God Save Gertrude, a punk rock musical take on William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, opens this Saturday at The Theater at Boston Court in Pasadena.

Borrowing from Shakespeare for musical theater (and just about every other creative pursuit) is nothing new of course; it has spawned iconic shows like West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet,) Kiss Me Kate (The Taming of the Shrew) and The Lion King (Hamlet.) Further afield musically, in 1957 Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn composed Such Sweet Thunder, a jazz suite that draws on the Bard’s plays, characters and sonnets.

Deborah Stein, God Save Gertrude’s playwright, and David Hanbury, composer, continue the tradition, employing punk’s sensibilities to offer an updated portrayal of the Danish prince Hamlet from the point of view of his pilloried mother, Queen Gertrude– against a backdrop of some things that never change: corruption, betrayal and revenge in the halls of power.

God Save Gertrude previews through Friday Oct. 9, opens Saturday, Oct. 10th, runs through Nov. 8th. At Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor (between Colorado and Union) Pasadena CA 91106. Detailed information here.

Hat tip to Our Pal Dave Share from OC Metblogs for noticing this: Pee Wee Herman’s facebook page for his stage show announced that his show will be extended, due to popular demand, to Club Nokia!

The run will be from January 12th to February 2nd, and tickets go on sale this Thursday! If you are holding tix to his Music Box shows, you can exchange tickets by calling Ticketmaster at 1-800-653-8000.

Just in time for Halloween, the Los Angeles Opera distributed a press release today announcing their first ever costume sale. Over 2500 costume pieces will go sale this Saturday, October 10 from 10:00AM to 6:00PM.

Fantasma De La Opera

Pieces for sale will include everything ranging from complete “merry peasant” and “medieval courtier” costumes to individual pieces such as capes, hats, shoes and fans. Highlights of the collection include a number of “diva dresses,” stunning hand-crafted gowns worn by LA Opera’s leading ladies including Carol Vaness (La Traviata, Don Giovanni, The Merry Widow and La Rondine), Jennifer Larmore (L’Italiana in Algeri), Maria Ewing (Fedora), Verónica Villarroel (Idomeneo) and Karita Mattila (Jenufa), as well as costumes worn by superstar tenor Plácido Domingo (Un Ballo in Maschera and Idomeneo). From what I hear, there is only one latex Fly costume so get in line early if you want to nab that one!

Prices will range from $10 for accessories to $20 for hats and masks, complete costumes from $150 all the way up to $5,000 for couture pieces. Cash, check and credit cards are all accepted.

LA Opera is the fourth largest opera company in the United States. The Company’s Costume Shop is staffed by dozens Read the rest of this entry →

Noise rawk iconoclasts The Jesus Lizard have gotten their collective shit together and are on a reunion tour, and I think that’s just swell. If you’d like to go to their show at the Fonda and get your eardrums blown out, you can do it on us.

Wanna go? Just tell me the name of the local band that JL frontman David Yow has been singing in for the last few years. Yes, whomever gives the correct answer will tip off everyone else, so this is more of a raffle kinda thing: put the correct answer in, and we’ll draw a couple names.

Info on the show is here, campers.

Why the massive ticket blowout? Because we love you.

That charming man, Brit bad boy rapper The Streets (aka Mike Skinner) is bringing his show to Club Nokia on the 15th and we’re sending you to the show. If you’re cool enough.

But are you? Prove it. Leave your favorite bit of British slang in the comments below, with an explanation since we all can’t be as cool as you. We’ll randomly pick a few lucky wankers…I mean, winners…to go see the show.

Info on the show is here.

I loved this band when I first heard them about two years ago on Little Radio. Their song “Moving Pictures, Silent Films” is a haunting little curio cabinet of a song that crops up in my memory often when I’m feeling cloudy and complicated, as is often the case.  Their atmospheric, plaintive sound is a don’t-miss for anyone in love with heartfelt sounds.

So we’ve got tickets to the show. If you want to go, leave a comment and tell me the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you. We’ll randomly pick a few winners to go.

Info on the show is here.

Oh my god, I love these guys. Again, of course, I will be away for this one–winging away to Athens, GA for a week in the steamy South. Please rock out at this show on my behalf.

2002′s unbelievable epic prog-post-punk opus Source Tags and Codes was the husky, burnished soundtrack, both ponderous & soaring, for the next twelve months of my life when it came out. I’m so stoked Trail of Dead is still playing, because we need us some complex material in these days of 140-character expressions.

Wanna go? Tell me the title of an overwrought philosophy book. It can be the one you were assigned in your 101 class in college, or if you’re the kind of boy I always fall for you’re a massive pain with a huge philosophy collection and will be able to pull some obscure Plotinus Ennead out of your ass.

Info on the show is here.

Man, am I bummed I’m gonna be missing this one. But my vacation calls! You’ll have to go for me. Lucent Dossier’s cirque-meets-vaudeville-meets-Moulin Rouge-meets-Weimar-meets-Wonderland vibe is unlike any other, and it’s not just onstage: to go to one of their shows is to step into a 360-degree performance where the show happens all around you.

Wanna go? Tell me, in the comments, about a trippy experience you had or a bizarre show you attended. Maybe this one will show it up.

Info on the show is here.

Beyond Eden, the second annual multi-gallery exhibit celebrating contemporary art in Los Angeles, will return to Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz this weekend, October 9 through 11.

Last year, when the event was called East of Eden, it was a collaboration between galleries in Silver Lake, Atwater Village and points east, focusing attention on spaces that were outside of the  West Side “white box” circuit in sensibility and price range. Their place in the art world hierarchy is crucial as a proving ground for new, young talent as well as for new collectors not swimming in money but eager to get their feet wet in the collecting world.

Three thousand people showed up for the three-day event last fall, held in Barnsdall’s cavernous Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Owing to its success, this time the EOE organizers opted for an evolved name and roster of galleries, drawing on those flung across Los Angeles, including La Luz de Jesus, Subliminal Projects, Black Maria, Synchronicity Space, Billy Shire Fine Arts, LeBasse Projects, Crewest and others.

Friday evening is invitation only, but Saturday’s MOCA’s membership drive event at 7 PM and the opening gala starting at 8 PM are both free and open to the public. An “artists village” will include artists who will be “live painting;” PUMA Project will be doing on-site screen printing; and Cannibal Flower will present performance art. Read the rest of this entry →

That’s comedian Rich Fulcher in the center with L.A. Metblogs own Ruth666 on the left (and an unidentified flipper at right) in a still from Fulcher’s new video in which he gives the finger to flowers, trees, bikes, babies, Cadillacs, Smokey Bear, Capitol Records, water, the Hollywood Sign, Harleys, payphones, the planet earth, Albert Einstein, and more. Even a lowly blade of grass is not spared one of the hundreds of middle fingers from him, Ruth and his brigade of bird flyers that all together make up what Fulcher calls “the love poem Los Angeles deserves,” and serves as a warm-up to what he’s announced as his next metropological middle finger target: London.

Video embed after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

LIGHTS Debut Album, "The Listening" Will Be Released On 10/6

I just found out that LIGHTS will be performing at the Troubadour on November 3rd!

For those of you unfamiliar with LIGHTS, she’s a tiny, Canadian, World of Warcraft playing, keytar wielding, comic-book-heroine-slash-intergalactic-electropop-artist. In other words, she’s totally my dream best friend (no offense to my actual best friends, but come on, you guys really need to step it up).

LIGHTS’ debut album “The Listening” will be released tomorrow (10/6), but the album is streaming in its entirety on LIGHTS’ Myspace page right now, so go check it out.

But wait, there’s more! LIGHTS is also starring in the cutest animated comic series on MTV and MTV.com called “Audio Quest.” You can watch the first episode here. Read the rest of this entry →

You asked for ‘em, we got ‘em: your chance to see the iconic musicians up close & personal at Club Nokia.

Info on the show is here; to win, tell me your fave Doors quote in the comments. We’ll pick a few lucky winners at random.

Motörhead by Mark Marek Photography, used under Creative Commons.

Motörhead and special guest Reverend Horton Heat are coming to Club Nokia in downtown L.A. on Friday, October 9. Also on the bill are Nashville Pussy and Chelsea Girls. Best of all, LA MetBlogs has your tickets to the show.

Motörhead is one of my favorite hard rock bands. After 34 years on the road, Lemmy & co. still rock harder than most bands half their age. The influence they’ve had on rock & roll is undeniable. Ask any latter-day hard rock or speed metal band who taught them how to rock, and if they’re honest, the first name on the list will be Motörhead.

Here’s your chance to see these legends (and the other great acts on the bill) with Lucinda Michele & me!  Well, we’ll give you the tickets; whether you hang with us is up to you.

Tell me via comment below which band(s) you want to see and why. Or tell me about your favorite Motörhead song. Really, just tell me something that will convey how much you want, need, demand to be at this show. Winners will be chosen at my whim and notified via email, so make sure you enter yours correctly. Complete show info is here.

Bonus: My all-time favorite photo of Lemmy is here.

UPDATE: First, ticket winners have all been notified and confirmed. All the responses were great, and I wish I could take everyone to the show. If you didn’t win, buy tickets at the link above and meet us at the show. This is going to be an unforgettable concert!

Second, I just got off the telephone with Motorhead’s manager. He wanted to let everyone know that Motorhead will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tomorrow (Thursday) night, so stay up late.

Finally, for those going to the show (which should be everyone,) doors open at 7:30pm, show starts at 8:00. Reverend Horton Heat goes on at 9:40, and Motorhead hits the stage at 11:00pm. Get there early to see Chelsea Girls and Nashville Pussy, and get ready for Motorhead to rock your ass off. Also, bring earplugs. Safety first.

See you at the show!

I had the good fortune to attend the landmark “Bienvenido Gustavo!” event at the Bowl Saturday, and it was everything I’d hoped it would be: a once-in-a-lifetime exuberant and unifying celebration of the musical arts and creative spirit that truly bookmarked an historic page in the cultural catalog of Los Angeles.

I felt nothing short of privileged to be there as Gustavo Dudamel officially lifted his baton for the first time as the L.A. Philharmonic’s musical director, and I exulted in as complete and invogorating a presentation of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony the likes of which I’m pretty sure I’ll never see again, at least not until the DVD’s released — or after 11 a.m. today when the on-demand webcast gets yanked from the L.A. Phil website.

So if your Monday morning’s schedule allows it, check it out here. Pure and simple: It is superb and glorious.

If you are looking for something cool to do this afternoon or evening, I highly recommend checking out L.A. Noir, a two-day art event in Echo Park. I went last night and really enjoyed the experience, where I picked up a piece of handcrafted jewelry.

The show is described as “the dark side of sunny California” and does not disappoint. The displays, all for sale, include paintings, photographs, jewelry, sculpture and more. Much of it is dark, some a bit twisted, and many pieces serve as love letters to Los Angeles, in particular Echo Park. The fact that the “gallery” is actually a gorgeous Craftsman home in the hills adds to the beauty and uniqueness of the event.

L.A. Noir continues today from 3pm-9pm at 1918 Lemoyne Street, Los Angeles 90026. You can also call 323.664.5043. Click here for a partial list of the 30+ participating artists.