Image from the DubLab

So what are you doing after the upcoming Grilled Cheese Invitational? Why you’re heading downtown to party at the Natural History Museum, duh!

This Saturday, Cinefamily and Cinespia are hosting a FREE ADMISSION museum-wide party at the Natural History Museum, presented as the closing event to the “Art In The Streets” film retrospective. First, they’re showing Cave of Forgotten Dreams directed by Werner Herzog at 5:30pm. (the film-rsvp list is already closed, but there will be some seats held for the standby line) Also, the Herzog Q&A will be projected live in the Museum’s Whale Room at approximately 7PM, for those who are unable to get into the screening. Once the movie is over, then the party starts!

At 8PM, the doors open and guests are invited to wander the Museum’s exhibit halls for FREE! There will be live bands, DJs spinning, food trucks, cash bar & an art installation by Mastodon Mesa.

Live Music Schedule

On the Fin Whale Passage stage:
Live performances by Nite Jewel, Islands, White Magic and Matt Baldwin starting at 8:30pm.

In the African Mammal Hall:
DJs Dntel (aka Jimmy Tamborello of The Postal Service), David Holmes and Carlos Nino will spin records starting at 5pm.

In the Gems & Mineral Hall:
DJ collective Dublab will also host a second set of live performances starting at 5pm.

This whole event is generously sponsored by: First Fridays at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, in association with History Films, Sundance Selects, Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, Dublab

cave of forgotten dreams: herzog premiere & museum-wide party
Saturday, April 23rd
Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
900 Exposition Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA, 90007
5:00-11:00pm
Admission: FREE

Photo by Truejustice, used under Creative Commons.

Los Angeles, I know you’ve said it before. “I like all kinds of music. Well, except for hardcore Scandinavian death-metal/polka mash-ups and, ugh…country.” I know you’ve said it, because I said it myself. Then, when I wasn’t looking, I started liking a little country music. Then a lot. At first I thought it was what some would call a “guilty pleasure,” but then I realized I didn’t feel all that guilty about it. It turns out, I like a little twang in my tunes.

Truth be told, up until a few months ago, I really didn’t know much about Vince Gill. I bought tickets for the Fourth of July fireworks spectacular at the Hollywood Bowl, and it just happened that Gill was the featured artist that night with the Hollywood Bowl orchestra. I became a fast fan, though. Vince Gill is a pretty darn good guitar player, and one hell of a songwriter. It was a great show. Hence my excitement about seeing him this week at a much more intimate venue like Club Nokia.

Thanks to our friends at Goldenvoice, I’m able to offer you an opportunity to see Vince Gill, too.

What: Vince Gill in concert.
When: Friday, 22 October 2010. 8:00pm.
Where: Club Nokia, at the LA Live complex. Downtown Los Angeles.

I’ve got several pairs of tickets for lucky Blogging.LA readers. All you have to do is leave a comment below telling me you want to go to the show, and what your guilty pleasure is, whether country music or whatever else.

Don’t want to take a chance on winning tickets? You can buy tickets online here.

Enter now, and I’ll see you there Friday night. I’ll be the guy in the cowboy boots and Pølka Dêthmöngerz t-shirt.

With the help of the Internets, it seems “popular” music covers an ever widening spectrum of genres. The sad fact is, we just don’t get enough bluegrass. Next week that will be remedied, as Punch Brothers come to the El Rey. They will be joined by their very special guest, super producer and L.A.’s Friday night favorite, Jon Brion.

Punch Brothers feature, among others, the mandolin of Chris Thile, formerly of Nickel Creek. They will be bringing their modern bluegrass sound to the El Rey on Tuesday, 12 October, and I can’t wait. I also can’t wait to share some great music with you, Los Angeles. Thanks to our friends at Goldenvoice, I’ve got several pairs of tickets for some lucky Blogging.LA readers.

Just leave me a note in the comment section below, telling me you want to see this show. I’ll pick a few readers at random, and each will get a pair of tickets for Tuesday night’s show. Contest ends Sunday, 10 October, 6:00pm pdt.

Don’t want to take a chance? You can buy tickets online now.

Big yay for Jack B. of Temecula and Kika D. of Sherman Oaks. The two of them each won a pair of tickets to Coachella!

Thank you’s go to Goldenvoice for the tickets, and to everyone who wrote in to recommend their friends or who tweeted at us. Your enthusiasm will be remembered in subsequent contests.   :)

Photo of Girl Talk live @ Coachella '09 by vonlohmann on flickr via a Creative Commons license

The buzz on this Scottish band is no joke. Pair ‘em with Norwegian rockette Ida Maria, whose complete lack of rock star airs is utterly refreshing, and this is a kickass show. With a Mercury “Album of the Year” prize under their belts, Glasvegas’ anthemic songs balance jangly, bouncy pop driven by an energetic rhythm section, and a top note of expansive, layered effects-laden guitars that call to mind The Cure (when happy), U2 or, dare I say it, Coldplay. But they’re good.

Wanna go? Make up a city name out of two of your favorite cities (a la “Glasvegas”) and post it in the comments. We’ll randomly pick a lucky winner to check out the show at the Fonda.

Also, he's easy on the eyes.

So, my day job is at a radio station, and Eric Hutchinson’s coming in tomorrow to play a little live show in our in-studio performance space–and the viewing is so full that we’ve all been told there’s no more room. That’s the buzz on this guy–this show will sell out, and he’ll be playing way bigger venues in the future. (Haven’t heard him yet? Listen here.)

Then, totally unrelated to my work, Goldenvoice gave Metblogs some tickets to his concert Thursday, to give away! Lucky you!

A mellow evening of piano- and melodic-driven singer-songwriteriness, for fans of The Fray, Dave Matthews Band, the aforementioned Mayer, Jason Mraz, or Jack Johnson.

More info on the show can be found here.

To win tickets just leave a comment telling me why you want to see the show. We’ll randomly pick a few winners.

New Zealander comic Rhys Darby, who plays the band manager for Flight of the Conchords, will be bringing his bubbly and goofball live show to the Fonda on Thursday. Wanna go? Tell me all about your favorite FOTC episode, or your favorite thing you’ve seen Rhys do, in the comments. A few lucky winners will randomly be selected to go!

Info on the show is here; if you wanna see some youtube spots of Rhys in action, go here.

Take danceable darkwave, industrial, and a dash of Peter Murphy’s soaring goth epics, and you get VNV Nation: now on their 7th album, they still own the dancefloor at gloomy clubs nationwide. Ronan, the lead singer, is totally against type though: no brooding, rail-thin ghoul in black, he’s a slightly-rotund bouncing ball of wild energy, jumping around the stage, yelling at the top of his lungs, exhorting rooms of sullen goth kids to “put down your fucking phones and dance!”

Which I love.

Wanna go? Tell me your favorite VNV Nation lyric in the comments–or, if you prefer, tell me your favorite silly goth dance.

Info on the show is here.

Hey little gothlets & rivetheads. I haz a happy surprize fer youse.

We got wind of a VNV Nation record release show tonight at Club Nokia. It’s free with a ticket to Saturday night’s VNV Nation show (or your order confirmation) and you slobbering VNV fans can hear the record before anyone else that night at the venue. Ronan, the oddly-exuberant-for-a-goth-rock-hero lead singer, is going to Skype into the party to join in for a discussion. Good times. They’ll also be giving away meet-and-greet passes and VIP passes to the Saturday night show every 30 minutes.

Go here for more info.

Ever since their 2002 album “Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone,” I’ve had a music crush on The Walkmen. The delicacy of that album, the wistful tinkling layers of piano swirling through the vocals, blew me away. It’s good to see them back, and they’ll be playing on the 20th at the El Rey with The Morning Benders and total hound. Wanna go? Tell me your favorite album YOU ever listened to…on a Walkman.

Think about it. The Walkman is now obsolete technology, like an 8-track or a Victrola.

Info on the show is here.

Big ups to Julie Rasmussen, art diva & orginatrix, for tipping me off to this: tomorrow is the annual Free Cone Day at all Ben & Jerry’s locations! Click here for Yelp’s magical follows-you mappage of local B&J’s.

What’s up, pussycat? I’ll tell you. TOM JONES. Tom Jones will be belting out tunes from his new album, “24 Hours,” as well as subjecting himself to much panty-tossing during “It’s Not Unusual,” this very Friday. Info is here.

We’ve got a couple pairs of tickets to give away, but you’re gonna have to work.

You can:

Tell me about your favorite Tom Jones-related experience and why it rocked your world.

or

Using seesmic (which is in our comments), record a video response in our comments of you singing a Tom Jones song. The first two people to do that automatically get the tickets. Yep! Now….GO!

Monterrey, Mexico’s biggest synth-rock beat-driven danceaholics (that would be Kinky) come to the Fonda tomorrow night with Mexican Dubwiser and Chico Sonido for one hell of a show. I saw these guys for the first time two or three years ago at a Detour Festival downtown and they stole the whole show out from under Bloc Party, The Teddybears & even Perry Farrell. This is a don’t-miss show. Wear your dancing shoes.

Wanna go? Leave a comment telling me why you love the band sooooo much. We’ll randomly pick a few winners to get a pair of tickets.

Info on the show is here chez Goldenvoice.

Hawaiian dacenhall-punk-poppers Pepper bring their dance-inducing bubble-hop-rasta to  Club Nokia in downtown LA. Along with hybrids Shwayze, who graft turntablism, hip-hop & singer-songwriter styles together, this should be a great show, supported by The Supervillians and Passafire. People who always say “I like all kinds of music. Except country,” will prolly really enjoy this one.

Want in? Tell me what you think the most bizarre musical style-blend could be: klezmer with New Wave? Cumbia with Tuvan throat singing? Opera and hyphy? We’ll pick a couple winners to go rock out at the show.

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.