Mötley Crüe performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 13, 2024. AFTERSHOCK 2024: • Slayer reunites for explosive Thursday headlining set • Slipknot rocks like its 1999 on fest’s second day • Iron Maiden, Judas Priest lead British invasion on day 3 SACRAMENTO —…

Eminem First, as a follow-up to last week’s column of “Eurovision” favorites, an update: The final isn’t until noon on May 11, but of our top 10, only eight countries are still in it. Iceland and San Marino won’t be there. San Marino was easily my second-favorite, but its…

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith performs during Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Feb. 1, 2019. Courtesy Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest. In my column last week I said I had to pre-write it because I would be spending the weekend in…

Disturbed, Courtesy: Travis Shinn. Last weekend was Groundhog Day, my mom’s birthday, and nothing else. Next weekend is—sigh—Valentine’s Day. That means we’ve got a weekend in the middle here that doesn’t have an obvious hook for a column topic. I could do the whole February thing, though that doesn’t…

Was Lin-Manuel Miranda a better Hamilton than the Founding Father? Discuss. We’ve got a few firsts this week. There’s the first song from a musical because I apparently forgot Rocky Horror back in 1975, the first cover of a previous Honorable Mention, and a new and novel way to cheat at…

Monster Magnet performs at the Thee Parkside in San Francisco on Oct. 12, 2018. Photos: Shawn Robbins and Sean Liming. SAN FRANCISCO — The sold-out crowd was packed into the tiny, sauna-like Thee Parkside as Monster Magnet stormed the stage Friday night, unleashing the thunderous riff that begins their 1995…