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Röck Illustrated

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The Viper Room: Venue Spotlight

The Viper Room: Venue Spotlight

One of the most infamous, legendary, and surprisingly small rock clubs on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood is The Viper Room, which sadly might soon face the wrecking ball.

Just east on Sunset Blvd of The Whisky, The Roxy, and The Rainbow, the structure that has been known as the Viper Room goes back over 100 years when it began as a grocery store called Young’s Market.

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The Four Best Performances at the 2026 ACM Awards

The Four Best Performances at the 2026 ACM Awards

America's country music stars gathered in Las Vegas on Sunday (5/17) for the 61st annual fiesta which awarded Cody Johnson as Entertainer of the Year and Ella Langley went home with seven trophies.

Over the course of the night, hosted by Shania Twain, there were several strong performances at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the home away from home of country music.

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Paul McCartney Live Debuts “Days We Left Behind” on SNL

Paul McCartney Live Debuts “Days We Left Behind” on SNL

Sir Paul McCartney was the musical guest on the Saturday Night Live season finale on Saturday (5/16).

Backed by a band that included Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer (and Will Ferrell look-alike) Chad Smith, the McCartney performed a live debut of the touching "Days We Left Behind" in the dress rehearsal and then on the live show a few hours later.

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Smashing Pumpkins Play Surprise LA Show To Announce End of Zero

Smashing Pumpkins Play Surprise LA Show To Announce End of Zero

Either guitar hero and Gen X icon Billy Corgan has worked through his rage issues after years of therapy and worldwide adoration, or the dread of yesteryear has eased his sensitive Piscean soul from still feeling like an incarcerated rodent.

The Smashing Pumpkins, led by Corgan waltzed into a rarely used Hollywood Venue on Sunday (5/17), and rocked the American Legion Post 43 so hard to ensure the frontman's persona, Zero, was dead forever.

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Setlist History: Lily Allen

Setlist History: Lily Allen

On May 18, 20 years ago Lily Allen performed a short show at a small club that got the ball rolling on what would be an impressive career that is still skyrocketing.

Just 21 years-old at the time, Allen performed at the Notting Hill Arts Club in London during a short window between her online breakout and the release of her debut LP Alright, Still.

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Metallica’s 8 Most-Performed Songs On The M72 Tour

Metallica’s 8 Most-Performed Songs On The M72 Tour

Metallica's M72 World Tour enters its third year of traveling the globe shaking foundations and giving metal audiences in 23 different countries an outlet to band their collective heads.

Some of the dates were no-repeat weekends where the band would play a set on a Friday in a city and a totally different one on Sunday in that same city. This was done for fans who wanted to see both shows and hear entirely new jams from James Hetfield (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar, backing vocals), Robert Trujillo (bass, backing vocals) and Lars Ulrich (drums).

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Unlocked: Matt Hansen

Unlocked: Matt Hansen

Matt Hansen is a Californian singer songwriter who cut his teeth covering rock bands in Northern California.

Matt began to gain a following on social media doing songs by the Goo Goo Dolls and Coldplay which earned him an audience of over 3 million followers on TikTok.

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Bright Eyes Threw 1st of 3 Birthday Parties for 2 LPs @ Red Rocks

Bright Eyes Threw 1st of 3 Birthday Parties for 2 LPs @ Red Rocks

Someone had the bright idea to release two albums on the same day back in early 2005 which means now they're both 21, and deserving of an amazing birthday party.

On January 25, 2005, Bright Eyes led by the prolific Conor Oberst convinced their record label Saddle Creek to drop the mostly-acoustic occasionally funny I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning (with guest stars Emmylou Harris and My Morning Jacket's Jim James) on the same day as the somewhat electronic Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.

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Death Cab For Cutie Live Debuts 4 New Tunes in Philly

Death Cab For Cutie Live Debuts 4 New Tunes in Philly

Death Cab for Cutie wowed the WXPN NON-COMM 2026 on Wednesday (5/6) with a handful of live debuts from their forthcoming album, I Built You A Tower.

The indie darlings led by Ben Gibbard (vocals, guitar, piano), and accompanied by Nick Harmer (bass), Jason McGerr (drums), Dave Depper (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals) and Zac Rae (keyboards, guitar), performed 10 tunes on the second day of the NON-COMMvention, the station’s annual gathering for noncommercial Triple A radio outlets.

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Zach Bryan Live Debuts ‘Drowning’ to 70k in Cleveland

Zach Bryan Live Debuts ‘Drowning’ to 70k in Cleveland

Zach Bryan brought the With Heaven On Tour to Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland on Saturday (5/9), playing an epic stadium set 35-song set with a 20-minute encore of "Revival" with a special guest.

It was the 10th show of the tour so far, and the last of the first US leg, but it included six tour debuts, a live debut, and cover song he's only done twice previous.

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