Taking in a show at the Masonic Lodge located within the famed Hollywood Forever Cemetery is always a treat. It’s a small room seating roughly 200, with tall ceilings, two hanging chandeliers and seated cushioned benches to the side. To keep it a little more hip, the walls feature film posters like A Clockwork Orange, while Harold & Maude greet you upon entering. It’s one of the more unique rooms for an acoustic performance in Los Angeles, especially considering you just walked past a few gravestones to get there. Last night we were all very fortunate that M. Ward (real name, Matthew Stephen Ward) decided to play a solo gig there. Having Norah Jones sit in doesn’t hurt either.
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Like New Year’s Eve, Halloween is another holiday that a lot of bands choose to celebrate in style. There’s just something about mixing the live concert experience with all the fun and choas of Halloween that really brings out the freaks. While most bands typically play into the Halloween vibe in some way, touring bands often approach Halloween as an opportunity to really create a unique live music event. Just as we did with our New Year’s Eve concert round-up, we’ve compiled a list of Halloween concerts that will be going on this weekend (see below for the long list).
We have also noticed a few bands that are taking a similar approach to Halloween as Phish by doing some sort of “musical costume” and either covering another band’s music or playing a full show of thematic covers. Here are a few of the more interesting “musical costumes” we’ve seen announced this year:
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Austin City Limits has just released its broadcast schedule for its 35th Season, which starts in October:
October 3: Dave Matthews Band
October 10: Ben Harper and Relentless7
October 17: Kenny Chesney
October 24: Andrew Bird / St. Vincent
October 31: M. Ward / Okkervil River
November 7: Elvis Costello / Band of Heathens
November 14: Willie Nelson & Asleep at the Wheel
November 21: Pearl Jam
January 9, 2010: Allen Toussaint
January 16, 2010: Mos Def / K’Naan
January 23, 2010: TBD / Heartless Bastards
January 30, 2010: Steve Earle / Kris Kristofferson
February 6, 2010: Them Crooked Vultures
February 13, 2010: Madeleine Peyroux / Esperanza Spaldin
(via Billboard)
35th Season? Wow, I didn’t realize the show has been around that long. Good stuff. And from the looks of it, a pretty killer line-up for 2009-2010.

After finally getting to see Red Rocks for the first time with the four-night Phish run, I’m instantly drawn to the Monolith Festival given the location and the lineup this year. There’s some really solid stuff on the bill, but there’s enough overlap in the coming months that I think I’ll get to see most of these artists in another setting, albeit nothing like the iconic Red Rocks Ampitheatre. I had an incredible time at the venue itself, so throw in some of the best indie bands of the moment and you’ve got yourself a solid two-day festival. READ MORE