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When Tony Pierce began as editor of LAist in June of 2006, he brought in a new genius noon column called Tonight in Rock. It was needed, this town is most definitely a music town and you can't avoid it. If you have a favorite band, it's just a matter of when they'll be visiting next.
Yet flipping through pages of LA music listings, so many bands feel so anonymous. Great band name, but who the hell are some of these people? What do they sound like? Do they suck or are they going to make my day?
It's now time to look at the evolution of a column. Should it stay the same, should it change? Recently, we've been trying to link to band's MySpace pages so you can get a taste of their music. Then we started to embed music clips right here on LAist so you can experience it directly.
The question comes down to this: What's most useful to you, the reader? Do the links help, do the embedded music files help? Do you like that we want you to discover new bands that are good and many haven't heard of yet? Do we need a add This Week in Rock, This Month in Rock?
Let it rip in the comments section below; we want to rock you tonight.
Photo by Tom Andrews via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
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I like to have the best of both worlds (big surprise there). While I'm a sucker for added multimedia content, I also like to scan a simple, lo-fi listing of the acts playing tonight.
In LA, though, it doesn't matter if your Nic Harcourt or Steve Jones, there are STILL amazing bands coming up and playing out ever night that we (or they) have yet to discover. This is where I love having links to interviews w/ bands and definitely embedded audio -- I don't like having to click off site and navigate to find music, however, I do think MySpace is best to provide for band link site since the music usually starts up automatically.
The more Monday night residencies I get to and the more often I catch unknown openers at shows, the longer the list of bands I dig. So it's nice to be able to just have a no frills list as well.
JMHO!
personally i like the links the best. i am always interested in finding out about bands i might not have heard before.
I'm a fan of the simple text listings but Myspace links are useful too. Beyond that though, is too much. If I want to find out more about a band. I look them up. That's part of the fun of discovering new music.
I like the embedded music. Myspace is one of the many banned websites at work so if you only link to Myspace, I can't find out much about the band.
I would just like a humorous comparison to a band that I may have heard of.. I read something like, Dan Deacon is like 'The Books' on speed..I'm checking that out...
It might be helpful to categorize the events list by neighborhood for those readers who are looking to find something to do that's closer to home. If anything, that type of grouping might be of some assistance in discovering more obscure venues about which we wouldn't otherwise have known.
I'm also a fan of the comparison idea, although it might prove to have an adverse effect if one has a negative opinion of the better-known band.
I like a mix of both, as some of the people above have said as well. I don't need a link to every band playing - I tend to pick music based on who the band is and the location. I do think having something embedded in the site is nice and then I don't have to click through lots of other tabs to hear each band.
Dan Deacon is like The Books on speed? Wow, I might have to check that show out tonight -- Health opens, yes?
I agree, I did enjoy some recent shout-out and comparisons to some closet faves of mine like the Flying Lutenbachers!
Um.. I don't know about tonight, but Dan Deacon is playing El Rey tomorrow night.. with Health , Abe Vogada
Tomorrow. right. that's what I meant ;-)
I like the links and discovering new bands. I rather check it out first then have them spam my inbox with "Hey I see you like backstreet Boys! Then you'll love us!"
All Faun Fables. All the Time.
I think that it should be changed to Tomorrow Night In Rock. Often times the page gets put up after I have already left work or after my day has become so busy that I cant check LAist. Most of the time I check it first thing in the morning and I can't tell you how many times I have said to my self, "_______ played last night and I missed it? Doh!" So if it was changed to the bands that are playing tomorrow night (or even 2 nights in advance) I could plan accordingly.
Anybody else agree?
Keep up the good work LAist.
I'd love to have "this week" feature (like the literary one). I'm too busy (or lazy) to research who's playing myself, and too over-scheduled to make plans at the last minute - I need a few days heads-up on a show.
I definitely agree about the advanced warning. 'This week' works great.
Also, embedded music would be awesome.