When the band finished their version of Love’s “Along Again Or” aided by a mariachi horn section I was pretty sure we’d seen the highlight of an already strong show. Then, front man Joey Burns called out “Here’s one for D. Boon!,” and burst into the Minutemen classic “Corona,” taking a gringo punk rock imagining of Mexican music and sending it straight back to Mexico with a straight face. It was perhaps the finest only-in-LA moment... more ›

I was twelve years old when The Wall came out, and while the theme of desperate alienation was familiar enough to any pre-teen kid, the way the thing ended - with the lead character turning into a fascist dictator - didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It was years later, when I heard Roger Waters tell a story about the night when he spat in the face of a fan who was trying to climb onto his stage at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium, that the whole concept came into focus. It’s a dark, personal piece of music about about the part of himself that Waters would ordinarily address to his analyst, that dark corner of his soul that secretly wanted to see barbed wire fences across his stage to keep his customers from getting within spittin’ distance. more ›

"Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn? Remember how she said that we would meet again some sunny day? Vera! Vera! What has become of you? Does anybody else here feel the way I do?" more ›

It's the 28th annual Outfest in Los Angeles! Thursday's opening night gala at the Orpheum Theatre features the Los Angeles premiere of Allen Ginsberg biopic Howl and - listen up, Gleeks - Jane Lynch, recipient of the 14th Annual Outfest Achievement award. Saturday, Lynch appears at a panel at the DGA theatre... more ›

He's bringing it back. Pink Floyd's Roger Waters is revving up for a big "The Wall" tour this Fall and last night in Santa Monica (Arizona & 2nd Street) he released some mysterious projector images in Santa Monica and New York City. more ›

Hands Across America, eat your heart out. Tonight, on the last Friday of the first month of the Pagan new year (this is not true), the hardest working blog in showbiz salutes you, Los Angeles, the object of our collective desire, with a high-hoisted brew, and a coordinated, planet-wide toast. You are all invited to join in the revelry, and together in nerdiness we will plot our success, literally, on a google map. The bottle-opening... more ›

Dear LAist, Roger Waters is playing the Hollywood Bowl tonight and you haven't said WORD ONE about it! What more does a man have to do than write the best parts of THE WALL, and Dark Side of the Moon? Poseurs, Adam in Tarzana Bro, we were just waiting to see if anyone noticed. Congratulations, send us your cell phone number and we will buy you a beer at the show. We've had our... more ›

He wrote The Wall, he wrote Animals, and he wrote pretty much all of Dark Side of the Moon; still, somehow, when Roger Waters split ways with guitarist David Gilmour and the rest of the band, it was the guitarist who got to keep the name Pink Floyd. And to add insult to injury, when the new Pink Floyd put out new records, it was they who outsold their songwriter. Tonight Waters returns to... more ›

You asked for it, we listened. Our "essentials" list has a decidedly local flavor now. All bands are either LA-based, LA-natives or playing gigs in the Southland. Some bands are so new that they don't have an EP, MP3 or CD yet. To remedy that, we've linked to their myspace streams and included upcoming tour info so you can catch them locally.

Grab a jacket, some friends and get out of the house. There are plenty of
free gigs to keep you occupied.

SATURDAY, 10/8

• Catch Hot Club Quartette at Cafe
  Z in the Skirball Cultural Center followed
  by a free screening of Algeria in a Smile. The
  show starts at noon. Call (310) 440-4500.


• DJs Michael Stock and Benjamin White of Part
  Time Punks continue
  their residency at MOCA.
  The show starts at 6pm. It's free with general museum admission. Call (213)
  621-1734.


• The Afro-Brazilian Drumming and Potluck features world percussion
  jams and food at Bang
  a Drum starting at 7:30pm. Admission is free, but this is a potluck,
  so bring food. For info, call (323) 936-3274.

SUNDAY, 10/9

• Mezzo-soprano Hermine Haselböck and pianist Florian Henschel perform
  songs by Alexander Zemlinsky for the LACMA Sundays
  Live Series. The show starts
  at 6pm. Call (323) 857-6234.


• Part-Time Punks present Ariel
  Pink, Indian Jewelry and Blood
  On The Wall
  at the echo at 10pm.
  For more info, call (213) 413-8200.
  

MONDAY, 10/10

• Colored Shadows continue their
  residency at Spaceland.
  The doors open at 8pm and the show begins at 9pm. Call (323) 661-4380.
  
  
• Lavender Diamond continue
  their October residency at the
  echo. The show starts at 8:30pm. For
  details, call (213) 413-8200.
  
• The Words take
  the stage at the
  Silverlake Lounge at 11pm. Call (323) 666-2407.
  

The AIDS monument will eventually hold the names of approximately 7,500 Californians who lost their lives to AIDS. more ›

LAist talked with Ezra Klein of the political blog pandagon.net this weekend. Ezra’s been engaged and blogging this election for over a year and a half. His site, which he co-blogs along with Jesse Taylor, boasts around 25,000 hits a day. Needless to say, his voice gets heard (or his words get read). He recently transferred to UCLA from UC Santa Cruz and has much to say about politics, Los Angeles and everything in between. This guy is only 20 and had been published in the . So listen up! more ›