Just when you thought your days of browsing a big-box national book retailer store were as numbered thanks to the demise of Borders and the fading of Barnes & Noble comes word e-tailer giant Amazon is prepping to launch a physical store. more ›

Every now and then when the wind blows just right and the planets align, an opening band will blow the headliner out of the water. It is an extremely rare occurence, but every so often, you arrive at a venue early and have your mind blown. If any of you were at the Troubadour on December 10th, 2010, you know exactly what I'm talking about. All thirty of you. more ›

At the "Starbucks of the future," things could be less "Tommorowland" and more old-school cafe. The multi-national chain has just opened a prototype location in its base city Seattle that could change the face of your neighborhood 'bucks in the coming years, according to USA Today. more ›

Today's official announcement on the arrest of the suspect in the April 3rd restaurant shooting that left four dead gave some more details, but not many. "With information provided from the Los Angeles Police Department Robbery Homicide Division (RHD) detectives, the U. S. Marshals Service apprehended a man whom they believe is responsible for the shooting death of four men at a North Hollywood restaurant," an LAPD news release said. more ›

28-year-old Nerses Galstyan, the suspect who allegedly shot six people at a Valley Village restaurant earlier this month, has been arrested, according to the LA Times, which cited sources "who spoke on condition of anonymity." more ›

Yes, New York City has amazing theatre. And lots of it, too. But what about the West Coast? We heard this one years ago: Seattle has more theatre than Los Angeles. And it's that little rumored morsel of "fact" that reared its ugly head again, which peeved LA Times' theatre critic Charles McNulty a bit. In a New York Times article, a former Pasadena Playhouse employee opines that Seattle "probably" has as much theatre as Los Angeles, despite being one-sixth the size. more ›

Yesterday in Seattle, a judge resentenced Ahmed Ressam, the "millennium bomber" who was convicted for planning to blow up Los Angeles International Airport on New Years Eve in 1999, to 22 years. U.S. District Judge John Coughenour did not believe that Ressam had gone back to his Al Qaeda ways after working with the feds catch other terrorists, therefore he would not be a danger when released in 2019. But prosecutors say he did not live up to his deal by retracting everything he said to help the government up until 2003 when he stopped talking. Ultimately, that cost them two high-profile terrorism prosecutions, they said. more ›

More contemporary acts, like Tel Aviv’s shock-rock troupe Monotonix and Baltimore’s experimental electronic whiz Dan Deacon, clearly flourish on Bumbershoot’s bleeding edge. They do cater to the youthful and rather brazen demographic. But the irrepressible synergy between fringe artist and audience truly befit the moment—as if they had somehow hand-sewn the festival’s very seams. more ›

To say that Seattle, particularly during Labor Day Weekend, is a haven for music lovers is a gross understatement. The sprawling 74-acre fairground in Downtown that is the Seattle Center serves as a refuge for art in general. The Bumbershoot Festival, now in its 38th year, is in many ways a proverbial port in a storm. more ›

Earlier this year, Boston-based and self-described "punk cabaret" duo The Dresden Dolls (MySpace) performed at The Wiltern, with guest appearances by cellist Zoë Keating (MySpace), formerly from Rasputina, and violinist Meredith Yayanos (MySpace). Opening were Seatle-based Smoosh (MySpace) and locals Lavender Diamond (MySpace). more ›

On Wednesday, the city of Seattle found out that their SuperSonics would be packing their bags and leaving for Oklahoma City. Thanks to owner Clay Bennett, in 2008-09 there will be no pro basketball in Seattle for the first time in 41 years. "He drained the Sonics' joy out of Seattle," said Seattle Times' columnist Jerry Brewer of Bennett. more ›

This week's classical pick takes us to the Westside (believe it or not) with the Seattle Symphony making their debut at Royce Hall. The Seattle Symphony is headed by Gerard Schwarz, who has turned this once struggling group into a top notch orchestra that is recognized internationally with the help of frequent recordings and its support of American composers. more ›

Big Business, Red Fang, The Cops @ Spaceland (Tho Cops reviewed on LAist, 3/20/06) more ›

The city of Ventura has been taken off the map. Specifically, the Greyhound Bus Line service map. This week the company shut down the station in Ventura, and wiped it off their route, to the surprise of many who had been hoping to hop a bus out of town. So is busing it a relic of a bygone era? more ›

100 years and nine months ago, an American ship called Chesapeake was cannonballed by a British vessel, and not in the Ron Burgundy way. Apparently, the Americans refused to be boarded, the Brits fired and an international incident was born. more ›

Ah, another glorious, status conscious, conspicuously consuming day. I've spent such a long time typing away on my Macbook Air, and now I'm just about ready to drive home to Beechwood Canyon where I'll spend the evening watching Bravo. Hotcha! more ›

Lakers 111, Sonics 91 - Seattle had no chance against the surging Lake Show. Kobe was ejected in the third and it didn't matter (double technical after arguing a call -- not a huge deal). LA has won 11 of their last 13 and all but one was on the road. The Lakers got double digit contributions from seven players, led by Pau Gasol's 22. more ›

RocknRollDating.com is the creation of Eagle Rock resident and music industry veteran, Daniel House. He has created the free online dating site with music as the coming-together concept. Put in your favorite bands and concerts, your preferred genres and the normal dating profile stats such as heights, sex, etc. and go find your mate based on the tunes you share in common. Or maybe you'll find someone who will let you experience new music. more ›

Is the word Hipster even allowed to be used anymore without disdain dripping from the user's tongue? Is it outdated? What about the connotation - good, bad, both? The Anti-Hipster's Guide to LA is a listing of people, bars/clubs, musicians/DJs, artists, installation, etc etc that may be deemed hipster-centric but don't really carry the negative connotation of the word (meaning pretentious, inaccessible, you get my drift). more ›

href="http://torontoist.com/2008/02/phototo_snowbal.php">photographing a big, organized snowball fight.

You may have heard that February is Breakfast month here at LAist, in which we celebrate the glory that is the morning meal. But our celebration is twinged with sadness for those who may have been fans of the a.m. food fare served up at Starbucks. The company has announced they are ditching their breakfast sandwiches and declaring that their Mission: Lure Customers Back from Fast Food Joints that Sell Breakfast Eats that Include Some Form of Protein was ultimately unsuccessful. more ›

For Westsiders, two bands of note at The Good Hurt tonight: Atomatique (powerpop) and Kinetic Stereokids (DJ/Rock/Ecclectic). Downtown, check out The Smell for experimental trip-hop etherealsim with All Neon Like. Popular Seattle singer/songwriter/rocker Jeremy Enigk will be at the Troubadour and there's a great mix of psychobilly, Spanish ska and surf at The House of Blues. Get fresh with some down South banjo fiddlin', mandolin fingerin' and jew harpin' at The Hotel Cafe as Ray Don & The Backwash Band remind us of Splash Mountain at Disneyland (lyrics not Disney safe, think sexual banjo). Also on the bill is Zachariah & the Lobos Riders -- classic sounding Western rock, sometimes mixed with hip-hop. Of course, Spaceland and The Echo are always safe bets. more ›

Just how "wired" are we in Los Angeles? more ›

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Joel McHale hosts The Soup, a celebration of the most embarrassing moments in pop culture every Friday night on E! From Tila Tequila to Yo Gabba Gabba you can count on The Soup to gather all the "best of" moments into one big pot of funny. LAist headed to the E! studios for a backstage tour, taping of the show, and one on one with the man who is not afraid to say Oprah's Va-Jay-Jay on national television. When we arrived Joel was in the makeup chair prepping for the show. more ›

1812: A major earthquake struck Southern California, destroying the church at Mission San Juan Capistrano and damaging the San Gabriel Mission. more ›

Lakers 111, Nuggets 107 - Allen Iverson lit up the scoreboard with 51 points but three Lakers responded with big nights of their own. Kobe Bryant scored 25, Vladimir Radmanovic added 21, and Derek Fisher had 20. Despite his big night, the Lakers only allowed Iverson one layup in the fourth quarter. Sonics 95, Clippers 88 - Seven is unlucky for the Clipper -- it's how many games they've lost in a row. Seattle led... more ›

This is Hendrix's original grave in the humble family plot before his memorial was built. It seems a little sad and neglected in this picture, but this Seattle cemetary is actually lush with grass. The only reason for the dirt is because the constant stream of visitors created a well-worn path that didn't allow the grass to grow. On November 26, 2002 Hendrix's body was exhumed and reburied under a much more fitting marble dome memorial in another section of the same cemetary, Greenwood Memorial Park. If you are in the area and would like to pay your respects, you can find the location at findagrave.com. more ›

In honor of what would be Jimi Hendrix's 65th birthday today, I am posting my impressions of The Experience Music Project in Seattle. more ›