On the night of October 1st, 2005, I found myself inside the Hollywood Bowl enjoying one of my favorite bands, Queens of the Stone Age, as the main support to Nine Inch Nails. As smoke from the rampant forest fires across the Southland choked the autumn air, I witnessed a quick and clever set from Queens. It was also the only time I would see keyboard player Natasha Shneider perform in any capacity.

Natasha lost her battle with cancer on July 2nd of this year. To honor her memory and help recover some to the expenses from her fight, Queens of the Stone Age, along with some very special friends, put on a one-of-a-kind memorial Saturday night in Hollywood.

During the two-hour wait between doors and show, we were entertained by a DJ spinning rock over some European cinema. A common idea amongst the crowd was the idea that the film may have been a favorite of Natasha’s. Shortly after 9 p.m., we were greeted by the acoustic comedic heavy metal duo Tenacious D. The D played a very loose set, which lead axe slinger Kyle Gass dubbed their “Bonnaroo set.” With no planned set list, the five -song gig featured classic D songs like “Kielbasa,” “Wonderboy” and “F— Her Gently.”

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Whether being subpoenaed in Texas or sequestered in Memphis, the Hold Steady have been raging across the country in support of their most recent release, Stay Positive, leaving a trail of empty Pabst cans and thoroughly rocked faces in their wake.

Wednesday night in Hollywood was no exception, as we were treated to nearly two hours of inclusion rock that featured all the tracks off of the best album of 2008 so far. In a preshow interview, frontman Craig Finn said it best: “We want each show to be a celebratory experience” — and celebrate we did. Feel free to pump your fist as you read the remainder of this entry.

In the aforementioned interview, the band had explained just how finely tuned its set list has become over the years, so there was much anticipation in the air as even the oldest fans were excited to see how a new album would work into the mix. The show appropriately opened with “Constructive Summer,” the first track on Stay Positive, which lyrically set the tone for the rest of the night. “Constructive,” of course, is a relative term to Hold Steady fans, who know that time spent getting wasted is far from wasted time.

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You R Here user chrystal6880 recently attended an intimate performance by the boy … er, man band, and interviewed her fellow New Kids fans afterward. Be sure and stick around till the end for one of the scariest tattoos you’ll ever see!

“Are you ready to f—ing rock and roll?” Gnarls Barkley’s Cee-Lo asked fans as he took the Hollywood Bowl stage Sunday night.

Their response might as well have been, “Eh.”

The beyond-categorization duo, including producer Danger Mouse, gave their all in a frenetic performance for their super-fans — the ones who were there, anyway. The crowd could barely muster up a fraction of the energy the pair were giving them, except to yell at the stage, “Play ‘Crazy’!”

Ah, yes, the band’s radio mega-hit. The “Crazy” screams were finally quelled a dozen songs in when Cee-Lo introduced the overplayed (but still great) tune by saying, “I’m contractually obligated to play this song.” Despite the lackluster introduction, people lost their minds when the song started, shouting every word and bopping to the rhythm. Cee glanced at his watch toward the end of the song, longing for it to be over.

The fans must have been checking their watches too, because as soon as the song ended, half the Bowl cleared out. Seriously? Oh well — we got a better view of the stage and half a bottle of wine out of the early exodus, so it all worked out.

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Grammy winner Lupe Fiasco kept it cool with the Refresh Your Flow Tour at the Avalon in Hollywood on Thursday. He did it once again, putting on a great show!! This time dedicated to teenagers, he performed a few songs from his previous album, Food & Liquor, and gave the teenage audience some great words of encouragement to not just to be a star but to be a “Superstar” as he then performed his latest single from The Cool. Fiasco had an amazing stage energy with the help of his band, backup singers and DJ that had the whole crowd jumping and singing along to his lyrics. Fiasco closed the show with “Daydreamin’,” showing Los Angeles love but representing Chicago, his hometown.

The moment Supergrass took the stage, the energy skyrocketed throughout the venue. Whether it was lead singer Gaz Coombes making his way to the edge of the stage while serenading the crowd or motioning the audience to clap along during their performance, U.K. band Supergrass had a spot-on set filled with nonstop intensity. The energy permeated from the stage into the crowd while practically all in attendance were dancing or singing along word for word.

On a day off from touring with the Foo Fighters, Supergrass played a 70-minute headlining show at Avalon Saturday night in Hollywood. Very eclectic, the crowd varied from parents and children to college students and older, die-hard fans who have been following the band throughout its 14-year tenure. Supergrass started out the night with a solid guitar riff leading into opening track “Diamond Hoo Ha Man” off the album Diamond Hoo Ha, released earlier this year. As the opening guitar riff began and the brightly lit backdrop emerged spelling Supergrass, the intensity rose and did not falter.

While most of the 18-song set included songs from their latest album, some older Supergrass favorites were played as well — one from their second album, In It for the Money, and an encore performance of their first single released as a band, “Caught by the Fuzz.” While the older hits were often followed by screams of excitement from the crowd, most in attendance seemed familiar with the newer material just as well as the classics.

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In 1993 I walked from my parents’ house to the only music store in San Carlos, California. The store was called Rod’s Records Videos & Tapes, and on one warm summer day I slapped my hard-earned Hamilton down on the counter. In exchange for the cash that I had earned sweating away over the lawn mowing and bathroom cleaning, I was handed a cassette tape by Stone Temple Pilots called Core. I removed the shrink wrap, opened up the plastic case, threw that bad boy into my bright yellow Sony Sport Walkman, and headed home. Over the next few months, I would listen to that tape over and over and over again, each time wishing I was one of the DeLeo Brothers as I rocked out on the air guitar in the suburban bedroom I shared with my own brother.

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Thievery Corporation seem to really function as a corporation. DJ duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton might be the CEOs, but you know from listening to their multilayered music that there’s a lot more going on than just turntables.

And we do mean a lot. The pair shared the Hollywood Bowl stage Sunday night with at least six singers (including Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell and Brazilian artist Seu Jorge), a guitarist, a pack of drummers, a sitar player, a pair of reggae rappers, a keyboardist, a horn section, a belly dancer and other auxiliary entertainers who helped bring their eclectic sound to life.

The crowd went crazy for the group’s more recognizable songs (like “Lebanese Blonde,” which was featured on the “Garden State” soundtrack), but fans were on their feet for the whole show, dancing to music that ranged from bossa nova to reggae to lounge to whatever else these guys could come up with.

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A bad DJ can ruin a night out, and a good DJ can make the night. But who knows what you’ll get on any given day at any given L.A. club? Thankfully, I had a pretty good idea I was going to enjoy the music at Teddy’s nightclub in Hollywood’s Roosevelt Hotel on Tuesday.

That’s because my feel-good group of the moment, Chromeo, were in charge of the decks. The electro-funk duo made their way from their “Bonafied Lovin’ ” performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at the El Capitan Theatre next door to the exclusive hotspot (which was home to many of Lindsay Lohan’s pre-rehab escapades) for the show’s afterparty — and a little work too.

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I am looking forward to the George W. Bush tax rebate check that I still have not received. $600 to inject back into the economy. Being a good American, I have decided to take that chunk of change and spend it. I live within walking distance of the Hollywood Bowl, and I really wanted that money to go back into my community. Tonight I was rewarded for the first donation I made with a chance to enjoy Modest Mouse and R.E.M. sharing the stage at the historic outdoor venue.

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