The bubbling La Brea Tar Pits will welcome the ninth installment of TarFest, a free indie art and music celebration, on Sunday, September 25. Shining on emerging talent, the spotlight features live music, live painting, art installations and environmental sculpture. Musical performances include Saint Motel, Everest, Obi Best, A House for Lions, Infantree and Ash Panda. more ›

Tonight Philadelphia-based Grammy Award-winning hip hop band the Roots and Long Island-bred hip hop act De La Soul will be performing at the Hollywood Palladium with none other than Common, Ludacris and Nas. LA-based DJ collective the Glitch Mob (LAist Review), among many other electronic acts, are poised to take on the 15th annual Nocturnal Festival at the NOS Events Center in good ole San Bernadino. And, lastly, local indie rockers the Deadly Syndrome (LAist Review, #2, #3, #4) will be headlining the El Rey Theatre for this year's Tarfest. But we strongly suggest heading over to Spaceland to catch the phoenix that rose from the ashes of Page France, Maryland-based indie folk act Cotton Jones. Oliver Future are slated to kick things off. more ›

It's prime time festival season, and LAist wanted to give you a heads up on the various festivals around down. There's something for everyone this weekend: more ›

Tarfest, the La Brea pits' very own arts fest, launches this year -- its fifth -- next Friday. Created both to celebrate the Miracle Mile and to provide the opportunity for artists and audiences to discover each other, Tarfest is free, unlike certain other Sunset Junctionlike festivals one could name. Find the full schedule here; highlights include: Friday, October 5: Gallery exhibition ( and reception featuring musical performances at the Korean Cultural Center, 5505... more ›

Tarfest begins today! Four days of films, music, and tar at the LaBrea Tar Pits - Tarfest.com Beck's new album is too cool for the UK charts. Because you can use stickers to design your own cover, it's got an "unfair" advantage on the other cds, the Brits say. Beck begs to differ. - Billboard How do you fight downtown gentrification? Involve a 75 year old nun - LA Times Boy-crazy Foley's behavior wasn't... more ›