Lil Jon

Cassidy's is Great, But its Clientele Matches the Balboa Bar's Infamous Nickname

[Editor's Note: We all know local music and dive bars go hand-in-hand. So in the interest of merging the two together on Heard Mentality, we bring you our newest nightlife column Dive, Dive, My Darling. Read as our bold web editor, Taylor "Hellcat" Hamby, stumbles into the dive bar scene every week ... More >>

MAKJ - Yost Theater - May 11, 2013

MAKJ Yost Theater May 11, 2013 On Friday night, Mackenzie Johnson, better known by his stage name MAKJ, made his Yost Theater debut in downtown Santa Ana. The 22 year-old DJ and Icon Collective producing school graduate has quickly risen in the EDM ranks with mash-ups, bootlegs and originals that w ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in O.C. This Week: Markus Schulz, Waka Flocka Flame

Monday, October 29Skeleton WitchSlidebar Hailing from Ohio, Skeletonwitch rocks a technical brand of schreechy metal. Be sure to check out their video for "Bringers of Death," which blends images of furries with Orwelian commentary and a zombie apolcalypse straight out of the film Easy Rider. -- Br ... More >>

The Five Best Shows in OC This Week: Conor Oberst, Dr. Dog

Monday, October 1 The Two FoscariSegerstrom Center for the Arts The LA Opera makes a one-night-only appearance at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts to perform Giuseppe Verdi's The Two Foscari. Verdi based his three-act opera on the historical play of the same n ... More >>

Free Ticket Friday: Catz 'N Dogz at Focus OC

Club Focus is invariably on our list of things to make your Tuesday night 10 times better than it normally is-- especially for househeads, members of the trance family and other beat freak pedigrees. But next week's event on Oct. 2 definitely deserves a big red circle on your calendar thanks to Berl ... More >>

Free Ticket Friday: Catz 'N Dogz at Focus OC

Club Focus is invariably on our list of things to make your Tuesday night 10 times better than it normally is-- especially for househeads, members of the trance family and other beat freak pedigrees. But next week's event on Oct. 2 definitely deserves a big red circle on your calendar thanks to Berl ... More >>

Bingo Players - Yost Theater - 5/22/12

Last night the Yost Theater in the downtown Santa Ana Art District teamed up with EDM promoters Giant and LED to bring Dutch House duo Bingo Players to Orange County for what was one of the wildest parties we've seen at the Yost in a while. By 10pm the line of Bingo fans was out of control to this s ... More >>

Six Can't Miss EDM Acts Coming to Orange County

​Sunshine is upon us and it's time to break out your bikini body--but what about showing off that sexy bod at the club? Orange County is emerging as an EDM destination with great artists making appearances at Sutra, the Yost Theater, Ten and the Observatory in the coming weeks. Here are six can't ... More >>

[EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: Travis Barker Will Guest At Beyond Wonderland] Steve Aoki Talks Beyond Wonderland and His Latest Album: 'The World Is Not Going To End'

​UPDATE: Aoki just announced us that Travis Barker will be his special guest at his Beyond Wonderland set!Original post, March 15, 2012, 5:52 a.m.: This Newport native needs no introduction. Known for his crazy stage antics, Steve Aoki is set to hit the decks this weekend at Insomniac's sold- ... More >>

Steve Aoki Talks About 'Wonderland'; Watch Official 'Ladi Dadi' Vid

​So Newport Beach native Steve Aoki's latest set, Wonderland, is out, and you can watch the Dim Mak head talk about the making of the album, which has guests Rivers Cuomo, Lil Jon, Kid Cudi, Wynter Gordon, Travis Barker and more. The album has an ode to Occupy Wall Street (You'd think the Benihana ... More >>

Steve Aoki Hijacks the System

The prolific electronic music performer/producer talks U.S. dance culture and his upcoming album

Destructo aka Gary Richards: 'Steve Aoki Was Like, Why Don't You Call it Hard On? Like, I Got a Hard On for LA'

​Years ago, Destructo, also known as Gary Richards, spent Halloween 2007 promoting the first-ever HARD NYE in Vegas, which, by his own admission, made for a sucky Halloween. Since then, HARD has become a ubiquitous representation of high-quality DJ acts and has no problem moving tickets. Destructo ... More >>

Playground Festival: Anatomy of Fail

Scheduled headliner Game files suit, others complain of fraud, and the organizers have clammed up

UC Irvine Retakes World's Largest Game of Dodgeball Record

Michael Chin/OC Weekly Click here to see more images from the day.​Dodge, duck, dip, dive, dodge: These principles are ones that UC Irvine holds very near and dear to their hearts, as they made their second (successful!) attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest dodgeball game ... More >>

The Sad Saga of the Playground Festival

[Mental Notes] Plenty of finger-pointing about the epic fail of "OC's Coachella."

What Really Happened at the Playground FAILstival Festival?

Kevin Lara/OC Weekly​So this weekend's Playground Festival was a resounding failure. The two-day event conceived by promoters Jason Winkler and Dean Abramowitz and held at Irvine's Hidden Valley had dubious claims, that included a "never before seen lineup" of talent (Panic! At The Disco, The Game ... More >>

Playground Festival at Irvine Last Weekend

Kevin Lara/OC WeeklyThe Bravery--at least they showed up!​ Playground Festival Sept. 3rd-4th, 2011 Hidden Valley, Irvine What do you get when you mix together the leisurely spirit of the long weekend with about 300 high school kids, no-show performers and about 75 bajillion OC cops? You get th ... More >>

Playground Disaster: 10 Reasons Why Playground Festival Failed Miserably

Kevin Lara/OC WeeklyThe only happy attendees at the Playground Fest this weekend?​Check out our photos of the festival acts hereCheck out our photos of the fans herePlayground Festival was doomed before it started. Thirty days before its debut, promoters constantly bragged about the festival becom ... More >>

Playground Festival Announce Free Afterparty at Yost (with Lindsay Lohan and Pete Wentz)

​We're still not sure about Playground Festival. While its lineup has a strong hip-hop component (Game, Lil Jon and Big Sean), the rock bands on the bill are comprised of acts that were big in 2008 (Bravery, Panic! at the Disco and Shiny Toy Guns). It seems totally overreaching that they're callin ... More >>

R.I.P. Amy Winehouse: The Top Five Songs About Drinking

​When it was announced that the princess of  R&B and soul died last Saturday, hordes of celebrities and fans alike took to the internet to express their condolences to Amy Winehouse's family. And later, when rumors surfaced linking her death to her infamous love of alcohol (cause of d ... More >>

Five Things You Didn't Know About Lil Jon

​Take some "shots, shots, shots, shots" and get crunk with Lil Jon this Sunday at Sutra, when the DJ representing Atlanta makes an appearance. Lil Jon paved his way to fame with hip-hop group, The Eastside Boyz and the song "Get Low" (which became so popular even Sandra Bullock paid a tribute to t ... More >>

Langhorne Slim: Incisive Alt-Country From a Guy Who Digs Wu-Tang

Myspace.com​Langhorne Slim (a.k.a. Sean Scolnick) is the latest descendant of a storied line of troubadours steeped in Americana and rusty folk--an aging ancestry built on stark guitar work, broken hearts and lifetimes of regrets to contemplate. Like A.A. Bondy, Elvis Perkins or any number of arti ... More >>

Finally, a Tenant for Triangle Square: A Music Festival

Doug Neill / OC WeeklySteve Aoki at Detroit Bar last August​Costa Mesa's Sutra nightclub is one of the few establishments remaining in the prominently placed mall-turned-wasteland Triangle Square, and while we rarely think of Sutra as being a proper concert joint, it has wracked up some impressive ... More >>

West Coast Dance Grooves From Far East Movement

Handpicked by Lady Gaga, LA band represent Asian-American hip-hop

What You Missed: Opening Weekend of OC Fair, LA Calendar Motorcycle Show, Thrice, Giant Orange Festival

Christopher Victorio​Well we got our wish: Summer weather finally arrived and you're also already probably tired of it. But this weekend the heat didn't stop us from getting out: We hit up the OC Fair's opening weekend and sampled the best--deep-fried butter, giant corn dogs, deep-fried chocolate- ... More >>

Tomorrow: The Giant Orange Festival

Lilledeshan BoseThe English Beat headline the Giant Orange Festival​Perhaps even more than the OC Fair, the Giant Orange Festival over in Irvine's Great Park is a classic example of "put everything together and see what works" in action--all in the space of a day. 

Giant Orange Festival

Orange County Great Park

Crunkmeister Lil' Jon Deejays At Sutra Lounge

www.myspace.com/liljon​Ghetto rap auteur Lil' Jon is holding his CD release party at Sutra Lounge tonight for his new album Crunk Rock. He's performing a live DJ set--no electric guitar crossover, unfortunately--but you will be able to herald the coming of his album with him at midnight.

Ticketmaster Is Evil, The Wu-Massacre, Vampire Weekend Vid, Allman Brothers Box

Ticketmaster "sold concert tickets that it didn't have in hand, the Federal Trade Commission says," reports Los Angeles Times. There's a special place in hell that not even Dante could fathom for Irving Azoff, the goat fucker responsible for everything from the Eagles to New Kids on the Block to the ... More >>

Video: Lil Jon rocking out to Bon Jovi at Sutra Lounge, Costa Mesa

You think you know Lil Jon's musical taste? You have no idea. There's probably a lot you don't know about this Atlanta-born King of Crunk. For instance, are you aware  that he's an established vinter--owner of Little Jonathan Winery? He's also a crazy NHL enthusiast. But you mi ... More >>

Release the Sounds: Snoop Dogg, 'Malice n Wonderland'

​What's to say about Long Beach native Snoop Dogg that hasn't been said already? The last decade has afforded him the kind of mega-watt celebrity that seemed unreachable even when he reigned as California's favorite, fresh-off-the-block, gangsta rapper in the '90s. While his ever-expanding popu ... More >>

Release the Sounds: Juvenile, 'Cocky & Confident'

​It's an album title that pretty much speaks for itself. Although one would think that three years after the chart success of Juvenile's 2006 album Reality Check, the Crescent City rapper might attempt something a little more humble than Cocky & Confident (the title of his new record, out ... More >>

Five Regrettable Music/Video Game Moments

​Motörhead are currently on tour (including a stop at the House of Blues in Anaheim), they also play a role in upcoming action/adventure game Brütal Legend, out next week on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 (we got a chance to play it at Comic-Con this year, it's a fun, straight-forward beat 'em up wi ... More >>

Paradiso Girls

Sutra Lounge

What You Missed: Black Eyed Peas, Powerhouse, That OTHER Dog Beach

Keith MayNot a crook.​What'd you do this weekend? Was it as short as ours? Thought so. Photographer Keith May continued his exploration of Orange County this weekend. This time he brings us that "OTHER" dog beach--it has no name, no leash rules, no cops and is relatively unknown. This dog beach si ... More >>

Last Night: Powerhouse at Honda Center

​Last Night: Powerhouse 2009 at the Honda Center featuring Jay-Z, Black Eyed Peas, Pitbull, Lil' John, Flo Rida, Sean Paul, LMFAO, Kid Cudi, Far East Movement, New Boyz and Ya Boy.Better Than: A long, shitty drive to San Manuel Casino.Download: Pssh, like you really need ME to tell you what to dow ... More >>

Incoming: Jay-Z at Honda Center in Anaheim

Take that, non-smoking laws!Jay-Z has recently declared Auto-Tune dead via his (kind of awesome) new single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune);" possibly a weird sentiment given his close association to noted Auto-Tune proponent Kanye West, but hey, it's Hova, man. You can't tell that guy what to do. He d ... More >>

[CD Review] Ciara, 'Fantasy Ride' (Jive/RCA/LaFace)

[CD Review] E-40, 'The Ball Street Journal' (Warner Bros.)

Before it Gets Old: Lazytown/Lil Jon Mashup

UPDATE: The original video has disappeared, thanks to "a copyright claim by Lazy Town Entertainment." What, they don't like lines like "grab a dick, it's yours bitch" associated with their kids' show? Bizarre! I put up another (still-extant as of 4:26 p.m. PST on Dec. 4) upload of it, but I doubt th ... More >>

To Do This Weekend 10/3 - 10/5

DJ Spider with Lil' Jon, Friday 9 p.m. Yeeeeeah! $20. Sutra Lounge Triangle Square, 1870 Harbor Blvd., Ste. 200 Costa Mesa, CA 949-722-7103 Etnies GVR 08, Friday - Sunday 10 a.m. Skateboarding competition, Los Olvidados and Bad Religion performances, and more. $5 Etnies Skatepark 20028 Lake Forest ... More >>

Why Southern Hip-Hop Is the Same as FOX News

Crunk Bonds

Southern-rap icons Ying Yang Twins find a balance

Indie Vs. Major: Who's Got the Flavor

Urban music in 2006 was typified by what it wasnt as much as what it was

Party Over Here!

Dave Chappelle raises the roof

Rancho Santa Margarita

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