Aaron Frank

Black Moth Super Rainbow

Black Moth Super Rainbow
The Echoplex
5/12/12

Better than: watching Usher sing over watered-down techno on Saturday Night Live.

In a rare live appearance at the Echoplex on Saturday, enigmatic psych-pop band Black Moth Super Rainbow exceeded their fans' expectations with a mind-expanding performance. It was a transformative experience for the sold-out crowd who had come to see a band highly praised in corners of the Internet, yet mostly unknown to the general public.

Over the past ten years, the mysterious collective, led by visionary producer Tobacco, has built a following through intense live performances and colorful, genre-defying albums. They've also skirted major labels and essentially shunned mainstream success, intentionally and unintentionally.

SJ O'Connell

Better than...having to listen to me sing the national anthem.

The "Star Spangled Banner" is a notoriously difficult song to sing. Its one and a half octave range of chest-pounding passion has stumped many singers. Nonetheless last Saturday, for the first time ever, the Dodgers held open auditions for a chance to sing the national anthem at a Dodgers exhibition game. Over 500 people showed up.

Roselle Chen

Fans at Aziatix concert

Since producer Jae Chong formed Aziatix a year ago, they've been on the cover of Newsweek in South Korea, sold out a 10-city U.S. tour last year, hit No. 1 on Japan's R&B and Soul charts, reached No. 4 on the iTunes R&B and Soul chart and were in two showcases at SXSW. Therefore it was surprising to see the El Rey only about half-full. The fans who were there, however, were true fans, mostly teenage to college-aged girls screaming for the R&B and pop trio made up of Eddie Shin from Boston, Nicky Lee from Los Angeles and Jay "Flowsik" Pak from Queens, NY.

The fun, hour-long set was filled with slick production, poppy tunes, sweet songs about love and solid rap from Flowsik.

Kai Flanders

Starfucker

College music festivals aren't always compelling. They often book a bunch of acts popular with students that don't add up to a coherent bill. The fest put on by my alma matter had Drake follow Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. But USC's KXSC Fest, held Saturday night on the campus, managed to put together a lineup that worked well.

After a bevy of openers, (Gothic Tropic, Fiore, Trmrs), L.A. psych-rockers White Fence played to a thousand kids or so. Some of their recordings -- "Mr. Adams, "The Love Between" -- are fun to listen to in a spacey, pining sort of mood, but live they lost some of their essential weirdness; less flower-power bizarreness than by-the-book indie rock. They were competent; people sort of danced. But at least some of us wished it were White Denim instead.

Elano Pizzicarola

Dandha da Hora of Samba Da

On Saturday night Brazilian Carnival descended upon Club Nokia. The exhilarating festival aimed to recreate the party scene that galvanizes Brazil every year around this time. Women danced in glitzy, revealing attire, many wearing feathers on their back.

Attendees wore beads around their neck and donned clothes the color of the Brazilian flag. Many rattled small, plastic tambourines that were handed out.

Andrea Domanick

Bishop Don "Magic" Juan

Let's just get this out of the way: It is hard out here for a pimp. That is, if you're Bishop Don "Magic" Juan anyway, a reformed Chicago pimp who became a minister and whose official title nowadays is "spiritual advisor" to Snoop Dogg. Only, apparently that gig doesn't come with health benefits; in late August Juan was rushed to the hospital to remove a blood clot in his leg. For this reason the L.A. incarnation of the annual Player's Ball -- the 34th edition -- served as a fundraiser to pay his medical bills.

It was a real life pimps and hoes party, with the men wearing the most colorful, outlandish slap-a-bitch costumes imaginable, and carrying resplendent bejeweled props. If you didn't have an ostrich feather on your orange sherbet fedora -- or bright green liquer in your 64 ounce pimp cup -- you really didn't fit in. The ladies, meanwhile, favored dresses that covered maybe 3/4 of their ass. (Some examples below.)

Andrea Domanick

Javier Cabral

Rob Chaos and Shawn Smash of Total Chaos

Better than...drinking beer anywhere warm.

On Saturday night around three hundred heads showed up to a tiny backyard in Elysian Valley, where the 2 and 5 freeways meet. The cold temperatures (for L.A. anyway) didn't keep anyone, it seemed from checking out humble punk rock superstars Total Chaos and an epic lineup at a house party.

Total Chaos has recorded for Epitaph, Punk Core and SOS Records, which they co-founded. Which is why it was impressive that they were willing to still play a backyard show that might get broken up by the police any minute.

Chris Walker

David Guetta
Chinese Theater, Hollywood
12-03-11

Better than...driving all the way to Vegas

"I'm David Guetta, bitch."

Each time the French DJ dropped this line, the crowd went nuts - recognizing it as a playful variation of the familiar chorus in LMFAO's hit, "I'm in Miami, Bitch." But in a way, the repetitive vocal outtake perfectly describes the world of David Guetta in 2011. Because at 44 years old, the veteran producer is finally on top of the game - and he doesn't care what you think.

On Saturday Guetta brought his international stardom to Los Angeles, playing at a special event to celebrate his recent recognition as the "world's number one DJ" by DJ Magazine. The show also marked the first installment of the new "DJ Legends" series, held at the historical Chinese 6 theaters at Hollywood and Highland.

Timothy Norris

Morrissey & Kristeen Young
The Shrine Auditorium
11-26-11

Better than ... walking down Hoover in a blue-&-gold Bruins shirt after the big game.

For a person who once famously declared that he was celibate, Steven Patrick Morrissey is clearly too sexy for his body these days, showing a more relaxed and playfully campy attitude about being a pinup hero. In the past, this cultured contrarian just needed words to shock people, but now he's willing to take it all off, either to demystify himself before his overly worshipful fans or simply because he's proud of his hot body.

Reed Hutchinson

Better than...working on my birthday.

On Saturday night guitarist and UCLA jazz studies director Kenny Burrell celebrated his 80th birthday alongside his colleagues, his students and some legends at Royce Hall. The concert, which lasted over five hours, saw Burrell working as an emcee, composer, bandleader, soundman, stagehand and, occasionally, guitarist.