Friday, November 30
Shogun
Yost Theater
OC's EDM scene welcomes the return of our favorite Irvine-by-way-of-Ohio trance DJ Shogun. Having spent the last year bouncing all over Asia and Europe and being co-signed by EDM legend Armin van Buuren, the selector born Andrew Chen reunites with OC audiences, offering a mix of pulsating, melodramatic synth flourishes and wicked bass.–Nate Jackson
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Saturday, December 1
Dilated Peoples
The Observatory
Dilated
Peoples hails from Los Angeles and though they've gained critical
accolades, they haven't quite made their mark in the mainstream. That's
ok, Kanye West likes them, lending vocals on the 2004 jam “This Way.”
They bust rhymes with a maximum efficiency that brings to bear plenty of
wisdom, at a rapid clip.– Brandon Ferguson
Fu Manchu
Detroit Bar
It's easy to dismiss Fu Manchu as San Clemente's answer to That 70's
Show, since the music they make is a sound seemingly designed to fire up
a zillion bongs. Brand them “stoner rock” if you must, but they're
really just a great, honest, blue-collar metal band–graduates of the
Sabbath school of eardrum bleeding, with songs about pool skating,
surfing, El Caminos, Mongoose BMX bikes, the beach, driving around,
Dogtown, UFOs and vans (both the Chevy and slip-on shoe variety). This
year, the band announced that they've begun work on a new album–looks
like these guys are firing one up for another round.
This weekend, watch them perform their classic album, 1997's This Action
is Go” in its entirety.–Nate Jackson
Lionheart
Chain Reaction
Saturdays
were made for shaking off the dust of a shitty work week. And there's
no better way to shake a shit ton of dust than to hop into a seething
pit grooving to the raging strains of Lionheart. Known for their
chugging, aggressive sound, their growling vocals tread the border
regions between punk and hardcore. — Brandon Ferguson
Sunday, December 2
Hot Snakes
Alex's Bar
The Hot Snakes are a punk
band and hardcore band and garage band all at once–if you never smelled
something burning at a Hot Snakes show, well, you just weren't at the
right Hot Snakes show–and that means they're ferociously musically
literate in an era where dudes who write about them can't even spell
“Creedence” right. (Which does wonders for your creedability.) After a
2010 reunion that saw much rejoicing and rending of garments, Hot Snakes
settled into a Santa Claus schedule where once (or twice) a year they
come blasting through the roof for all the kids who still believe. If
you ever wanted everything happening all at once and on fire too, this
matinee will ruin you for the rest of the day–give thanks! —Chris Ziegler
