It's not too early to make plans for Halloween weekend, and if you want to make this year especially memorable, hop a plane to Las Vegas for the Vegoose Music Festival. It's an impressive lineup of tons of bands in one place: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Mars Volta, The Raconteurs, Cat Power and the Memphis Rhythm Band (we'll see about that), Gomez, Fiona Apple, Jenny Lewis, BRMC, and a bunch of those jammy/jazzy......

Best Musical Event: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival Best Local Venue: Golden Gate Park Were you among the tens of thousands who attended the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival this year? We cannot say enough good things about this event. If you're a fan of folk, Americana, country, bluegrass, or roots music of any ilk, you should have been at Golden Gate Park on September 30th and October 1st. This year's Hardly Strictly drew over 50 acts,......

This week we're giving away an EP by promising up-and-coming local band Finest Dearest. We're excited to watch where this comely and talented co-ed group's bright future takes them. Fans of female-fronted indie rock should preview a few tracks here or here and pick up your own copy of their EP when they play the Hemlock this Friday night. (Contest ends Wednesday 10/12.) Hipsters unite at the Bill Graham Civic Center tonight for Franz......