Dave Koenig of LA-based Spindrift, Little Radio Day Party, Red Eyed Fly, SXSW 2008, Austin, TX | Photo by Andy Sternberg/LAist There can't be a better match between Fourth of July and good local rock music than with Spindrift, the indie western-esque band that is one of our favorites. Friday, July 4, 2008 Castledoor @ The Scene Balobi Bandeko @ Temple Bar Marty and Elayne @ The Dresden Orquesta Charangoa @ El Floridita Spindrift,......

Photo by Zeroth57, used with permission The use of fireworks and explosives are prohibited in the City of Los Angeles, but that doesn't stop people. The city estimates illegal fireworks caused a total of over $380,000 in property damages in 2007. Eeek! However, for most residents, it's all about enjoying the fireworks displays around town. Tonight, there will be about eight fireworks shows from Altadena to the Hollywood Bowl (Go Dodgers!) to Norwalk. On......

Photo by Open Air Control Testing Ground via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr The Hammer museum kicks off it's I Also Like To Rock series in their courtyard tonight with Nico Vega and The Growlers. And for tomorrow night, there are still some quality shows (check before heading out, holiday shows tend to get canceled). Tonight Peter Hook @ Detroit Bar Nico Vega, The Growlers @ Hammer Museum Constantines, Ladyhawk, The Jet Age @......

Fireworks over Los Angeles | Photo by Californian Em via Flickr With gas prices high (Los Angeles average is currently $4.597 for regular), the Auto Club is predicting less people traveling this holiday season. 3.029 million Southern Californians to be exact, which is about 1% or around 30,000 people less than previous years. The majority (80%) will travel by car the rest by air. The last time the Fourth of July holiday fell on......

One of the most requested features on LAist is more warning for events. To that, today we did our first This Month in Rock post with Ali Miller. Check it out and keep your suggestions coming! Also, since Flight of the Conchords are always doing these unannounced appearances, the latest is coming from Bic Runga, who plays next week at Largo. According to an e-mail, the duo will probably show up for a song or......

One of the worst experiences as a "professional" extra in Hollywood was working on music videos. There's something that goes hand-in-hand about an industry that sues kids and grandmas for illegally downloading MP3s and not fully paying background talent for working on a music video because they "ran out of cash" (if you have any bad experiences, write them in the comments section). With that said, local and Cisco Adler prodige Shwayze is filming a......

Photo by Jsome1 via Flickr Kickchella is free and featured 14 excellent bands. It all goes down at 6:00 p.m. at the All-Star Lanes in Eagle Rock. The lineup: Le Switch, Henry Clay People, You Me and Iowa, I Make This Sound, The Flying Tourbillion Orchestra, Tandemoro, Les Blanks, The Hectors, The Voyeurs, Swim Party, Marvelous Toy, The Damselles, The TC4, Nathan Wasilewski. Tonight Willoughby, Graves @ Tangier Meshell Ndegeocello @ Key Club Kickchella......

Photo by Phil Romans via Flickr EXPERIENCE WATER MEETS DANCE MEETS CHINATOWN...THE MOVIE: Stephan Koplowitz's Liquid Landscapes begins tonight via Grand Performances with the showing of original dance film inspired by locations from Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, followed by a screening of Chinatown itself. It's the start of a one-week dance tour of LA inspired by water and sites that have to do with water. SEE A FILM: It's the last day of the Greek......

Photo by the_mule via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr CELEBRATE CHINATOWN'S 70th: Head down to Chinatown's Central Plaza tonight to celebrate this incarnation of the area's 70th Anniversary (and learn what other Chinatowns came before!). They're having 40s-style Big Band music and dancing, cocktails from the era, costume contests, and lots of historic photos and info and a bunch of entertainment. The event is free, and so is the dancing. SHOP AND......

How cool is this? A free all-night festival on the beach and pier in Santa Monica with over 20 multi-media artists and music from KCRW, Machine Project, Dub Lab and other to-be-announced artists? That's what's happening at Glow, a dusk-to-dawn (7 p.m. to 7 a.m.) event put on by the city of Santa Monica on July 19. Of note, Machine Project will have an orchestra play from the buckets of the new ferris wheel as......

Photo by Jonathan Alcorn (aka Sundogg) via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr PIG OUT LIKE A KID: At drink. eat. play's Gourmet Five Year Old Party being held this afternoon at Boulevard3 in Hollywood. Fresh takes on favorites from when you were a kid will include mac 'n cheese with lobster, kobe-style beef sloppy joes and assorted sophisticated sweets with plenty of free-flowing juice (wine) to wash it all down! (These are......

Photo by saragoldsmith via Flickr GET WET: Hit up your local public pool and go for a swim--it's Opening Day today and with on-tap temps in the 90s and 100s, cooling down is definitely in order. MAKE MUSIC: Pasadena is abuzz today with the sounds of music. In honor of World Music Day, Make Music Pasadena turns the whole city into one big spontaneous stage, with pro performers on 6 themed main stages, and......

Right: The Afro Funke crowd at the Zanzibar in Santa Monica. Left: DJ Jeremy Sole | Photo by Zach Behrens/LAist Sitting aside DJ Jeremy Sole spin records at last Thursday's weekly Afro Funke at Zanzibar in Santa Monica, I asked how he chooses what he plays next or if he has a set playlist. "Nah, it's all about reading the people dancing -- their body movements. See, I'm going to put this salsa on......

Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick is bringing up one of LAist's favorite topics: Los Angeles. The once City Councilwoman (and probably future City Councilwoman when she runs and probably wins) wanted Los Angeles to be tourist friendly and not just for tourists, but for residents. "When I first got elected, I asked why we weren't doing more to market Los Angeles," Chick was quoted saying in the Daily News. "I recently went to Chicago......

Photo by ~db~ via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr SALSA & MERENGUE DANCING Dance Downtown kicks up its heels tonight for the first installment of the summer-long Friday night series. Free admission to anyone who feels like trying a little salsa out on the Music Center Plaza. Beginner lessons are at 6:30, and a live DJ provides the tunes from 7:15-10. 6:30-10 p.m. // Music Center Plaza // 135 North Grand Avenue,......

Art Walk It's sort of like a mini Downtown Art Walk, but it's not Thursday. Tonight is the preview night of Art Seen 3's auction gala on May 17th that will benefit the AIDS Research Alliance. Unlike this weekend's event, tonight is free and is a block party on Main St. between 3rd and 4th Streets. Some 200 pieces will be showcased along with bands playing on the street. You can also get free HIV......

Photo by hiddedevries via Flickr COMEDY It's the last week of the Los Angeles Comedy Festival in Hollywood. There are two shows tonight (one at 8:00 p.m., another at 9:30 p.m.) that include 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors, Dry Hump and The Comedy Jesus Show. 8:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m. // McCadden Theatre // 1157 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles // $12/show CHEAP EATS Whether you're over the hill on the East or Westside, or even......

The Downtown Art Walk is every second Thursday of the month (that means tomorrow!) and is easily a staple of those things you have to do at least once. For us, however, we prefer it to be on the list of things to do at least once a month. More than 30 galleries participate along with events happening in conjunction such as the Comedy Walk, Town Square's cocktail and networking party and Possum Saloon at......

Photo by rink_rat via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Stay in school kids, especially if you live in the Valley. Yesterday the truant police hauled in 137 middle and high school kids who were ditching classes and chilling in public. 5 members of a church group were involved in an accident this morning on the eastbound Pomona Freeway. Sadly, three of the victims were killed and the others injured. The driver had......

Today's holiday is a Federal one, so that means government offices, from city to county to state and beyond, are closed. Same goes for banks and public schools. No mail being delivered either. However, trash and public transportation in Los Angeles will be running as usual says the Daily News in their Presidents Day schedule. If you're one of the blessed and have the day off, there are many fun things to do. Here are......

If it's a day with the folks tomorrow, you might want to head out to Heritage Square Museum as anyone over 65 gets in free ($10 if your a youngin'). And if they know something about Los Angeles in the 1940s or before, they may participate in an oral history project too. "Old-Timers" Day aims to bring together true Los Angeles veterans from 12 to 4:00 p.m. at the museum located in Highland Park (if......

Tonight is the perfect night to cozy up inside a darkened theater and to go on a journey into the unknown. A really cool piece of LA history and lore comes to life on screen tonight at the Egyptian The American Cinematheque "presents a rare screening of six short films by the enigmatic Dutch/LA artist Bas Jan Ader (1942-1975) and the Los Angeles premiere of Here Is Always Somewhere Else, Rene Daalder's critically acclaimed......

One of my few gripes with Los Angeles is that it's not a 24-hour town. Las Vegas? Gimme, gimme more. New York? Reasonable facsimile. Los Angeles? Not so much. My bio rhythms are royally screwed up. I have no problem staying up until 5am. I also have no problem waking up at 4am. I often say to myself that sleep is for the weak -- until I pass out and wake up 18 hours later,......

Here at LAist, we really love local folk music, especially The Hollow Trees. In fact, we love them so much that we've interviewed them three times: a little ">over a year ago, then in May about Stagecoach (the roots version of Coachella) and this last December. We'll spare any in depth analysis this morning, but will just say if you're looking for things to do late this morning, whether your a parent or babysitting some......

Astra Heights, who is this week's iTunes Latino “Single of the Week,” will play tonight at The Echo. Lemon Sun will also be there. Yesterday was Xena: Princess Warrior picket day at the WGA Strike. Tonight, Xena herself, Lucy Lawless, will be bashing heads and belting out songs over at the Roxy. And earlier this morning, we interviewed Talib Kweli who will be at the House of Blues down the street from the Roxy......

Carmen Rizzo will play the Temple Bar tonight Be joyful with the electro-pop sounds of Hey Willpower (Will from Imperial Teen and Tomo from Tussle) at The Echo or get a more worldly groove on at the Temple Bar. Jackshit, who we interviewed once, plays tonight and there are two in-store performances as well: one at Amoeba (of course) and the other at Active Ride Show. There's a few sold out shows, but you......

The Airborne Toxic Event is Spaceland's January Thursday night resident. | Promo photo The Short List Cornelius & Plaid @ Walt Disney Concert Hall (see yesterday's article) Sole @ The Glass House (see yesterday's article, they'll be at Knitting Factory tomorrow) Lenny Kravitz @ Santa Monica Civic Auditorium The Airborne Toxic Event, The Adored, Bloodcat Love, Sunday Drivers @ Spaceland Tower of Power @ Vault 350 (Long Beach) Minibar @ Temple Bar......

Dan Deacon at SXSW | Photo by Tod Seelie Thanks to those who responded yesterday to help make this LAist column more useful. You can still chime in, it's never too late. Today, here's a short form list of our picks with select MP3s embedded after the jump. THE LIST The Hectors, Coco B's and You Me & Iowa @ Silverlake Lounge | Free Why? @ Tangier (Read our preview from yesterday) | $10......

It's the biggest dance club night in Los Angeles over at The Vanguard and tonight is a special one -- GIANT is having its eighth-anniversary party. Join Steve Aoki, Glycerin and others along it 1500 clubbers. Metromix has the low down. And speaking of anniversaries, the monthly Dragstrip 66 at Safari Sam's is celebrating its Quinceanera! 15 years ago, January, L.A.'s queer/mixed underground have been eagerly descending upon the club night every second saturday......

Who is brave or foolish enough to go out tonight? No, seriously. Why do you want to leave the house? There are some things to do if you are so inclined (queue writer's raised eyebrow). JAZZ The renowned Alan Broadbent Trio plays two sets tonight at the Jazz Bakery. 8 & 9:30 p.m. // The Jazz Bakery // 3233 Helms Ave. // (310) 271-9039 // $25 FILM Quentin Tarantino hosts a LACMA screening of South......