On one end of the spectrum, there are the exquisite singer-songwriters such as Eleni Mandell and Dana Falconberry; on the other end, there's massive metal mayhem aboard the USS Hornet, at an event dubbed Slaughter by the Water. And then there are the Go-Going-Gone Girls, go-go dancing in between the disparate acts.  Read more »

Today, three members of the Russian activist punk band Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism” stemming from an incident in February, when the trio performed its anti-Putin “Punk Prayer” inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral

Following the verdict, there will be global protests today including one at the Russian Consulate in San Francisco at 3pm and at Justin Herman Plaza at 6:30pm. Read more »

Was there anything more unexpected in season three of Mad Men than the scene in which Joan brought out her cherry-red squeezebox, and serenaded a dinner party with "C'est Magnifique?" Accordions were once a bastion of adult gatherings; there were bona fide accordion stars — Dick Contino, who played San Francisco's Barbary Coast in the 1940s, made it on the pop charts — but in this century, they've left the mainstream, resurging underground in pockets of klezmer, pirate polka, Tejano music, and gypsy jazz. Read more »

The global spectacle of the Olympics is through for now (see you in Russia 2014!); the local frenzy of Outside Lands 2012 has passed. So what's there to do and see this week? Well, there’s Twin Shadow, Sam Flax, Three Mile Pilot, Midnight Magic, and two free shows: Flosstradamus with Riff Raff and Floating Points, and afternoon with the San Francisco Opera (separate outings). Read more »

Recovered yet? We're almost there. It was a frenzied, foggy, dusty and memorable weekend at Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park. There were sonic high points that brought us to tears, and bathroom lines that did the same. Here are our favorite moments, a photo slideshow of awesome performances -- and the niggling things that got under our skin. Read more »