Last night my friend Josh and I attended a live performance by Dead Man’s Bones, the band made up of actor Ryan Gosling and his partner Zach Shields, at the Echo in Silverlake, CA. I’ve been really looking forward to this show for weeks now and last night was the night:

Dead Man’s Bones was joined on stage by the Silverlake Conservatory Children’s Choir and because of the spooky nature of their music, the kiddies were all dressed up in costumes … as was much of the audience. After the jump, check out some of the photos that I snapped at the show last night …

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On Sunday we learned the scary news that Morrissey, who had just kicked off a new concert tour in Europe in support of the release of his new 2-disc b-sides collection titled Swords, collapsed on stage in front of a sold out audience just 2 songs into his performance. It was reported that Moz was immediately rushed to the hospital where he remained in stable condition the following day before being released. Today we learn that the Mozzer made a triumphant return to the concert stage at London’s Royal Albert Hall last night and performed a full concert without incident. Happy news! Morrissey is back to his old self!!

He was dragged off stage after collapsing during a gig earlier in the week, but that didn’t stop Morrissey putting in a sterling performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall [last night]. The 50-year-old singer had to cut short a gig in Swindon over the weekend after he suffered from breathing difficulties. But, he looked to be back on form for the concert at one of the country’s premier entertainment venues. Manchester-born Morrissey collapsed while playing at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon on Saturday when the gig ended abruptly after his opening rendition of This Charming Man. It was only the second night of his Swords tour of the UK. The former member of the Smiths was taken to hospital suffering from breathing difficulties and was later discharged. But, despite his problems, a spokesman for the Royal Albert Hall reassured fans that the singer would perform at the gig, saying: ‘He definitely wants to continue tonight.’ Shocked onlookers at the Swindon concert described seeing Morrissey “straining” to perform on Saturday night and slumping to his knees. Two band members then rushed to his side and dragged him offstage. The incident forced him to postpone a show in Bournemouth on Monday night, but prior to the London show a spokeswoman for the Royal Albert Hall said the star was “rested and absolutely fine”.

I can’t even tell you how happy this news makes me. Morrissey is one of my fave performers and I’m very pleased to know that he is well enough after his scary collapse to get right back to work. While I fear that the 50 year old may be straining himself a bit much, I have to hope that he knows his limits and wouldn’t be back on the performance stage if he wasn’t feeling up to it. Moz will be touring here in the US at the end of November and early December … I have tickets to see him in concert … I hope he continues to be in good health so we can enjoy his genius here in the US next month. Stay well, Moz! We love you!!

[Source]

Great news music fans! Earlier this year we learned from Sarah McLachlan herself that Lilith Fair will return in 2010 and today LilithFair.com was officially launched, announcing the first batch of tour stops for the 2010 tour:

Nearly 6 months ago, Nettwerk CEO and Lilith Fair co-founder Terry McBride announced via Twitter that the all-female festival would make its return in 2010. Today, the official Lilith 2010 website launches, not only revealing the new look and feel of Lilith a decade later, but also the first set of cities that the traveling festival will be hitting–New York, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, London and more. Check out www.lilithfair.com for the complete list.

Follow @lilithfair on Twitter for the most up to date information.

This is very exciting news! Lilith Fair is one of my fave touring music festivals and I am anxious for its return. I’ve already started following @lilithfair on Twitter for the latest updates … I can’t wait to find out who will be hittin’ the road next year! After the jump, check out the list of the first announced tour stops on Lilith Fair 2010 …

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Last Monday we got to see photos of Morrissey lunching here in SoCal just days before he was to leave for Europe to kick off a new tour. Last night, Moz played a show at Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon, UK but collapsed to the ground after singing just one song. Folks in the audience report that the Mozzer didn’t look or sound well as he sang the first song and had to be carried off stage and rushed to the hospital. Here are photos from last night’s concert which show Morrissey on his feet before he collapsed to the ground:

This is the moment singer Morrissey collapsed on stage with breathing difficulties. The former Smiths frontman, 50, was performing at the Oasis Leisure Centre in Swindon before falling to the floor. He had just sung 1983 hit This Charming Man to the 1000-strong audience before he collapsed and was rushed to hospital. Witnesses said the singer – whose full name is Steven Patrick Morrissey – seemed to be ’straining’ and ‘wincing’ as he sang before sinking to the floor. Audience members said that he came on stage looking drawn and told the audience: ‘Good evening… probably.’ Eyewitness Mark Taylor, 40, told the Sunday Telegraph: ‘The stage went dark and he was taken off the stage and then his band then all left the stage. ‘There was a wait of about 25 minutes before one of the stage crew came on and said Morrissey had left the building, and that he was seriously ill. ‘Everybody started booing, thinking ‘here we go again’. He has a bit of a poor track record for cancelling his concerts.’ A Great Western Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: ‘Just after 9pm we got a call to a 50-year-old man who was reported to be reported to be suffering from respiratory problems and was unconscious. ‘We sent a paramedic in a doubled-crewed ambulance. When they arrived they found a conscious patient who was not feeling well at all. They made an initial assessment and took him to the Great Western Hospital for further assessment.’ She said his condition was not thought to be life threatening. A hospital spokesman said: ‘Morrissey has been admitted to the Great Western Hospital. He is being reviewed by the medical staff and his condition is stable.’ Morrissey has already cancelled a number of dates this year citing an ‘unspecified illness’.

This is very scary news but I’m happy to know that Moz is in stable condition. As I mentioned earlier this week, Morrissey is scheduled to play shows in Europe thruout November before returning to the US for a string of dates here. It’s unclear if any of those performances will actually happen now. I would much rather Morrissey take his time and recuperate from whatever it is that is ailing him so that he can stay healthy. Let’s send all our love and get well wishes to the Mozzer in the hopes for a speedy and full recovery.

*Much love goes out to my tweeps on Twitter who alerted me to Morrissey’s collapse just moments after it took place … @gretchenraine was the first to give me the head’s up:

@trentvanegas Morrissey collapsed onstage tonight – if you have any contacts who have an update will you post it? PLEASE?!! *worried*

Again, here’s hoping Moz gets well soon!

UPDATE: Morrissey’s official website has been updated with new of his collapse:

MORRISSEY STABLE

Morrissey is in stable condition after his collapse in Swindon Saturday night. Thanks go out to all his well wishers, more information will be posted as soon as it is available.

[Source]

Early yesterday afternoon David’s sisters Lara and Eden rolled into town from their road trip from San Francisco, CA (where they ran the SF Marathon last Sunday and chilled with their brother Aram) and quickly settled in. We all managed to enjoy a lovely dinner last night to welcome them to town:

After dinner I met up with my friend Josh so that we could make our way downtown to the Mayan Theater to see Hope Sandoval (formerly of Mazzy Star) live in concert:

It turns out that Hope is NOTORIOUSLY camera shy so there was a strict No Pictures policy in effect last night. I did manage to get some atmosphere shots of the venue tho … The Mayan Theater is beautiful … altho, it does make you feel like you’re inside The Temple of Doom:

As for Hope Sandoval’s performance … ye gods, it was beautiful. Her vocals are just spellbinding … and she makes it all sound so effortless. She just opens her mouth and you can’t help but get caught up in the emotion and splendor that comes tumbling out. She truly has the voice of an angel … and it sounds as beautiful today as it did all those years ago when she was in Mazzy Star. Some drunk fool yelled out for a Mazzy song and she just shook her head and carried on … she made sure that there was no spotlight on her at all so that even if you did manage to sneak a camera inside you couldn’t get a picture. Shyness aside, it was a fantastic concert … she performed selections from her solo albums Bavarian Fruit Bread and her latest release Through The Devil Softly. Her band The Warm Inventions were really great but it was all about Hope’s voice … just stunning. If you have the chance to see her live I urge you to do so … it’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

Fun stuff planned for today … David and I are taking his sisters to Disneyland to enjoy the Hallowe’en Time fun there today! We’re meeting up with some friends so it’s gonna be a blast. I plan on taking a bunch of fun photos to share. It’s gonna be 90+ degrees today … the perfect way to celebrate Hallowe’en at Disneyland :)

Last night my friend Sergio, in town from Detroit this weekend, and I made our way to Club Nokia at LA Live in downtown LA last night to see KMFDM in concert. The German industrial band is currently on their Kein Mitleid Tour and not only was I lucky enough to attend but I was graciously set up with a photo pass so that I could snap some pics of the band rockin’ out on stage last night. Here are a few of the photos that I took last night:

I have been a huge fan of KMFDM for many, many years. They were effing incredible last night. For various reasons, I haven’t been able to see the band perform live for a few years so I was anxious to see them on stage again … I was not disappointed in the least. The new material was awesome but the classic tracks they performed were just KILLER! If you are a fan of KMFDM, this tour is not to be missed. Among my fave songs I got to hear last night was Megalomaniac, Light and Godlike and former KMFDM member Tim Skold came out to perform with the band for the encore! It was just AMAZING!! The band cares so dearly for their fans (Keiner Macht Fur Dich Mehr) … they are worth the devotion.

Quick story: I first saw the band live back in 1995 at Deep Ellum Live in Dallas, TX. There was a problem with the venue because the band had a strict policy about not marking up their t-shirts because they didn’t want to exploit their fans. They sold their shirts for $15 and Deep Ellum wanted to jack up the price to $25 … KMFDM vehemently refused and almost canceled the show. They decided not to sell any merch at the show at all and the concert went off as planned. At the end of the show, they announced that they would be selling merch at a record store down the street for the regular low prices and hung around to sign autographs and take photos with everyone who showed up. From that moment on, I was a devoted fan. I am so happy I was able to see the guys and Lucia live last night … the show was fantastic!! Click HERE to see all the pics I snapped last night.

Today … David and I are running a special errand (which I have to keep secret for another hour or so … watch my Twitter for the reveal) and then tonight we are going to the wedding of a couple of dear friends of ours. It’s going to be an amazingly fabulous day … I can’t wait to enjoy it :)

Last night I was lucky enough to attend my 4th and final performance of Kylie Minogue’s first ever North American Tour For You, For Me. My good friend Tony and I made our way to the Hammerstein Ballroom last night and managed to get all the way to the front gate right in front of the stage. It was the closest I’ve ever been to Kylie Minogue and it was a THRILL beyond words:

After the jump, you can check out a few of the AMAZING photos I snapped last night … I was all up in her grill so I got a lot of really fantastic photos. Tony managed to get video of Kylie busting out the Cabbage Patch dance move on stage and you can also watch that video behind the cut …

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