You've got a midweek day off? You're stoked. Go see some live music with that hard-earned free time. Oh, and happy independence, America. That's what we're celebrating, correct?

Eat a barbecued tofu dog slathered in relish and drink some park beers in celebration of such things as country pride and days without responsibility. Then fill those Bay Area music venues, checking in on America’s favorite proto-punk troubadour, Mali's favorite virtuoso progeny, the Big Time Freedom Fest, woozy dream poppers, a punk rock museum benefit, and more. Read more »

There must be something about living in California that makes people want to pick up an instrument and strum, pluck, or smash. Be it surf-infused rock'n'rollers in San Diego dedicated to the Church of John Swami Reis (Mrs. Magician), illustrious weirdo harpists (Nevada City, Calif. born Joanna Newsom), San Francisco psych poppers (Magic Trick) or sticky LA streets punks (the Shrine), the sounds of the state continue to boil. Read more »

There are some thrilling Pride events heading your way this weekend, and trust me, that thorough events list is a-coming.

But before all that, a friendly reminder about the other glitzy-grimy concerts and shows this week and weekend that’ll get your motor running: cosmic hip-hop extraterrestrial wordsmiths, Grass Widow for charity, your DAD, hardcore-with-horns, supersexy beatmakers, and more. Read more »

How can a week go wrong with a Big Freedia show on the horizon? Knock on wood. Especially since this is a makeup show (she had to cancel her Noise Pop appearance due to an emergency surgery). The return alone would be cause for celebration. And yet, this week there's also a night of gritty Canadian punk, an exotic R&B dream, and some club time with Brooklyn's Day-Glo neo-gothsters. Read more »

It really just so happens that a few of this week’s obligatory shows are at club nights (Jel, Friendzone, and Antwon at Future Perfect, Yalls at Push the Feeling) featured in last month’s post-everything cover story, my article profiling local experimental party curators.

What’s more, there are other shows in this stretch that recall the vibes of those featured: great lineups with weird, beats-plus-chords, hi-fi meets lo-fi, robot with a heart of gold overarching themes  (Maus Haus and more at Rickshaw, Owen Ashworth’s Advance Base at Café Du Nord). Read more »

How is it already today, today? I mean, how is this week already so present? Long weekends really mess with that standard five in, two out routine, flipping the days on their side, and giving you enough time to buy new shoes and clean out the sock drawer (literally) without feeling like you’re missing out on all that day-drinking at the park. It’s already time to slip on those fresh kicks and catch Kurt Vile, Wet Illustrated, Xiu Xiu, and Mogwai live in venues around this city and its outlying counties. Read more »

Weirdo jazz, San Pedro punks, free daytime brewery parties, the highly desirable remains of the Misfits, and more, in this week's Heads Up. Read more »

This week, musicians come from far and wide, from broad plains on the other side of the spinning globe, plucked from different coasts of varying notoriety, and from our very own backyards to entertain us. It's a veritable Google Earth of sonic endeavors. Read more »

This week you can catch piano adventures, spacey freaks, free DJ nights, scratchy 1960s garage veterans, Jem's truly outrageous husband, and more. But before all that, pour out a Brass Monkey for fallen brethren and pioneering music-maker Adam Yauch, also known as the Beastie Boys’ MCA. Read more »

Are you ready for another folk revival? It's definitely here, in fact, this is a rather late post about such things – New York Magazine just did a spread including Mumford & Sons, the Head the Heart (whose June 1 show at the Fillmore is already sold out), and the Lumineers, for chrissakes.

It was the startling revelation elsewhere that Alex Ebert of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros was also the formerly angular-haircut-having leader of electroclashy IMA Robot that really got me thinking about about all this. Could it already be time for New Weird America 2.0?  (Grain of salt: Mumford & Sons are from England.) That last round was only a handful of years ago – Devendra, all those acts on the pages of beloved Arthur Magazine, et. al. –  though this batch seems decidedly less weird. These acts, as NY Mag points out, have broader crossover appeal. Read more »