Try describing Beats Antique to someone that hasn’t experienced them and you end up talking about a kaleidoscope of styles.
It’s Electronica, No! it’s Middle Eastern, wait, it’s Down-tempo, maybe Afro-Beat? There’s an amazing bellydancer and her team, there’s sometimes a crazy Marching Band, occasionally a wild explosion of live puppet dancers, jazz. What the hell is it?

Divine. Going to a Beats Antique concert is always an experience, kind of psychedelic, kinda dreamy…always fun.
If you want to get in on the action for FREE just give us your description of what describes their vibe onstage. Best four descriptions get free tickets for this Friday nights show on the 30th at the Club Nokia.
Do it now, cuz we have to make a decision and give these tickets away! Make sure when you sign in you leave us your email so we can contact you if you win (it’s not published!)

If you don’t win, you can buy tickets here.
Along with Beats Antique, Emancipator, Random Rab and Lynx are hitting the stage.
Beats Antique was formed by two rad musicians Tommy “Sidecar” Cappeland, David Satori and a hip-hop belly dancer named Zoe Jakes. Their performances defy description! But give it your best shot!

It’s easy to categorize music. And some (ummm, okay, less enlightened types…) might say Kruder and Dormeister are ‘dance music’ stars. Ha!… We know they are so much more!
Together, they blend, twist, experiment and enchant as no other producers do. They are one of the few who take notes into whole new forms. They harness tribal beats and split them up, coax you into a sweet mood late in the night and then blast a jolt of lightning into the aural mix. It’s sweet and damned exciting.

They are not to be missed.

I’m stoked they are gracing our beloved city this Friday night at Club Nokia. I’ll definitely be there groovin’ along with many others in the know.

If you want to hang for free and get your musical world rocked, tell me what Kruder and Dorfmeister means to you. And why you should be one of the chosen ones. We’re giving away four pairs of tickets. Get your thoughts into the comments below and we’ll pick four of the most worthy (or most entertaining) ones to attend the show. And if you miss the giveaway, you can always score tickets here.

I’ve seen Michael Franti in concert once before and he blew me away.  You can see him this Wednesday night cuz we’re giving away four pairs of tickets to his performance at Club Nokia on September 22nd.  His music, a blend of reggae, hip-hop, jazz and rock blends so many genres, that it emerges as a style all his own.

His performance has so much energy, that you end up dancing, moving and just in general having a great time.  While he’s known for his ballads on peace and freedom, he also has a style that is just down with feeling good.

If you want to win tickets, just give us your version of why Michael wears no shoes! If you don’t win… just go here to nab a ticket… it’s well worth it!

What’s on your agenda this weekend? Me?  I could use a good laugh, always gets me going.   If that’s up your alley, check out Kathleen Madigan at Club Nokia this Saturday night at 8PM.  And if you really want to feel good, you can win a pair of tickets just by telling a good joke worthy of sharing with the world, or simply a funny story or anecdote.  (don’t worry if it’s not original, just make it funny!)

Kathleen is a stand-up comic… and a hilarious one at that.  She’s been on Jay Leno, tours constantly all over the US and has been a big hit on youtube.  Her particular brand of humor uses everyday life to poke fun of our eccentric, mundane human behavior.  She’s from the Mid-West, super accessible and then veers into outrageous antics.  Fun.

Sooooo, if you want to see her you can either buy tickets here, or in the comments section below, tell a good joke or funny experience.  The humor department here at blogging.la will choose four lucky people for a pair of tickets each.  But hurry, the contest closes in 18 hours (Friday at 11 AMish) and we need a laugh!  Don’t forget to put your real email address in when you register (it won’t be published) so we can contact you if you win!

Scorpions

After 45 years (yes, 45!) the Scorpions have decided to lay down their guitars. Before they retire, however, they’ll be on a three-year farewell tour. The Get Your Sting And Blackout tour comes to southern California this week, and blogging.la has your tickets. Read on…

As I suspect is true of most hard rock fans my age (or perhaps a little younger,) the Scorpions first hit my radar with their Love At First Sting album in 1984. That was the album that featured the anthem “Rock You Like A Hurricane.” It was followed closely by 1985′s World Wide Live. Even now it’s hard to believe those records (yes, they were “records” back then) were released 25 years ago. Harder still to believe that Rudolf Shenker started this band in 1965.

Scorpions (with guests, Cinderella) are coming to the new(ish) Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario on Thursday, July 29, and we’ve got your tickets. Want to win a pair of tickets to the show courtesy of Goldenvoice and blogging.la? Just leave me a note in the comments below telling me your Scorpions story. Favorite song, why you desperately want to see them on this farewell tour, how you missed seeing them in high school because your mom wouldn’t let you camp out overnight at Music+Plus to get tickets. You get the idea.

Contest ends Wednesday at 9:00am, with winners notified via email. Keep a close eye on your inbox Wednesday morning, because I need you to reply to a question in that winning email by noon Wednesday. If I don’t hear from you, I have to pass the tickets on to the next winner. (Pro tip: Watch your inbox after noon too, just in case you’re the runner up. I’ll still need a quick response.)

Don’t want to take a chance on winning your way into the show? You can still purchase tickets here. I wouldn’t wait too long, though. The Scorpions show on Saturday night at the Nokia Theater at L.A. Live appears to already be sold out.

As has become my habit, I’ll start you off with my Scorpions story. Well, not mine actually…
In 1990, a friend who was working for Mercury Records was taking advantage of the “free meal on your birthday” deal at the Denny’s on Sunset Blvd. While “dining” (seriously, it’s Denny’s; the quotes around that word are deserved,) in walk the Scorpions, who were in Hollywood recording “Crazy World.” They recognized my friend, as they had just met her at the Mercury offices, and discovering it was her birthday, they all gathered round her table to sing “Happy Birthday.” The Scorpions. Singing “Happy Birthday.” At Denny’s. A happy birthday indeed.

Okay, now you.

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.

The bombastic Scottish five-piece Mogwai returns to LA in a venue befitting its magestic, cinematic, explosive sound: Downtown’s glittering neo-Classical movie palace The Orpheum. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this show, and I also can’t tell you how essential it will be for you to bring earplugs if you win these tickets.

I started with Mogwai’s Come On Die Young album, was blown away by the loud-soft-loud-soft post-rock landscapes, and then backtracked to their 1997 album Young Team. That sealed the deal. The later Rock Action & Mr. Beast were fantastic as well. A show some years later at the El Rey left me flattened, gasping for air from the wall of sound, and blown the fuck away.

To win, tell me your favorite Mogwai song and why you love it so much. May the force be with you.

The Goldenvoice show info is here.

Even if you didn’t get a free CFL for recycling a Christmas tree, you might still be in luck. The DWP is going door-to-door to its L.A. residential customers to give out compact fluorescent light bulbs. CFLs reduce energy costs while giving off the same amount of light as traditional incandescents. They last longer and use less fossil fuel produced electricity, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

I already use several of these in my home and will happily accept two more for free. My biggest complaint about the ones I have is that they take several seconds to “warm up” and emit their full light. I’ve read that some can take up to 3 minutes, but you can get CFLs now that have an “instant on” feature.

One other important note is that like all fluorescent bulbs, these do contain a small amount of mercury, so special care needs to go into disposal and clean up if one breaks. Both the City and County of Los Angeles offer hazardous materials recycling. If it’s more convenient, you can take them to any Home Depot.

I’m still waiting. Have you received your free compact fluorescents yet?

Any fan of rap or hip-hop–even just plain ole’ music fans who dig innovation and experimentation–will love Kool Keith in all his incarnations, whether it be as a member of seminal rap duo the Ultramagentic MCs, the trippy Dr. Octagon or the homicidal Dr. Dooom. Kool Keith’s lyrical innovations really make him akin to a Beat poet in his willingness to chop up language like a chef at Benihana, flipping around bits of language, slicing & dicing words apart to draw in all sorts of flavor.

Wanna go to the show? Tell me your favorite line from a Kool Keith track in the comments. We’ll randomly pick a few winners to get a pair of tix to the show.

Info on the show is here.

Work at a record store? Or are you merely a music snob? Here’s your concert. Tapes ‘n Tapes play with Wild Light & Wavves this Saturday at the El Rey. Of course, we know you’re all planning on being at the Classic Eats dinner that night, enjoying your drinks at Traxx and your extremely strong mustard at Philippe’s, but of course this would be a lovely little show to take in post-dinner.

Wanna go? Tell me in the comments what 10 songs you’d put on a mixtape & what the theme would be. We’ll pick a couple lucky bastards to go. Here’s all the info on the show.

Hey guys! The super-awesome Raveonettes appear this Saturday at the Fonda with The Soft Pack (formerly known as The Muslims) and former Metblogs author DJ Travis Keller. Now we know you’re all planning on coming to the Classic Eats dinner that night, but may we suggest this as after-dinner entertainment? I think we may.

Wanna go? Leave a clever play-on-words band name (real or made-up) in the comments and we’ll pick a few lucky winners. Here’s info on the show if you wanna buy tix.

We’ve got tix to see Brit indie darlings Metronomy play with local indie darlings The Mae Shi tomorrow night at the El Rey. Wanna go? I don’t have a whole lot of time to compose some fantastic contest today because they’re firing 9% (to be exact) of the people who work at my office today and we’re all ducking & covering. So howabout you just leave a comment telling me how much you deserve to win, and when I get a moment to check my non-work email, I’ll hit a couple winners back.

Here’s the show info, kiddies.

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.

I’m about as heartbroken as I’ve ever been (and man, that is some serious heartbreak) about Indie 103.1′s demise, but, well, I still have these tickets to give away. I’m too bummed to get all huckstery and clever to sell ‘em, so really, if you want ‘em, just leave a comment telling me your favorite thing about (R.I.P.) Indie 103.1 and I’ll get back to a few winners.

Autolux with Wooden Ships at the Fonda, 1/17
and we still have tix to The Delta Spirit with Everest at the El Rey, 1/16.

Represent, indie rock lovers.

This Saturday one of my favorite bands, one of LA’s most iconic bands, and one of the most important bands in music history play downtown at the disturbingly-sparkly LA Live complex at the newly opened Club Nokia. I was down there for the Oasis show the other week and they’d just lit all the holiday lights and while it was very pretty and a raver wonderland with all the blinky “icicles” on the trees, it was also strangely devoid of public seating like benches and such. Hmm.

But I digress. I’ve loved Cracker since I first heard them in my sophomore year of high school. X really captures so much of the spirit of this city, and I found them around the same time. It was actually significantly longer before I heard of the New York Dolls (my music education began in earnest around my junior year, and I didn’t discover classic proto-punk until college…very sad).

So, this show should kick ass. If you can weave a little yarn, tell me a good story in the comments below–about your discovery of either of the bands, when it was, and how it made you feel (think of me as your music therapist)–well, we’ll pick a few winners to go to the show, where you can stand around a lot outside and watch the blinky lights before you go in.