Riff Raff

Free Ink Mikal Gilmore is one of the old-school rock critics. That means the Velvet Underground changed his life, Dylan is God, and he can write 10,000 words about the Rolling Stones without blinking. (He knows his Joy Division and his Nirvana too.) A serious career man, Gilmore has worked for Rolling Stone, the L.A. Weekly, and the L.A. Herald Examiner over the past 20 years. His recent book, Night Beat: A Shadow History of Rock & Roll, collects essays from all three of those publications. Gilmore will be in town to read at the Barnes & Noble in downtown Berkeley on Tuesday, Feb. 17, and at the Booksmith in the Haight on Wednesday, Feb. 18. (J.D.P.)

More Free Ink Los Angeles' Acetone play a free in-store performance at Open Mind Music on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 5 p.m. (J.D.P.)

"When I say Diedra's a slag, you say, 'Slag, slag, slag' ": Robert Arriaga (R.A.), Johnny DiPaola (J.D.P.), Karl D. Esturbense (K.D.E.), Jeff Stark (J.S.), Silke Tudor (S.T.), Heather Wisner (H.W.), and Bill Wyman (B.W.). Send Bay Area music news, band stories, or petty gripes to jstark@sfweekly.com, or mail it to Riff Raff, c/o SF Weekly.