LOS ANGELES – The rapt crowd at the Troubadour watches Juana Molina’s every move on Tuesday night, almost as if she were a magician performing sleights of hand. They sway to the bossa nova-flavored rhythms of her lush, giddy indie rock songs and sing along to the Spanish lyrics. Wearing a black skirt and tank […]
Read More »The sleaze and the cheese were turned up to 11 during ’80s-inspired heavy metal comedy act Steel Panther’s JVC- and Spin-sponsored set at the Key Club in Hollywood last night (July 21). Openers Blacklist Union celebrated their new CD with black leather- and-bombast- fueled rock, and Albatross warmed things up with a swamp-metal fest. And since […]
Read More »It’s good to be Matchbox Twenty. The band feted this fact with a triumphant two-hour set Sunday night at the Staples Center. Supporting its 2007 greatest hits album, “Exile on Mainstream,” with the band’s first national tour in more than four years, the quintet tapped unlikely but compelling openers Alanis Morissette and up-and-coming alt rock group Mute Math for an […]
Read More »British singer-songwriter James Blunt has achieved perhaps the weirdest distinction in pop history. As he explained at his sold-out show Thursday at the Wiltern, he has written the most popular wedding song in Britain — his breakout hit, “You’re Beautiful,” from his double-platinum debut album, “Back to Bedlam.” He’s also written what he said has […]
Read More »When Los Angeles-based psychedelic rock trio the Entrance Band plays a show, it’s a happening. Not only because band members take sound and style inspiration from the ’60s counterculture that coined the term, as they demonstrated during a short set Sunday at the new Arthur Magazine Sunday Evenings music series at McCabe’s in Santa Monica. […]
Read More »IS matinee idol the next frontier for Miley Cyrus? The tween queen’s new 3-D concert film, “Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” shot during her 69-city winter tour, screens nationally for one week beginning Friday, and tickets are selling fast. And that’s on top of already being a TV idol, thanks […]
Read More »LOS Angeles-based indie-rock band Dengue Fever has earned international acclaim for its stylish, genre-bending take on Cambodian pop. On its third album (in stores Tuesday), the band channels its passion for Khmer rock and ’60s psych into an increasingly unique musical hybrid. “Seeing Hands” is sultry Cambodian-Middle Eastern noir, while “Tiger Phone Card,” is a […]
Read More »You can teach a dirty old dog new tricks, but he’ll still be adirty old dog, and thankfully, Social Distortion embodied this maxim attheir sold-out House of Blues show in Anaheim last night (Dec. 11).Mike Ness and Co. delivered new takes on old favorites, proving thatafter 30 years in the SoCal punk scene, the band’s […]
Read More »What a short but eclectic trip it’s been. At age 30, John Mayer may seem too young for a career retrospective. But his three-hour-plus show Saturday at the Nokia Theatre was just that. The night explored his musical evolution in the six years since his multi-platinum debut, “Room for Squares,” with three equally compelling segments: […]
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