I saw Peaches a few years ago on one of those electroclash tours. She came out wearing a long, blond wig & stripper heels, and the crowd, somewhat nonplussed, not for sure it was her, went into paroxysms when midway through a synth intro line she ripped off the wig & shook out her brown curls with a sneer.

Peaches is not a show to be missed. Plus former LA Metblogs author & Buddyhead creator Travis Keller will be DJing there.

Wanna win tickets? Don’t be shy. Tell me your favorite Peaches lyric in the comments. And if they don’t get past our obscenity filters, I’ll make sure to unmoderate them so you all can see those nasty, nasty lyrics.

Info on the show is here. FYI, she plays two shows: one on the 6th, a 2nd on the 7th. These tickets are for the second date, Sunday.

Everyone’s favorite proto-punk semi-glam totally rad band the New York Dolls are back in LA for a triumphant show at the Fonda this Thursday. I had the privelege of seeing them a few months ago at Club Nokia and the show blew me away: rollicking, funny, explosive and occasionally elegiac, the Dolls are not a novelty retread. Chops & cred ooze off them. This is a don’t-miss show.

Wanna go? Tell me your favorite New York Dolls story or song. We’ll choose a few winners & send you on your merry way.

Show info is here.

That’s right kids, we’ve got tix for two nights of music from Cut Copy, Matt & Kim, and some faaaabulous DJ action! If you wanna check out this great bill at the Fonda, leave a message in the comments telling me why YOU, and only YOU, deserve the tickets!

Now, I have one pair of tickets for each night. Let me know, along with you’re “I’m soooooo deserving” comment, which night you can make it to (hopefully both).

Wacky rock-humorists Eagles Of Death Metal will be bringing the noise, and the funk, this Wednesday along with charming locals the Living Things. Wanna go? It should be a really fun show. We’ve got a few tickets to give away–just add a comment telling me your favorite EODM song and why you love it so. We’ll get back to a couple winners & send you with a pal.

Here’s all the info on the show, in case you’d like to buy tickets and don’t have the GUTS to try to win tickets from us. Pansies.

So if you’re looking for a great band to rock out to after watching the inauguration, may I humbly suggest the fantastic Walkmen? I’ve loved these guys for years since their atmospheric, moody “Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone,” and they’ve continued to grow and develop as a band ever since. Tell me your favorite Walkmen lyric/lyrics in the comments below and if we pick you, voila! You’ve got something to do tomorrow night other than sit around in your PJs and watch the post-inaugural mutual wank-off with Beyonce and U2 while eating Ben & Jerry’s “Yes, Pecan!” Obama-rama ice cream.

Here’s all the info on the show.

The beautiful and bombastic cabaret-punk Miss Palmer (of the Dresden Dolls) will be at the Fonda this Tuesday supporting her new solo album, “Who Killed Amanda Palmer,” and we have tickets! Put a link to your favorite picture of her in the comments below, and we’ll randomly select a few winners to go to the show, which she plays along with The Danger Ensemble, The Builders and the Butchers, and Zoe Keating.

You can buy tickets to the show, which I’m sure will sell out, here.

I love when bands perform in costume. To me, it makes it clear: they’re there to entertain you, not to exorcise their own creative demons or live out their high art. And I appreciate that. Not to say a lot of great performances don’t come from people who make music for themselves and no one else, but I often find the most entertaining shows come from people who do it for the kids. And I can’t think of anything that could motivate a band to don a goofball costume for fourteen years more than The Kids.

This show will rock, and not only because of the Aquabats. You’ll also get to rawk out with your ‘hawk out to Suburban Legends, Dusty Rhodes and the River Band, and DJ Lance.

To win tix, you must either provide a link, in the comments, to yourself wearing a silly costume, like this, or to a suitably silly stand-in, like this. A few random winners will be chosen to go party at the Fonda this Friday. Costume optional. But if you ask me, it’s highly encouraged.

[EDIT]: Winners also get their bitchin’ cd!!!

Dutch funkmeisters Kraak & Smaak bring their bootylicious soultastic dancefloor ‘splodeyness to the Fonda on Friday, and I can’t think of a better way to get this weekend’s party started. In celebration of their irresistible “Bobby & Whitney” track, wannabe winners should enter into the comments their favorite star-crossed semi-retarded druggie couple. Winners will be chosen at random.

You can also buy tix here.

los chiefs de kaiser

Ayup, they’re BOTH playing tomorrow night so you’ll have to choo-choo-choose! Kaiser Chiefs play with Hockey at the Fonda and Copeland plays with Lovedrug, Lydia & Lights at the El Rey. Both shows should be fantastic. I’d go if I wasn’t still exhausted from working at Bats Day (report forthcoming). Because I’m exhausted & very very busy (yay Monday!) I’m going to ask you hopeful winners to leave a comment stating which show you’d like to go to & tell me what you were for Halloween (still in the Bats Day mood, you see). We’ll randomly pick a couple folks to go to each show. woop woop!

Grand Ole Opry alums and generally kickass dudes the Old Crow Medicine Show bring their bluegrassy cavalcade of Americana, alt-country awesomeness to the Fonda tomorrow night.  And we haz ticketz! You won’t be able to resist the toe-tapping, barnstorming brilliance of these young guys who play old-timey tunes with humor and charm. And did I mention they’re…well…kinda hot? They’re kinda hot.

To win a pair of tickets, tell me your favorite weird Appalachian musical instrument. You know–jug, washboard, spoons, bones, weird hybrid stringed instruments, whatever.  We’ll randomly pick a few winners to go to the show. Please no “Deliverance” jokes. Yay!

Or you can just buy tickets yourself here.

Before The Postal Service, before Conor Oberst added glitch to his whine, before indie kids nationwide started adding pops and hisses to their tracks, The Notwist morphed their sound from guitar-rock to glitch-poetry, and it created a silent atomic bomb in the indie world. Pitchfork plotzed, party soundtracks got hijacked, and everyone bought Neon Golden.

I never heard it on the radio. I still think Indie had a massive blind spot on that one. OTOH, at that time Indie was owned by Clear Channel and was in an ‘alternative gold’ format, s I guess there wasn’t much chance for The Notwist to get airtime.

After much goofing around & collaborating with other acts, The Notwist has issued their first album in six years, “The Devil, You + Me.” It’s great. It still continues in the vein of Neon Golden, a sound that seems restrained against the current crackle of indie glitch. And I can attest that it’s perfect road trip music.

You couldn’t keep me away from their show this Wednesday with Jel & DJ OddNosdam. And no one should keep you away, either. To win a pair of tickets, comment below and tell me your favorite underappreciated band. We’ll randomly pick a few winners to go to the show! If you’d like to just buy tix, you can go here.

The much-loved OG’s of the alt-rock scene are back and playing LA tomorrow with Richard Swift and Monade, at the Fonda. We’ve got tickets & CDs to give away, so if you enter a comment below telling me what an alternative-rockin’ OG you yourself are, I might give them to you. Info on the show is here.

Aw!

So Okkervil River has to be one of my favorite bands EVAR and you can bet on seeing me wearing my platforms in the front row through Sea Wolf (who I also LOVE, especially mad props to Lisa) and staying firmly planted there, refusing to be supplanted by taller folks, until the headliner goes on. (Even with the platforms everyone is still taller than me. Why do all you tall boys insist on wedging in right in front of short girls? fuck you.) I’ve actually never seen these folks live–years ago they came to the Silverlake Lounge but couldn’t play at the last minute, so instead some band called The 88 played. They were pretty good.   ;)

Anyhoo, I’m fresh out of creative ways for you to win tickets to this awesome show so how about you just tell me what a big fan you are & how much you want tickets? I’ll pick the most lovelorn Okkervil-worshippers.

SO VERY INDIE

Oh jeez. I almost dread posting this because of the deluge of entries I’m pretty sure I’ll get for this fffffffsssshhhhhttttttttt! [the sound you make when you lick your finger & touch something burning) show; seems everyone’s been mobbing their shows at local museums recently (Natural History Museum, the Hammer & Indie’s “Also I Like to Rock” series). So I’m cowering and covering my eyes as I hesitantly poke “send” on this post…

To win tickets, pore through some of TPC’s lyrics with their dystopic themes and imagery of natural decay, visceral change and social criticism (plus some love-gone-wrong songs thrown in for good measure). Tell me which you like the best and why.

Their show is on Thursday the 18th at the Fonda; the Whigs open for them.

So this Friday on the 18th, Ghostland Observatory (myspace) (quite possibly one of the coolest band names in recent memory) brings their bombastic, spastic rock-god twosome selves to the Fonda along with bLA alum & Buddyhead Records co-founder DJ Travis Keller (he’s an awesome photog too). Pardon me for saying so, but this may be one of the sexiest shows to go down in LA in a long-ass time. If you love a good rock show, I advise you to secure tix immediately, get your fine selves to the show, sing, dance & drop your pants. Enjoy some cocktails, because we all know it’s not a party until someone gets a head wound (as I can attest).

Wanna go? Too broke from your glamorous rock star lifestyle to buy tickets? Too drunk to type your credit card into the ticketmaster website? No problem! We’ve got several pairs to give away. Add a comment below telling me what YOU think is the best band name EVAR. It can be a real band or one you made up. Our panel of seasoned professionals will consult, debate, & decide upon a winner by Thursday. Make sure to leave your real email, so I can contact you & get your full name (to put on the Goldenvoice list) if you win: I’ve dealt with way too many idiots who enter to win & then leave me a fake name and a bogus email addy. Way to go, buddy.