Southern California

Blink-182 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - 9/11/13

Better Than: Everything. It started like a movie. The lights dim and rise up again. Excited cheers stifled by a few excited gasps. Half a second goes by and... "I'VE GOT NO REGRET RIGHT NOW." The nasal boom comes from deep within guitarist Tom DeLonge's throat, and with a ferocity that's unmatch ... More >>

Which Music Festivals Are Dirtiest?

Our music feature this week focuses on the environmental impact of music festivals, which tend to be--surprise, surprise--ecologically problematic. For the piece we talked with Tucker Gumber. Known on his blog as The Festival Guy, he goes to just about every festival imaginable. In fact, he's been ... More >>

Calexico's Baja Fish Taco, One of Our 100 Favorite Dishes

Later this year, we'll pen our Best of New York issue, our annual love letter to what's great in this town. When that paper hits the streets, you'll find our picks for the very best this city has to offer when it comes to dozens of cuisines, restaurants, dishes and drinks. Until then, you can get a ... More >>

The 10 Best Concerts in New York This Week, 7/8/13

For more shows throughout the week, check out our New York Concert Calendar, which is updated daily.

Blessing Scam Suspects Will Be Extradited to NYC Following Sentences in California

Law enforcement officials have dubbed it the "blessing scam," and by now the con's strange details are familiar to most major metropolises between the coasts: The scammers target elderly Chinese women and trick them into believing that an evil spirit is about to kill a loved one and the only way to ... More >>

The Mowgli's

Barred For Life Book Release Party - Bowery Electric - 6/23/13

Better Than: Flag, Black Flag and possibly White Flag. In the summer of 1981, the Southern California band Black Flag went on a monumental tour of the U.S. where they unconsciously became the Johnny Appleseeds for the American Hardcore scene. From the Midwest to Manhattan, every fuck-up kid who ba ... More >>

Emo is Dead, Long Live Emo: 30 Bands Making it Safe to Hurt Again

It's a confusing time to be an emo fan. My Chemical Romance recently called it quits, while Fall Out Boy, surprisingly, have the #1 album in the country. That album, however, is a far cry from the sound old heads remember from the Take This to Your Grave era. Bro, are you even emo anymore? See also ... More >>

Drew Barrymore Tells Eric Ripert Why Her Daughter's Name Is Olive

Actress, producer and ex-wife of Tom Green winemaker Drew Barrymore joined Eric Ripert for an episode of his Reserve Channel video series, On the Table, this week. The new mom helped the French chef prepare her "favorite dish," clams Montecito--a buttery, shellfish-laden entree named for the uber-we ... More >>

Free Will Astrology: April 17-23, 2013

Meningitis Outbreak Accelerates in NYC Gay and Bi Communities

Department of Health calls for 100,000 vaccinations as fatalities climb in 2013

Meet Carla Rzeszewski, New York's Queen of Sherry

What comes to mind when you hear sherry, besides the Four Seasons song that maddeningly loops in your head like scratched vinyl? If the answer is a sweet brown drink that grandma likes, allow me to introduce you to New York City's "Queen of Sherry," Carla Rzeszewski. Rzeszewski is a sherry fanatic ... More >>

Tattoo Nation Does Service to the History of SoCal's Black and Gray Style

How Frankie Sharp is Bringing New York Nightclubs Back to Life

The Fixer

Ask Fan Landers Three-fer: Van, Tour, and Label Advice

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 ... More >>

Pazz & Jop: The Comments

How Following His Muse Paid Off Big for DJ Steve Aoki

The house's money

Caviar Vending Machines Exist in Beverly Hills

Before putting in your $1.75 for the jumbo bag of Buggles, consider that hungry West Coasters may be snacking on vending machine caviar when 4:00pm hunger attacks. Beverly Hills Caviar is now doling out the "$500-an-ounce" luxury food in certain Southern California malls for those with champagne wis ... More >>

Chris Kluwe Takes a Stand

The Vikings punter is prying open America's last closet: major league sports

Chao Thai Too: Blood Jell-O, Anyone?

A spin-off in Elmhurst outdoes the original

BEST OF NYC™
Have a Ball (And Puck and Uppercut): NYC Is Sportstown, U.S.A.

AS THE WORLD TURNS

Discuss the apocalypse with Karen Thompson Walker

Are There Mexican Green Cards?

Sublime's "What I Got" And Its Ability To Inspire Low-Level Road Rage

This month, to celebrate the Internet's unbridled love for wallowing in nostalgia and even greater relishing of talking about why certain cultural artifacts are horrible, Sound of the City presents First Worsts, a series in which our writers remember the first time... they ever hated a song enough t ... More >>

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World: The Apocalypse Drag

You might want to be left behind

SPACE INVADERS

Get cozy with some colorful blobs

Why Do Mexicans Paint Murals on Lowriders?

And why do they love scratch-off Lotto tickets?

Tom Murrin: 1939–2012

Erin Courtney remembers the beloved downtown performer

Sao Mai and Xe May Sandwich Shop: Finally, Your Banh Mi Tacos

The East Village gets two new Vietnamese spots

I Saw The Two Foreign Animated Films That Are Oscar Nominated

The animated-film nominators have a lovely habit of not just going for blockbuster Hollywood fare all the time. In fact, The Adventures of Tintin wasn't even nominated, possibly because of a bias against stop-action technology (though it was amazing-looking, no matter what you thought of the storyt ... More >>

Starbucks to Boost Booze Sales

Starbucks has decided to add beer and wine to its roster, but it's unclear whether the spirits will be as overpriced and overrated as the chain's coffee. According to Bloomberg (via The Washington Post), at least 25 Starbucks stores will sell booze -- as well as cheese plates and focaccia with oli ... More >>

Live: Van Halen Attracts The Naked, Sweaty Eyeballs To Cafe Wha?

Van Halen Cafe Wha? Thursday, January 5 Better than: Listening to David Lee Roth's Spanish-language version of "That's Life" at home alone. The crowd drawn to Macdougal Street in advance of last night's Cafe Wha? show by the reunited-once-again Van Halen—David Lee Roth on vocals, and the Va ... More >>

Hombre Blanco Edition

Animal House: Matt Damon Needs Your Love in We Bought a Zoo

Oh, don't be such a cynic

How Far Can the Paranormal Activity Franchise Go?

Found-footage effect

Hollister Paints Another Totally Necessary Mural On Houston

Because SoHo needed another enormous mural depicting a Southern California symbol. Hollister's latest addition to its display of murky brown mega-advertising is the California state flag, a natural fit for the space that used to have a DKNY mural with the Statue of Liberty.

Why Do Mexican Businesses Hire People Dressed as Shrek to Advertise?

The Rapture Talk Baseball, Seattle, Postpunk Redux, And Their Difficult Second Album

​In this week's Voice, we profiled the Rapture, recently re-signed to DFA Records. Luke Jenner, Vito Roccoforte, and Gabriel Andruzzi are voluble guys, so there was plenty of material that we couldn't fit into the story. Here are a few pieces from our interviews that touch on the band's early ... More >>

Fashion Week: Sofia Coppola and Lisa Marie Presley Check Out Anna Sui; 3.1 Phillip Lim Wants You to Fly a Kite for Spring

Angela AshmanAnna Sui​ Sometimes Anna Sui, who is known for her love of everything retro, can design collections that feel too groovy to be modern. But for her spring collection, which she showed last night at Lincoln Center, Sui pulled her influences from all the right sources for a collectio ... More >>

Seeing a Supernova With Your Own Eyes: A Guide

via the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory​Starting this weekend, you will be able to see a cosmic phenomenon without the aid of a mountaintop telescope or highly politicized university grant. Researchers at the Palomar Observatory in Southern California found a white dwarf star about 1.4 t ... More >>

Ten Crucial Fourth Of July Jams, As Chosen By "Along The Watchtower" Author Constance Squires

​Along The Watchtower, the debut novel by Constance Squires, is a story of an Army brat whose tumultuous upbringing was kept steady in part by her discovery of rock and roll. It's published Tuesday, and in honor of its impending release and the coming holiday—don't forget, Monday's Ameri ... More >>

David Miscavige, Scientology's Leader, Wants You to Salute His Beagles

​Yesterday, we published a review of Janet Reitman's stunning new history, Inside Scientology, which will hit bookshelves soon. In our general review, we couldn't get into much detail. But we had to pull out a wonderful nugget from the book this morning that struck us as particularly illumina ... More >>

Brian Wilson's Songs

A brief conversation with the reclusive musician and a changed path

The Donkeys+Snowmine

Dum Dum Girls (acoustic)

How Do Mexicans Propose Marriage?

And we finally stop insulting Guatemalans!

Lotus of Siam Rolls the Dice

The noted Las Vegas Thai joint chances New York City

Co Ba Tries to Capture the Spirit of Vietnam's Neighborhood Stalls

Steven Duong offers a new restaurant

Soul-Country Bros Let Their Burritos Fly