Tonight the "Godmother of Punk," Patti Smith, will be gracing LA with a performance at the vaudeville-esque Orpheum. Canadian singer-songwriters Tegan and Sara will be finishing off the third night of their sold-out four-date extravaganza at the Henry Fonda Music Box. And, lastly, Mr T's Bowl will play host to the excessively sweet pop antics of Ventura's own Franklin for Short, Auckland-based the Ruby Suns, LA-based singer-songwriter Angela Correa and yet another Ventura-based band, the Spires. Call us crazy, but we recommend you go catch the Muslims at the hole-and-corner Pehrspace. Something about the no-frills vibe at the tiny office space-turned-venue really gets us amped about tonight's show. Oh and need we mention that it's BYOB?...

Hang at the Getty Center for the last Friday off the 405 tonight. / Photo by Photo by atomicshakespeare via LAist's flickr pool. FILM: The Aero in Santa Monica screens the L.A. premiere of the rock doc Patti Smith: Dream of Life at 7:30 tonight. “Twelve years in the making, the first film directed by fashion photographer Steven Sebring stitches together layer upon layer of human experience to paint a portrait of Patti Smith,......

Ledger continues to sketch an indelible portrait. | Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers For an unprecedented fourth week in a row, The Dark Knight fought its way to the top of the box office heap ($26M/$441.5M). Pineapple Express mounted a strong challenge on Friday, but faded slightly as the weekend continued ($22.4M/$40.4M). The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor endured--as expected--a precipitous drop in its second weekend but still managed to rake in an undeserved......

Don't forget to donate to the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund this month, because you should, and for a chance to win their latest fun gift: a special, one of a kind silk-screened Clash T-shirt designed by bassist Paul Simonon (now of The Good, The Bad, and The Queen). The shirt goes to one lucky person who donates at least $20 to the charity between January 15th and February 26th. Simonon designed most of the band's......

It’s pretty quiet today in LA. So take another Alka Seltzer and rest up for work tomorrow. FILM Spend New Year’s Day in a dark theatre with a double feature of the Marx Brothers. In the 1933 satire Duck Soup, Groucho plays a newly-appointed prime minister who declares war on a neighboring country for no particular reason. It also marked Zeppo’s last film. Following is1932’s Horse Feathers. Groucho stars as the new president of......

Bluesy, smokey, growly, and deep -- Patti Smith the original She-punk poet, commanded the Santa Monica Pier last Thursday night. Her voice was clear and the sound was fantastical. Her stage banter was absurd and somewhat drowned out by the rumblings of the mostly parental type fans in attendance. I’m pretty sure there was talk of tacos, but I’m definitely sure there was discussion of oatmeal. Patti thought she was at a festival, but hey,......

Patti Smith @ Santa Monica Pier Public Enemy @ House of Blues Tony Bennett @ The Greek Delta Spirit, The Outline, Sparrow Love Club @ The Roxy The Detroit Cobras, Dan Sartain, The Willowz @ The Troubadour Stonehoney, Alejandro Escovedo, The Estate @ The Mint Bang Sugar Bang, Sin Serenade, The Prix @ Alex's Bar Gore Gore Girls, Midnight Movies, Irving, The Architects @ The Echoplex The Veils, Carina Round, Paul McLaney, Julia Darling......

A collection of tunes from several of the bands/musicians reviewed or highlighted by LAist staffers during the month of May 2007. This isn't a comprehensive compilation of everyone mentioned on LAist in May but it's a pretty good sampler. LAist Mix May 2007: Patti Smith - Smells Like Teen Spirit Aloe Blacc - Arrive Dazz Band - Let It Whip Bright Eyes - Four Winds Bebel Gilberto - Tranquilo Antelope - Reflector Dinosaur Jr. -......

A Word or 26: Welcome to the land of reruns and late night TV. Someone give me a heads up on other stuff on basic cable that's perhaps worth watching. Tonight - Tuesday - June 5th, 2007 Dodgers @ Padres (PRIME, 7:00 p.m.) Twins @ Angels (Fox Sports, 7:00 p.m.) On the Lot (Fox, 8:00 p.m.) The first 5 finalists present their films. The Sea Wolf (TCM, 8:30 p.m.) Edward G. Robinson stars in......

Last night Patti Smith put the rock in the Roxy. Then she tore it back out, spit on it, stomped on it a bunch of times, punched it in the face and put it back. Patti was in her element last night, backed up by a band comprised of family and long-time friends. Supported by one of her earliest collaborators, guitarist and legendary rock journalist Lenny Kaye, Patti Smith had heart and soul to spare.......

Patti Smith @ Roxy Chris Cornell @ Avalon What Made Milwaukee Famous @ Spaceland The Teddybears @ El Rey Theatre The Sea Hags @ The Cat Club The Supersuckers @ Viper Room Herb Alpert and Lani Hall @ Vibrato Grill & Jazz Castledoor, I Make This Sound, Ari Eskandarian @ Silverlake Lounge Dear Nora, Anna Oxygen, Devon Williams & the Allen Bleyle 3 @ The Smell Taylor Hicks @ Grove of Anaheim......

Tonight - Tuesday - May 1, 2007 NCIS/The Unit (CBS, 8-10:00 p.m.) This week the gimmick is a blind photographer - dude, what's your Flickr site?/Parachute malfunction Brando (TCM, 8-??) Biography of Marlon Brando followed by several of his films, starting with A Streetcar Named Desire. Dateline NBC (NBC, 8:00 p.m.) Boys confess to 2004 murder of 12-year-old girl Gilmore Girls/Veronica Mars (the CW, 8-10:00 p.m.) Lorelai eating, drinking, shopping, karaoke/Veronica investigates vandalism of......

New Releases April 24, 2007 All Smiles - Ten Readings of a Warning (Dangerbird) Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) Leonard Cohen - Songs from a Room [Remastered][Bonus Tracks] (Sony Legacy) The Detroit Cobras - Tried and True (Bloodshot) The Band - Best of a Musical History (Capitol) The Electric Soft Parade - No Need to be Down - Hearted (Better Looking) Fishbone - Still Stuck in Your Throat (Sound in Color) Front......

Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern scrambling to figure out ways not to give money to the father of her child - Defamer - Black dude from Bloc Party probably gay - Towleroad - Trump being sued for ageism - Pop on the Pop - The two people who have no regard for money just out-dummied themselves. On one side you have Pure nightclub in Las Vegas who reportedly had a contract with......

Maybe you should think about buying a ticket to the Second Annual Hullaballo benefitting the Silverlake Conservatory of Music. The benefit, at the Edendale Grill on June 21, promises to be a swank eastside evening. Rob Zabrecky, who led Possum Dixon and is a magician, will be MC. There will be a dinner buffet, open bar and, of course, live music. Expect performances from the conservatory, Catherine & Jonathan Karoly from the LA Phil......

Whether it's ordering OMFUG chocolate or sending a letter to the landlord, our inbox has been full of pleas to help save CBGB's. The iconic NY rock club is famed for providing an appropriately grimy teat to nurse punk rock to healthy immaturity: The Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Television and many more have strutted and fretted upon its stage. It has stayed true to its roots, packing 7 unknown bands......