Top Five Underrated Accomplishments of Ray Manzarek

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Ray Manzarek is best known for his work as the keyboardist for the Doors, butanyone who followed his career knows he was more then that. He was a published author and a well-respected music producer. When Manzarek passed away from bile duct cancer on Monday at the age of 74 and the music industry had lost one of its finest all-around innovators. Here is a list of his Top Five Underrated Accomplishments.


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Seven Rules for Smoking at Shows

Categories: Lists

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By Gavin Cleaver

We thought it might be high time to remind smokers of the etiquette of smoking at gigs. Yes, it's one thing most of us rebels can't help but do when you put a drink and a band in front of us. As someone who smokes, I'm well-aware of the many social pitfalls of my death-inducing pursuit. I'm not Captain Buzzkill from Planet Square, but have some respect, eh?

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Top Five Kris Kross Moments From the 90s

Categories: Lists

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R.I.P Mac Daddy

For millions of us who have fond memories of coming of age in the 90s, the news of Kris Kross' "Mac Daddy" Chris Kelly's passing Wednesday night at age 34 was particularly troubling. But along with being one-half of the duo behind the infectious double platinum single "Jump" off the quadruple platinum album Totally Krossed Out, Kelly's career milestones read like a winning "Things of the 90s" bingo card. With his passing reminding us of how many of our memories his music is intertwined with, we take a look back at Kris Kross' Most 90s Moments.


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Top 10 Concert Highlights From Gibson Amphitheatre

Categories: Lists

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Timothy Norris
Yesterday's news that the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City will be closing in September was met with mixed reaction. Haters weren't too fond of the venue's location, (frankly who wanted to navigate through thousands of clueless tourists?) nor the ridiculous parking fees. But one thing that was undeniable is that the mid-sized venue had impeccable sound and was intimate enough to house arena to stadium level musicians in its 40 years. What makes it worse that the venue is shutting down to make way for a Harry Potter themed park. Oy vey.

Here are some of the most memorable musical moments in Gibson Amphitheatre history (well at least the ones that were caught on YouTube since Frank Sinatra's performance hasn't made on there yet):

See Also:
*Gibson Amphitheatre to Close Its Doors

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Top Five Underrated Coachella Hang-Outs

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Alejandra Loera
Last Weekend thousands of music fans gathered at the Empire Polo Fields to soak up the Coachella Valley rays, sink their feet in the lush grass and enjoy three days of sensory visuals, a sense of freedom, adventure and most importantly and eclectic mix of music. Though the festival offers revelers everything from rock, indie, hip hop and electronic music there are plenty of other activities, art installations and place to roam around and get lost in. With week two upon us we decided to break down the top 5 most underrated Coachella hang-outs to cool off, people watch and maybe score some free shit.

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The Five Worst British Import Bands

Categories: Lists
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By: Gavin Cleaver

While we might have done some wonderful things for y'all with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath and Radiohead, we have also sent you some terrible crimes against music. And while none of this really compares to Canada foisting Avril Lavigne and Nickleback on you, it's still not great. I'm here to hold my hands up for the collection of nations I call my home and say sorry. If it is true that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction, then for every Radiohead there must be a Lily Allen, and for every Police there must be a Sting's solo career. We're trying, but we don't always get it right. Here are the worst offenders I can think of. Please add your own.More »

The Five Best EDM Shows in April

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Tim Norris / OC Weekly
Coachella Sahara Tent 2012

Festival season is upon us and that means not one, but two weeks of Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival with enough electronic dance music to keep aficionados fist pumping in their sleep with anticipation. With one of the biggest music events of the year just around the corner, why bother doing anything else all month? Well, for those not willing to shell out the $350 for three days or others who weren't lucky enough to score a ticket before it sold out fear not because there's plenty of EDM shows right here in OC and in LA to get your party music fix. We did all the research for you to ensure you don't miss the five best dance music shows of all genres to ensure you spend your hard earned money on the right events.

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Six Alkaline Trio Songs That Should Be Played Live (But Probably Won't Be)

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Every band has "hits," the songs they have to play in concert or no one will pay money to see them. Alkaline Trio is no different.

Thanks to nine studio albums, including My Shame is True (released today), singer/guitarist Matt Skiba, singer/bassist Dan Andriano and drummer Derek Grant have a plethora of tunes that are damn-near guaranteed to make any set list, which means there's a good chance you'll hear "Radio," "Nose Over Tail," "Clavicle," "'97," "This Could Be Love," "Mercy Me," "Crawl," "Cringe" and "Bleeder." While there's nothing wrong with these (in fact, they are some of the band's best material), there are also a bunch of songs that rarely -- if ever -- get played. But they should.

There's no way of knowing what we'll hear from My Shame is True, but "Kiss You to Death," "Young Lovers" and "Until Death Do Us Part" are bona fide awesome and are worthy of replacing the oft-played "She Took Him to the Lake" and "Private Eye." And, if we are lucky, the addition of new material might force the band to dig into its catalog to pull out a few oldies-but-goodies.

So, here, in no particular order, are six songs that should be added to the band's set list when they kick off their upcoming tour at The Observatory on April 25.

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Top Five Must-See Acts at Paid Dues 2013

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Matt Oliver / OC Weekly
Cam'ron at Paid Dues 2012

A few months into 2013 and we're less than a week away from the first big live hip-hop experience of the year. Last year was filled with immensely enjoyable shows all across Southern California, from Nas at Rock the Bells to Juicy J and ASAP Rocky at the Observatory. And, here we are, ready to start the festival season all over again and at the beginning of a year already stocked with great performances. Times goes by fast when you spend lots of time drinking and unleashing your energy deposits at rap shows, right?

Guerilla Union has been generous enough to give us a Paid Dues bill as enjoyable and as diverse as ever, with up-and-coming oddballs like Speak taking stage alongside politically-minded rappers Killer Mike and Immortal Technique and west-coast party-rappers Problem & Badlucc. There's a lot of performers to sift through and only so much time in a day, especially if you have to wade through the fog of alcohol and contact (or deliberate) highs, so we have gone ahead and made this list of acts you absolutely can't miss out on. Spoiler alert: we're not exactly thrilled to see Trinidad James or Macklemore.

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What We Learned from the 2013 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards

Categories: Lists
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Katy Perry

This past Saturday, award show season officially ended with the 2013 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. The 26th installment of the only award show where "kids rule," it was a star-studded night that legitimately out-shined plenty of its contemporaries. You may think we're kidding, but how many awards shows in recent years have given you both Johnny Depp humbly accepting an acting award with a legitimately moving speech about how children are the future AND a yeti? Of course, there was plenty of music to be heard and being we at the Weekly keep our ear to the streets to hear tomorrow's superstars, here's the top 5 things we learned from watching the 2013 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

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