Going to the Warped Tour is kinda like a combination between going to Disneyland and Las Vegas in the same day. A crowd of people, young and old converged upon Home Depot Center in Carson for the final show of the tour then scattered in all directions once the gates opened. The choices included watching a live band at one of nine stages or visiting one of many swap meet style vendor booths to buy merchandise, get stuff signed or pick up a bag of free stuff. Of course there was a skate ramp and free Monster drinks were made available to all, including the super-strain of the beverage: "Assault" an appropriate one-word explanation for what would take place over the next 9 hours (story continued below photo gallery). more ›

Bad Religion - "Incomplete" John Doe, Dead Rock West, Los Duggans, The Lone @ Safari Sam's Reyes Bros. @ Key Club Gipsy Kings @ The Greek Strunz & Farah @ Catalina Bar & Grill Lukas Haas, Jessica Fichot @ The Hotel Cafe Big Bad Voodoo Daddy & The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra @ Hollywood Bowl Festivals Fuck Yeah Fest: The Explosion, The Fuse, Busdriver, Boom Bip, Entrance, The Mae Shi, Fleshies, Residual Echoes, Imaad Wasif,... more ›

How good is Oreskaband, the all-girl teenage Japanese ska band? They're so good that after two weeks of non-stop rocking blogging and partying at SXSW in Austin (highlighted by our first exposure to Oreskaband at their show at the Elysium), and after a stressful flight home, instead of taking a break from rock shows we landed in LA, unpacked, and hit the Knitting Factory to see our favorite new discovery play again at Japan... more ›

the all highschool-girl Japanese ska band, Oreska Band, will play tonight at the Echo Queens of the Stone Age @ Henry Fonda Squeeze @ The Greek Veruca Salt @ The Roxy Deep Purple @ Ventura Theatre Gliss, Moderates, Io Echo, Black Kites @ Viper Room Manic, Stranger Smile, On the Surface, Oreska Band @ The Echo The Vaginals, Clark 8, John Thill, Lacoste @ The Scene Metal Skool, Rasa 9, Eject, Steady Ground @... more ›

Now that I have recovered from nine days and nights at SXSW, I can tell you that it's all downhill from here for the world's greatest music festival. No way could anything top that. 1750 bands and hardly any of them sucked. How does that happen? Plenty of free food, beer, no lines if you had a badge. Stalwarts like The Stooges, Pete Townshend, Robyn Hitchcock, Public Enemy, Peter Case, Rickie Lee Jones, and... more ›

Be thankful that yesterday was St. Paddy's day and that tonight is Sunday. That one-two punch has made this evening a less-than-desirable night for big name acts to want to grace our fair city with a rock show. more ›

Every year that we come to SXSW we fall in love with a band that was completely off our radar and surprises us with their cuteness and charm. Last year it was The Go! Team and The Grates, this year it the all-girl high school ska band from Japan, Oreskaband who are so good and infectious that we immediately ran to the back of the Elysium and bought their cd. more ›