet, DJ Sets by Madlib, Coleman & B+ @ Echoplex Fri 11/6
Deftones @ Avalon Thu 11/19
50 Cent, T-Pain, Pitbull, Fabolous, Jeremih and Jay Sean @ Gibson Amphitheatre (Power 106 Cali Christmas) Wed 12/16
Them Crooked Vultures @ The Wiltern (Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones) Tue 11/17
Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Billy Idol, Travis Barker, Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother), Dave Navarro & more @ Avalon (Layn Rocks: Los Angeles Youth Network Homeless Benefit hosted by George Lopez) Sun 11/22
We The People Festival @ L.A. Center Studios (Bad Religion, Suicidal Tendencies, Madvillian, Flobots, Anti-Pop Consortium, Daedelus, Blu&Exile, Tomorrow’s Bad Seeds & more) Sat 11/21
Lizz Wright @ Luckman Theatre Sat 11/7
 

TUESDAY
Devo @ Henry Fonda (Performing “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!” )
LA Weekly’s LA 101 w/ Silversun Pickups, Dandy Warhols, Dengue Fever & Matt and Kim @ Gibson Amphitheatre
Minus The Bear @ Glass House
Ojos Rojos, Jason Simon (Dead Meadow) @ The Press (129 Harvard Ave, Claremont) (free)

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: Nov. 2 – 8

PICK OF THE WEEK

Phish Festival 8
3-Day Event
Oct 30, 31 & Nov 1
Empire Polo Field, Indio
Tickets & Info
[ENTER TO WIN 3-DAY PASSES]
Contest closed. Thanks to all the many of you that entered!
 
 

Band of Skulls @ Troubadour Fri 12/11
Bebel Gilberto @ Henry Fonda Wed 12/9
Lady Gaga w/ Kid Cudi @ Nokia Theater Mon 12/21
Julian Casablancas @ Palace Theater, Downtown (4-show package) Fri 11/6
Julian Casablancas @ Palace Theater, Downtown Fri 11/27
Julian Casablancas @ Palace Theater, Downtown Fri 11/20
Julian Casablancas @ Palace Theater, Downtown Fri 11/13
Julian Casablancas @ Palace Theater, Downtown Fri 11/6
Castledoor, We Barbarians @ Bootleg Theater Fri 10/23
Benefit for Laura Ann @ Echoplex (Backward Clock Society featuring Billy Corgan, Kerry Brown and Mark Tulin, The Happy Stars (Brian Young and Joe Skyward), The Pulsars, Tim Rutili, Syd Straw, Pity Party, Light FM, more) Sun 11/8
David Garza @ Largo Wed 11/18
 

TUESDAY
Ojos Rojos, Chief Nowhere @ The Press (129 Harvard Ave, Claremont) (free)
Sunset Rubdown @ Troubadour

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: October 26 – November 1