Have nothing to do this weekend? Go see some live music!
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Friday, September 27th
Warren G
Observatory
Long Beach native Warren G has lived through a wild ride. Starting his career with Death Row Records and working with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Tupac Shakur, Warren G established himself by aligning himself with the biggest names in the hip-hop game. His career peaked in 1994 with the single “Regulate” from his album Regulate…G Funk Era. Nearly two decades later, Warren G is set to release his long awaited followup, Regulate…G Funk Era pt.2, sometime this year. He plans to hang up his mic for good after the album comes out, so this string of shows could very well be his last.
Saturday, September 28th
Too $hort
The Gaslamp
Bay Area legend Too $hort isn't known for his tact. The 47 year old rapper still spits with some of the greatest lyricism of our generation. Take, for example, hims singing “gotta get a b**** to get my d*** s***ed.” Charming. The rapper has an impressive rap sheet of collaborators; his latest work with Lady Gaga is barely in the ballpark of the hip-hop heroes he's been associated with. (Tupac and the Notorious BIG, along with east coast moguls P-Diddy, and Jay-Z.) Partially responsible for the rise of Lil B, Too $hort's label Up All Night has also signed a slew of other local Oakland rappers.
The Lemonheads
Constellation Room
With their popularity peaking in the early '90s, The Lemonheads are long past their prime, but they bring up a lot of fond memories. (We grew up on their album It's A Shame About Ray) With the resurgence of grunge and the current '90s nostalgia, this band will probably still be left behind. Their most popular song, a cover of “Ms. Robinson”, will forever go down as a more obscure and well-kept secret. However, this string of shows may be the last chance their few fans left have to see them.
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The Dear Hunter
The Observatory
The Dear Hunter first emerged as a side project from Casey Crescenzo, formerly of The Receiving End of Sirens. Now the band has five albums in it's discography, including this year's Migrant. The band is currently on tour with an string quartet, which will join them for this show. After this, the band is off to Europe for a gig opening for Anthony Green, so check them out while you still can.
Sunday, September 29th
Dance Gavin Dance
Glasshouse
With it's on-again, off-again relationship, this post-hardcore band has endured more lineup changes than it has put out albums. The band's infamous ex-vocalist Johnny Craig helped build DGD's sound and attracted the fans, but his addiction issues caused the band a lot of turmoil. At one point, Craig was even frauding fans by pretending to sell MacBooks on Craigslist and keeping the money. Another former famous member, Kurt Travis incorporated psychedelic elements into the music, beginning the group's departure from Craig's soulful singing. Today, Dance Gavin Dance is back and better than ever with the clean vocals of singer Tilian Pearson. Backing up the band on this tour is Abandon All Ships, another group pushing the Warped Tour metalcore sound that's been re-gaining traction in the scene kid music world.
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