Music Festival

Coachella's second weekend is upon us, and if you find yourself again frozen out of the desert festival the merry pranksters of Upright Citizens Brigade have assembled in what they're calling the Desert Tent (better known as the UCB stage) for a music festival that features troupe founder Matt Besser along with provocatively named groups such as Hip Hop Penguin, Cosby Sweater and Up Up Up. As an added bonus, chances of heat stroke are considerably diminished here. 5919 Franklin Ave., Sun. 9:30 p.m. $5 (323)

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival may have wrapped up last week, but still unfurling in Coachella's Pueblo Viejo District is an ambitious project that has brought together about a dozen muralists and international contemporary artists. "Coachella Walls," which has no formal connection to the Goldenvoice-produced festival, is billed as an "arts-driven community revitalization project. " Its organizers are Coachella-based Date Farmers Art Studios, a.k.a., the artists Armando Lerma and Carlos Ramirez, who grew up in the area and now show their work at Ace Gallery in Los Angeles.

Heat, drugs and alcohol can be a deadly combination at large summer music festivals like the Bonnaroo Festival Music & Arts that just wrapped in Manchester, Tenn., where a second death was reported Tuesday. Entertainment Weekly reports that a 24-year-old man died from hyperthermia, a condition that occurs when the body gets too hot and can't cool itself. Temperatures at the festival were in the 90s, and large crowds of sweaty bodies probably didn't help the situation. A few days ago a 32-year-old woman was found dead at the festival's camp grounds, but the cause of death is not known.

Michael Nesmith's name is far more often associated with the Monkees than the birth of Southern California country rock. Yet the former rock sitcom star played a key part in a 1960s scene when long hair and cowboy boots all a sudden made sense together. Nesmith blended rock and country music alongside artists such as Linda Ronstadt and Gram Parsons. Much of it happened at the Troubadour, where the hybrid sound was taking shape. "Linda would come play, the Dillards, [Roger] McGuinn would come play, [David]

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, Calif. Th e Black Keys , Radiohead, the Shins, Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg and a ton of other bands are featured at this year's outdoors concerts starting this weekend. The Saguaro hotel in nearby Palm Springs puts you close to the action and has a $199 room rate that comes with exclusive pool-side music parties in a kind of mini-Coachella celebration. The deal: The Saguaro , a relative newcomer to the Joie de Vivre chain of hotels, will host Desert Weekender parties 1-6 p.m. featuring DJs such as KCRW's Jason Bentley of "Morning Becomes Eclectic," live performances by Nosaj Thing, Tokimonsta and other bands, plus free food goodies too. The rate requires a two-night minimum stay during the weekends of the Coachella fest.

Re "Cajun Culture Adds Spice to Music Festival," May 28. This article left me pondering several issues. It hardly mentioned the music or the musicians. Isn't the music the main reason people go to this festival? Why didn't you interview some of the musicians participating? I think the quote by festival Chairman George Bercow, that when this annual event started more than a decade ago he didn't even personally like Cajun music, speaks volumes about this event. DENNIS GURWELL Burbank

This weekend's Hard Summer festival took a tragic turn Saturday when a concertgoer died at a nearby hospital, promoters confirmed Sunday. In a statement, Hard Events and its parent company, Live Nation, said the 25-year-old male fan suffered "cardiac distress" just before Flying Lotus' Saturday set, and died after being taken to LAC+USC Medical Center.  LA Weekly and Spin witnessed the events and described a quick response by on-site...

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and rapper Jay Z are scheduled to appear outside City Hall on Wednesday for what is expected to be an announcement on a two-day music festival for Labor Day weekend in Grand Park. The Budweiser Made in America, which advertises itself as being “curated by Jay Z,” could draw as many as 50,000 people to the heart of downtown, raising red flags  for Councilman Jose Huizar, who warned that street closures and beer sales could create "a nightmare.

A six-story-tall Doritos vending machine served as the backdrop for performances by artists such as Snoop Dog, White Denim and Mystikal at last week's South by Southwest Festival and Conference in Austin, Texas. It was perhaps the most impressive display of corporate sponsorship at the annual festival, which started out 25 years ago as a way to showcase indie bands but has since become a massive, mainstream music event. Chevrolet, Pepsi and FreeCreditScore.com were among 10 official sponsors of the festival, while Taco Bell, Marlboro and Spotify joined other big business names whose banners adorned Austin's dozens of live music stages.

The push to bring a major music festival to downtown Los Angeles - one with rapper Jay Z expected to play a creative role - has set off a tussle between two L.A. politicians. Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar contends he was left out of discussions, spearheaded by Mayor Eric Garcetti in recent weeks, over bringing the two-day Budweiser Made in America music festival to Grand Park and the nearby steps of City Hall. Huizar, who represents most of downtown, called for the city to withhold approval of any permits for the Labor Day weekend event until the details are properly vetted.

As the second and final weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival was in full swing, Lauren Mayberry of rising electro-pop trio Chvrches assured attendees that they had made the right choice. "You guys are lucky," she said midset Saturday. "Last week was a rehearsal. " She wasn't the only one thankful for a do-over. A reunited OutKast completely revamped its Friday night set, delivering a livelier and more streamlined performance, one that did away with guests and didn't back-load the hits.

ZZ Ward is admittedly overwhelmed. The 27-year-old native of Roseburg, Ore., is trying to unwind after her debut at the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival last week, but she's distracted. Her cute puppy, Muddy -- named after the blues great, of course -- is swimming in the pool at her rented Coachella house as Ward, still dressed in her onstage ensemble (a sparkly romper and her signature fedora) is keeping a close eye on the pup and desperately trying to cool down. PHOTOS: Coachella Weekend 2 Pop & Hiss was there, helping set up for an acoustic performance.

Is Coachella the biggest gift to the fashion industry since Kate Middleton? It certainly seems like it from the marketing blitz that has blown up around the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which wraps up a two-weekend run Sunday in Indio. We all know that brands have been flocking to the festival for years, hoping to make an impression on tastemakers who attend by hosting star-studded parties at nearby venues. This year, Old Navy, Lacoste, H&M, Teva, Adidas Originals, Guess and Opening Ceremony are just a few of the names that hopped on the Coachella branding bandwagon.

INDIO, Calif. - Dee Dee Penny, lead singer of the Dum Dum Girls, is no stranger to performing at giant summer musical events. At the first of the two-weekend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival events last Friday, her retro-rock act played before thousands of ecstatic fans. She was just one of an eclectic roster of female artists who galvanized Coachella audiences. Teenage provocateur Lorde dazzled amid a howling dust storm in her summer music festival debut. R&B diva Solange got a surprise assist from her superstar sister, Beyoncé Knowles.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and rapper Jay Z are scheduled to appear outside City Hall on Wednesday for what is expected to be an announcement on a two-day music festival for Labor Day weekend in Grand Park. The Budweiser Made in America, which advertises itself as being “curated by Jay Z,” could draw as many as 50,000 people to the heart of downtown, raising red flags  for Councilman Jose Huizar, who warned that street closures and beer sales could create "a nightmare.

Rapper Jay Z's Made in America music festival is coming to downtown's Grand Park despite concern from one City Council member that the influx of thousands of people attending multiple stages with access to beer could create a "nightmare. " The rapper joined L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti on the steps of City Hall on Wednesday to make the announcement, saying two years ago, "this was a dream. " He also called Garcetti an "incredible mayor," noting he "pulled this thing together in record time.

The 2013 Hear Now Music Festival is meant to be the sound of Los Angeles. What does that mean? No one really can say, anymore than what it means to be an Angeleno. Over two programs at the First Lutheran Church of Venice on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon, a dozen pieces will be played by a dozen composers. They don't all live precisely in Los Angeles -- Altadena (William Kraft), Claremont (Karl Kohn), even Berkeley (John Adams) counts. The age difference is great. They come originally from Austria, Germany, New Hampshire and elsewhere.

A man who dragged himself naked, burned and bound up a riverbed wash to the side of the 605 Freeway where he was discovered has died, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. Authorities said the man was found by a driver sometime before 2 p.m. Tuesday on the side of the northbound 605, north of the 60 Freeway in the City of Industry. Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials said the man had apparently been assaulted, then burned and left in the riverbed wash.

Authorities are asking the public's help in identifying a group of people involved in the fatal attack of a father of three who was stabbed to death while defending a homeless man in Rancho Cucamonga. Donnie Reed died Sunday while trying to defend a homeless man from a group of people who were harassing him, Lucky Hughes, a friend and witness to the stabbing, told KTLA . The attack occurred across from Stix Sports & Grill on Foothill Boulevard around 2:25 a.m., according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.