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The Rolling Stones Announce Two Bay Area Concerts in May

Just as we were expecting, the Rolling Stones this morning announced a U.S. leg of their ongoing 50 and Counting Tour for this spring. And just as expected, it includes two dates in the Bay Area next month. See also: Here Is the Billboard That Proves the Rolling Stones Are Playing San Francisco Th ... More >>

Smooth Pride: The Legacy of Malo's "Suavecito"

Five Musicians' Kids Who Have Better Jobs Than You

Guess what, everybody? Despite the invention of child labor laws, there are whole gangs of marauding teens with careers more dazzling and exciting than any of ours. How does this depressing turn of events transpire? Well, usually it happens because someone famous made those children with their priva ... More >>

The Five Best Parties in San Francisco This Weekend

Beatport sold out for $50 million, 222 Hyde is shutting down, and Baauer's "Harlem Shake" somehow topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the second week in a row. Is there a connection between any of those things? Not really, but it helps to illustrate the chaotic winds of change that seem to be blowing a ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Nor-Cal (Green Day) Lands at No. 2 on the Charts, Just Ahead of So-Cal (No Doubt)

There was a little bit of Nor-Cal vs. So-Cal rivalry on the charts this week, as Green Day and No Doubt, punk-y '90s outfits from opposite halves of the greatest state in the union, dropped their first new projects in a while. And whaddaya know? Nor-Cal won -- at least by the metric of album sales ... More >>

The Video Game-Inspired Music of S.F.'s J-Pop Summit: A Chiptune Off the Old Block

If you play games, you've probably built some strong associations around the music of games. Maybe you recognize a passing Pandora jam from the latest Madden. Maybe you catch yourself humming the Super Mario Bros. theme at your desk at work -- hell, you at least know the tune. Even that goddamn Angr ... More >>

How Big Is Gotye? His S.F. Show Just Got 16 Times Larger

There's no doubt that Gotye is on a big rise: The video for "Somebody That I Used to Know," the first single off the Australian pop artist's latest album, is going gangbusters, racking up more than 121 million views on YouTube since it was posted last year. Yesterday brought another indication of t ... More >>

The Top 10 Worst Film Performances By Musicians

By DAVE GIL DE RUBIO Rock star, singer-songwriter, producer, interior designer -- now we should add thespian to the many creative hats sported by Lenny Kravitz, who performs tonight (Feb. 14) at the Fox Theater in Oakland. In keeping with the family business -- his mom was the late Roxie Roker, a.k ... More >>

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Billboard's FutureSound Conference Hopes to Bridge Divide Between Techies and Copyright Holders

Turntable.FM, a keynote case study at Billboard FutureSound.​Billboard FutureSound takes over Terra in San Francisco on November 17-18. Inspired by the TED talks and gatherings that feature leaders of thought, the conference aims to bring together top investors, labels, and entrepreneurs to br ... More >>

Jay-Z and Kanye West Reschedule Watch the Throne Tour

You'll have to wait two more months to Watch the Throne.​Last week, Jay-Z and Kanye West announced their Watch the Throne Tour. It was scheduled to stop at San Jose's HP Pavilion on October 16, but apparently all royal marriages take time, and now there will be a two-month delay.

Sizzle & Fizzle: Highs and Lows from the Last Week in S.F. Music

Get High and Cruise Down McLemore Avenue -- Booker T. & the MGs' Take on Abbey Road

​ This Week: Cruise down McLemore Avenue with Booker T. & the MGs​Behind the buzz: Loosened from Stax Records' leaky grip by the recent avalanche of Beatles-related reissues is this 1970 reconfiguration of Abbey Road. As leader of the house band for the Memphis soul giant, Booker T. Jones wa ... More >>

Five Attempted Pop Comebacks Even More Annoying Than James Blunt's

It came to my attention that James Blunt is back with a new album this week. Considering that the mere sight of his face evokes my inner rage, the thought of his actual music is enough to make me want to drive off a cliff. If you remember, he was that guy in 2006 with the song "You're Beautiful" whe ... More >>

Rapper DMX Tries to Overcome His Demons and Stage a Comeback

DJ Earworm Slams 2010's Pop Hits Into One Frankenstein of a Song

​If you really hate yourself, have the world's worst music taste, or are just morbidly curious how it's possible to mix together Billboard's top 25 songs into one coherent track, you'll probably wanna give DJ Earworm's "United State of Pop 2010 (Don't Stop The Pop)" a listen.

Watch Our Video Interview with the National at Treasure Island

Christopher VictorioThe National performing this past Sunday at the Treasure Island Music Festival​Just how did the National's latest album, High Violet, shoot so high up the Billboard charts when it was released this spring? Are the members of this dramatic Cincinnati-via-Brooklyn band as dreary ... More >>

Sacramento Metalheads Tesla's Studio Burns in Three-Alarm Blaze

Ross HalfinTesla​Flames tore through a Sacramento apartment building last night, damaging a studio where the metal band Tesla recorded.Soundproofing in the recording studio, which was behind the apartment building, made it harder for crews to reach the attic, where the the three-alarm blaze had sp ... More >>

Summer Bloodbath? The Concert Industry Had It Coming

Was seeing Petty's grin worth the price? Tell us in the comments section​Summer 2010 is turning out to be a bloodbath for the concert industry. As Billboard reports:Individual shows, legs of tours, or entire tours have been canceled or postponed by such artists as U2 (due to Bono's back surgery), ... More >>

Will Lil Wayne's Stardom Survive Lockup? Look To 10 Other Jailed Rappers

RJ Shaughnessy​Lil Wayne, perhaps the most commercially successful and critically-lauded rapper of the past few years, was recently granted a reprieve from his date with destiny. Due to be sentenced on February 9th after pleading guilty to gun possession, the proceedings have been delayed until Ma ... More >>

Storms Never Last

LiveNation/Ticketmaster Merger Raises Congressional Concerns

Pissed Off: Bruce Springsteen​ The proposed merger between concert venue conglomerate Live Nation and ticket hub mecca Ticketmaster (announced last February) has already resulted in catcalls from The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, who wrote an open letter to his fans after Ticket Master upsold tickets ... More >>

The Jacka reprises hyphy with a gangsta twist

How the crash will reshape the music industry

Jackin' 4 Chart Positions

The Jacka keeps his street game tight Whoever said hardcore Bay Area gangsta rap is dead underestimated The Jacka - which is a very bad move. The founding member of the Mobfigaz--straight outta Pittsburgh, y'all!--cracked the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of January 31, 2009, landing at #91 w ... More >>

History as predicted by Inauguration Day's #1 hits

Hitsville, by the Numbers

Kimya Dawson

Alphabutt (K)

mixtART Exhibit at Giant Robot Premieres this Weekend

Tech N9ne: Self-Made Killer

Halou Releases Digital EP Feb. 12

Top 5 Music Turkeys of 2007: Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse ...

R. Kelly to Share Closet Space with Ne-Yo in Oakland

Van Halen in San Jo: Oh, God, the monster stirs

Fresno? Fres Yes!

King Misfit

My Chemical Romance posits outcast status as rock nirvana

Sonic Youth and the Melvins

Album revivalists score with the indie geeks for the Don't Look Back tour series

Hear This

Giant Drag is anything but; Michael Penn introduces us to Mr. Hollywood, Jr.

No Joke

Shock-G, the MC who told us to "do the Humpty Hump," is back, and this time he's brought his sensitive side

House of Tudor

The Femmes who "Blister in the Sun" prove they're still violent after all these years

Heavy Hitters

The Puerto Rican Band, Puya

Oh, Silver Deities!

Jewel's poetry smacks into a screen door like, uh, a moth

Riff Raff

Beer-Soaked Lambs

Hype! surpasses its title

Suspicious Minds

REAL ASTROLOGY For an Unreal World

Revival Meeting

HighTone Records' Roadhouse Revival Tour

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