Last August, Aimee Mann, Joan Osborne, Rob Laufer, Ian Ball from Gomez, and Al Jorgensen joined Cheap Trick and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra to recreate Sgt. Peppers on it's 40th Anniversary. They'll do it again June 28th. We're four months out from the official start of the 2008 Hollywood Bowl Season and the schedule is nearly complete. Single tickets won't go on sale for a couple months but the Bowl is offering 16 different......

Back in 1996, Mary J. Blige provided vocals to the hook of "Can't Knock the Hustle," the second single off of Jay-Z's debut album, Reasonable Doubt. 12 years, 12 Grammys and 70 million records sold later, Jigga Man and MJB are back at it again, co-headlining 25 shows across North America. Being billed as "The Heart of the City Tour," the former CEO of DefJam records and the Queen of Hip Hop Soul will......

Talib Kweli is your favorite rapper's favorite rapper. On his first farewell, The Black Album, rap superstar mogul Jay-Z gave Kweli the greatest sign of respect when he spit the following line "If skills sold/Truth be told/I'd probably be/Lyricly/Talib Kweli." The son of two college professors, the Brooklyn native is far from your average emcee. In the fall of 2007, Kweli released the critically acclaimed and commercially successful album Eardrum, the first from his new......

MUSIC Tonight at the Jazz Bakery is the The Alternative String Group, an ensemble of students from Robert Anderson and Jacob Szekely's music school in West Hollywood, The String Project | Los Angeles. Both studio musicians who have worked with the likes of the Dakah Hip-Hop Orchestra and SuperNova, the two have put together a conservatory that is pretty high tech with their interactive music lessons, recording and filming them for student's personal analysis.........

Philly native, Beanie Sigel hit the road for Los Angeles to promote his new album, The Solution which dropped yesterday. The Rocafella representative took a little time in between radio interviews and a late night run to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles to chat with LAist about his latest effort, his time locked up and the current state of hip hop music. How’s the response for the album been so far? Good, you know the album......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

I've always been intrigued by other "best of" lists, but this year I decided to take it to a whole new level. I e-mailed a handful of bands that I've seen this past year in order to unearth what exactly captivated them in '07. As music listeners, it is our duty to take a keen interest in our favorite musician's influences. After all, they rocked our little world, might as well see what rocked their......

Ghostface Killah The Big Doe Rehab Def Jam December 4, 2007 "No time...there's never any time," cried a caffeine pill crazed Jesse Spano in that very special episode of "Saved by the Bell." Ghostface Killah laughs at you and your complaints, Spano. While you can't find the time to balance a geometry midterm, getting into Stanford and covering Pointer Sister tunes, Pretty Toney is having no trouble finding time to spit sick verses on 8......

Jay-Z w/ Rihanna - "Umbrella" Jay-Z @ House of Blues Hanson @ Avalon Backstreet Boys @ Jimmy Kimmel (out back) Stars of Track and Field @ The Roxy Architecture in Helsinki, Glass Candy, Panther @ The Troubadour Teaneck, On Blast, Pop Noir @ Key Club Tunng, Big Search, Karin Tatoyan @ The Echo......

The Pogues @ The Wiltern - Tonight ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead, Dethklok @ UCLA - Tonight Redd Kross @ Echoplex - Tomorrow The Polyphonic Spree, Rooney @ Henry Fonda - Tomorrow Yo La Tengo @ The Ivar - Tomorrow Low Versus Diamond @ Viper Room - Tomorrow The Bronx, The Mercy Killers @ Safari Sam's - Tomorrow Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ Henry Fonda, 11/3 Yo La Tengo......

In celebration of his new album, American Gangster, a collection of songs inspired by the movie starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, Jay-Z is lining up five shows across the country at intimate venues. Luckily for us, Hova is kicking it off right here. On November 6, the same date the album drops, the DefJam CEO takes the stage at the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Tickets go on sale Friday, for the price......

I’m not a fan of hip- hop. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate the impact it has made on our society or certain songs that take me back to my middle school Sadie Hawkins dance days, but I’m more of an alterna-rock kind of gal. This is ironic because my current boyfriend is a Wu-Tang loving, Jay Z worshipping, Biggie quoting fool – but somehow we work. And since I’ve been very busy......

I hate Crank That. I love rap and hip-hop as much as the next sheltered 20-something white dude, but c'mon. Am I the only one who finds Soulja Boy as repetitive as Jay Z? Maybe it's because I haven't learned the dance, but I think this song is terrible. Unfortunately, the Miami Hurricane fans discovered that you can shout "U!" along with the beat. They'll be shouting this long after "Booty, Booty, Booty rockin'......

Photo by imacri via Flickr You're still running to Eye of the Tiger? Then it's time to download some new tunes for your run. Most of these songs are much more aggressive than Eye of the Tiger -- Hard Metal Rock, Techno and Industrial. For people like myself, it's difficult to find good songs to run to. Everybody likes Coldplay but you can't really run to it. Here at LAist we like to encourage......

From the first beat of “Silver Lining”, Rilo Kiley announces a truly more adventurous sound – one that departs from country-tinged acoustics and embraces slick beats with a retro flair. Under the Blacklight, the first effort from the band since 2004, is Rilo Kiley’s unapologetic brush with the dance floor. On the first track, the deliriously catchy “Silver Lining”, Rilo Kiley boasts a sound somewhere between techno and soul. Over handclaps and an R&B......

Chrisette Michele busted out before our very eyes and ears at the end of 2006, singing the hook on her boss, Jay-Z's "Lost One".Shortly after the 24 year-old's incredible voice was heard on Nas' hit single, "Can't Forget About You." That same voice, according to her bio, gave L.A. Reid, DefJam Chairman, goosebumps. In June, Michele dropped "If I Have My Way," the lead single from her debut solo album, I Am. LAist caught up......

Harry Potter is a touchy subject these days. The books have been around for so long, that kids who once loved Harry Potter are growing increasingly embarassed by that fact and now distance themselves from the teen magician. Still older kids -- like, say, ADULTS -- have followed every book with a frenzy and will no doubt join in this week's madness as Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows hits stores all over LA.......

LAist is proud to offer a weekly chart roundup of Billboard Magazine's most coveted rankings. Join us as we revel in the conventional standard of musical success. Let us cross our fingers, hoist our lighters, and dream together of the supreme resurrection of artist-driven recordings that will forever eclipse the dark cloud of big label greed, A&R sleaze and disposable audio. Amen. Here are this week's chart toppers. Behold the #1s. ___________________________________________________________________________________________ Billboard Charts Issue......

So Sports Guy and I have been seeing each other quite a bit these days, I’ve met his friends, he’s met mine (they all highly approve, or at least that’s what they say), we’ve gone out on the town, over to dive bars, to the movies and stayed in together. He even taught me a little about the Indy 500 and why the guy who won isn’t JUST Ashley Judd’s husband. He brought me to......

Jessica Alba and a whole lot of other people were at the MTV Movie Awards, but we can't remember them right now because Jessica Alba was there. Oh yeah Paris Hilton, Rhianna, Cam, Posh, and Jay-Z were there among others... and LAist photographer Joey Maloney got it all down for us. So join us after the jump for a sweet photo essay!......

We're sorry, tomdog, that you missed the first ten minutes of the Grammys, because that's when Stewart Copeland was on stage. As millions of people saw last night, The Police got back together to open the big award show at the basketball arena. If LAist ran the world we wouldn't have allowed Sting to ruin those first few moments at the Grammys to announce the band was coming back, or introduce themselves. Everyone knows......

Tonight - Tuesday Lakers @ Rockets (CBS2, 5:30 p.m.) If the NBA consolidated these two they'd be the Lockets which sounds better anyway, what the hell is a Laker, some kind of ship? "Friday Night Lights" (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Cheerleader competition becomes the focus for the town as well as additional male viewers of the show. "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas: 40th Anniversary" (ABC, 8:00 p.m.) I'm a mean one, so you'd......

Blackmore's Night - Winter Carols (Locomotive) Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (Interscope) Daughtry - Daughtry (19 Recordings/ RCA) Handful of Hate - Gruesome Splendour (Cruz del Music) Il Divo - Siempre (Columbia) Jay-Z - Kingdom Come (Roc-A-Fella) Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies (Roadrunner) Patti Labelle - The Gospel According to Patti Labelle (Bungalo) Rock Star Supernova - Rock Star Supernova (Epic) Snoop Dogg - Tha Blue Carpet......

Wednesday - Tonight "NHL Hockey" (KDOC, 6:00 p.m.) Ducks @ Avalanche "NHL Hockey" (Fox Sports, 7:30 p.m.) Kings @ Sharks "NBA Basketball" (PRIME, 7:30 p.m.) Sonics @ Clippers "Everyone Says I Love You" (IFC, 6:00 p.m.) An evening of Woody Allen movies on IFC "Jericho/Criminal Minds/CSI: NY" (CBS, 8:00 - 11:00 p.m.) New episodes. "Madonna: The Confessions Tour - Live From London" (NBC, 8 p.m.) Except, it's not really live I don't think, and......

- Hey it's Adoption Saturday, so go downtown, and... well... we think they want us to adopt today - Met News - Dude who said he should have been in the plane that crashed with Yankees pitcher Lidle in NY crashes in Big Bear - Daily Bulletin - Wait, the Victoria's Secret models were in town and we were busy worrying about kids getting tased in a library?!?! - CBS - Dudes who arent......

Did anyone really think that Jay-Z was going to stay retired? All his records were multi-platinum, his girlfriend is multi-platinum, hell, bro burped the other day and it went gold. Last year he put the rocking chair back in the garage, and now he's back and teaming up with the NBA talking about his "truths". Tonight's Midnight Movie is directed by Spike Lee in the back of a limo as the Jigga man waxes......

- Felony possession was the case that they gave him. Big Snoop Dogg gets busted for having a retractable baton in his computer bag, and the OC authorities have nothing better to do than charge him with what could get him three years in the hizzy. - AP - College student who created the homemade (but still illegal) Boarding Pass generator was a Google intern - CNET - Google digs around in the cushions......

Pop singer Justin Timberlake, who's singlehandedly bringing sexy back, (we've just gotten ours, what about you?) is now a playah in the design game, a la Gwen Stefani, Diddy, J-Lo and the mogul who does it the best: Jay-Z. JT debuted his William Rast line on Tuesday night at the Social on Sunset Boulevard. And while Jay-Z's Rocawear just oozes hip and urban without really trying (Michael Knight should pay attention), LAist is still......

Let's look back at a week in which no site in the -ist network adopted anyone from Africa... -Austinist reveled in the dumb antics of some U.T. law students and posted some great audio from former New Orleans natives who've decided to stay in Austin. But the best news for Austinist? They were voted Best Local Entertainment Web Site by the local Austin alt-weekly. Congrats, Austinist. -DCist gloried in being told their musical tastes made......

San Francisco: Check. San Diego: Check. Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield: check, check, check. Los Angeles: _________ That's right folks, Guns N' Roses announced their West Coast tour dates and LA was not on it. Surf it down to San Diego or ride it up over the Grapevine because there is no jungle in this town of bogus palm trees. But wait, wait, don't tell me! They are indeed playing nearby at KROQ's Inland Invasion in......