The Scenestar

New Music Video - The Swimmers "A Hundred Hearts"

Philadelphia's The Swimmers have a new music video for their single "A Hundred Hearts" off their recent release People Are Soft. The Swimmers are currently not on tour but are playing a benefit show for the JMML Foundation in Philadelphia on January 29th at Johnny Brenda's.

New Music Video - Portishead "Chase The Tear"

Portishead has a new track out for you to buy up and rest assured it's going to a good cause. "Chase The Tear" is the new track available from Portishead in support of Amnesty International on the eve of Human Rights Day exclusively from 7Digital. Proceeds go towards the organization in support of their fight for global human rights. Click below to do your part in helping Amnesty International and get some new music from Scenestar favorite Portishead!

MP3: Portishead "Chase The Tear"

Girls To Play Free Show @ Space 15 Twenty

Girls, the San Francisco duo, have one of the hottest shows this week at the SOLD OUT Troubadour. Did you miss out on getting tickets to the show Scenestar readers? Not to worry because you still have a chance to see Girls without paying high scalper prices! Girls will be playing a free show at Space 15 Twenty for their One Year Anniversary Celebration on Saturday December 5, 2009 at 3pm.

Along with a free performance by Girls, the afternoon with come with a soundtrack from DJs Joel Isaac Black, King Acre and Eastside Girls, Dez and Viv spinning all day. Space 15 Twenty will also have a 20% off sale including face painting, vegan baked goods and special giveaways and raffles! Parking at Space 15 Twenty is free with validation. For those feeling charitable, there will be a toy drive benefiting Children's Hospital Los Angeles so if you can bring an unwrapped toy to donate to a good cause. Get there early Scenestar readers to check out the special free live performance by Girls at 3pm at Space 15 Twenty!

December 5th: Girls at Space 15 Twenty (Free Show)

December 5th: Girls at The Troubadour

Photo by Sandy Kim

Volunteers Needed For KCRW Subscription Drive

It's almost that time again! One of our favorite radio stations here in Los Angeles, KCRW, will be starting their Winter Subscription Drive starting Friday, January 29th through February 8th, 2010. KCRW is a public radio station based in Santa Monica and plays alot of the music we know and love here at The Scenestar. In fact, most of the Scenestar staff are KCRW members! One of our photographers even won the Morning Becomes Eclectic contest to see Bloc Party in London. They also managed to see Royksopp with Fever Ray opening during his trip!

What KCRW needs from you Scenestar reader is help answering phones in their pledge room using a computerized pledge-taking system that's really easy to use. KCRW even has an 20 minute online orientation slide show so you can learn before you show up on how to use their pledge system! We volunteered last drive and it felt good helping one of our favorite radio stations while meeting new friends, eating great food, winning prizes and meeting some of our favorite KCRW DJs.

Gobble Gobble Give @ The Echo

It started with one person, Echo Park resident Barry Walker, who cooked and delivered Turkey Day meals to the homeless in his neighborhood... and now a group of friends in Echo Park have shown up to help cook and deliver meals for the past 10 years – the first year, 28 homeless were fed! The next year more showed up and over fifty meals went out. The following year, we reached the 100 mark and last year we were able to feed over 1,500 homeless in our neighborhood and leave them with t-shirts, beanies, shoes, sweaters, and tooth brush kits. Gobble Gobble Give is a community event and has become an incredible example of what a community can do to make change.

Gobble Gobble Give is looking for volunteers on every level who can give food, money, or clothing and those who can donate their time this upcoming Thanksgiving day by cooking, warming, packaging and delivering food to the homeless in Echo Park and Downtown LA. Every little bit helps those in need, so show some love and give a friend a reason to be thankful!

Click below for more info on how you can help Scenestar reader and help make our community a better place for at least one day:

KROQ Announces Almost Acoustic Christmas Lineup

Tis' the christmas festival season! KROQ has finally announced their line-up for their Almost Acoustic Christmas show taking place Saturday, December 12th and Sunday, December 13th at the Gibson Amphitheatre. This year's line-up on Saturday includes AFI, Rise Against, 30 Seconds To Mars, Alice In Chains, Three Days Grace, Dead By Sunrise & Anberlin. Sunday's line-up includes Muse, 311, Metric, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, Slightly Stoopid, The Bravery, White Rabbits and Cage The Elephant.

Tickets for KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas will be available Saturday, November 21st at noon via Ticketmaster with a pre-sale scheduled this week. Tickets are $75.00 each with proceeds benefiting Para Los Ninos and the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center. Click below for more info on each date:

December 12th: KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Night #1 at Gibson Amphitheatre

December 13th: KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas Night #2 at Gibson Amphitheatre

Tenacious D To Play Benefit At Largo

Jack Black and Kyle Gass are back at Largo armed with their two accoustic guitars as the force we all know as Tenacious D this December! This time it's for a great cause. On Wednesday, December 23rd, Tenacious D will be playing a special benefit to raise funds for The Pablove Foundation. You want to get your tickets quick because this is sure to fill up fast!

To buy tickets, call Largo at (310) 855-0350 where you can buy over the phone using your credit card. Tickets are $50 (Charitable Donation) with showtime at 8:30pm. They'll be joined by some special guests so it's sure to be a great night for a great cause so call and reserve your spot to see Tenacious D live at Largo!

December 23rd: Tenacious D at Largo

New Music Video - Sea Wolf "Wicked Blood"

Sea Wolf has a new music video for their single "Wicked Blood" off their new album White Water, White Bloom. Sea Wolf is scheduled to play KCRW's Masquerade Ball with DJ Shadow, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Little Dragon and KCRW's DJs spinning all night! We'll be there Saturday so come join us this Halloween to see Sea Wolf and more live at the Legendary Park Plaza!

October 31st: KCRW Masquerade Ball w/ Sea Wolf, DJ Shadow and more at Legendary Park Plaza

Eddie Izzard To Play 826 Benefit @ EchoPlex

Here at The Scenestar we hold a special place for our hometown of Los Angeles, California. Not only do we want to contribute to spread the news of great music coming in and out of our great city but also helping those in our community that are in need. We at The Scenestar try to contribute in many ways with one of the ways that we do that is by volunteering our time locally at 826 Los Angeles helping with free workshops for kids in the Echo Park community. We try to spread the word about this organization and their benefits that we hold near and dear to our hearts as much as we can. This week we have the great joy and honor of announcing that British comedian Eddie Izzard will be performing this Tuesday, October 13th at EchoPlex to benefit 826 Los Angeles!

Seated seats are $25 while standing room only are going for $20 for a venue smaller than his upcoming Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live shows. If you're free Tuesday, feel free to come buy and help support this worthy cause. If you can't make it to the benefit, you can always shop at the 826 Time Travel store to buy some cool stuff to help the kids or donate your time to help neighborhood kids with tutoring and mentoring at great workshops 826 Los Angeles puts on every day. Click below to get your tickets to see Eddie Izzard live at EchoPlex!

October 13th: Eddie Izzard at EchoPlex

Ben Harper To Headline Halloweenabaloo 2009

The Silverlake Conservatory of Music will be once again be presenting their annual fundraiser at Union Station this year. 5th Annual Hullabaloo festival will take place again this year on Halloween with Ben Harper just being confirmed as one of the headliners for the event. Besides the musical performances, Halloweenabaloo 2009 will also consist of haunted houses, games, costumes and good times. More performers are expected to be announced closer to the event date.

All the proceeds from the event will go to the Silverlake Conservatory of Music allowing them to continue to provide music lessons and instruments to Los Angeles area kids who could not otherwise afford it. Tickets are now on sale through the Silverlake Conservatory of Music.

October 31st: Halloweenabaloo 2009 at Union Station