The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS), is pleased to announce its 12th year of concerts and events in Los Angeles. This year’s summer calendar features Blast! [9], the annual SASSAS garden party and fundraiser, which returns for a second year to Malibu, CA on Sunday, June 10, 2012, with food, beverages, a silent auction featuring works by several artists included in Made in L.A. 2012 and live music from 4:00 to 8:00pm. In addition to Blast!, the upcoming SASSAS 2012 schedule also features the sound. concert series, soundShoppe and the third year of its exclusive Listening Party dinners. Tickets for Blast! [9] are $50 and can be purchased at http://www.sassas.org/blast. Read the rest of this entry »

The Rock Bottom Remainders, the all-author rock band with Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan and Matt Groening among its members, will hold their last public concert, after performing together for 20 years, at the El Rey Theatre on Friday, June 22, 2012 at 8:30pm. The show is part of the band’s final two-city The Past Our Bedtime Tour, which also includes an appearance not open to the public at the American Library Association Conference in Anaheim on the same weekend.  The entire band is together for the first time since 2007.  Roger McGuinn, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for The Byrds, will also join as a musical guest.  Proceeds will benefit literary causes.
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U-N-M-A-R-K-E-D and Highways Performance Space present the world premiere of PATTY!, a PoP! Music Religious Revival inspired by the mythic histories of Patty Duke and Patty Hearst, with seven performances running May 18 to 20 and May 23 to 26, 2012.  In conjunction with a full album release, the project includes a two-week run of live, 360-degree, outerdisciplinary performances (equal parts dance-pop concert, fashion show and new media installation), created, produced and directed by Patrick Kennelly.  PATTY! features 15 female performers and choreography by Marina Magalhães (of Contra-Tiempo) with additional choreography by Jmy James Kidd (of MGM) and Kennelly.  Opening music acts for the run include Actually Huizenga, IE, Bai Ling, Kristin “Kevin Blechdom” Erickson and the M.T. Brain, Wet Mango, Maxi Wild, and more.
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Earlier this month, Re-Animator™ The Musical won six LA Weekly Theater Awards including “Musical Of The Year.” It also won: “Original Music” – Mark Nutter, “Direction of a Musical” – Stuart Gordon, “Musical Ensemble” – The Cast, “Adaptation” – Dennis Paoli/William J. Norris/Stuart Gordon, and “Blood Effects” – Stuart Gordon! Now Re-Animator The Musical re-opens at a new location – The Hayworth Theatre – for a limited ten-week engagement, prior to its performance dates in New York and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  http://www.reanimatorthemusical.com/

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Arts organization Create:Fixate (C:F) celebrates 10 years of existence with its next exhibit I Art You on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Premiere Events Center in Downtown Los Angeles. C:F’s signature blend features vibrant artwork and music produced by over forty local artists, DJs, and musicians. The excitement begins at 4:00pm with a three-hour gallery preview.  The main event starts at 7:00pm and closes at 2:00am.  Admission is $15.00 before 9:00pm and $20.00 for the remainder of the night. Premiere Events Center is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, including an image gallery of participating artists works, please visit www.createfixate.com. C:F can be reached by phone at 310-590-7199 for other inquiries.

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Save the Date:  The Industry presents the world premiere of Crescent City, starting Thursday, May 10, 2012 at Atwater Crossing in Los Angeles. The hyperopera is by composer Anne LeBaron, widely recognized for her work in instrumental, electronic, and performance realms, and librettist Douglas Kearney, a poet, performer and recipient of the Whiting Writer’s Award, and it incorporates installations by six contemporary LA-based artists.  Crescent City, directed by Yuval Sharon, tells the epic story of a mythical city, decimated by one hurricane and on the verge of being wiped off the face of the earth by another, and the voodoo priestess determined to save it. A roving band of revelers spreads chaos throughout the streets of the city, capturing the action of the opera with live video along the way.  www.TheIndustryLA.org
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Who’s the best party rocker DJ on the planet? The Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals aims to answer that question when eighteen national champion DJs converge and compete in Vancouver from December 13 – 17, 2011 for the coveted title. To earn a spot in the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals, hundreds of DJs from around the globe battled it out in regional and national qualifiers. At each stage the rules remain the same: 15 minutes to rock the crowd with a set that incorporates at least three genres of music and keeps partygoers on their feet, and the judges impressed.

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(photo credit: Nabil Elderkin)

Award-winning film Bouncing Cats, the inspiring story of one man’s attempt to create a better life for the children of Uganda through hip hop, makes its US television premiere on Documentary Channel Saturday, November 19, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. (EST/PST). The film, narrated by Common and featuring interviews with Will.I.Am, and K’Naan, follows the legendary Crazy Legs of the Rock Steady Crew and b-boy Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), on a journey to unify, empower and inspire youth in the war torn region that has been called one of the worst places on earth to be a child.  The film, produced by Red Bull Media House and directed by Australian filmmaker and photographer Nabil Elderkin, toured the film festival circuit in 2010 and 2011, earning awards along the way at Urbanworld Film Festival, Newport Beach Film Festival, and Southern Utah International Documentary Film Festival, among others.  Proceeds from the film benefit BPU.

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After a 5 year hiatus, underground performance party pioneer Dream Circus Theatre (DCT) returns to the limelight with I Am Vegetable at the Premiere Events Center (aka Lot 613) in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday, October 8, 2011.  I Am Vegetable is a delectable interactive costume party that merges theater, story telling, music, performance art, and dancing with imaginative sets that integrate the audience with the action.  The event soundscape incorporates dubstep, electro/breaks, house, tech house, and ambient/downtempo with a tasty DJ line-up that features John Kelley, Shayn, Trevor + Travis Wyse, Petey, and more. The creative brains behind I Am Vegetable are musician and event director Teo Castro and costume designer Mikiko Nagao, who have collaborated on creative underground events since the 1990s.  I Am Vegetable runs from 9:00pm to 3:30am. Tickets range from $20 to $40. Premiere Events Center/Lot 613 (http://www.lot613.com) is located at 613 Imperial St., Los Angeles, CA 90021. 

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On Sunday, October 2, 2011, the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles will erupt with Trespass, a parade where artists and residents will rally together to engage in art, music, dancing, floats, community activism, and performance. The parade is just one component of Trespass – a collaborative project between Arto Lindsay, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and West of Rome Public Art (WoR) that also includes a party and a T-shirt project with call-to-action slogans.  As part of Trespass, many Los Angeles art luminaries, including John Baldessari, Barbara Kruger, Nancy Rubins, and Jeffrey Vallance, were asked to produce statements – personal calls to action expressing political or social concerns – which will be worn on T-shirts at the October 2nd parade. Many of the participating artists will also join in with performative pieces. Trespass continues into Monday evening, October 3rd with Trespassparty, a blowout celebration at Union Station (800 North Alameda St., Los Angeles, CA 90012) featuring interactive and musical performances by progressive artists to benefit nonprofit West of Rome.

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