PAID DUES RETURNS

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There's no room for stunna shades and ghetto egos at the Paid Dues Festival. Now in it's third year, the hip hop love tour, returns to the Bay Area with a show at the Berkeley Community Theater on June 14th. It's a smaller scale, less commercial Rock the Bells, really (produced by the same company—Murs 3:16 and Guerilla Union) and features independent hip hop artists that the press release suggests are "...largely shunned by the mainstream media." We've never shunned De La Soul or Hieroglyphics. But we see what you mean. Mainstream hip hop is defined more by the women in the videos and the size of rims. You won't get those types of egos here, especially with a lineup like this: De La Soul, Blackaclicious, Little Brother, Sage Francis, Hieroglyphics,...  > more

HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS 2008

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October 3rd - 5th marks the 2008 rendition of one of the coolest music festivals on the planet: San Francisco's own Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This flurry of banjos will take place in Golden Gate Park not too long after the inaugural Outside Lands Festival, but here's the big difference between the two (besides Outside Lands' distinct lack of banjos) – HSB is FREE. Did you hear that? FREE. As in free of charge, free of money, free of increasing credit card debt, free of whatever. It's just free. The initial lineup for this year's festival features a legendary rocker, Bohemian punk and folk fave. Lineup: Robert Plant &...  > more

BFD 2008 ANNOUNCED

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Ah BFD. It's sorta become synonymous with summer...sprawling out on the Shoreline lawn, getting burned by the steamy parking lot asphalt. Then there's the bands; some big, some small, some from far away, some local. Live 105 does a pretty good job, don't they? This year is no different. It's going to be another hot one in Mountain View on June 7th. The Budlight Festival Stage (noon to 8:30PM) features a variety of bands. Punk fans will get their fill from Pennywise and hip-hop goers will enjoy a set from old schoolers Cypress Hill (we can smell the reefer right now). British band The Kooks, fresh off the release of their sophomore album Konk, will get a chance to woo American audiences for round two. The Subsonic Tent (3PM to 11PM) is kind of like...  > more