Jordan McConnell of The Duhks | Photo via thir Myspace page Willie Nelson may be playing downtown tonight, but if you want some folk rock that's local and amazingly fresh, go hear Brian Wright and the Waco Tragedies. We heard them last week at their first show of their Hotel Cafe February residency and it was in-your-face and beautiful. But you've got a tough choice if you like this kind of music because when......

Photo courtesy of Miramax When was the last time an actor executed a more profound career turnaround than Casey Affleck? Gone Baby Gone is his second superb performance of the year. If you don't see it for him, see it for Amy Ryan's breakout, Oscar-nominated turn. The mere presence of the divine Anne Hathaway makes Becoming Jane worth renting. James McAvoy was better in this than in the over-hyped (but still good) Atonement. No......

For those of you who enjoyed The Golden Compass this weekend, it looks unlikely that you'll have the chance to see the second installment of the His Dark Materials trilogy. Compass only managed to take in 26.1 million dollars at the box-office, below what were already reduced expectations. Considering its budget was rumored to be above $200M, it's looking like Compass may rival Evan Almighty as the flop of the year. Shame. Since Compass......

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam died yesterday in a car crash in Menlo Park, CA. He was 73. Halberstam’s work as a journalist ranges wide and delves deep. He covered the Korean War, the Vietnam War and civil rights but he was also fascinated with the humanity and spectacle of sports. He did not simply document the history he lived through – he explained complex societal constructs and cultural shifts in a way that anyone......

The Killers @ Staples Rooney @ Roxy Sonic Boom, LSD & the Search for God, Eskimo Hunter @ Safari Sam's Clark 8, the Moondrops, the Health Club, Codpiece, John Thill, DiGiTs @ Mr T's Bowl Metal Skool, The Sixth Chamber, Hair Brained Scheme, Pretty Boy Floyd @ Key Club The Binges, Lightning Bill, Sergeant, Dirty Sweet @ King King Black Pine, Hearts Of Palm, Veer Right Young Pastor @ The Echo The Gene Krupa......

TV On The Radio, The Noisettes @ Henry Fonda Theater Dos, Antelope, Silver Daggers, Black Fiction @ The Smell The Untouchables, Meet Me at the Pub, The Penny Reel Duo @ The Good Hurt Zapp, The Impressions, Deniece Williams, The Temprees, James & Bobby Purify @ The Gibson Carina Round, Kate Earl, The Oohlas, The Procession, The Amateurs @ The Hotel Cafe The Ettes, Buck, Miss Derringer, Candypants @ Spaceland Double Naught Spy Car,......

We'd like to congratulate Neil for winning The Stills contest. The Stills play tonight at the Henry Fonda with The Land of Talk. If you didn't win, stay tuned, LAist has contests every week for your ass. Here are some other options tonight, a night full of killer live music. Rocket (pictured) @ Spaceland (free) Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Blood Brothers @ Hollywood Palladium Band of Horses @ Avalon Andrew's Bad Stuff, Fluffer, Rick Surveuor......