"I was sitting in Starbucks studying when all of a sudden these dudes started playing music outside the window and all these people started mobbing around them," explained UCLA student and LAist contributor Henry David. "I was like zoits 'it's the Kooks!'" And so it began: The Kooks invaded Westwood after an unannounced stop in Venice. About 150 people packed out in front of the Village Theatre as the famous band pulled up like rockstars......

More music festivals are lining up the summer. Yesterday, the new Sunset Strip Music Festival and Sunset Junction were brought up. Today, let's talk Make Music Pasadena: A Fête De La Muique Event on Saturday, June 21st. The festival is free with headliners split between four stages: The Raveonettes, Dengue Fever, Kinky, The Little Ones, Nortec Collective, Jesca Hoop, Division Day and Everest. Also, this weekend is Topanga Days featuring Living Sisters (Inara George, Eleni......

The Kooks and The Morning Benders showcase a plateful of indie pop rock goodness at The Echo on February 8, 2008....

Sy Smith will be at the Temple Bar tonight | Photo by Marlene Fisher/fatmeatgreasy.com It's a quality night in Echo Park with Super Furry Animals and Holy Fuck are at the Echoplex and if you can swing it, right there at The Echo you'll find The Kooks and The Morning Benders. In Hollywood, Grammy award winning Dirty Vegas front man Steve Smith is slated to play acoustic tonight at the Hotel Cafe (but is......

LA is home to dozens of classic, independent, rock clubs. Many of these clubs helped launch most of your favorite bands. But those bands would have never made it on stage if it wasn't for the booker, the person who actually schedules the bands to play the show on the particular date. We start this series in Little Armenia at Safari Sam's, a club that was originally created 20 years ago in Huntington Beach......

Sunday there are lots of great bands, culminating with the reunion of one of the best groups ever, Rage Against the Machine. Here's how we're probably going to do it, thanks to the magic of the Coachooser which, if you leave a little early from shows will show you how you too can see 17 bands. Mika: 1 - 1:30 Anathallo: 1:30 - 2 Mando Diao: 2:15 - 2:35 Tapes 'n Tapes: 2:35 -......

Teeming with dolled-up jailbait and smelling like a fraternity house basement, The Music Box at The Henry Fonda Theater was ground zero for trendy sneakers, ballet flats and perky ponytails on February 5th as Lily Allen played a sold-out show at the only LA stop on her MTV-sponsored “Discover and Download” tour. Her album Alright, Still dropped domestically one week prior, and had already taken the #20 spot on the Billboard 200, selling over......

The Mere Mortals, who LAist has written about before, continues to climb up the charts despite being unsigned. Their self-made "Rebel Radio" EP continues to rise on the FMQB album chart , one that tracks national airplay on new music radio shows. Currently the Mere Mortals are #3, just behind And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead 's "So Divided" (Interscope), and The Kooks' "Inside In/Inside Out (Astralwerks). They're outpacing such......

Snoop Dogg, Pussycat Dolls, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley @ Greek No Means No @ The Knitting Factory Hawthorne Heights @ Wiltern Abby Travis @ Amoeba (free) DJ AM @ LAX Foxycock @ Lava Lounge Track Fighter @ King King Victim of Society, Dork @ Roxy Tom Freund, Brett Dennen @ Largo The Kooks, Trainwreck Riders @ Spaceland Twilight Singers, Stars of Track and Field@ House of Blues Cursive, The Thermals, Eastern Youth @ The......

Eddie Izzard, Drew Carey @ Largo Chuck E. Weiss @ Highland Grounds Corinne Bailey Rae @ John Anson Ford The Be Good Tanyas @ El Rey Airpushers @ El Cid Go Betty Go @ The Derby Merchants of Moonshine @ Alpine Village Hawthorne Heights @ Grove of Anaheim Say Hi to Your Mom, Metal Hearts @ Spaceland The Kooks, Chin Up Chin Up @ Safari Sam's Kennedy, Peachcake @ Key Club You Army, Attic......