Here's what happened so far.

• Oddly enough, Megan and I hit absolutely no traffic driving down from L.A. to S.D. yesterday, so we ended up at the Chargers stadium really early and we kind of just sat in the shade for hours since we couldn't find anyone who could tell us where the media check in was.
• Finally we got in and we had to meet up Nine Black Alps backstage for a brief interview. Thing is, media passes don't get you backstage. Fortunately, a nice security guard let us in without any hassle (thanks, Randy). As much as I hate to admit, this is one of the advantages to being a girl.
• Saw Nine Black Alps, setlist was either the same or almost the same as the one at the show at Spaceland. We only stayed for a few songs because we had to run over to another stage to see Rock Kills Kid. RKK was excellent. At one point, we walked over to the Fulano stage and saw some of What Made Milwaukee Famous, which sort of reminded me of Muse, which I guess means that it reminded me of prog-rock.
  
• Fortunately for Megan, the next two sets she was supposed to shoot were at the Time Warner Stage. She Wants Revenge followed RKK. I really liked them live. It was all very sleazy sounding, which appeals to the Soft Cell fan in me. Wolfmother followed SWR and, let me tell you, this band is going to be the biggest band in the world by next year. We were amazed not just at the turnout for Wolfmother, but the amount of people who you could tell were specifically at Street Scene for the band. Plus, there were so many guys sporting 'fros that you know this band is making a serious impact. I think Wolfmother might have been the best performance of the day. On the video screen, there were all these psychedelic effects, which I thought was to highlight the Sabbath vibe, but Megan said that the video folks were doing that for everyone.
• Somewhere between SWR and Wolfmother, Megan and I were escorted backstage to interview RKK. We feel a bit alien backstage amongst the astro-turf and tour busses, but it's an experience.
  
• After Wolfmother, we headed over to Bad Religion, where we saw two songs before literally running back to the Time Warner Stage (Megan running with a very heavy camera around her neck) to get to Queens of the Stone Age because, as is standard at rock concerts, the photo pit is only open for the first three songs.
• Megan stuck around at Queens of the Stone Age and I started wandering about, ultimately catching three songs from Wu-Tang Clan and two songs from Cheb I Sabbah.
• Finished out the night with Social Distortion. Lugged ourselves to the car and drove back to our host's house. Somewhere along the line we got severely lost in La Jolla, where streetlamps don't seem to exist. Never trust Google maps.
  

Arthur Lee, R.I.P.

This week was not just a test in Murphy's Law, but a test in how little sleep I really can handle, how much caffeine I need to consume to combat that lack of sleep and how many gnat-like irritants it will take before I finally crack. The good thing: I never once started to cry. The bad thing: I still haven't slept and now I have to head down to the South Bay so that we can take off for San Diego tomorrow morning.
This week did have its moments, like getting to see Teddybears spin at Check Yo ' Ponytail. Carlos and I fell for these Swedes when we heard them on Indie 103.1's Passport Approved a few months back. While we would have loved to see a full live set, this DJ gig was a treat featuring one DJ playing a well-mixed though not necessarily beatmatched set.

One dude who looked like Erlend Oye and mouthed the words to all of the songs.

And this dude.

Shall I also mention that the upcoming album features a track with Neneh Cherry?
I'm still on the fence about Gliss and Bright Lights Fever.
I'm definitely not on the fence about hipster club DJs though. If I have to sit through one more half-assed, "let's play everything that's in our iPod even though it makes no sense when played together" set, I might have to start a riot. Continuity, people! It's the first law of DJing.
The person who played right before Teddybears was probably the best of the lot. I don't know who it was, but this DJ actually played songs that, for the most part, flowed and when he/she went into an extended dance mix of "Like a Prayer," it worked. Plus, "Like a Prayer" has that big breakdown with the gospel singers where it sounds like a deep house song. It's good, unlike Janet Jackson's "Control," which I hope to never hear at a club ever again. Please, if you are going to go that route, play "Freakazoid" instead. As Carlos pointed out, it's the same song.

I found this link on myspace when I was looking at DJ Skribble's profile. It was blatant self promotion to vote for him, but I voted for other people.

http://djtimes.com/bestdj/vote.asp

There are things to post, but not enough time to post them as I have to get a ton of shit ready to go to press before I leave for San Diego Street Scene Friday morning.

In the meantime, just mark your calendar for 8/12/06, which is the day I'm guest DJing at Bang!

For the MP3 fans, be advised that I won't be posting any this week. No time.

If you're interested in sometimes witty observations of the nightlife, keep reading.

Anyhow, my friend friend and former roommate (as we like to say, we make great friends and flat-out miserable roommates) Reagan took the Bar last week. Since she hadn't left the law school library in months, I took her to see Mardo open for Metal Skool last night. We didn't actually see Metal Skool on account of the fact that would entail staying out late and, well, I have deadlines to meet. Mardo is of the 1970s-style balls-out rock ilk (not so much like Wolfmother, though, because, personally, I think the music is more Slade than Sabbath). I had a feeling that Reagan would love the show because she is the Queen of Rock. Dude, that call was so on the money. She loved every second of the set and probably would have bought a CD too if the band had set up a merch booth.

I don't know who played after Mardo, but it wasn't all that. Reagan hated it. I just thought, yeah, whatever. We left midway through Band #2's set because we were tired and we weren't really feelin' the crowd (were Reagan and I really the only girls there who weren't Alpha Phi?). We were, however, feelin' the little TV screens in the bathroom mirrors and the kick-ass ensemble on the bathroom attendant. She had this billowy plaid skirt over a denim mini that totally reminded me of an Alexander McQueen dress that should belong to me, not Sarah Jessica Parker.

On a sad note, we spent an hour trying to get off the freeway because Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is apparently still on the touring circuit.