A Guide To Road Tripping to Concerts

It occurs to me this country is quite spaced out. Not in the drugs sense, although God knows that happens too, but in the sense it is really quite large. I mean, have you seen a map? That shit is humongous. Furthermore, there are only so many places poor overworked…

Tips for Rick Perry’s Next Campaign: Stop Being Such a Lefty

Good read by Jay Root in The Texas Tribune today about whether Governor Oops will run for re-election as governor of Texas or run for something else, who knows what, president of France, whatever. Root suggests it will be the governorship again for Oops, and he talks some about other…

How Cancer Has Changed the Way I Photograph Concerts

Lindsey BestAndrew Youssef [Editor’s Note: Longtime concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had Stage IV Colon Cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events for our sister paper OC Weekly on top of other freelance work and working a…

Do I Tell My Friends About the Abuser in Their Band?

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…

How Not to Write About Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is playing Cowboys Stadium on Saturday. Here are some important facts about Taylor Swift: 1. She made $57 million from May 2011 to May 2012, making her the highest-paid musician under 30 in that time period. 2. Her latest album, Red, has sold over 5 million copies since…

The 15 Greatest Original Film Scores From the Past Decade

Established musicians composing film scores is nothing new. Some of the best scores of the last 50 some odd years have come from pop stars: Dylan’s score for Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, Danny Elfman’s whole career and Queen’s legendary Flash Gordon score. With the rise of various indie…

Why Are Old-School Electronic Artists Annoyed With EDM?

Credit: Timothy NorrisBroadly speaking, if you’re an electronic music fan over 40, you probably dig Danny Tenaglia more than Skrillex. And chances are, if you’re a Skrillex fan under the age of 30, you’re like, “Who the hell is Danny Tenaglia?” Coachella 2013 exemplified the generation gap in the world…

How Music is Helping Me Fight Cancer

Lindsey BestAndrew Youssef [Editor’s Note: Longtime concert photographer Andrew Youssef found out almost two years ago that he had Stage IV Colon Cancer. In that time, he has continued to shoot tons of music events for our sister paper OC Weekly on top of other freelance work and working a…

Do Mexicans Love Guns as Much as We Do?

Dear Mexican: Like many Americans, I’ve heard about the “Fast and Furious” scandal in which our own ATF was shown to be corrupt and guilty of supplying guns that ended up in the hands of the drug cartels. I also recently saw a report about the violence in Mexico, and…