Credit: Timothy Norris

The Rolling Stones performing at the Honda Center in Anaheim

The Rolling Stones
Staples Center
5-20-13

If last night's concert at Staples Center really was the Rolling Stones' final show in Los Angeles after nearly 50 years of faithful pilgrimages to the Southland, it revealed that the British warhorses are still capable of major gasp-inducing surprises. When the tour officially kicked off at this arena three weeks ago, there was considerable pomp and circumstance to mark the occasion, including visitations from moderately stellar celebrity guests and the stirring spectacle of dozens of blue-jacketed members of the UCLA Marching Band streaming through the aisles, belching out a festive instrumental version of "Satisfaction." However, at last night's bookend sequel at Staples, the thrills and chills were largely musical instead of theatrical.

See also: We Lurked Outside the Rolling Stones' Rehearsals in Burbank

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Dust, Featuring Marky Ramone (Center)

Our last article on metal bands better than Sabbath got quite a response. Some people were angry that we would even suggest that there are better bands than Sabbath. Other people tripped over themselves to offer their own list. There are literally dozens of '70s bands that get overlooked in favor of Sabbath, Deep Purple, UFO and Uriah Heep. Here's another batch of five.

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Carmen Electra has been a lot of things throughout her twenty year career: Prince protégé, three time Playboy cover girl, host of MTV's Singled Out, Baywatch cast member, Pussycat Doll, wife of Dennis Rodman (for nine days in 1998), and star of the reality show 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave, which she appeared in with her former husband Dave Navarro.

Electra is now revisiting her musical roots with her new EDM-inspired dance track "Bigger Dick." She calls the single a campy homage to how modern women are "coming up and taking over." The synth-laden clubland single finds Electra declaring such lyrics as: "I got that hair, nails, lipstick and a bigger dick than you...I be on my shit, gonna make you come so quick/I got a bigger dick than you/A bigger dick than you/I got a bigger dick than you."

We spoke with Electra about what it all means.

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Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Ask Fan Landers! Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls' Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop doing it wrong. Send your problems to her -- confidentiality is assured, unless you want to use your drama as a ticket to Internet microfame.

Fan,
I'm in a band of moderate renown. We're a D.I.Y. outfit but the band covers its own operating costs and on tour we can draw a crowd anywhere we play. We're on the cusp of releasing our 2nd album, nailing down dates for a summer tour (including some festival gigs) and shooting a music video for the lead single.

And I am so goddamn bored I want to quit immediately.

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Photo: Jesse Fairfax

Danny Brown
Pomona Glass House
5-19-13

Danny Brown is a magnetic but troublesome figure in hip-hop. In the past month he's fallen under heavy scrutiny for receiving a blow job while performing in Minneapolis; his opener that night, Kitty, launched into a passionate defense, suggesting that the oral sex was against his will and that the woman who administered it should be arrested for rape. During her opening set in New York a couple weeks ago, meanwhile, certain jackass crowd members chanted, "Suck his dick."

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Timothy Norris

ScHoolboy Q

ScHoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Dizzy Wright
XXL Freshmen Live 2013
Club Nokia
5-18-13

Better Than... Actually being a freshman in high school

Since 2008, hip-hop magazine XXL has named its "top freshmen" each year, and on Saturday night the bulk of them performed at Club Nokia. Black Hippy crewmates Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul were included in the group, and one expected they would perform together. But that was not the case, even though each performed tracks that had the other originally featured.

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Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion perform at MacArthur Park in July

The Levitt Pavilions have announced their schedules, so you know what that means: It's summer!

In an exclusive to West Coast Sound, the Levitt Pavilion Los Angeles in MacArthur Park and Levitt Pavilion Pasadena in Memorial Park have released their full lineups, with shows held throughout June, July, and August. Highlights include Metalachi, Quetzal, Gangstagrass, a number of Dublab curated performances, Mark de Clive Lowe...too much to mention here. The full schedule is below.

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Universal Republic

Youngblood Hawke -- See Wednesday

Don't forget to check our constantly-updated Los Angeles Concert Calendar

Monday, May 20

Holy Ghost!
TROUBADOUR
It's been two years since the release of Holy Ghost!'s eponymous debut. Often hailed as LCD Soundsystem's heirs, the NYC-based duo's sound falls somewhere between Phoenix's precocious little brothers and MGMT's mischievous second cousins -- if those bands put out records in 1984. Keeping this reference year in mind, Holy Ghost! hosts the Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald's distinct vocals on the R&B-toned, Shannon-style track "Some Children." Staying with the falsetto theme, The Rapture's Luke Jenner guests on "It's Not Over." As sometime yacht rockers, Holy Ghost! have lighthearted synth patterns trickling under "Wait and See" and melodies so happy on "Static on the Wire" that you can hear a smile in the perfectly harmonized choruses. Ultimately, Holy Ghost! make danceable pop music acceptable for hipsters. --Lily Moayeri

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Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony aired on HBO on Saturday. Hopefully you didn't watch it, because it was bad. But pity us: We actually attended the damn thing, at the Nokia Theatre last month.

So, for the sake of catharsis, let's briefly run it down. It's the only way we can move on, and hopefully we can provide you some guffaws in the process. Below is a blow-by-blow account. Also: Fuck Rush fans.

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Kevin Scanlon

Jose Tanaka

One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2013 issue. Check out our entire People 2013 issue here.

José Tanaka was born in Kyoto, Japan. But his parents were so dedicated to flamenco music that they named him José, to make sure he'd always be tied to the traditional Spanish Romani folk art of singing, dancing, guitar and hand claps.

His father had been captivated by the music as a teenager after seeing legendary flamenco guitarist Sabicas perform on television. His mother, who'd been his father's guitar student, became a flamenco dancer.

"We were a flamenco family," Tanaka says. "There weren't many families like us. In our building, the first floor was our guitar shop, guitar lessons were on the second floor, and the rest was our house."

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