»continue reading Manic Street Preachers, Avalon Hollywood, September 25, 2009

HEADS UP
Marianne Faithfull @ Royce Hall
Sat Oct 3

This is a rare opportunity to catch Marianne in person, belting out some tunes from that last album (featuring Decemberists covers, among other things), at Royce Hall no less, and I’ve got a few pairs of tickets to give away at this time. Don’t snooze; e-mail me here with your first and last name for a chance at a pair now. Winners will be notified EOD Thursday.

TORRANCE (Losanjealous):: Former Mayor Dan Walker assumed things were all shored up once he agreed to pay for the costs associated with the installation of a 300-lb. bronzed frog he donated to the city with a stipulation that it be placed in Miramar Park, according to today’s Daily Breeze cover story:

Called “Dreaming of the Kiss,” the sculpture is an early work by Sedona, Ariz.-based artist Kim Kori, who specializes in charming sculptures of small animals with human attributes. Only 16 of this particular piece were cast and one recently sold for $30,000.

Not everyone in the sprawling seaside community is hopped up over the smug, arms-crossed, fully bronzed former tadpole and potential park resident (pictured), however, including Vista Bahia Home Owners Association President Chris Alan Michalski:

“While beautiful, it belongs in an appropriate environment where all may understand and appreciate its merits,” Michalski [said]. “That place is not at the beach.”

»continue reading Former Torrance Mayor’s Bronzed Frog Draws Ire of Coastal Residents; Frog’s Fate in City Council Hands

Relationships are hard. Even harder when they’re with a prostitute. Add a soldier to the mix who suddenly discovers that he’s gay and it seems that relationships are damn near impossible. Such is one of the many premises running rampant through Joe DiPietro’s play F*cking Men.

In the heart of West Hollywood at the Celebration theatre known for its gay, lesbian, and transgender productions, men roam wild and free on the stage. Focused around 10 gay men living in urban America (even though the play was originally for the British stage) F*cking Men brings to light issues we all face in our relationships, whether, gay, straight or completely asexual. Is monogamy natural? Is it necessary? Is promiscuity the answer?

Written for the Stages of London, Joe DiPietro brings together men from all different backgrounds: a soldier, a prostitute, a grad student, a college kid, a high school teacher, a banker, a porn star, a playwright, a movie star, and a talk show host. While many may find the graphic dialogue, sexual depictions and naked men who float in and out of the scenes hard to stomach, the way in which it is presented is so well done that it seems almost natural to see so many penises on the stage.

»continue reading Stage Review: F*cking Men

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading Nico Vega, Avalon Hollywood, September 25, 2009

PICK OF THE WEEK

Pearl Jam
w/ Ben Harper & Relentless7
9/30, 10/1, 10/6 & 10/7
Gibson Amphitheater
Info
 
 

Datarock
w/ Esser & Kav
Wed 9/30
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]

The Horrors
w/ Japanese Motors
Thurs 10/1 | El Rey Theater
Fri 10/2 | Glass House Pomona
[ENTER TO WIN EL REY]
[ENTER TO WIN GLASS HOUSE]

Amadou
& Mariam
Fri 10/2
Henry Fonda Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]

Gil Scott-Heron
w/ Orgone & DJ Jeremy Sole
Sun 10/4
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 

Thom Yorke @ Orpheum Theatre Sun 10/4
Thom Yorke @ Orpheum Theatre Mon 10/5
Julian Plenti @ El Rey (Interpol’s Paul Banks) Thu 11/19
Crosby, Stills & Nash @ Greek Theatre (Rescheduled from 9/23) Sat 10/3
Lucent Dossier Experience “Ravenous Rouge” @ El Rey Thu 10/8
Kid Sister featuring Flosstradamus & The Very Best @ Echoplex Sat 10/24
Le Loup w/ Nurses @ The Echo Wed 10/28
Built To Spill w/ Disco Doom @ Echoplex Thu 10/29
Slipknot @ The Palladium Thu 10/29
Mumiy Troll @ Key Club Fri 10/30
Pixies @ The Palladium Fri 11/6
Noah and The Whale w/ Robert Francis @ The Roxy Tue 10/20
Elefant @ Troubadour Sat 11/21
Dum Dum Girls @ Spaceland Sat 11/28
R Kelly @ Nokia Theater Thu 11/5
Down and Derby Roller Skating Party @ Glass House (Dublab DJs: Greenbean, SFV Acid & Suzanne Kraft) Sun 10/18
Bishop Allen @ El Rey Tue 11/10
Kanye West & Lady Gaga @ Staples Center Mon 11/16
Fuck Buttons @ The Echo Thu 11/12
Spain @ Spaceland Sat 12/19
 

TUESDAY
Blitzen Trapper @ Glass House
Fool’s Gold @ Amoeba (free)
Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions @ Hollywood Forever Cemetary
Old Crow Medicine Show @ Ford Amphitheatre
Paramore @ Fox Theater Pomona
Sheryl Crow, Ben Harper, Joel & Benji Madden (of Good Charlotte), Tom Morello and Jonny Lang @ Club Nokia (Rock A Little, Feed A Lot Benefit for Feeding America)
The 88 @ Spaceland
Wallpaper @ Cinespace

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: September 28 – October 4

Frightened Rabbit

The Twilight Sad
Full photo galleries and We Were Promised Jetpacks photos below.

»continue reading Frightened Rabbit, The Twilight Sad & We Were Promised Jetpacks, Knitting Factory, 9/20/09

Believe it: Dublab has been webcasting quality programming, throwing killer events and spinning wax all over town for ten years now. Big thanks to the entire crew for keeping things beyond bearable here in Los Angeles during that time.

To celebrate this watershed moment, the group is hosting ten glorious back-to-back anniversary events all over town over the course of ten days, beginning October 1. Said events include art shows, DJ nights, screenings, and special broadcasts. (By contrast, when Losanjealous turned four last spring, we ate a bowl of stale pretzels and read Victor’s post out loud in the Sandalwood conference room of the Marina del Rey Courtyard Marriott.) The full 10-day Dublab anniversary schedule is over on their their site and the final event threatens to be huge:

»continue reading Congrats Dublab on 10 Wonderful Years

It has been ten years since the Manic Street Preachers last performed in the U.S. Usually when a band has taken this long between shows, they’re probably on some sort of a reunion tour. Not in this case. In 1999, the Welsh trio were reaching the peak of their popularity and in the years since have headlined several huge festivals and released four additional albums. Unfortunately their success at home and abroad didn’t result in the band touring here. All those lost years, the aforementioned albums, plus the band’s five previous releases equals many starving American fans. Monday night, the hungry ears of the crowd at Neumos in Seattle were the first to be treated to the return of the Manics.

Review continues and set list below.

»continue reading Manic Street Preachers, Neumos Seattle, 9-21-09, First U.S. Show in a Decade

When you go to watch a performance at the Getty Villa, you don’t expect to see a mountain of garbage in the center of the stage, nor have the play opened by a man dressed in a mariachi costume with a giant foam Dodgers finger on one hand. Performances of Greek comedies are not usually filled with scatological humor or rapid-fire sexual innuendos that would make even the Bard blush. However, this is exactly the kind of experience the theater group Culture Clash wants you to have. You can see a traditional interpretation of Aristophanes’ play another time, so for now sit back and listen to some fart jokes.

The play’s title is Peace, but it might as well be Shit, Weed, and Peace, because that more accurately describes the major themes of the play in order of emphasis and importance. The story follows Ty Dye (John Fleck), a crazed pot farmer who, having grown sick of the constant wars plaguing the world, decides to travel to the top of Mount Olympus in search of the goddess Peace. Riding on the back of a gigantic dung beetle, Ty Dye reaches the heavens only to hear from the very flamboyant god, Hermes (or rather, Hermés), that Peace has been captured and is being kept away from humanity in a cave by Mars, the god of War. Enter Mars, looking not unlike an oversized Marvin the Martian wearing an Army officer’s uniform emblazoned with a swastika and sheriff’s badge. Now Ty Dye must free Peace from War’s evil clutches with the help of some Guatemalan gardeners (writers Montoya, Salinas, and Siguenza), a feisty Malibu housewife-cum-Greek chorus leader (Amy Hill), and a trio of Mariachi ladies (Las Colibrí).

»continue reading Stage Review: Aristophanes’ Peace

PICK OF THE WEEK

Bon Iver
Hollywood Forever Cemetary
Sun 9/27
6 am sunrise show, doors at 12 am
Info
 
 

OohlaLA French Music Festival
Wed 9/23 – Sebastian Tellier, Gonzalez & Cocoon
Thurs 9/24 – Nouvelle Vague, Emilie Simon & The Do
Fri 9/25 – Brodinski, The Shoes & Jamaica
Henry Fonda Theater
Info | [ENTER TO WIN]

Autolux
w/ Mini Mansions a
Friday, September 25th
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]

The Dodos
w/ The Ruby Suns & Sian Alice Group
Sunday, September 27
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]

Blitzen Trapper
w/ Wye Oak
Monday, September 28
El Rey Theater
Info
[ENTER TO WIN]
 

Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions with Dirt Blue Gene @ Mayan Theatre Sat 10/3
Breakestra Dusk Till Dawn Record Release Party with DJ Jeremy Sole, DJ Day, Simple Citizens @ El Rey Tue 10/6
An Evening With The Decemberists @ Royce Hall (Live accompaniment to animated film — “Here Come The Waves: The Hazards Of Love Visualized”) Mon 10/19
89.9 KCRW Presents (H)it Week @ The Music Box with Negrita, Giovanni Allevi, Africa Unite, Calibro 35, Amana, Marco Fabi @ Henry Fonda Sat 10/17
89.9 KCRW Presents (H)it Week @ The Music Box with Afterhours, Linea 77, Belladonna, Le Vibrazioni, The Niro + Dj Set @ Henry Fonda Fri 10/16
Vetiver @ The Sanctuary, Santa Monica (Church at 235 Hill St) Fri 10/16
Ennio Morricone Conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra @ Hollywood Bowl Sun 10/25
Rob Zombie w/ Nekromantix – Captain Clegg & the Night Creatures @ The Palladium Sat 10/31
Michael Ian Black & Michael Showalter @ Orpheum Theatre Thu 10/22
Jay Farrar & Ben Gibbard @ El Rey Fri 10/23
Masquerade: A Halloween Costume Ball & Dance Party by KCRW @ Legendary Park Plaza Hotel (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Little Dragon, Sea Wolf, KCRW DJs–member onsale 9/24; public onsale 9/29) Sat 10/31
The Golem @ Redcat (Live costumed score by Brian LeBarton (Beck), Joey Waronker and more) Sat 10/31
The Golem @ Redcat (Live costumed score by Brian LeBarton (Beck), Joey Waronker and more) Fri 10/30
Dusty Rhodes And The Riverband, Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, more @ Knitting Factory Thu 10/1
Devo @ Henry Fonda (Peforming “Freedom of Choice”) Wed 11/4
Devo @ Henry Fonda (Performing “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!” ) Tue 11/3
LA Weekly’s LA 101 w/ Silversun Pickups, Dandy Warhols & Matt and Kim @ Gibson Amphitheatre Tue 11/3
Wolfmother @ The Wiltern Tue 11/24
Girls @ Troubadour Sat 12/5
Ozomatli @ Club Nokia Sat 12/19
Ozomatli @ Club Nokia Fri 12/18
Pavement @ Central Park SummerStage NYC (1st announced reunion show) Tue 9/21/2010
 

TUESDAY
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros @ El Rey
Pink Mountaintops @ The Echo
The 88 @ Spaceland

»continue reading Losanjealous Concert Picks: September 21 – 27

»continue reading Little Boots, The Roxy, September 18, 2009

YACHT
TeamYACHT.com | MySpace

Full photo gallery below.
»continue reading YACHT, Greek Theater, September 17, 2009

HEADS UP
Friends of Richie III – A Bloody Good Time Benefit featuring Legal Weapon / Mike Watt / Nels Cline / Saccharine Trust / Sylvia Juncosa / Jon Wahl @ Knitting Factory Sun Sep 20

FRIENDS OF RICHIE III: A BLOODY GOOD TIME

On the day after Christmas, 2006, veteran alternative musician Richie Hass was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. He had no insurance and no “medical home.” His cancer was “staged” at end-stage. His colleagues organized “Friends of Richie,” a benefit concert intended to raise money to pay Richie’s medical bills. Because Richie was being qualified for MediCal and had been admitted to treatment at the City of Hope National Medical Center, Friends Of Richie I became a fundraiser for the International Myeloma Foundation and the City of Hope.

The treatment Richie received at City of Hope was second to none, and he had a complete remission that lasted from June 2007 to the resurgence of his cancer in early 2008. However, the cancer roared back, and on March 20th, 2008, on a quiet afternoon, Richie lay down for a nap and never woke up. He went out peacefully and without suffering. In April 2008 Friends Of Richie II: A Celebration Of A Life, took place, benefiting the International Myeloma Foundation once again. $1,000 was raised for the IMF, providing comfort to Richie’s family and contributing to the progress of science in finding effective treatments and an eventual cure.

»continue reading To Do This Weekend: Richie Hass Tribute & International Myeloma Foundation Benefit @ Knitting Factory

HEADS UP

Pavement @ Central Park SummerStage NYC Tue 9/21/10 (Password: ZOWEE)

After years of speculation, the most important American band of the Nineties is returning to the stage with the lineup of Mark Ibold, Scott “Spiral Stairs” Kannberg, Stephen Malkmus, Bob Nastanovich and Steve West reuniting for dates around the world in 2010. Please be advised this tour is not a prelude to additional jaunts and/or a permanent reunion.

»continue reading Pavement Reunion, Show Announced, Septemember 21, 2010, Central Park SummerStage, Ticket Presale Info & Password

In a year where the increasingly pointless Oasis has finally kicked the bucket, Blur’s classic lineup reunites and The Stone Roses debut celebrates it’s 20th anniversary, Sheffield’s Arctic Monkeys have emerged as their sons and heirs to a Britpop throne, though, thankfully, not obviously influenced by either of those elder bands.

They’ve come a long way and fast. Six years and three LPs into it, they have an enviable bag of tunes and have already gone through the growing phases that most bands do over a long career: long hair, seeking out American influences (specifically, Josh Homme), attempts at a “mature” mellower sound, etc.

Taking the stage to some up-tempo big beat and surprisingly loud shrill screams, their hour and a half set easily wins over the Palladium tonight, admittedly a partisan crowd. These are clearly songs that are saying something to these particular kids about their lives. »continue reading Arctic Monkeys & The Like, Hollywood Palladium, September 15, 2009