Top: Napalm Suicide; Bottom: Luque Suicide

Two weeks ago, when I checked in with Suicide Girl Napalm Suicide during the opening hour of the inaugural edition of Suicide Wednesdays at Vine Bar, she was understandably busy being a hostess, making sure everything was just perfect, but she took time out to explain to me her concept and vision of this weekly party, which is mirrored below:

I wanted to find a place where the SG community could get together once a week to get trashed, have fun and go home with a crazy story to tell all their friends. And being a SG staff member, SG staff photographer, SuicideGirl, and radio host for indie103, I run into people all the time who ask about throwing an SG night. So I thought, wouldn’t it be a blast to finally meet all of the interesting, different and unique SGs and members I interact with online everyday all mixed up in one crazy hip spot partying together? Of course it does darlings! Suicide Wednesdays gives you a good reason to party on Wednesdays and allows you wonderful LA party goers to meet and greet with the SuicideGirls of LA. Members of the site and even you newbies can get a warm welcome into the SG world and a better feel for the SG community all around. This night should be what the SG community wants it to be. We are always open to suggestions, requests, or ideas on how to make the night more fun for everyone. SGs and members are now active on a global scale, but I would love to bring some of us together in this small corner of the world. So put down the Guitar Hero and stop playing World of Warcraft and get you ass out to Suicide Wednesdays!

And while I wisecracked to Napalm and her friend Luque Suicide about how busy it was, an hour later, Vine Bar was packed with a surprising number of regular women and Suicide Girls (I had predicted an all-out sausage fest due to the Suicide Girls label), DJ Kelly Ko continued to spin tunes from her booth, and I was entertained by a conversation with a random English gentleman at the bar about how in his younger days he had done so much cocaine on the night of his girlfriend’s birthday party that a bartender later told him that his beard looked like it had been caked in snow.

When the biggest problem of the night is the bartender running out of change (and Heineken), I’d say it was a pretty successful night. Not to mention memorable with a coke story that sounds like it was straight out of comedian Artie Lange’s drug-addled past.

Tonight’s edition not only happens to be on Valentine’s Day, but it’s Napalm’s birthday. I’ll be there.

Suicide Wednesdays @ Vine Bar
1235 N. Vine St.
9:00 PM – 2:00 AM
No Cover

Three photos and a flyer after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Kristen, Kelly, Roxie, Lauren & Lauren C. Rocket

Saturday, the LA-based band Rocket (MySpace) performed at The Scene in Glendale (that venue is also coincidentally now home to Jax @ Rock Insider‘s revived “Indie Schmindie”).

Four photos after the jump.
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Pictured: Tricia Kanne

Last Wednesday, the San Francisco-based band Minipop (MySpace) opened for Monsters Are Waiting (MySpace) and stellastarr* (MySpace) @ The Troubadour in West Hollywood.

Here is LA-Underground‘s profile, which I stumbled upon after the show:

We’ve been lucky to catch Minipop since the first L.A. shows they did a few years ago, all the while snatching up as many of those Precious EPs as we could in prep for what we predicted to be bigger things to come. The band has been getting a bit of a buzz in recent months with this demo album they’ve been shopping around and so we made sure we caught the band once more before things get kinda hectic. A little BMI showcase at the Troubadour felt like the appropriate place to get reacquainted since there’s nothing like a performance under industry pressure on a big stage with lots of suits folding their arms pretending to listen to you. “Precious” is and will probably always be their best song (it’s just too good), but we are also madly in love with “Ask Me a Question”, “My Little Bee”, and “Odyssey”. On record, one might notice a finer production touch than their previous recording which could be accredited to the magical ear of co-producer Chris Manning (yes, that Chris Manning). Still, this is all for naught without the delicate whisper of Kanne who posseses one of the sweetest voices this side of Karen Peris.

Minipop return on March 3rd to The Troubadour when they open for Midlake (MySpace).

Three photos, plus four photos from Monsters Are Waiting’s set that night, after the jump.
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Pictured: Monsters Are Waiting

Earlier tonight, Monsters Are Waiting (MySpace) opened for stellastarr* (MySpace) at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood.

Four photos after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Ryan Wood, Sandra Vu, Gena Olivier & Larry Schemel

After Le Rev’s aforementioned set @ The Key Club, I headed over to Spaceland (MySpace) in Silver Lake to see Midnight Movies (MySpace).

Five photos, as well as three photos from their January 23rd show @ Safari Sam’s, after the jump.
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Pictured: CC Sheffield

Last Thursday night, while Losanjealous was at the sold-out Peter Bjorn and John show at The Roxy in West Hollywood, I was just down the street to see Le Rev (MySpace) at The Key Club.

Six photos after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Ben Messelbeck, Juliette Commagere & Jared Smith

Last night, Hello Stranger (fka Vagenius, MySpace) performed at The Viper Room in West Hollywood.

Two photos after the jump.
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Earlier tonight, Winter Flowers (MySpace), the San Francisco-based The Finches (MySpace), and Lavender Diamond (MySpace) performed at Safari Sam’s in Hollywood.

Duke @ You Set The Scene previewed the show with this description: “Have you ever been mellow? This is a warm up gig for Lavender Diamond who recently signed to Matador. They’re heading to Europe for a tour with the Decemberists in February. Matador reissues their debut EP next Tuesday. … I read something recently where one of the Wolfmother fros said Winter Flowers are his favorite band.”

13 photos after the jump.
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As Sean noted on Monday, the official Coachella (MySpace) lineup has been announced (Duke @ You Set The Scene has extensively dissected it), featuring Bjork as well as the reunions of Rage Against The Machine, Jesus and Mary Chain, Crowded House, and the Happy Mondays.

But as The LA Times‘ Kevin Bronson noted, “Coachella promoters acknowledge they have more surprises up their sleeve.”

For the past few weeks, there has been talk of a Police reunion at the festival, which coupled with the Coachella presale password of “ROXANNE,” helped fuel that speculation. And as excited as I was about the prospect of a reunion, I figured that it was too good to be true, and sure enough it was just a rumor:

…don’t believe the hype that Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland are back in synchronicity for a stop at the Empire Polo Field. …

“No, the Police are not playing, I can tell you that,” promoter Paul Tollett tells Times staffer Geoff Boucher. “This is the show right now as it’s going to be on the big stages. The main-stage lineup and second-stage lineup for all three days are locked in.”

There has also been talk about Gwen Stefani/No Doubt being one of those surprises, but I think the safe bet is the reunion of another particular band (and if they are confirmed, as one person noted with the existing Coachella lineup, “…you’d [really] swear you’d time warped back to 1993″):

Smashing Pumpkins.

What do you think?

(Illustration by Skipgo Shannon.)

UPDATE: Looks like their first appearance of 2007 will be Germany in June.

The Museum of Television & Radio and Ticketmaster‘s websites say that the lineup for the 2007 William S. Paley Television Festival won’t be officially announced until tomorrow, but if you check this URL @ the MTR website, it’s been available for viewing since at least yesterday (last year’s lineup is here):

Thursday, March 1st @ 8:00 PM: American Idol
Friday, March 2nd @ 7:00 PM: The Office
Saturday, March 3rd @ 7:00 PM: An Evening With George Lucas
Monday, March 5th @ 7:00 PM: Brothers & Sisters
Tuesday, March 6th @ 7:30 PM: The Closer
Wednesday, March 7th @ 7:00 PM: Dexter
Thursday, March 8th @ 7:00 PM: Nip/Tuck
Friday, March 9th @ 7:00 PM: Prison Break
Saturday, March 10th @ 7:00 PM: Heroes
Monday, March 12th @ 7:00 PM: Ugly Betty
Tuesday, March 13th @ 7:00 PM: Jericho
Wednesday, March 14th @ 7:00 PM: Friday Night Lights

Thursday, March 15th @ 7:00 PM: The Simpsons

Checking the list of featured shows, three make their return to the festival: American Idol, Nip/Tuck, and The Simpsons. And two nights that’ll sell out in minutes when tickets go onsale (on February 1st @ 9:00 AM for members and February 4th to the general public) will undoubtedly be American Idol and Heroes.

Two big changes from last year’s festival:
- Reserved and tiered seating ($50/$35/$25 for members, $60/$45/$30 for nonmembers), so prices for the best seats ($50/$60) now cost *double* from last year where it was general admission ($25 for members, $29 for nonmembers). On the one hand, that means that you won’t have to camp out for hours to get the best seats, but the huge increase in ticket prices is disturbing.
- TicketMaster as the ticket reseller (Ticketweb was chosen last year), so expect the cost of a ticket to be probably $5-10 more w/ their various bullshit fees attached, and scalpers to nab the best seats seemingly before tickets go onsale. When I ordered tickets last year, the process was amazingly very smooth and easy (compared to previous years where the best way to get tickets was to camp out overnight at the Museum, but if you weren’t among the first ones there, you were screwed), so the change to Ticketmaster from Ticketweb is a major cause for concern based on my numerous experiences w/ them in the past.

UPDATE #1: Belated thanks to Mr. Hooks for the scoop.

UPDATE #2: Per HeyYouBabyBlue, with the official announcement, it looks like Friday Night Lights is out and Dexter is in. In addition, the guest lineup for each show has been announced, and The Simpsons will also feature a sneak-peek of The Simpsons Movie.

Pictured: Dana DeArmond during happier times @ Beauty Bar

(Headline borrowed from Fleshbot because I couldn’t come up with anything better.)

Two weeks into the New Year, and Vivid-Alt (MySpace) star Dana DeArmond (MySpace), who two weeks ago celebrated the release of her movie Dana DeArmond Does The Internet at Beauty Bar in Hollywood, is now unfortunately homeless (NSFW) due to a house fire last Friday in Pasadena while she was in Las Vegas for the 2007 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo.

As the self-proclaimed “Internet’s girlfriend,” she ironically found out about the tragedy on MySpace from a fan, and has since used the website to blog about her experience and ask for help:

i left LA tuesday for las vegas.
friday my house caught fire.
the neighbor across the hall had left a candle burning in a plastic cup.
i have lost literally everything.
the walls, roof and all contents of my house are completely destroyed.

the only things i own were in my suitcase i took to vegas.
(a few short skirts and stripper shoes mostly)

i lost some very expensive things i need for my work 24″ iMac, 2 external harddrives.
and i also lost things i needed for everyday. sneakers, tshirts, underwear, towels, sheets, my bed. etc.

literally everything is gone.
i went to the house and filmed today. hopefully we will have something edited and up on the net soon so you can see exactly how tragic this situation is.

i am very lucky to be alive and to have the support of my peers, friends, family and fans.

i am asking if there is anything you can donate
there are over 300,000 of you and one of me.
my boyfriend daniel (kakihara on my top8) has also lost everything.

is there anything you can send to help us get our lives back together?

More after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Scott Blonde, Ken Hard, Brandon Arnovick & Lisa Light

The Lovemakers (MySpace) are an Oakland-based band who were voted “Best Indie Band of 2006″ by the readers of the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

Timothy Norris from Ice Cream Man raved about The Lovemakers’ December 2005 performance, opening for She Wants Revenge (MySpace) @ The Troubadour: “With their sexy, passionate, hot, sweaty, wet, turbocharged electro-pop the Lovemakers were on fire. An amazing performance…”

They also had a residency in March 2006 @ Spaceland, which LA-Underground summarized as: “breathtaking.”

Lead singer and guitarist Scott Blonde told me, after they headlined in November 2006 with Gram Rabbit (MySpace) @ The Troubadour, that they’ll be back in the springtime for a series of shows. In the meantime, here are their reasons to quit your job this year, as written by singer/bassist/violinist Lisa Light:

The Lovemakers’ Top 10 Reasons To Quit Your Job In 2007:

1. “Capitalism works, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.”
2. “Going to work is boring.”
3. “Beauty sleep.”
4. “You can check myspace at home.”
5. “Shoplifting is easy.”
6. “Spend more time with your cat.”
7. “Hippie-folk-bohemian-dirtbag fashion is back.”
8. “Keep your trust fund friends company.”
9. “Murakami.”
10. “Working sucks.”

Three photos from their November performance @ The Troubadour after the jump.

Previous Top 10 Lists: KGRL, Jesca Hoop, and The Ditty Bops as well as Playboy.
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Pictured (top): Nico Chiotellis, Dave McFarland, CC Sheffield & Dave Wilson

Earlier tonight, Le Rev (MySpace) performed at The Gig (MySpace) in Hollywood.

Three photos after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Nico Chiotellis, Dave McFarland & CC Sheffield

Earlier tonight, Le Rev (MySpace) performed at The Three Clubs in Los Angeles.

If lead singer CC Sheffield looks familiar, it may be due to her five years of modelling work, her 20+ national commercials, or her numerous appearances on The Cobrasnake website. She’s also immortalized on the Mac and Retna mural on La Brea just south of 3rd St. in the Fairfax area. And her boyfriend is actor Shane West, who fronts the re-formed version of the punk band The Germs (MySpace).

Three photos after the jump.
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Pictured (top): Abby DeWald & Amanda Barrett

Last night was The Ditty Bops‘ (MySpace) performances (two shows, as part of their 2007 Vegetable Bikini Calendar Release Party) at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Special guest performers included Ruth Barrett (Amanda’s mother) and Jesca Hoop (MySpace).

Six more photos, including three from soundcheck, after the jump.
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