Sugarwolf

Phötös! Motörhead & Anvil @ Club Nokia

Lead singer Steve "Lips" Kudlow is one hell of a show man. Not only was he pumped, but the middle-aged rocker created the lighthearted, almost hippie energy amongst the metal heads in the crowd, which is a rare thing to achieve because a lot of metal heads make fun of that kind of stuff. They have a new bassist, Sal Italiano, who thoroughly contributed to the band's tight-knit chemistry.

Timothy Norris

Sometimes you have to go to grungy clubs to review rock bands. Fortunately, on this particular night, Delta Spirit was playing a private industry event at the Playboy Mansion. Sponsored by Jack Daniels, the event coincided with a fundraiser for Operation Gratitude, which provides care packages to U.S. service members. How could I turn down the opportunity to see a great show with even more entertaining surroundings?

In case you didn't know, one doesn't just pull up to the Playboy Mansion. After going through tighter security than TSA, you are shuttled into the world of bunnies. Four beautiful Playmates (Hiromi Oshima, Pamela Horton, Raquel Pomplun, and Nikki Leigh) were available for a photo opportunity as you walked in, making it a unique souvenir and my best Instagram photo ever. While it was enticing to walk around the grounds and fraternize, my main objective was to see Delta Spirit.

Andrew Youssef / OC Weekly

The band were definitely one of the highlights of Coachella and seemed to be gathering steam as they had the entire crowd in the palm of their hand with the electronic pulses of "The District Sleeps Alone." The entire audience knew the album so well that it was difficult to find a spot on the floor where someone wasn't singing along.

Andrew Youssef / OC Weekly

Primed with a midnight set at the Mojave tent this Friday at Coachella, How to Destroy Angels orchestrated a visual and auditory assault at their debut show at the Fox Theatre in Pomona that make them a must see act at Coachella. One could sense the electricity in the air when the lights dimmed at the Fox. The curtain finally pulled back to reveal streams of electric lights four sheets deep as Alessandro Cortini, Atticus Ross, Mariqueen Maandig, Trent Reznor and Rob Sheridan worked in the shadows conjuring up the opening notes of "The Wake-Up."

How to Destroy Angels refer to themselves as a collective with all members contributing equally to their visual and auditory aesthetic. They recently added Cortini to their live band to help take on some bass guitar duties as well as extra synthesizer wizardry. All the members were hunkered over their work stations and grooved in time to the snarling synthesizer bass of "Keep It Together."

Gabriel Olsen

Doug Benson is dazed, confused and funny as hell.

Kevin & Bean's April Foolishness
Gibson Amphitheatre
April 6, 2013

By now, April Foolishness--KROQ's annual smorgasbord of crass comedy--is one of those jumbo shows that has fans of stand-up salivating every year it's announced. This year was no different as the alt-rock radio station delivered it's fifth installment of the party featuring some of the craziest funnymen in the business.

However, the show's surprise opener Sam "The Armenian Comedian" didn't exactly get things off to a roaring start. It was actually more of a booing start as his jokes unfortunately fell flat on the crowd. Kevin and Bean appeared after a few minutes to save our ears and the crowd quickly went wild. They mentioned that all of the comics performing tonight had donated their time to the evening (which still didn't make "The Armenian Comedian's" humor any better for the record) and that proceeds from the night would be benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project and Cedars-Sinai NICU. Despite the early flop, great causes and a great night were indeed ahead.

Andrew Youssef / OC Weekly

Originally slated to appear with Iggy and the Stooges, but ultimately rescheduled and substituted with Patti Smith, Morrissey easily sold out the Staples Center. The show seemed to be in jeopardy when various volleys were exchanged over whether meat would be served at the show. But all the drama fully subsided when Patrick Dempsey of Grey's Anatomy appeared onstage to introduce Morrissey, as the arena roared in approval.

In a dapper dress shirt and jeans, Morrissey crooned "Mama I'm a Singer!" before indulging the audience in the Smiths' classic "Shoplifters of the World, Unite." After being sidelined for a couple of months while battling ulcers and anemia, Morrissey returned with his lovely singing voice, which boomed throughout the arena.

Robert Sorey

Plastician

Plastician at DUBtroit
Feb. 20, 2013
Detroit Bar

Last night, DUBtroit returned to Detroit Bar for the second time this year after migrating to the Observatory in 2011, followed by a brief stint in the LA club scene. DJ teaLong, 12th Planet, Drew Best and Danny Johnson of the SMOG Records crew teamed up to bring back the monthly DJ staple, which was notorious for the best dubstep, bass, booze and babes that OC had to offer on a Tuesday night. This evening, they brought aboard U.K. bass king Plastician, not to be confused with techno king Plastikman, to take the crowd on an incredible two-hour journey from the roots of dubstep to its current North American explosion.

See Also:
SMOG Records Celebrates Six Years of Bringing Dubstep to American Dance Floors