Public Enemy brought the noise to Operation Skid Row Music Festival on Sunday, along with several other acts, proving that music activates and block parties rock. Chuck D, the hip hop group's founding member, and Skid Row activist General Jeff collaborated on the event to create some fun for Skid Row residents. more ›

Chuck D of Public Enemy wants the world to know that hip-hop -- at least, his brand of it -- is about activism and community involvement. "For too long, they've said that the music I'm involved with, the genre doesn't have enough conscious social activity," he recently told CBS News. more ›

Mötley Crüe will heed the call of the motherland as they rock the 2011 Sunset Strip Music Festival (SSMF), taking place August 18 through August 20, announced organizers. Mötley Crüe, this year's Elmer Valentine Award honoree, will share the spandex'd spotlight of the 3-day fest with Public Enemy, Bush, Matt & Kim and more than 50 other bands (check the lineup for new additions). more ›

In what was their first Los Angeles show in nearly four years and the first of three consecutive, sold-out dates at the Wiltern, Bristol-based trip-hop legends Massive Attack treated the crowd to a nearly perfect two-hour set of their patented brand of atmospheric music. While the first half of the set was heavy on the newest release—2010's Heligoland—the well-known tracks that delivered them to prominence were not ignored. One of the highlights being a stripped down version of "Teardrop" with former Tricky collaborator and evening opener Martina Topley-Bird, who lent her soulful voice to the band on about a third of the evening's tracks. more ›

AMC's "Breaking Bad" is so good that we can't stop thinking about last night's episode. Both macabre and humorous, it was the best thing we saw on TV last night. The show starts with Walter White already out of the frying pan and in the fire and it ends with him seemingly consumed by the flames - we don't know how they're going to keep it up. more ›

Relatively speechless tonight because there's so little on TV and yesterday was pretty lame as well. The final schmaltzy segment of Tin Man aired to much disappointment, and Nip/Tuck started out great but fizzled about halfway through the episode. Tonight though, Tyler Perry actually returns to the show he created and that's a big deal so check TBS at 9:00pm. [Please note how I'm specifically not mentioning the Julia Roberts special on AMC as she... more ›

Patti Smith @ Santa Monica Pier Public Enemy @ House of Blues Tony Bennett @ The Greek Delta Spirit, The Outline, Sparrow Love Club @ The Roxy The Detroit Cobras, Dan Sartain, The Willowz @ The Troubadour Stonehoney, Alejandro Escovedo, The Estate @ The Mint Bang Sugar Bang, Sin Serenade, The Prix @ Alex's Bar Gore Gore Girls, Midnight Movies, Irving, The Architects @ The Echoplex The Veils, Carina Round, Paul McLaney, Julia Darling... more ›

What would you do to see a newly reunited Rage Against the Machine playing on the same stage and day as Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, The Roots, Nas and Talib Kweli? If you said: Drive over an hour, stand in a line for 80 minutes in the 99 degree sun, avoid a restroom for nine hours, sit in possibly the worst parking lot traffic the Western Hemisphere has ever seen and inhale... more ›

Large crowds, temps close to 100 degrees and pepper spray in the air. Ahh yes, just another night in San Bernardino. The premiere hip hop (+ one Rage Against the Machine) festival Rock The Bells rolled through the 909 this past weekend and what was billed as a celebration of respect and unity turned into a bit of a mob scene. There was something for every hip hop fan on the bill. Your backpackers... more ›

By week's end, LA is littered with dozens of free rags. LAist reads the weeklies so you don't have to. If there's anything we missed, let us know, or better yet drop it in the comments section below. LA Weekly reviewed the gaffe-filled Q & A between Democratic presidential hopefuls and Hollywood gays. While not one candidate came out clearly in support of gay marriage, Bill Richardson slipped so hard as to insinuate that... more ›

Tim McGraw, Faith Hill @ Honda Center more ›

Late night is pretty good tonight - will have to make some tough choices or be handy with the remote. 8:00pm Big Brother CBS - Who gets the boot? 8:30pm The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer TCM - The always dapper Cary Grant squares off against a frigid but hot Myrna Loy and avoids the attentions of a grown up and horny Shirley Temple - a classic. 10:00pm Mad Men AMC - This is the... more ›

Did you think $75 for Rock the Bells tickets was too steep? Fight the power, and head over to Hollywood and Highland to catch one of the headlining acts for free. Yeeeeah Boy! Public Enemy will be performing on Thursday night's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live and Chuck D is inviting everyone to bum rush the show. Check out his new blog at ChuckD.tv for details to find out how you can see one of... more ›

Here at LAist we've been a tad OCD about things lately. We had our little Spoon-fest last week, and our green movement today with Green LA Girl as our guest editor, so I suppose it's only fair that DAFT PUNK is our new obsession. Yes, we shared with you one of our favorite videos of all time for Harder, Better, Stronger, Faster (and what else those hands can do is on our list of... more ›

- Illegals doing what Americans wont do: 61,000 pot plants spotted in Santa Barbara - CBS2 - North Hollywood man found guilty of 1997 murder of Nigerian soccer player - LA Daily News - Chino woman who was found guilty of murder and served 23 years, released on parole - Daily News - The Zorro Bandit strikes again at a Glendale bank - CBS2 - OC bus strike on its 6th day and going... more ›

A comedian dressed as Osama Bin Ladin was spotted downtown trying to do a lame bit, but it made us realize something: fake Osamas are funny. We don't know why fake Osamas are funny. The real one is an evildoer and all. And he probably had something to do with 9/11, but given the lack of attention that our government is paying to him, we're starting to doubt it. Seriously, if bro really orchestrated... more ›

Crash Mansion, a live-music venue and nightclub owned by the Bowery Restaurant Group and located at 199 Bowery in New York City , is opening their Los Angeles outpost tonight. They have transformed Myron's Ballroom downtown into a club. We read that is has a capacity for 1200 guests, 5 bars and two stages. Bands that have performed in the New York venue include: Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Norah Jones, Joss Stone, Usher, Gavin DeGraw, The Rapture, The Fray, Public Enemy, Wyclef Jean, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh, and Le Tigre. If it's cool, you better get their quick before word spreads. more ›

Sounds like a good time to play you Cypress Hill's "How I Could Just Kill A Man" in Spanish, aka "No Entienedes La Onda". more ›

LAist gets and listens to a Lot of music. You can see the bands we like in the concerts that we review, the Tonight in Rock listings that we compile, and in the cds that we review. But we realize that we listen to way more music than we review so we figured we make a list once a week letting you know what we're into. week ending 3/31/07 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible... 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 ›

OUT TODAY: Aereogramme - My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go (Sonic Unyon) Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Men Belinda Carlisle - Voila [Bonus Disc] (Rykodisc) Bloc Party - Weekend in the City (Vice) Chicken Shack - Complete Blue Horizon Sessions (Blue Horizon) Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky) Dexys Midnight Runners - Projected Passion Revue (Umvd Import) Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five (Zedtone) Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High... more ›

In what could be the crappiest selection of new music to come out in one week, the highlight comes from those krunky kids in the Dirrty South, the Ying Yang Twins. Someone alert the music industry that people are buying gifts this time of the year. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (Star Trak) Dan the Automator - Dan the Automator Presents 2K7 Instrumentals (Decon) The Figgs - Follow Jean Through the Sea (Gern... more ›

Breaking the law, breaking the law We -ist folks love us some crime, and no misdemeanor is too petty for a post on any of our sites. This week, join us for a rogues' gallery of miscreants major, minor, and alleged. more ›

While Huey spends this week trying to convince his granddad to stop wearing an earring, you can spend your Saturday with Aaron McGruder talking about the upcoming Boondocks animated series (heading to Adult Swim in the fall), his always controversial views on current events and what's really going on on the funny pages. more ›

Tuesday brings all you happy LAists a little hip hop, a little country, a little rock, a little pop and a lot of conversation. It all sounds good, so choose wisely. more ›

The Dodgers are playing great baseball right now, and that usually calls for some kind of outrageous distraction. more ›