Orange County Music Blog

​Just one day before a newly reunited Sublime is scheduled to play its first announced reunion gig at the Cypress Hill Smoke Out Festival, the estate of late singer Bradley Nowell has issued a statement explaining their position on the matter.

Basically, they ain't happy. Nowell's wife Troy, son Jakob and father Jim explain that they are very supportive of bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh performing Sublime music, but not under the Sublime name. And with Nowell gone and new singer/guitarist Rome Ramirez in the mix, you can see how calling the new act Sublime might cause a problem.  Furthermore, they plan to take legal action to "protect Brad's legacy."

In case you've been living under a rock for the past 15 years, Sublime was a Long Beach ska/punk/reggae/dub trio on the verge of becoming one of the most popular bands in recent memory until Nowell passed away on tour due to a heroin overdose. Immediately following his death, Wilson and Gaugh formed the Long Beach Dub All Stars with members of the extended Sublime family to carry on the Sublime legacy by playing the hits and writing new material. LBDAS broke up in 2002.

Keep reading for the estate's statement.

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New York City nightlife is pretty full of hipsters on a normal night, but during the five days of the College Music Journal's annual Music Marathon--an Atlantic northeast version of South by Southwest/excuse to party ostensibly serving as a college radio conference with dozens of nightly shows spread across Manhattan and Brooklyn venues which officially began today--it's dripping even more heavily with skinny jeans and ironic yet impeccably maintained facial hair.

Though there's still dozens and dozens of scheduled performers (seriously, you try reading this list without breaking your concentration before you get to the Cs) it's much less thick with bands than SXSW, and as a result, OC and LB have a much smaller representation than the gaggle of groups we had representin' in Austin this year. But we've still got a few fine folks bringing the SoCal music goodness: San Juan Capistrano's recently-signed-to-RCA the Union Line (pictured), and Long Beach bands Crystal Antlers (where are they not?) and So Many Wizards, who just played Detroit Bar last week. TUL aren't actually on CMJ's official lineup, but trust us, they're over there!

Good luck to all local dudes showcasin' over there this week, and in case you yourself happen to be in the big city for some marathon-ing, pertinent schedules are after the jump.

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There's a three-day weekend coming up, y'know. (Whee!) So what better way to celebrate the day of our nation's labor to drive uptown to Chinatown and partake in some musical entertainment?

This year's FYF Fest (formerly the F Yeah Fest), takes place this Saturday at the Los Angeles State Historic Park, and features not only headliners like Black Lips (who just played Detroit Bar a couple of times in the spring), hilariously off-beat Adult Swim comedy duo Tim and Eric and No Age, but also several Long Beach bands: Crystal Antlers, Avi Buffalo and Dios. Good job, guys! No OC representation, sadly, but there are a couple of out-of-town acts we've written about lately in the OC Weekly: Kurt Vile and Telepathe. Overall, seems like a fun day at the park. Lineup info, straight from the official site, after the jump.

Oh, one more cool thing to tell you about: whichever band donates the most canned goods (all vegetables, no meat) to FYF Fest's LA offices, gets a midday slot on one of the stages. You don't even have to be in a band. As their site says, "if you want to do tell jokes, play guitar hero, tap dance or meditate on stage we are all for it." Finally, a chance to unveil my revolutionary glockenspiel/See 'n Say routine. Details here.

​Bassist Eric Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh are hitting the stage as Sublime, just like they did in February. But unlike the previous gig, held at some tiny Mexican restaurant in a Nevada town no one's ever heard of, this show is actually pretty big.

It's part of Cypress Hill's Smokeout, a gathering of bands, booths and most importantly, weed. The Sublime reunion might get the most attention, but the lineup is actually pretty good. Scheduled to hit the stage on Oct. 23 and 24 is Slipknot (ok, not so great), Deftones, (again, not so great), Cypress Hill, the aforementioned Sublime, Pennywise, Method Man and Redman, Kottonmouth Kings, the Geto Boys (hells motherfucking yeah), Goodie Mob (booyah!), Bad Brains, Hieroglyphics, Living Legends, Devin the Dude, Mix Master Mike, Afrika Bambaata and more.

Oh, and did I forget to mention the shows, which are going down at the San Manuel Amphitheatre in San Bernadino, are hosted by Cheech and Chong?

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After attending Street Scene, the two-day downtown San Diego music festival that took place on August 28 and 29, I was left with this impression: it's better than Coachella.

Beth Stirnaman

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It's Monday morning and another Street Scene is officially in the books. And while it's important to note that this parking lot extravaganza of fog-filled stages, oddly eclectic line-ups, mind-altering drugs and festival food has reached it's 25th year, it's also worth mentioning that I'm no longer a stranger to this two-day Coachella by the sea. Although for anyone that was there, the temps this weekend were actually fit for a desert, or maybe Satan's ass crack.

But harsh heat aside, Street Scene had plenty to offer the locals and those (like our Music Editor Albert Ching, photographer Beth Stirnaman and myself) who drove across SD County lines just to be there. Even as an avid concert and festival goer, losing my Street Scene virginity involved many images that I 'll never be able to unsee, for better or worse. A handful of those images inspired this short list of some of the best things I witnessed while traipsing around this coastal asphalt cluster fuck of color, sound and light. Here it goes, the top 12 things I'll always remember about street scene '09

#12) Drunk Speedo Man: First of all, it's not a real festival (or concert for that matter) until security has to throw someone out for partying too hard. And while I'm sure SD's "Scene Team" security guards did plenty of ass kicking and cop calling and zip cuffing between Friday and Saturday, the best example I saw came on Saturday as Albert and I were schlepping over to see The Dead Weather at the Fulano Stage. Swarmed by 3 big dudes in neon yellow security shirts, a rail-thin, pale Street Scener wearing nothing but a blue Speedo and sandals was being hauled to the front gates with his arms pinned behind his back. As the hurricane of shouting and semi-male nudity passed us, all I could hear was the fattest security guard of the bunch yelling "make a hole!" as the authorities dragged their  half-naked captive through a sea of people. Word to the wise: If you're planning on getting shit faced and out of control at a  concert, try to be a little bit more discerning about the undergarments you decide to wear that day. Regrettably, I don't have a photo of this, but I'm sure you can use your imagination.  

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Seeing as how we're the closest Village Voice Media paper to San Diego, we feel a profound sense of obligation to cover this weekend's Street Scene festival. Yes, that's right, obligation--not the opportunity to hang out in the Gaslamp District checking out awesome bands. It's all about obligation, for sure.

The OC Weekly all-star team of writer Nate Jackson, photographer Beth Stirnaman and myself will be hitting up both days of the fest, checking out acts like M.I.A., Bands of Horses, Calexico, the Dead Weather, Chromeo, of Montreal, the Faint, Public Enemy and the fine men pictured here, Modest Mouse. (Modest Mouse are also playing the Grove of Anaheim on Saturday, look for a review of that in the very near future by our guy Spencer Kornhaber.)

We'll be blogging (here), tweeting (here), taking pictures and all that fun stuff, so keep yit here if you can't make it down. Or if you can make it down, and just want to let us know all the ways we dropped the ball. That's cool, too.

I'd tell you all about the Long Beach Funk Fest, happening tomorrow from noon to midnight on the corner of Pine Avenue and Broadway, but the flier does such a good job that I don't have to.

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We first learned of the OC Music Fest 13 months ago, when then-music editor Dave Segal blogged about its "Be The Shirt band/artist T-shirt design contest." No word on if a winner for that was ever announced, since the festival, once scheduled for May 8-10, clearly never happened.

Vickie Chang

Deep Sea Diver: no longer busking Friday.

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We got word from Buskerfest organizer Justin Hectus today that two previously scheduled bands, Free Moral Agents and Deep Sea Diver, both had to cancel--FMA due to a family illness, and Deep Sea Diver because of another commitment. Hectus describes both bands, key parts of the Long Beach music scene, as "genuinely bummed to have to miss the event."

But, as we all know by now, whenever gig God closes a door, he opens a window: in their place are two more cool Long Beach bands, Avi Buffalo and Eugene and the 1914. Buskerfest is this Friday in Long Beach's East Village, it's free, and starts at 7 p.m. Cold War Kids headline at 9:30.

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BY MICHAEL COYLE

Long Beach's Fidorust Records is throwing the 2009 Fidotrust Fest. It's in four Long Beach bars with mostly Long Beach bands, but Fidotrust label owner and fest promoter Jackie Ojeda hopes to draw people from all over.

Lisa Johnson

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Last month, we shared some initial Liskfest acts--As I Lay Dying, H2O and Death By Stereo among them. Now, some more names have been "leaked" as play the second annual metal/hardcore festival on September 5 at Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine. And they're big ones.

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For some unknown reason, the abbreviation for "Summer and Music" is officially "SAM," not "S&M." How odd!

Anyway, the latest installment of the Long Beach summer music series is the Busker Fest in the East Village Arts District on Friday, August 21. It's pretty much as it sounds: bands take to the sidewalk and play busker-style, with 25-minute sets aimed to collect "wooden nickels." The list of street performers is pretty impressive for, well, street performances: Free Moral Agents, Deep Sea Diver, So Many Wizards, Chris Paul Overall, Pawn Shop Kings, Brook Lee Catastrophe, Forcefield ON and 60 Watt Kid.

The act that collects the most "wooden nickels" will open up for Long Beach-by-way-of-Fullerton band Cold War Kids (pictured) at 9 p.m. on the main stage on First and Elm. The whole thing is free to the public. Pretty sweet.

Ben Goetting

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You've got to love the refreshing straight-forwardness that comes with calling your event a "thing." Like the North Park Music Thing, a music and media conference next weekend at the Lafayette Hotel & Suites in San Diego. There's an opening night concert Friday, August 7 at the Casbah, headlined by fairly supergroup Midnight Rivals (featuring, among others, members of Rocket From the Crypt and Louis XIV), two days of workshops and panels on August 8 and 9, and a street festival that Sunday including the Night Marchers, pictured, Avi Buffalo, Black Heart Procession and the "yes, they still exist!" Presidents of the United States of America. Only $25 for everything.

Why is this relevant to Orange County? Well, one of the workshops features a very special (yes, feel free to interpret "special" in any dersive of juvenile way you would like) guest. Description after the jump!

It's not often that Pearl Jam, the Rolling Stones, No Doubt, U2, the Cure, the Dave Matthews Band and Bruce Springsteen perform a free concert in Long Beach. In fact, it's never happened. Unfortunately, you can add tomorrow as just another one of those days when that dream bill won't come to fruition.

But what do you do when you can't see the real deal? Tribute bands. Yes, that's right, a bunch of groups with names that have something to do with the artists they cover are playing a free show in Long Beach as part of the Summer and Music concert series. Scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. (sharp people!), the lineup includes Vitalogy, Satisfaction (come on fellas, you couldn't have found a less obvious name than that?), No Duh (winner of the best cover band name), Stepping Feet, the Rising, the Cured (runner-up for best cover band name) and Hollywood U2.

The bands that sound and look like other way more popular bands are playing near the intersection of Pine Avenue and Shoreline Drive, which is a pretty neat spot to waste a summer Saturday.

Oak Canyon Ranch: It's not just for Hootenanny anymore! The massive electronic music carnival known as Jujubeats Festival, which returned last year after a hiatus, is back against in Irvine on August 1, with acts like Z-Trip (pictured) on the bill. Read more for...more!

If you'll drive from OC to Coachella, then I'm assuming everyone's cool with me posting info about the San Diego Street Scene. The 25th annual event takes place Aug. 28 and 29 in the East Village (which is near Big Corporate Baseball Park).

This year's lineup is top heavy with hip-hop thanks to appearances by the Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas and MIA. The bill also includes Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, Silversun Pickups, Conor Oberst, Busta Rhymes, Calexico, Ozomatli and a whole bunch more. What, no Night Marchers?

I've been to Street Scene before and believe you me, it's a party. I've also been to LA's version, Sunset Junction, and for an area that attempts to be the coolest in the country, SD's musical street fair always has a stronger lineup and a way less pretentious vibe.

For a complete list, more info and all that jazz, click here.

Last October, Liskfest debuted in Orange County, with bands like Death By Stereo (pictured), Strung Out, the Vandals and Gorilla Biscuits playing a hardcore/metal festival in Oak Canyon Ranch founded by Affliction global marketing director Chris Lisk. And guess what? It's happening again!

Same Irvine location, but this time it'll be on September 5. Here is our slideshow from last year's festival, and here is Andrew Youssef's review. Click after the jump for a full list of bands confirmed thus far!

Unlike some other annual music festival that like to keep their set times a secret (*cough*Warped Tour*cough*), here we have the full lineup for Hootenanny, a full THREE DAYS before the event. Read after the jump to find out when fokls like Rev. Horton Heat, Los Lobos and the HorrorPops (pictured) are playing July 4 at Oak Canyon Ranch.

And for more Hootenanny 2009 fun, check this week's Weekly--on stands tomorrow!--for an article by our pal Gabriel San Roman on the Nekromantix, who've recently added Anaheim drummer Lux (formerly of the Mystery Hangup) to their trio, taking the place of Andy DeMize, who died in a Fullerton car accident earlier this year.

Last Saturday: Tour de Artistes in Downtown Long Beach

Better Than: The Tour de France (just guessing).

For most downtown areas in Southern California, the term "Art Walk" is just another word for Saturday. Weekends are filled with lively urban corridors packed with artists looking to sell their pieces to those who, for the most part, can't afford to pay them what they're worth. But as beautiful and inspiring as paintings and sculptures can be, sometimes you need a little something extra to stimulate the endorphins of jaded city art walkers. I found that out for myself as allowed the dust of a gravel parking lot to cover my Vans on an intellectual, vibrant, fire dancing, beer-swigging stroll around the 11th annual Tour de Artistes event on Broadway and Long Beach Blvd. in Downtown Long Beach.

The "tour" mostly consisted of a parking lot filled with art and performance exhibitions, a main stage, a "Beer Garden" stage (both featuring local bands) as well as several live muralists,  hand crafted wooden projects and a handful of galleries within walking distance.

The sun was still burning strong around 5 p.m. when I entered this free event hosted by the Downtown Long Beach Association as well as nine bands, a couple DJs and over 30 local artists strewn throughout a one block radius of colorful drifters, hipsters and city folk. And, as fortune would have it, the OC Weekly Street Team was passing out everything from new editions of the paper, to slightly more useful materials...the coveted OC Weekly condoms and match books, worthy additions to any art festival.

Tired of the Black Eyed Peas yet? No? Great! Well, they're headlining the 25th installment of San Diego's Street Scene, happening on August 28 and 29 (three weeks after playing the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa on August 7).

Also playing: M.I.A., Thievery Corporation, Modest Mouse, the Dead Weather, Chromeo, Calexico, Silversun Pickups, Band of Horses, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Girl Talk and more. Highlights of lower down on the poster: Holy Fuck (rad), Los Campesinos! (super rad), Matt and Kim, Deerhunter and Zee Avi (Malaysian singer-songwriter now based in Costa Mesa). Read all of these names and more here!

The blues! What's it all about? I dunno. But I'm gonna find out.

Tomorrow marks the start of the two-day Doheny Blues Festival in Dana Point. I'll be covering the highlights of the performances from soulful people who got famous before I was born, from Brian Setzer to B.B. King. Follow the beach-and-blues action on my Twitter (skornhaber), and check this very blog for the wrap-up review.

The 2009 version of KROQ's annual summer blowout, the Weenie Roast y Fiesta, is hitting the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater May 16. That's like less than two weeks away, so get on it.

Bands include Weezer (who still don't have or bassist Matt Sharp back in the band, even though everyone knows they should), Kings of Leon, Jimmy Eat World, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rancid, Silversun Pickups, the Airborne Toxic Event, Cage the Elephant and White Lies on the main stage and Hollywood Undead, Asher Roth, Anberlin and Big B on a stage that I won't mention because they can buy an ad if they want their watered-down beer mentioned here.

Tickets go on sale Thursday at 5 p.m. via Livenation.com only. Seats are $65 and sitting on the lawn is $55. And before you get all freaked out about those hefty prices, money from the event helps benefit the Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay and ASF.

Remember kids: Skin cancer's very real. Bring some sunscreen. 

Andrew Youssef

The full lineup for KROQ's annual Weenie Roast show was released today, a whopping TWELVE DAYS! before the show itself. Seems kinda quick, right?

Oh well. It still looks like a pretty good show, headlined by Weezer and Jimmy Eat World (pictured)--they toured together in 2001!--Kings of Leon, Silversun PIckups, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rancid, Airborne Toxic Event and the much-polarizing Asher Roth.

Tickets for the show, which takes place on May 16 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, go on sale at 5 p.m. this Thursday, May 7. Tickets will benefit Santa Monica-based non-profit Heal the Bay, the Surfrider Foundation and AIDS Services Foundation Orange County.

Full lineup after the j-j-jump.

Arguably (?) the most famous band in Orange County history, No Doubt, played their first official show in about five years last night at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, headlining the second day of the Bamboozle Music Fest out there (not to be confused with the Bamboozle Left that took place in Irvine a month ago, natch).

Now that Mark McGrath is no longer the host of daily celebrity wankfest Extra, he has time for his band Sugar Ray to play events like the 5th annual Taste of Ladera: which he is indeed doing, headlining tonight at 6:30 p.m. (headliners going on at 6:30! Bunch of party animals at Ladera Ranch!).

I don't know all that much more about the festival, other than it's two days (today and tomorrow), and in Ladera Ranch, which I hadn't even heard of until I heard about this event (hey, I'm still sort of new here!). Other acts include: Hollywood U2, the "ultimate tribute to U2," and No Duh, "the hottest tribute to 90s sensation No Doubt." So, it's got that going for it.

So I don't sound too negative, I still like two Sugar Ray songs: "Falls Apart" and "Rivers." I'm not afraid to admit it publicly. OK, I was a little afraid. But I can deal.

You may have heard that something called Coachella went down last weekend at the Empire Polo Field about an hour and a half from here in Indio. This weekend, the ground will once again be plagued by people and water bottles, as it's time for the third annual Stagecoach Festival, affectionately known as the "country Coachella." The main stage is called "mane stage." That's adorable, and appropriate given the amount of horses nearby.

I've been to one Coachella and that was in 2003. Although the motive behind the hellacious trek from Long Beach to Indio was to see the first Stooges gig in nearly three decades, I ended up witnessing something way cooler than a shirtless Iggy.

Elephants.

You heard me. I saw a train of circus elephants walking in unison across the empty field behind an area where White Stripes fans were watching their beloved duo fight through sound issues that stemmed from an unforgiving desert wind.

Coachella was hyped as some special gathering where all sorts of free-spirited mumbo jumbo supposedly takes place, but a freakin' elephant parade? This was too much.

At first I was scared. I wondered what in the hell elephants were doing at a festival and took deep breaths to counter the overwhelming sense of impending doom. But after counting seven of them and realizing that the thousands of people in attendance weren't rushing for the exits, I calmed down and, for the first time all day, got really into the Coachella vibe, man.

It's not every day that a parade of elephants crosses your path (unless you work at a circus) and the sea of people, animal caravan, beautiful music and perfect desert night was not something I could keep to myself. This tingly feeling of being at one with nature needed to be shared with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, she was way more interested in Jack and Meg White than I was, but fuck the White Stripes. There were goddamn elephants!

I turned around, tapped her on the shoulder and shrugged my head left to indicate that something of epic proportion was going down. Of the countless shows I'd been to at that point in my life, nothing amounted to this. Nothing. For a brief moment, Coachella was Woodstock, Utopia and Babylon rolled into one. There was no war, no poverty, no life-threatening diseases; just bliss. But when I once again looked left, the elephants were gone.

Then I realized there weren't any elephants. It was the weed talking.

Like the Ghetto Boys, my mind was playing tricks on me.

I was by no means a marijuana novice by the time I hit the Empire Polo Club. In fact, if getting stoned was the National Basketball Association, I was a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate. But even I had to admit that I got too stoned that day.

Oh, and the Stooges? They ruled. Then we went home.

The Bamboozle Left happens this weekend, and set times have been announced over at their official Web site.

A few quick recommendos: Peachcake, who we wrote about earlier this year (and photographed!) when they played Chain Reaction, at 3:20 p.m. Saturday on the surely enjoyable "Kazoozle" stage; Asher Roth at 6 p.m. Saturday on the "Wonka" stage, local guys The Jakes (who we'll have more about in this week's Weekly) at 3:10 p.m. on the "Saints & Sinners" stage. Also recommended: Reading the names of all these stages. They're pretty fun. Sunday sees another fun local act, Brave Citizens, on the "Saints & Sinners" stage at 6:45 p.m. Saosin and Thrice place one after Sunday on the "Imagination" stage (not big enough for the Wonka?!) at 5:20 p.m. and 6:30, respectively. LMFAO, who would likely be fun to see, play the "Kazoozle" at 5:50 p.m. Sunday.

For the third straight year, the Vans Warped Tour--46 dates in 2009-will be kicking off at the Pomona Fairplex, this time on June 26. Pre-sales for tickets start April 1 (not a prank), with the "regular" on-sale date being April 18.

They've also announced the list of bands performing, though we don't yet know who's performing at what date yet. Names include: Newport Beach's Saosin (pictured), Huntington Beach's The Dirty Heads, Fullerton punk vets D.I. and Thrice, from Irvine, natch. And if you've ever paid attention to the Warped Tour before, you can probably guess the corral of hot emo/screamo/post-hardcore bands they've got booked (Forever the Sickest Kids, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, The Devil Wears Prada, I Set My Friends on Fire), along with considerably more seasoned acts (NOFX, Fishbone, TSOL, and it's not a Warped Tour without Bad Religion) and some more offbeat choices (Shooter Jennings, Meg & Dia, Dear and the Headlights, Manic Hispanic).

Full list of bands and dates, if you're interested, after the jump. Copy and pasting from press releases = the future of journalism?