What would you do to see a newly reunited Rage Against the Machine playing on the same stage and day as Wu-Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, Public Enemy, The Roots, Nas and Talib Kweli? If you said: Drive over an hour, stand in a line for 80 minutes in the 99 degree sun, avoid a restroom for nine hours, sit in possibly the worst parking lot traffic the Western Hemisphere has ever seen and inhale......

You may have noticed a new button on our left-hand column with the title We See The Best Concerts. It dawned on us the other day that we really do go to the best concerts and we usually write about them the next day or a few days later. So here's a wrap up of all 37 shows we reviewed this month, with links to the posts just in case you missed it. Chris......

Ditty Bops - "Walk or Ride" Psychosexarama @ California Institute of Abnormal Arts (CIA) Lee "Scratch" Perry @ House of Blues The Rentals, Goldenboy, Gwendolyn @ Spaceland Greasy Beats @ The Bordello Bob Weir & Ratdog @ Gree Theatre Noisy Night @ Steve Allen Theater The Ditty Bops @ Henry Fonda Theater Susie Glaze & Hilonesome @ Caltech Beckman Institute Gliss @ Vertigo's My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, H.I.M., Placebo @ Hyundai Pavilion......

James Ellroy (reading) @ Skylight Books A Tribe Called Quest @ Wiltern Willie Nelson, Ryan Adams, Neko Case @ Hollywood Bowl Tracy Lawrence @ House of Blues Polyphonic Spree @ The Henry Fonda Carlos Guitarlos @ The Liquid Kitty Jews & Mexicans @ Mr. T's Bowl La Traviata @ Dorothy Chandler Bonnie Raitt @ Santa Barbara Bowl Megadeth, Lamb of God, Overkill @ Hyundai Pavilion photo by the slow wonder via flickr......

Heart @ Fairplex Pomona Apollo Sunshine @ Troubadour Feist @ Avalon Jill Sobule @ Largo Headlights @ Spaceland 311 @ Santa Barbara Bowl Bonnie Raitt, Keb' Mo' @ Greek New Maximum Donkey @ The Joint Death House Chaplain @ Mr. T's Bowl Scream, Beautiful Creatures @ Viper Room Supagroup, The Giraffes @ Key Club Tsuyama Atsushi, Kawabata Makoto, Tatsuya Yoshida @ The Smell Lisa Lisa, Zapp, The Manhattans, GQ, The Delfonics @ Hyundai Pavilion......

Looks like Inland Invasion is going to be a quasi-metal onslaught, nearly as meaty as Ozzfest, but just like most things KROQ these days, a tad watered-down and lacking. Guns N' Roses are the headliners of the Sept 23rd festival, and they're lacking a good chunk of Guns N' Roses. Hell, you don't even get Buckethead any more. Irony abounds as bassist Tommy Stinson now plays with Guns -- his first band was... The......

At outdoor events in downtown Los Angeles, such as the Grand Performances series that included Friday night's Ozomatli concert, or the Los Angeles Shakespeare Festival's summer performances, part of the fun is people-watching, and much of what you see people doing is turning their heads side to side and murmuring, "This is so cool. I've never seen downtown like this." California Plaza, where the Grand Performances concerts are held, can be a lovely scene......