Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead performs at Club Nokia.

Motörhead rocked my ass off. As they’ve done for the last 34 years, Motörhead hit the road with one thing in mind: Everything Louder Than Everything Else. Well done, boys.

Motörhead headlined Club Nokia at LA Live last Friday night in front of a packed house. Nashville Pussy and the Reverend Horton Heat opened the show and started to build the energy in the room, but when Motörhead took the stage the crowd exploded.

LA MetBlogs gave away tickets to the show, and invited the ticket winners to write about their experiences. Their accounts and more photos after the break.

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LIGHTS Debut Album, "The Listening" Will Be Released On 10/6

I just found out that LIGHTS will be performing at the Troubadour on November 3rd!

For those of you unfamiliar with LIGHTS, she’s a tiny, Canadian, World of Warcraft playing, keytar wielding, comic-book-heroine-slash-intergalactic-electropop-artist. In other words, she’s totally my dream best friend (no offense to my actual best friends, but come on, you guys really need to step it up).

LIGHTS’ debut album “The Listening” will be released tomorrow (10/6), but the album is streaming in its entirety on LIGHTS’ Myspace page right now, so go check it out.

But wait, there’s more! LIGHTS is also starring in the cutest animated comic series on MTV and MTV.com called “Audio Quest.” You can watch the first episode here. (more…)

Last night, I learned that this year’s Grand Avenue Festival is on hiatus so that the organizers can do some restructuring. From their website:

The Grand Avenue Partners, the association of organizations responsible for the annual Grand Avenue Festival, have decided to place the 2009 festival on hiatus and direct their collective efforts on assessing needs and possibly re-inventing the festival for 2010 and beyond.

Many of the Grand Avenue-based arts and cultural institutions featured in the Festival will continue to offer low-cost or free programming on Saturday, September 26, 2009 as well as offer ongoing community programs throughout the year.

A shame, to be sure. It’s is always nice to be able to wander Grand Avenue and take in performances from The Colburn School on over to the Cathedral. There were activities for kids, from creating art to making music and of course, all the food.

In fairness, last year’s event wasn’t exactly a fun time.  It was ridiculously hot, but no shade available. This led to the indoor events being overcrowded.  Many vendors neglected to show up, so there were many empty booths. Not to mention that despite all of the food vendors, there was no place for people to sit and eat. I can only hope that they event organizers are focusing on fixing these problems.

As for events this weekend, a quick glance at the calendars show only paid events. I’ve contacted people at some of the facilities and no one has any knowledge of free or ‘low-cost or free programming on Saturday, September 26, 2009′. I’ll update once I get more information.

This Thursday night, Layer 23 and The Good Hurt present Upgrade, a steamy night of geek chic electro featuring a rare live performance by the inseparable hetero-life partner duo who virtually invented the genre, Telesonic Commander.

Some of you may already know Telesonic Commander from their live Ustream shows (of which I am a frequent listener and fan). Based on those performances, I expect to see flashy jumpsuits, exotic mustaches and just a taste of loveless copulation. If you want to preview their sound, check out the track, “Game Set Match” here.

There will also be music by DJs D++, Delicious Mix and Aeon Flux, free giveaways by IHEARTCOMIX, photos by Matador y Toros and video visuals by Verdilak.

According to the event organizers, Upgrade is a night for “hip geeks” looking to get away from the crowded Hollywood spots and the 18+ dance clubs. The idea is to have a place where you can dance or just tuck your laptop into a dark corner and geek out while listening to some cool electro beats – everything from EBM to IDM, breakbeat to 8-Bit, Electroclash to Eurotrash.

Let Your Geek Flag Fly this Thursday Night

“While we will make sure the music is danceable, we also want to encourage people to bring their PDAs and laptops and just sit in one of (more…)

LACMAs Latin Sounds music series is winding down, with next week being the last concert of the season. This past Saturday, we were engaged by the wonderfully sad vocals of Esther Segovia. She sang tangos and waltzes popular in Argentina. The perfect music for a lazy Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles. Angelenos of all colors and ages danced to some of the most famous tangoes in the warm setting sun.

If you still haven’t made it to LACMA for the Latin Sounds series, you must pack up a picnic and plan to spend next Saturday on the lawn listening to Johnny Polanco y Su Conjunto Amistad.

Morris Day will be performing at the Funk Fest among others this Saturday at The Greek Theatre

This Saturday is the Funk Fest at The Greek Theatre featuring Morris Day (”Jungle Love”), S.O.S. Band (”Take Your Time (Do It Right)”), Zapp (”Computer Love”), Midnight Starr (”No Parking on the Dance Floor”) and Con Funk Shun (”Love’s Train”).

Goldstar is offering HALF price tickets, only $32.95 if you buy them at Goldstar.com.

If you’re into funk, then you already know that this show is not to be missed – and at half-off, even you noob-to-moderate funkateers should get up off your seats and get down with us this Saturday. See you there, Funk Army!

While fellow bloggers have made no bones about their passion for the unassuming Mr. Hutchinson, I was happy to hold our ticket contest and send a really excited fan. Well, two, but Chris here was so stoked that he actually wrote back when I requested a post-event write-up.

Click thru to read his opinion of this up-and-coming, and funny, musician. (more…)

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.

I had always heard of the Old 97’s, but I’d never heard them. Until one of the guys in my building, who did a lot of work with indie labels, was let go, and his massive collection of promo cd’s was left behind.

The collection was raided by our entire office, picked and pawed through, but I grabbed the “Hit by a Train: Best of the Old 97’s” cd. I popped it in while driving home. With the first rippling, enormously satisfying chord, my jaw hit the steering wheel. By the first keening, lonely guitar solo, I was utterly sold. How could I have missed these guys while I played my Whiskeytown & Cracker cds down to the nibs? Oh well.

Now you can win a pair of tickets to this show, but you gotta tell me how YOU discovered the Old 97’s, and I hope it has more cred than my story. We’ll pick a random winner. Info on the show is here.

I hate you people.

See, I only have one pair of tickets to give away for The Hold Steady next Tuesday. If I had two pairs, or even three, I could use one for myself. But I only have one. So I have to give it to you people.

Photo by Marina Chavez

The Hold Steady is one of my favorite bands. Introduced to me by a bartender friend (quelle surprise), at first they rubbed me the wrong way. What the HELL is up with him shouting over the songs?

Then I listened to what he was saying, and the lyrics melted into the music and became the sound of the rust belt rocking the night away in dim bars, the sound of hell-bent tours to crappy clubs around the country, the heir to Kerouac, to Springsteen. The piano made me think of the Mississippi River.

So, you jerks, tell me your favorite thing about The Hold Steady. Or your favorite story about them. One lucky winner, who will not be me, will get to go to the show.

Just kidding about hating you. I love you all. Please take me as your plus-one.* (more…)