Réne Enríquez fought his way to the top of one of America's most ruthless gangs, the Mexican Mafia, for 20 years. From behind bars, he was able to kill and order deaths of gang rivals on Southern California streets. But then he began to have a change of heart. Reporter Michael Montgomery stayed on the story for a year and a half and tonight he finally tells Enríquez's story from the beginnings of the Mafia......

KCRW just began to present "Sessions" at the intimate 500 seated person capacity Malibu Performing Arts Center. Last night's show featuring Sia sold out within seven minutes, but that's no surprise for the friend of Zero 7 in such a small space. KCRW was kind enough to share some photos from before, during and after the show, on and off stage.......

LAist had the chance to check in with comedian/radio personality/Emmy Award winning writer Greg Fitzsimmons last night as he drove to Hollywood from the San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino where he earned a standing ovation, opening up for Artie Lange. Driving from the desert to Hollywood isn't something the Venice Beach resident does on a regular basis, luckily we had access to Google Maps serving as interviewer/navigator to Greg on his journey. The drive......

Clinton Sparks smashing it up at Hard Rock Hotel's Body English every Saturday night If you aren't familiar, Clinton Sparks has rapidly risen from the basement of his mother's house in Boston to an elite DJ, producer and on-air personality. Recently, the host of the nationally syndicated Smashtime Radio and producer of numerous classic mixtapes like the first two volumes of the "We Got it 4 Cheap" series by The Clipse and The Re-Up......

Photo by highervision via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr This evening a public viewing will be held for slain LA High football star Jamiel Shaw, with funeral services to follow tomorrow. Shaw's tragic murder has prompted many LA residents to refocus on the senselessness of gang-related violence. Go, stop, go, stop: Commuters northbound on the 57 and the 605 transitioning to the 210 westbound this morning were greeted by the new traffic......

Part of an ongoing series. On Saturday evening, local green-minded band (and Go Magazine covergirls) The Ditty Bops (MySpace), with Jesca Hoop (MySpace), John Reynolds, and Kaveh Rastegar (MySpace), performed at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. The shows also celebrated the release of The Ditty Bops' third full-length album, Summer Rains, with Hoop singing backup on three tracks: "Skinny Bones," "What Happened To The Radio," and "Feel From The Outside In." The Ditty......

PaleyFest08 announced today that they’re hosting an X-Files retrospective with series creator Chris Carter and executive producer Frank Spotnitz on March 26. But if that doesn’t bust out your inner Mulder or Scully, then how’s this? Attendees will also get a sneak peek at The X-Files sequel planned for a summer release. Now in its 25th year, The William S. Paley Television Festival, is one of best television events of the year. Fans can......

Last November we put out a desperate plea to 89.3 KP-CC to go e-z on the O-R-G. In the new year, however coincidentally, we've noticed a near-total abolition of this redundantly rhyming spellin' lesson for Luddites. In early January, we thought it was a dream. One by one -- Julian, Mantle, Stoltze and Xaykaothao -- all starting throwing around "dot org" as if they finally believed that most of us have a degree from an......

From Los Angeles to the deepest parts of the universe, it's nothing but nonstop presidential talk. But here in California -- the land of liberal legislatin' -- there are SEVEN statewide ballot propositions to consider once you step inside the voting booth tomorrow. One L.A. City prop is also on the ballot. Just so happens, LAist has your back. You give us ten minutes, we'll keep you from hastily punching "yes" or "no" on......

Pity Party at Little Radio on New Years Eve | Photo by Koga/LAist Despite it being Superbowl Sunday, February residencies got off to a great start last night with Alex & Sam at Tangier. Tonight is the first night of February residencies at Spaceland, Silverlake Lounge, Crash Mansion and The Echo/Echoplex. By last Thursday, The Airborne Toxic Event had gained so much popularity from their January residency, they had to reject 300 people from......

Reports of Bigfoot were sweeping across America by the late '50s, but what Charles Wetzel encountered on Saturday, November 1st, 1958 was unlike anything reported in the press. He was cruising in his 1952 Buick Super near Riverside, lending an ear to KFI Radio of Los Angeles, when he had to slow his car further to avoid water that had spilled across the road from the Santa Ana River. Suddenly, the radio began to crackle......

Here at LAist, we really love local folk music, especially The Hollow Trees. In fact, we love them so much that we've interviewed them three times: a little ">over a year ago, then in May about Stagecoach (the roots version of Coachella) and this last December. We'll spare any in depth analysis this morning, but will just say if you're looking for things to do late this morning, whether your a parent or babysitting some......

Photo by Ned Raggert via Flickr Those of you still looking for something to do this weekend, who also want to somehow combine this weekend-something-doing with music, leftist politics and dancing are in luck. The feisty internet agitators at Kill Radio are holding another fundraiser, this one at the Echo Curio, Saturday night (January 26 if you're nasty) at 9 PM. For a small donation (just 5 to 10 rapidly devaluing American Dollars,) you'll......

Increasingly free of gang violence, it may be getting safer to walk the streets of Watts, the Daily News reports. Homicides in the area have dropped from 24 in 2006 to just 11 last year and many residents are pinning hopes for further neighborhood revitalization on economic opportunities. Hey Magic Johnson, that's your cue! A man died last night after sliding down an escalator at the Hollywood Highland shopping pit of hell today. Apparently......

M.I.A. struts her stuff at the Echoplex, July 31 UCLA's online student radio station UCLAradio.com has released its list of top 10 most-played albums of 2007. Looks like it was a good year for hip-hop at the station, with the above-pictured third-world jetsetter M.I.A. taking the number one spot. The station also recently put out favorite record lists from many of its managers. Longtime Promotions Director Jason Stern describes his favorites using only lyrics......

As the year enters week two, organizations are programming newer music, that which was composed in the last century. This weekend, the Los Angeles Philharmonic began their Concrete Frequency series to an excellent start wth Aaron Copland's "The City" played to film and Edgard Varèse's "Amériques." After the concert, hip-hop violinist duo Paul Dateh and inka one (we interviewed Paul him this summer) played in the lobby by the cafe while Breakestra funked up......

After being kicked off the Adam Carolla show, Danny Bonaduce was given his own radio show 2-3pm every weekday, only to remind listeners that Danny isn't like-able and is seriously lacking talent. He seemed to try to be more appealing on Carolla's show, maybe because it wasn't HIS show. Bonaduce started off on Thursday by telling us about the memo's he received from management "Don't talk so much about yourself, don't try and top everyone's......

The New Year's Eve celebration at Little Radio in Downtown LA featured locals The Pity Party (MySpace), Fatlip (formerly of The Pharcyde), and Restaurant (MySpace), as well as DJ Lady Michelle Sinclair (MySpace). Not to mention free alcohol (after a $20.00 admission fee). Local music bloggers in attendance included Amateur Chemist and Rock Insider. Monday night was also "...the last event at Little Radio for about 4-5 months while [they] renovate the entire 10,000......

SFist saw Christmas Day turn tragic after a Siberian tiger escaped from her pen at the San Francisco Zoo, killing a visitor and mauling two others. Phillyist counted down the top ten items on Philadelphia's New Year's wish list. Gothamist looked at the wooden bikes being offered for NYC's first bike share program on Governors Island. LAist received a Christmas present in the form of a drunk Santa Claus in a g-string. Bostonist launched......

After a year of working together, it appears that Adam Carolla and Danny Bonaduce do not get along, resulting in Bonaduce's removal from morning radio, and reassignment to an affiliate station in afternoons, Perez Hilton says. Radio-info.com posted the following chronology of events:- On 12/10, there was a lead in bumper that said "Only four more days of Danny Bonaduce .... for us at least" - On 12/11, Carolla and Bonaduce threw small shots at......

Local radio talk show host Tom Leykis announced today on his daily afternoon radio show that he is willing to pay a $1,000 reward to anyone who can identify the woman who was caught on his security cameras urinating on the front door of his Hollywood Hills home. In the video you see two separate camera angles of a woman in her 20s or 30s as she pulls up to his house in a......

OOOwww! Good evening Los Angeles! Wooo! How you all fee-ull? People. You know! I don't believe the LA Forum has a chimney... so if y'all want Santa Claus to come pay us a visit you're gonna need to raise the roof off this mother!! And I think if all twenty thousand of you flick your lighters in time with the beat we can turn this place into the biggest Christmas tree in the world!......

CLASSICAL: There's other classical music about town tonight besides Chanticleer. The Calder Quartet is the Colburn Conservatory’s first quartet-in-residence, and these new faculty members will show their chops with a program that includes Philip Glass, Quartet No. 2 “Company” by Philip Glass; Quartet in A minor “Rosamunde” by Franz Schubert and Terry Riley's “Cadenza on the Night Plain.” 7:30 pm // The Colburn School: Zipper Hall // 200 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles //......

Jean Paul Yamamoto @ outside Vroman's, Pasadena, 7/27/07 Social Distortion @ House of Blues (Hollywood) Nu-Tra, Jean Paul Yamamoto, Capitol Radio, The Fuxedos @ Safari Sam's Io Echo, Mighty Six Ninety, Jason Eldredge @ The Troubadour Castledoor, The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra @ Boardner's Chanticleer @ Walt Disney Concert Hall Marvelous Toy, One Trick Pony, Sam and Alex @ Silverlake Lounge The Kris Special, Get Set Go, Stevenson Ranch Davidians @ The Echo Cousin Lovers......

You may remember Tim Hammer's -- (or should I say, a "blogger who calls himself Tim Hammer"?) recent post on "American Gladiators": "There are no cell phones, cameras, iPods or knives allowed inside [the arena]. These rules not only got in the way of my plans of shanking a Gladiator while listening to my workout mix on shuffle but also required us to walk all the way back to our car to drop off our......

This week Zach Behrens became the sixth editor of LAist. Behrens is no stranger to LAist staff or readers -- he was Co-Editor for nearly a year before taking the reins from Tony Pierce and contributed more than 1100 posts since 2005. We asked Zach a variety of questions to put in perspective how and why he came to be editor of the best city blog this side of the Hudson. Andy: When and why......

Thirty years ago today, Elvis Costello pissed off his record company and got himself banned from Saturday Night Live when he scrapped "Less Than Zero" several bars in and led the Attractions through this incendiary version of the then unreleased "Radio, Radio". Declan MacManus and Lorne Michaels have since made ammends, but this remains one of the greatest musical performances in the history of SNL.......

Etta James & Chuck Berry - "Rock n' Roll Music" Etta James and the Roots Band @ Wiltern Stevie Wonder @ Nokia Theatre Les Savy Fav @ El Rey Snoop Dogg's Smokin' XMAS Party @ House of Blues Mellowdrone @ The Echoplex Greyboy Allstars @ The Troubadour Lamb of God @ Long Beach Arena The Nightwatchman, Jill Sobule, Low Stars @ Hotel Cafe Andre Legacy, Dirt Nasty, Beardo @ Safari Sam's Mike Stern Quartet......

Philly native, Beanie Sigel hit the road for Los Angeles to promote his new album, The Solution which dropped yesterday. The Rocafella representative took a little time in between radio interviews and a late night run to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles to chat with LAist about his latest effort, his time locked up and the current state of hip hop music. How’s the response for the album been so far? Good, you know the album......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......