Timothy Norris

From Petty's 6/3 show at the Fonda

Update: Reimbursement information at the bottom of this post

Last week Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off a six-night stint at the Fonda, giving fans a chance to see the perennial favorite in a much smaller venue than he usually plays.

That is, unless you went on Saturday night, when the fire marshal pulled the plug in the middle of the show. The reason? Overcrowding -- and folks were pissed.

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Recently we spoke with Alice Cooper. That same day British newspaper The Guardian posted an archived article from 40 years ago highlighting efforts of high-ranking government officials to ban his shock-rock stage shows from entering the United Kingdom. Needless to say, it just helped build his legend even more on the back of hits such as "School's Out" and "Billion Dollar Babies."

See also: Alice Cooper's Ode to Teenage Rebellion Hits Middle Age

"There was no profanity, no nudity, and nothing blasphemous," Cooper protests. "But the British were very touchy about blood. But when you tell the entire country you can't see a band, no amount of money in the world could have paid for the benefits of what happened afterwards. But when we did our show, the British audience got the humor behind everything we were doing. They knew we weren't butchering babies, they knew we were using baby dolls. They loved that it was a choreographed show constructed for entertainment."

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Timothy Norris

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Fonda Theatre
6/3/13

Better than: Arena-style Tom Petty

When a performer says he's playing deep cuts and rarities, that can cause trepidation. Best case scenario, you get to geek out to songs you never thought you'd hear live. Worst case, you get a bunch of crap that's unknown for good reason.

It was the former rather than the latter last night in Hollywood as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers kicked off their six night stint at the Fonda. Petty promised that the residency (the band's first run of small theater gigs since 2003) wouldn't be a greatest hits scenario. The band, now well into their third decade together, jammed loose and heavy on songs both familiar and less so.

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Oli Powell

Robert Plant and The Sensational Space Shifters

Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant returns to Los Angeles on June 26th at the Shrine Auditorium with his newest backing band, The Sensational Space Shifters. The lineup features members of his early-'00s band The Strange Sensation, and sees Plant revisiting both blues rock and world music influences; this after exploring Americana the last few years through collaborations with Alison Krauss and Band of Joy. L.A. Weekly talked with Plant about this new project, memories of L.A., and what he means by the "British condition."

See also: The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History

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Joe Lopez

Photo Credit: Joe Lopez

Ray Manzarek, co-founder and keyboardist for The Doors, died last week in Germany after a battle with cancer. He was 74.

See also: Henry Rollins Remembers Ray Manzarek

Manzarek's melodies were the musical backbone for many of the Doors' most classic tunes, and he was well-regarded as a producer as well.

But there were many sides to the man, and below, historians, players and Doors fans reflect on him.

Matt Sorum, Velvet Revolver, Guns n' Roses, The Cult
"I feel so blessed and honored to have known Ray and had the chance to play with him. The musical vibe was magical. The pure essence of loosing yourself in the music. He [once] said to other musicians on-stage during rehearsal, 'Hey man, there's no rush. It's only time, and you'll feel it when the time is right.'

It was an inspiring moment in my musical career. See you at the righteous jam in the sky some day Ray. Jim is going to be so happy to see you."

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Timothy Norris

Fleetwood Mac
Hollywood Bowl
5/25/13

Fleetwood Mac does their best work in dramatic circumstances. They put out their finest album in the midst of personal turmoil and needed Bill Clinton to broker a reunion in 1993. As recently as last year, Mick Fleetwood proclaimed that the band wouldn't tour again because of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks' commitments to their solo careers. Yet after nearly four years of inactivity, Fleetwood Mac was back playing in the city where its formative lineup came together.

"It smells like you're having a good time out there!" Buckingham joked midway through the band's marathon 23-song, two-and-a-half hour set. And it appeared that he and his bandmates were as well. There were smiles, hugs and handholding, something that seemed hard to imagine back in the day.

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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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Timothy Norris

Patti Smith at Staples Center

By Jessica Baran

Profoundly influential, incantatory songstress, poet, artist and writer Patti Smith may be best known as the Godmother of Punk. Her groundbreaking album Horses, released in 1975, has been hailed as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Born in Chicago, she was raised in South Jersey and in 1967 made her way to New York City, where she met the now-celebrated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who at that time was unknown.

Their relationship and maturation as artists amid New York's downtown culture of the late '60s and '70s is chronicled in Smith's 2010 memoir, Just Kids, which won the National Book Award. An accomplished visual artist and poet, Smith has published several volumes of verse -- including the Blakean Auguries of Innocence in 2005. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. She released her 11th album, Banga, which features longtime friend and fellow punk pioneer Tom Verlaine as well as her two children, last year. We spoke with her about many of these topics.

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Lina Lecaro

Rolling Stones
Staples Center
May 3, 2013

The Rolling Stones still put in the work, as was demonstrated by their stint here in Los Angeles over the last two weeks, which included a series of rehearsals in Burbank -- Falling James lurked outside -- and their secret show at the Echoplex.

See also:
*Our slideshow of the Staples Center show
*Our review of the Rolling Stones show at the Echoplex

Some may consider them dinosaurs, but we think they're as vital as ever, which was confirmed by last night's two hour plus tour kick-off show at the Staples Center.

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This is Mick Jagger's car.

Last week, the center of the rock & roll universe was located in an industrial part of Burbank. In one room at CenterStaging studios, Paul McCartney was rehearsing with his band for their upcoming world tour. Next door, his old pals and supposed rivals the Rolling Stones were preparing for their first tour in five years -- and possibly their final series of concerts ever.

McCartney and his crew soon moved on to Brazil to start their tour, but the Stones occupied the studios for the better part of the past two weeks, winnowing through at least 60 different songs -- both old and new, along with rare covers -- that are being considered for their "50 & Counting" tour of England and North America. You know, the one that kinda kicked off at the Echoplex on Saturday and gets going for real tomorrow night at Staples Center. We were there, outside, while they practiced.

See also: Our review of the Rolling Stones show at the Echoplex

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