Subject: Universal City

• I was a Teenage Deadhead

  August 24, 2000

• Shins-ing the Night Away: A Sounds Eclectic Evening

  [photo by Marc Goldstein] Making a classic SoCal newcomer mistake, I only gave myself 45 minutes to drive from Costa Mesa to Universal City's Gibson Amphitheatre, where influential public radio station KCRW was holding its sixth annual Sounds Eclectic concert; this year proceeds go to help convert its vast music library into digital form. After a stressful 100 minutes in my car (last time I take Mapquest's estimates at face value), I dashed out of the monstrous parking garage and through th

  April 16, 2007

• CANCELED: Velvet Revolver in Irvine

  Friday's VR show at the Verizon Wireless (Irvine Meadows) Amphitheater has been canceled due to ongoing fire-related health concerns. The show, with Alice in Chains and Sparta, was to be band's final U.S. gig before stops in Japan and Australia. A Live Nation rep said the show has been *tentatively* rescheduled for December 12 at the Gibson Amphitheater, meaning a trek up to Universal City for O.C. fans of Scott Weiland, Slash, and Co.

  October 25, 2007

• Yes to Complexly Rock Honda Center Aug. 20

  Set aside your negative bias toward Yes—and while you're at it, lose your knee-jerk hatred of prog rock. Yes fuckin' rock—albeit in a long-winded, redonkulously complex manner. And Chris Squire's bass playing? Completely slaughters Les Claypool's. Ask Squarepusher. He'll vouch for me. As those SoCal badboys the Mars Volta know, prog rock can be damned exhilarating, when done with just the right amount of excess, killer chops, trippy album artwork and a keenly rococo melodic sense—all of

  April 10, 2008

• 99-Cent Pizza at The Block's Pasta Bravo

  It was a quarter past one. After catching a late morning matinee at The Block's AMC, my friends and I found ourselves hungry. If we weren't lazy and famished, we would've made a beeline for the parking lot and bolted out of there to the nearest banh mi shop or burrito stand. Instead we wandered mindlessly, zombie-like, into O.C.'s version of the Universal City Walk food court. In the sun-drenched, gaudy alley of billboards and tourist-trappy fakeness, we ambled around dumbstruck.

  August 24, 2008

• The Cure, The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie Announced for KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas

  It's radio station concert day! Apparently! KROQ has announced their lineup for day two (Dec. 14) of Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, and it is predictably pretty great: The Cure, The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie, Paramore, Franz Ferdinand (!), Scott Weiland, Snow Patrol and Vampire Weekend. In the spirit of "one of these things is not like the other things," I choose you, Scott Weiland! Stone Temple Pilots are already playing day one; I guess if you mana

  November 20, 2008

• Last Night: Smashing Pumpkins at the Gibson Amphitheater

  Last Night: Smashing Pumpkins at the Gibson Amphitheater, Universal City, Dec. 3, 2008.Better Than: Watching your friends play as Billy Corgan in Guitar Hero World Tour.Download: The video for G.L.O.W. on MySpace Music.Vocalist/guitarist Billy Corgan would exclaim "don't give up on us yet!" as The Smashing Pumpkins capped their successful two-night stand at the Gibson Amphitheatre, with a career-spanning two and a half hour set that delved into the past while gazing (everlastingly?) into the fut

  December 4, 2008

• Musical Advent Calendar: Death Cab for Cutie, 'Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)'

  At this point, who hasn't covered the Phil Spector co-written classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"? Mariah Carey sang it on her 1994 Merry Christmas album, U2 on the 1987 Christmas compilation A Very Special Christmas. Original singer Darlene Love performs the tune every year on "The Late Show with David Letterman;" even Smash Mouth has their own, no doubt terrible, version.But my favorite version is from 2004's Maybe This Christmas Tree--check out the awesome cover by Shag up in the corn

  December 12, 2008

• Bad Meetings With Great People

  September 30, 2004

• Meta Musil

  January 16, 2003

• I

  October 24, 2002

• Tong-Tied

  August 31, 2000

• No Doubt Triumphantly Return (to New Jersey)

  Arguably (?) the most famous band in Orange County history, No Doubt, played their first official show in about five years last night at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, headlining the second day of the Bamboozle Music Fest out there (not to be confused with the Bamboozle Left that took place in Irvine a month ago, natch).

  May 4, 2009

• Letters From OC Weekly Readers

  June 18, 2009

• Tickets for LA Morrissey Show on Sale Saturday, Pomona Close Behind?

  Still so dreamy!​"I know it's gonna happen someday."It's been nearly a month since Morrissey tour dates throughout Southern California started popping up on fansites like Morrissey Solo, and official announcement of almost all of them (eventually) followed. There's Morrissey at the Fantasy Springs Resort Hotel & Casino on December 5, Morrissey at the "Majestic Ventura Theater" on December 11, and just announced yesterday evening, Morrissey at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City on De

  October 13, 2009

• Entice Discuss Their 98.7 'Rockstar' Victory

  ​Irvine band Entice beat out four other bands--from an initial field of 120--Friday night at Citywalk in Universal City to win the grand prize of 98.7's "Rockstar" competition, netting them $10,000 in cash, $5,000 at the Best Buy music store (yes, some Best Buys sell instruments) and a smattering of other fab winnings; by far their biggest achievement in three years as a band.We caught up with Entice singer/guitarist Isaac Leland to get his thoughts on the big win, and what's next for the band

  September 30, 2009

• Entice Win 98.7's Rockstar Contest!

  ​We've kept tabs on 98.7's "Rockstar Contest" throughout its run--first, there were several Orange County bands in the top 15, then Irvine's Entice and Non-P both made the final five. Following Friday night's competition at CityWalk up in Universal City, Entice are the official winners of the contest, beating out a total of 120 other bands from across Southern California and once again proving that OC music is a force to be reckoned with (they also beat out a band fronted by a Power Ranger, no

  September 28, 2009

• Four Local Bands in Top 15 of 98.7's Rockstar Contest

  ​Of all the ways to make your band's wildest dreams come true, winning a radio station contest might not have the most street cred, but it certainly seems efficient.

  September 17, 2009

• Santa Ana's Aushua Added to Next Month's 'LA 101'

  ​A festival-type show on a Tuesday? Hey, sure, why not? That's the day of LA 101, a concert put on by our sister paper, LA Weekly, up north at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal City.

  October 20, 2009