Wayne

5 Celebrities Who've Communicated With Dead Musicians

Earlier this week, the lawsuit against AEG Live over Michael Jackson's premature passing rumbled past the point of weird and drove straight into crazy town. The culprit was AEG CEO Randy Phillips, who claimed that his friend Brenda Richie -- ex-wife of Lionel Richie -- had spoken to the spirit of Mi ... More >>

Yo Gotti and French Montana Brag About Money and Bore Us to Tears

Remember when mainstream hip-hop had something to say? Back in the day, Public Enemy were an educational force to be reckoned with. NWA, who had their misogynistic moments, were in their own way teaching kids about life on the street. A few years later, all that angry stuff was replaced with laid-ba ... More >>

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

Live Review, 7/14/12: The U.S. Air Guitar Championships Bring an Invisible Axe Battle to the Independent

See also: * US Air Guitar Championships: Witness the Madness of People Rawking on Thin Air Last Night: US Air Guitar Championships Regional Qualifier July 14, 2012 The Independent Better than: Air bassoon. This summer, like so many summers before it, brings an aura of excitement to ambitious com ... More >>

Ex-Gay Leader Claims Gay Activist Said He Should Be Injected With AIDS

Well, this isn't your typical fight among gays and ex-gays. An ex-gay advocate was sued after he went on television and told viewers that a gay activist had wished murder and harm for him. Gregory Quinlan may say he's no longer gay -- but he still has a flare for the dramatic, it would seem. Quinlan ... More >>

Ten Muppets You Probably Don't Know (But Should!)

The Muppets' staying power is an inspiration. What was borne from the silly idea of anthropomorphizing felt later forged a brand that has redefined the puppet industry, and greater entertainment industry, to this day. (The newest film, The Muppets, is scheduled for release Wednesday, Nov. 23.) And t ... More >>

Why San Francisco Birds Are So Fat

Scientist say birds in Northern California, including San Francisco, are getting bigger and fatter by the year. And since Global Warming tends to be the scapegoat for all our general state of deterioration, it made sense to place blame squarely on Climate Change. But after considering the science, ... More >>

Deconstructing Adele's Sanity-Preserving Video for "Someone Like You"

It's humiliating to be imparted a thuddingly obvious life lesson by an individual 14 years your junior. They've circumvented the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. In the new video for her massive hit "Someone Like You" (at 7.9 million YouTube views and counting), English soul singer Adele t ... More >>

Local Rock-Jazz-Rapper Forrest Day on His Crazy Sound, Passing Out During a Show, and Landing a Record Deal

Forrest Day, with the band's frontman and namesake at far left.​ It was easily one of the most memorable moments of our very first All Shook Down festival last year: Forrest Day, the physically imposing, fast-rapping frontman of his own uncategorizable band, was exhausted and leading an enthus ... More >>

Six Extremely Weird Cover Songs, Featuring Bill Shatner, Dolly Parton, and ... Pat Boone?

Between Miley Cyrus covering Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and now Ben Folds covering "Sleazy" by (our guilty pleasure du jour) Ke$ha, we felt it was only appropriate this week, that we compile some other unexpected covers. Here are six of the weirdest we can think of. 6. Sonic Youth do ... More >>

Saturday Night: The Flaming Lips Play Laser Tag at the Fox Theater

Christopher VictorioWayne Coyne, bubble boy. (Due an unfortunate mix-up, these pictures are from Friday's Flaming Lips show, not Saturday's.)​The Flaming Lips October 2, 2010@ The Fox Theater, Oakland Better than: Half a Dr. Atomix Bliss Bomb Depth-Charge Chocolate Brownie About the ... More >>

"Middle Men": Luke Wilson brings hardcore porn to the masses

Now That's What I Call Crap: Music Detritus That Needs To Go

​ Sometimes one man's junk is just, well, junk.Zambaleta, a Mission-based nonprofit world music and dance school, hosted a flea market last Saturday for musical equipment and records. People sometimes regret throwing out music and memorabilia when nostalgia hits 40 years down the line and Davy ... More >>

The Humane Society and big agriculture slug it out over animal rights

Listomania: Top Southern Rap Picks For 2009

Yeah, it stirred the Yankees to the World Series championship, but was there a more boring album this year than Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3? Perhaps it was a geographic thing; with a few exceptions like Raekwon and Kid Cudi, most of 2009's exciting, innovative rap records came from Southern artists. Sur ... More >>

Social worker accused of tipping off foster parents about complaints of abuse

Lil Jon to DJ in SF Next Weekend

(Photo from Lil Jon's MySpace page)Lil' Wayne isn't the only "Lil" hitting the Bay Area in December. Lil Jon booked a DJ gig at Club Roe alongside DJ Spyder on Saturday, Dec. 13. The party goes down in three rooms, offering house, hip-hop, and Latin beats...More info on where to snap ya fingers her ... More >>

The Lowbrow Art Sale: Greg "Craola" Simkins, Ron English & Ken Garduno

Hair metal fantasies realized at Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy Camp

Bustin' Down the Door

Hey DJ! Friday Q&A: Ren the Vinyl Archaeologist

The anger and the ecstasy of Kiki revisited

It's Pronounced "Sfee-Ahf"

Obama in Oakland — Barack's California Epicenter Draws Neophyte Canvassers; "Never go inside the house"

Cold Hearted

Lost Planet delivers, but it's not for the timid

Cleveland's Rocks

Parker Posey and Paul Rudd get their OH faces on

Future-Funk Overlords

Gnarls Barkley test the One Ring theory

Prince Douglas

Dub Roots

The Ransom of Redford

Robert gets kidnapped in Pieter Jan Brugge's surprisingly smart The Clearing

Death, Maiming, Money, and Muni

The enormous costs -- human and financial -- of bad drivers and lax discipline at the San Francisco Municipal Railway

Folk Explosion

The Waybacks strike a chord with fans of old-timey music

Letters to the Editor

Week of July 10, 2002

Race for Space

An unorthodox school for dropout risks is still searching for a campus, leaving students in learning limbo

Reps Etc.

Persistent Visions

This season's cinema demands attention

The Intimidator

Why is a stay-at-home dad from Foster City striking fear in the hearts of San Francisco darts players?

Sound Advice

Punk goes to the Dogs, and Stephanie Galetti succumbs to darkness.

Popcorn

Ben Elton satirizes ultra-violent movie directors

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Night + Day

Hear This

The Perfect Band

How Miles Davis found a group for jazz's past and future

The House of Tudor

Quadraphonia

The Flaming Lips want you to play all four of their new CDs -- at the same time

inadequate.doc

Dr. Howard Thornton bragged that his state-of-the-art computer system let him take on 1,000 patients a month, scattered across Northern California. But do his patients get anything like quality medical help?

City of Angles

How Curtis Hanson brought James Ellroy's epic crime novel L.A. Confidential to the screen

Randy Shaw's Power Plays

Sixteen years ago, Randy Shaw started a housing clinic with $50 and a good idea: educating tenants. Now he's got more than $900,000 a year to spend -- and clout to match.

Letters

Recordings

Rock of la Raza

Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalape–o Band celebrates the history of Latin American music