Johnette Napolitano is bringing back the twice-dead, now-resurrected Concrete Blonde for a nifty tour, and they’ll be back in their hometown for what’s sure to be a triumphant homecoming. Wanna go? We’ve got your tickets right here. Just tell me what your absolute hands-down fave 80s song was…c’mon, don’t be embarrassed. When I was like seven or something I was in elementary school on the playground and someone was playing Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” on the ghettoblaster and me and my girlfriends all sang along loudly and I was the fu*king Queen Of Rock with my sweatshirt off one shoulder and my blue jeans torn & folded up and my L.A. Gear sneakers. There. Now you. Go on.

Info on the show is here.

Featured image by xrayspx via a Creative Commons license.

I remember when I first started hearing music from the BJM is the early oughts, when the band was already over ten years old, and their combo of druggy spacerock and Rolling Stones influences was legendary on the non-westside (I can’t call it the eastside, someone will come to my house & break my kneecaps). So were the antics of their eccentric frontman, Anton Newcombe.

They’re playing around again, and this is a great chance to see the sound and the feeling that really captured the heart of this city’s [non-westside] music scene in the early 2000s.

In honor of Anton, to win you have to leave the craziest rock-star story you can think of. It can be made up, it can be real, it can be autobiographical or the stuff of “Behind The Music” legends.

Info on the show is here.

When Goldenvoice told me Fitty was coming to town, I couldn’t pass these up. I’d say expect some cool guest cameos along with the rap-impresario personality he’s fostered since his grittier street tapes debuted in the early oughts.

Wanna go? Give me your favorite rap lyric. My favorite is by Dr. Octagon: “I would have been completely dead had it not been for the Shark Man.”

Nuff said.

Info on 50 Cent’s show is here.

Well, my shift is almost over. Jozjozjoz has arrived to take over for the next few hours.

The one thing I’ve noticed most about spending time here is the personal relationship the waitresses build with their regulars. Our waitress knew the names of everyone she was serving.

Behind me, a guy has a loud phone call: “Hey, Jim, guess what?! We got Yelped! Not a good Yelp though. It was like one star. They guy said he wasn’t happy with the cut. What did he bring in–a photo of a celebrity? And he asked for that hair?” [silence] “No worries, no worries. It was just smooth then? Blowout? Well, no problem. I’ll be back soon.”

I ordered like seventeen desserts as a selfless service to you, the reader.

I ATE ALL OF THESE FOR YOU

Wow, I look fatter already! It’s the fries.

Nom!

We’re here at the diner counter at Canter’s Deli. I am about to order. Wish me luck.

The Blogathon from Canter’s deli will still be happening all day, and the Donut Summit must go on! Have no fears, my pets. All the powers of Hell itself could not stop the donut (or bagel) train when it’s a’coming. Stop by Canter’s today, tonight, or tomorrow before 12pm with a can of food and a hug for your Metblogs laborers. We’re all a little weepy, but it’s been such a fantastic privelege to write for you all. Wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

But maybe a dozen strawberry-filleds from Donut Man will fill this yawning writer’s hole in my chest.

See The National play their unbelievably beautiful music for two nights, Fri & Sat, at The Wiltern.

Swing by our 24-Hour Blogathon at Canter’s Deli, from noon on Saturday to noon on Sunday! Phew!

Learn about Rube Goldberg machines at Dorkbot SoCal on Saturday!

Take in some rare Opry in rusty dusty SoCal style at the End Times Opry Friday night, featuring music, comedy, poetry and spoken word.

The Silver Lake Jubilee promises over 40 gourmet trucks, a metric shit-ton of fantastic local bands (including Foreign Born, The Like, Voxhaul Broadcast, The Monolators, Dios and more), art, eco and children’s villages, and more.

Clem Snide plays their literate and clever Americana at Spaceland on the 21st.

Frightened Rabbit lights up the Henry Fonda with a warm Nor’Scottish glow on Sunday.

On the night of the 22nd (get there early for reasonable parking) Cinespia at Hollywood Forever Cemetery screens “The Thing”, which, if you didn’t know, features a score by Morricone.

Tonight American Cinematheque at the Egyptian has a Kurosawa double feature with “Rashomon” and “The Hidden Fortress”;  Sunday is “Yojimbo” and “Sanjuro.”

There’s a secret(ish) show Monday night with Band Of Horses at the Hollywood Forever Masonic Lodge; to get in, you have to tweet at the radio station 98.7fm @987LA with your favorite BOH song. Disclaimer: I work at the station. (I know, I know, Mr. Indie Music Snob and All Of My Ex-Boyfriends–save it.)

What else did I miss? Leave ‘em in the comments.

They weren’t able to make it to SoCal for Coachella, but it took a volcano to foil their plans.

Rendering up a chiming, lo-fi sound with a driving rhythm section, they make spare use of Mogwaiian soundscaping & noodling to contrast with their wailing Kermitty vibrato, irresistibly danceable tambourines and snares and…is that a flute? It’s a distinctly Northern-British-Isles sound (they remind me of new Biffy Clyro or Idlewild, with some of the more orchestral tendencies of The National).

Though the past year has seen Frightened Rabbit finally step into public view, with more extensive touring and three full-length albums now publicly available, the past few years have largely been about the band quietly, committedly honing their sound, and cultivating their art. Now a five-piece comprising Scott, Billy, Andy, Gordon and Grant, the origins of the band are rooted in 2003, when Scott began playing solo shows under the name Frightened Rabbit.

Wanna go? Tell me your favorite rabbit or bunny. Bugs? Pat? Roger? Hazel? That little schmuck Peter? We’ll pick a couple lucky winners to go.

Info for this show, Sunday at the Henry Fonda, is here.

Tickets will sell out fast for this one. I recommend you go now & pick them up; we won’t be giving any out, sadly.

Returning to the first place they ever played a show, ATE will be hosting a very special benefit concert to raise funds for the Neda Project, a series of events with Amnesty International about Neda Agha-Soltan and digital democracy in Iran.

Tickets are very limited and will be first come, first served. All proceeds benefit the Neda Project. Neda Agha-Soltan became an unfortunate rallying point for the resistance protesting the disputed election of Mahmoud Ahmadenijad. The student was shot in the street by government militia for participating in peaceful protests against the disputed election. Her death, captured on video, was seen by millions worldwide on YouTube and further disseminated by national & international news outlets. As ATE writes, “It’s one of the first examples of the democratization of broadcasting—that broadcasting is no longer solely in the hands of corporations and government, but in the hands of people.  Anyone with a cell-phone camera and an internet connection can broadcast to the world. It means not only that the world is watching, but also, that the world is filming.”

More info on the show is here.

Nine-Thirty in Westwood

This is your last chance to enter to win tickets to see Nightmare Alley at the Geffen Playhouse, along with $100 for dinner at  Nine-Thirty at the W Hotel in Westwood! This giveaway is a collaboration between LA Metblogs and Goldstar, a locally-based company that works with venues to sell tickets to plays, sporting events & other cool stuff for half-price.

“Nightmare Alley” is based upon the 1946 noir novel about one man’s seduction into the seedy, mysterious world of the carnival sideshow during the years of the Great Depression, when he falls in love with a beautiful fortune teller.

The day you’d be going, May 16th, is on one of the Geffen’s “Wine Down Sundays” where they have free flowing wine in the lobby area before the show. Hooray!

To win tickets, just add your comment in the comments section here, telling me what character YOU would be in a carnival! One lucky winner will get to take a friend to dinner and a show.

Thanks to Goldstar for helping us give this away to you guys. If you’re not already a Goldstar member, go and sign up–it’s free, and you get weekly announcements of all the cool things around town–everything from comp tix to the circus (appropriate, no?) to VIP seats at Derby Dolls games and tix from Pee-Wee to the Dorothy Chandler.

After our wildly successful Dreamgirls contest, the awesome ladies & gents at Goldstar have hooked us up again!

Nightmare Alley is based upon the 1946 noir novel about one man’s seduction into the seedy, mysterious world of the carnival sideshow during the years of the Great Depression.  The entire Geffen Playhouse has been transformed into the calliope-tinkling, smoke-blowing, gaslamp-lit carny experience, and as this tale of fate & femme fetales unspools its skein it’s easy to see why the ephemeral world of the traveling circus has preoccupied the imaginations of the west. Throw in some laughs, dancing girls and a geek in the truest sense of the word, and you’ve got a story we couldn’t resist.

The day you’d be going, May 16th, is on one of the Geffen’s “Wine Down Sundays” where they have free flowing wine in the lobby area before the show. Hooray!

Plus, The Geffen’s restaurant partner Nine-Thirty at the W Hotel in Westwood has generously donated a $100 gift certificate for dinner so you can enjoy a delish dinner before the wine and show.

Wanna go? Well, of course you do. To enter to win, leave a comment below telling me what YOU would be if you ran away to join the circus. A fortune-teller? The strongman? The tattooed lady? Everyone’s got a favorite, you know.

Even if you don’t win, you can still get tickets for half price on Goldstar when you join for free here. Full disclosure: yes, I used to work for them. And even after seeing the inner workings of the company, I love them (how often can someone say that?)! Their weekly member emails offer everything from comp tix to the circus (appropriate, no?) to VIP seats at Derby Dolls games and tix from Pee-Wee to the Dorothy Chandler. Thanks to Marni, Missy, Sandy and everyone at Goldstar for letting me give this cool prize away.

This is one of my favorite recent discoveries to date. I first heard “Asleep At Heaven’s Gate” in late ’07 and could have sworn blind they were from Wales or something, but in fact their rippling, lush, orchestral post-rock sound comes from Oakland CA. We’re giving away a pair of tix to their show tomorrow, and to win, just leave a comment telling me your favorite new music you can’t stop listening to. I’ll contact the winner by email tonight, so be sure to keep your eyes on your inbox.

Info on the show is here; photo is by miscellania. on flickr via a Creative Commons license.

Paging all Deadheads & fans of the jam! Dark Star Orchestra recreates, in epic detail, full-on Grateful Dead shows, paying homage to the auteurs of spinny dance music.

Info on the show is here, and we’re giving away tix to two lucky winners!

Get on your swirly skirt, your tie-die tee, and get ready to jam ’til you can’t stand. To win tickets, tell me your fave Deadhead or jam band experience….duuuude. Be sure to enter your return email address into the form when you sign in to leave a comment, so I can hit ya back if you win.