File under "How Did We Miss This?": Queen Latifah will headline the Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival May 19.

This will be Latifah's first appearance at a gay pride festival. The Long Beach event, which began in 1984, is one of the country's biggest celebrations. In previous years, Jennifer Hudson has performed.

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Charles Lam

Dillon Francis
The Observatory, Santa Ana
April 14, 2012
LA-based producer Dillon Francis visited the Observatory last Saturday, playing to a crowd largely made up of white trash and Asian ravers. The doors, originally scheduled to open at 7, opened an hour and a half late. By the time audience members were allowed in, a drunk and stoned line had already formed.

Inside was not much better.

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​Warren G now has a name and release date for the EP that he planned with Nate Dogg after the late crooner's death. (It's been a year now since he died, can you believe it?) Warren G says the EP will be called No One Could Do It Better, and rapper The Game will contribute to the first single, "A Party We Will Throw Now."
Of course, Nate Dogg is doing the hook. Warren G told XXL, "I might drop it April 17 right after our first Coachella show. If not, by mid-May or June. Shit...I might decide to go hard virally with it. It's that genuine G-Funk sound that we're missing. I just to give people that real music again and tell people that ain't nothing changed. Nate is still here. I got to keep my boy alive."
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​Attack Attack!
February 10, 2012
The Glass House

It's been a long time since I've been to a concert that was so heavily populated by 15-year-olds. I also don't think I've heard music that was simultaneously filled with such angsty anger and (subtly Christian) positivity. Needless to say, Attack Attack! does it well. The concert at the Glass House last Friday, featuring Attack Attack! along with Dream on, Dreamer, Sleeping with Sirens, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!, and The Ghost Inside, was successful at making me feel both encouraged and pissed off. 

It seems like that's what much of hardcore music is about these days, especially with the rise of straight edge culture. The Glass House is a great venue for this moshing, elbow-throwing, crowd-surfing mass. The floor was just large enough for a front fist-pumping section, a mosher's opening in the middle, and a back row and balcony for those were tired of the throng (or hesitant to enter in the first place). Glass House security has an awesome catch-and-release program for ambitious crowd-surfers that make their way to the front, filtering them right back into the mob.

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Christopher Victorio/OC Weekly

​Insomniac's White Wonderland, held at the Anaheim Convention Center over the weekend, was a huge success, despite Kaskade's cancellation. We saw so many people in white--white bras, white boots, white masks, white tights, white bandeaus--that we just had to post the hottest of the lot. Check them out after the jump, and if you see your picture, tell us in the comments!More >>

Eddie Money and Ronnie Spector

​Rock and roll is a tough and fickle business. One minute you're on top of the world and the next you're on top of a float, blowing kisses to strangers in Branson, Missouri. In between, anything goes. Tonight, Eddie Money, a singer no stranger to the ups and downs of the music business, presents a holiday show at the Grove of Anaheim alongside Lou Gramm of Foreigner and Mickey Thomas of Starship. In honor of their persistence in traveling a bumpy road we present a list of five artists who proved in the '80s that it is never too late for a second act.

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This year's San Diego Music Thing, held last weekend, was again an impressive gathering of trade music folks, industry experts and up-and-coming musicians. Held again at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park, there were some changes from last year's event (then called the North Park Music Thing) that were disappointing (what happened to the free shuttle?!?) and some that were welcome (hello, Casbah!). No doubt, working musicians learn a lot from conferences such as this, and it helps to network with industry types who are much more likely to hear your music if you do go. Music professionals on the other hand have an easier time hearing your music if it's all in one place.

If you weren't able to go, you can still partake of all the knowledge that was shared at the various panels; check out the video of how to make social media work for you. You can also like San Diego Music Thing on Facebook for more videos.
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Mary Bell

​Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.'s set at Detroit Bar last week touring their debut It's A Corporate World was a blast (check out our photos here), and they've made their name largely on the strength of the single "Simple Girl."

Oddly enough, they've just released a video for the ultra-catch pop tune. It's part Black Keys' "Tighten Up" and part Michael Jackson's "Jam" (okay, just in the part where there's a pickup basketball game), and oddly enough, we feel kind of let down that it's not as good as this fan-made one. Watch it after the jump.

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