Late August can be a bit of a slow season for touring, whether it's bands not wanting to deal with the blazing heat in most of the United States or record labels holding back tour support until closer to the lucrative fourth quarter releases. The upside is that local bands can sometimes benefit from a venue's slow month, and we're really excited about the chance to see Or, The Whale, Birds & Batteries and Social......

As we think fondly back on our college days, we've come to the conclusion that alcohol is never going to taste as good as it did before we turned 21. That, however, may not be true for poor Brittanie Mountz, who just got busted by the Chronicle's Cecilia Vega for possibly drinking with the mayor while underage. According to Sunday's Matier and Ross (posted on the 'Gate Saturday evening, which is why this is going......

In a victory for the Beastie Boys, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals today declined to review an earlier decision which upheld a lower-court dismissal of a case brought by James Newton which asked that the Beasties pay licensing fees on both the recording and the underlying composition for a sample of his 1978 "Choir," which was used on Hello Nasty track Pass the Mic. The Beasties had already paid licensing fees for the......