Sigur Ros in Santa Barbara. Photo: JB Brookman

The opening weekend of the 2013 Santa Barbara Bowl season, started on a majestic and ethereal note, with Sigur Ros in town.  The Icelandic supergroup sold out the venue, flexing their hipster street cred, between their Coachella performances.

The band’s unique, anthemic, soundtrack sound, reverberated off of the surrounding mountains and drove the coastland faithful, into a trance.  Recently known for their contribution to Cameron Crowe’s film, “We Bought A Zoo,” this band has enraptured the world with their melodic rapture-like sound.  Jónsi Birgisson, Georg Hólm and Ágúst Ævar Gunnarsson are the heart of the vibe.  There are few sounds like lead singer Jonsi’s falsetto voice, which drifts high above the heartbeat of the band’s music.

This was the end of a two day stint of shows, opening the revamped Santa Barbara Bowl.  The best venue in Southern California, just got better- with added food/alcohol vendors and bathrooms, at the top of the ampitheatre.  The overlook features one of the best views, in all of Santa Barbara!  New Order and Johnny Marr were Thursdays initial show and this was a powerful follow-up.  The Bowl will host shows such as Sting and Atoms For Peace, in the coming months.

Jonsi from Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Jonsi, Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros, horn section. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Sigur Ros. Photo: JB Brookman

Shabazz Muhammad to the NBA.

UCLA men’s basketball freshman Shabazz Muhammad has elected to forego his remaining collegiate eligibility and enter the 2013 NBA Draft.

Muhammad led the Bruins with 17.9 points per game as a freshman in 2012-13, securing first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors in addition to being named Pac-12 Co-Freshman of the Year. The 6-foot-6 guard/forward from Las Vegas helped lead UCLA to a 25-10 record, the Pac-12 regular-season title, a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 Tournament and an NCAA Tournament berth.

“I am so thankful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play at UCLA and will always be proud to be a Bruin,” Muhammad said. “From a young age, I have dreamed of playing in the NBA, and I believe that this is the right time for me to move to the next level.

“I have had an unbelievable experience at UCLA and am eternally grateful to my teammates, my coaches and the program’s support staff for helping me become a better person and basketball player during my time in Westwood. It has been an honor and a privilege to play for coach Ben Howland.”

Muhammad had a decorated freshman campaign, scoring in double figures in 31 of 32 games. He scored at least 20 points in 14 games, guiding UCLA to a 12-2 record in those contests. He was one of eight finalists for the Freshman of the Year Award presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association (Integris Wayman Tisdale Award) and secured USBWA Freshman All-America honors in addition to being named a first-team NABC All-District 20 selection.

On the court, Muhammad emerged as one of the Pac-12′s most talented three-point shooters, finishing the season ranked 12th in the conference in three-point field goal percentage and fourth in scoring (17.9 ppg). Muhammad and Travis Wear tied for second on the team in rebounds per game (5.2 rpg).

The 2013 NBA Draft will begin at 4 p.m. (PT) on June 27 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Bo Burnham.

AEG Live announces Bo Burnham Live - “what.” A show of all new material by comedian Bo Burnham – on tour Spring 2013. “What.” is Burnham‘s first new stand up show since “words, words, words”– the show that made him the youngest person ever to record a Comedy Central hour special at 19 years old. This new show combines music, stand-up and theater in a way that hasn’t been seen before.

The 22-year-old will star in his own television series that he co-created “Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous” set to premiere on MTV Thursday, May 2 at 10:30 pm.  A scripted comedy series, the plot stars Burnham as a teenager on a quest to become famous without any talent whatsoever.

“This new show is something I’ve been working on for the last two and half years,” says Burnham.  “And now it’s finally done. It better be good.”

Bo Burnam‘s “what” tour will stop in major venues across the country, coming to Los Angeles’ CLUB NOKIA on Saturday, June 1^st.

Reserved seat tickets for this show are $26.50. Tickets are on sale now at www.AXS.com, charge by phone at 888-9AXS-TIX or 888-929-7849. Applicable fees may apply. Tickets can also be purchased from 10:00 AM-5:00 PM, Mon-Fri at the STAPLES Center Box Office located at 1111 S. Figueroa St.  No fees are charged at the STAPLES Center box office or at the Club Nokia box office on show days (open after 5 PM).

About Club Nokia: Club Nokia, a multi-use music, entertainment and concert venue–located in the heart of the acclaimed L.A. LIVE sports, residential and entertainment district–accommodates over 2,300 guests.  Featuring state-of-the-art acoustics designed for live entertainment, Club Nokia is the perfect venue for emerging music acts and cultural shows while also providing excellent space for corporate events and private parties.  The theatre brings the latest technology to music enthusiasts including an innovative interactive experience embedded in foot-controlled floor interfaces, touchscreens, and a large LED installation within the lobby of the Club Nokia space.  This interactive experience allows users to scroll through the history and the future of Club Nokia events and interact with pictures, video and text messages submitted by fellow concert fans.  Club Nokia has been honored two consecutive years at the annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards-in 2009 as “Best New Major Concert Venue” and in 2010 as “Nightclub Of The Year”; along with a Zagat Award for Best Live Music Club in Los Angeles (2009).

Since its opening, Club Nokia has hosted a massive array of eclectic events: packed concerts of every musical genre (Band of Horses, Motorhead, Adam Lambert, Drake, Matisyahu, Queens of the Stone Age, Vince Gill, The Specials, La Roux, to name but a few); comedians (Lisa Lampanelli, Sarah Silverman, Jim Jefferies and more); special month-long residencies (The Pee-wee Herman Show, Cirque Berzerk);awards shows (Grammy nominations concert, Revolver Golden Gods Awards) and private events.

www.boburnham.com
www.clubnokia.com

Ben Howland.

UCLA says goodbye to their greatest coach, since John Wooden.  Three straight Final Fours, 123 wins, in a 4-year period and countless young men, playing well in the NBA and overseas.  Tough to see a coach fired, after winning the PAC-12 Title and bringing in the #1 recruiting class, in the nation.  Ben Howland will be missed.

You have to wonder if this firing was decided months ago and UCLA has already picked a new coach.  Is VCU’s Shaka Smart the pick or could it be Butler’s wonderkind Brad Stevens?  Other names thrown around have been Mark Few, Lorenzo Romar and Florida’s Billy Donovan.

From UCLA:

The University of California Los Angeles has relieved Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ben Howland of his duties effective immediately and a national search for his successor has begun. Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero informed Coach Howland of the decision this afternoon.

“I want to thank Ben for all that he has done for UCLA in his ten seasons in Westwood,” said Guerrero. “He embraced our tradition and culture and produced some terrific teams and coached a number of wonderful young men. We wish Ben and his family all the best as they move onto a new chapter in their lives.”

In 10 seasons in Westwood, Howland compiled a 233-107 record, with seven NCAA Tournament berths, including a string of three Final Fours from 2006-2008.

“I have been blessed with the opportunity to coach at UCLA for 10 years and I will always be grateful to Dan Guerrero and Chancellors Block, Abrams and Carnesale for the opportunity to coach and teach our players and work alongside tremendous coaches,” Howland said. “The UCLA community and fans have been unbelievable to my family and I, and it’s been an honor and privilege to represent this great institution. I look forward to what comes next.”

Mumford & Sons rocked the Santa Barbara Bowl, in 2011. Photo: JB Brookman

One of the great acts, in music today are hitting the road for a North American Tour.  Check out these dates, to see if you can catch the band, live!

5/21 Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
5/22 Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
5/24 Surrey, BC – Holland Park
5/26 George, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
5/27 Portland, OR – Rose Garden Arena
5/29 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
5/30 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
5/31 Berkeley, CA – Greek Theatre
6/02 San Bernardino, CA – Glen Helen Regional Park
6/03 Chula Vista, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheatre
6/05 Phoenix, AZ – Desert Sky Pavilion
6/06 Taos, NM – Kit Carson Park
6/08 Austin, TX – Austin 360 Amphitheater
6/09 Austin, TX – Austin 360 Amphitheater
6/11 Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavilion
6/12 The Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
6/13 New Orleans, LA – Mardi Gras World
6/15 Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music Festival
6/17 Bonner Springs, KS – Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
6/20 Telluride, CO – Telluride Bluegrass Festival
8/2-04 Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
8/23-24 Simcoe, ON – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
8/30-31 Troy, OH – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
9/6-7 Guthrie, OK – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover
9/13-14 St. Augustine, FL – Gentlemen of the Road Stopover

UCLA forward Jordan Adams.

Jordan Adams scored 18 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 21 UCLA beat No. 18 Arizona for the third time this season, a 66-64 victory Friday night that sends the Bruins to the Pac-12 tournament championship game.

Ditching their new pajama-like uniforms for the more traditional white with blue and yellow trim, the Bruins (25-8) fought back from an 11-point second-half deficit after pulling off a similar rally against Arizona State in the quarterfinals. Adams triggered it, scoring 17 points in the final 9:57, including 13 straight in one stretch.

Kyle Anderson put UCLA in front on a putback with 22 seconds left and Arizona’s Solomon Hill missed a midrange jumper, sending the Bruins into Saturday night’s title game.

Brandon Ashley had 15 points and Mark Lyons added 13 for Arizona (25-7).

UCLA beats ASU... awaits Arizona.

Freshman Shabazz Muhammad scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half, Travis Wear hit a jumper with 11 seconds left and No. 21 UCLA rallied from a 15-point deficit to beat Arizona State 80-75 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament on Thursday.

“These guys never quit. They never gave up,” UCLA coach Ben Howlandsaid. “They never stopped believing in themselves and each other and really found a way to battle back. ”

Wearing uniforms with sleeves and matching camouflage-patterned shorts, the Bruins (24-8) got off to a groggy start and appeared to be in danger of becoming the second straight top seed to lose its first game in the Pac-12 tournament.

Muhammad gave UCLA the spark it needed with a highlight-reel dunk over Arizona State center Jordan Bachynski and scored 10 points during a 17-4 second-half run that got the Bruins back in it.

UCLA kept its composure down the stretch, going up 78-75 on Wear’s jumper and stayed in front when Arizona State’s Jonathan Gilling missed a corner 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

The Bruins will face No. 4-seed Arizona (25-6) in a semifinal contest on Friday evening at 6 p.m. The winner advances to Saturday’s Pac-12 Tournament title game at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Larry Drew II had 20 points and Wear finished with 15 to send the Bruins into the semifinals against No. 18 Arizona or Colorado on Friday night.

“In the first half I thought we played hard, but in the second half we really turned it up,” said Muhammad, who had six of UCLA’s 15 offensive rebounds and nine overall. “And it really had good karma for us.”

Jahii Carson had 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds to lead ninth-seeded Arizona State (21-12). Bachynski had 22 points and Gilling 17 for the Sun Devils, who have to wait until Sunday to see if they’ll get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

“Anytime they had an open look down the home stretch, they made it,” Arizona State coach Herb Sendek said. “They didn’t let us off the hook. Whether it was Drew, the Wear brothers, anytime we had a breakdown, there was no forgiveness on their part. They were making shots.”

UCLA won its 31st conference championship by beating Washington in the season finale to finish 13-5 in the Pac-12. The Bruins had some bumpy stretches along the way, losing three of four in January and to struggling Washington State three days before the clincher against the Huskies.

UCLA got the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament, but drawing Arizona State in the quarterfinals was not an ideal first game.

The Bruins were blown out by the Sun Devils in Tempe and needed overtime to escape with a win at Pauley Pavilion.

Arizona State needed overtime to hold off Stanford in its tournament opener, but seemed the fresher team early in the quarterfinals, breaking down the Bruins off the dribble and getting the ball inside.

Bachynski had 22 points and 15 rebounds in Arizona State’s blowout victory and the Sun Devils fed him early and often. The 7-foot-2 Canadian scored 10 points in the opening 10 minutes, forcing UCLA to start double teaming him down low.

Bachynski had 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting by halftime.

Carson wasn’t bad, either.

The redshirt freshman had a huge game in the Sun Devils’ opener, scoring a tournament freshman record 34 points, including five in overtime. He was active and aggressive against UCLA, repeatedly getting into the lane for one-handed runners high off the glass or finding teammates for open shots.

Carson had 11 points and four assists in the first half and the Sun Devils hit 15 of 28 shots to lead 41-33.

Muhammad was uncharacteristically quiet for UCLA, unable to shake Carrick Felix to get good looks at the basket. He had four points – two on a putback at the buzzer – on 2-of-5 shooting in the first half.

After UCLA trimmed the lead to 3, the Sun Devils tried to run away with it, scoring 10 straight points to go up 53-38.

Then Muhammad woke up.

After missing his first four shots of the half – two blocked by Bachynski – he scored 10 points in a little over 5 minutes, including an emphatic tomahawk dunk over Bachynski on the break.

Led by their fabulous freshman, the Bruins stormed back, going on the big run that Drew capped with a 3-pointer to put UCLA ahead 67-66 with 5 minutes left.

Arizona State kept it close and had a chance at the end, but Gilling’s 3 bounced long and the Sun Devils couldn’t come up with the rebound, possibly leaving them short of a trip to the NCAAs.

“It’s really disappointing,” Bachynski said. “That was our goal all season. That’s what we worked toward. Nothing else really to say.”

New Mad Men Season 6 Poster revealed.

Draper-Cooper-Sterling-Price…  Or should we say, Draper-Cooper-Sterling…  is back…

Today AMC unveiled the official poster for Mad Men Season 6. Click here to see a larger version of the new Mad Men poster. Mad Men Season 6 debuts with a special two-hour premiere on Sun., Apr. 7 at 9/8c.

UCLA Freshman Shabazz Muhammad.

UCLA’s Larry Drew II and Shabazz Muhammad have earned first-team All-Pac-12 Conference honors, while Kyle Anderson has been named a second-team selection, as announced Monday by the conference office.

In addition, Muhammad and Arizona State’s Jahii Carson have secured Pac-12 Co-Freshman of the Year honors. Muhammad and Anderson have been named to the five-person Pac-12 All-Freshman Team and classmateJordan Adams has earned honorable mention accolades.

UCLA is the only Pac-12 team to have at least three players listed on the 10-person first team and the five-man second team. UCLA, Arizona and Colorado are the only schools to have two players named as first-team selections.

Muhammad, a 6-foot-6 guard/forward from Las Vegas, ranks third in the conference with 18.3 ppg, having scored in double figures in 27 of 28 games. He has twice scored a team-leading 27 points this season and ranks third among all Pac-12 players in three-point field goal percentage (41.7).

Muhammad becomes the eighth UCLA player to earn Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, and the Bruins’ first since 2008. He joins Pooh Richardson (1986), Don MacLean (1989), Baron Davis (1998),Jason Kapono (2000), Jordan Farmar (2005), Luc Richard Mbah a Moute (2006) and Kevin Love(2008).

Drew II, a 6-foot-2 guard from Encino, Calif., has averaged 7.3 ppg and a conference-leading 7.7 assists per game. He has established UCLA’s single-season assists record (239), logging the sixth-highest single-season total in Pac-12 history. Drew II also leads the conference in assist turnover ratio (3.3).

Anderson, a 6-foot-9 guard from Fairview, N.J., has averaged 9.9 rpg and a team-leading 8.9 rpg in all 31 games. He is the only Pac-12 player to rank in the top-10 in rebounding (8.9) and assists (3.7), and he has logged a 1.7 assist turnover ratio, the fifth-highest mark in the conference.

Adams, a 6-foot-5 guard from Atlanta, has averaged 15.2 ppg and 3.8 rpg in all 31 games, making 25 starts. He has scored in double figures in 23 contests and ranks second on the team and eighth in the conference in scoring (15.2 ppg).

California’s Allen Crabbe earned Pac-12 Player of the Year honors, marking the second consecutive season in which one of the Golden Bears’ student-athletes earned the conference’s top honor (Jorge Gutierrez in 2012).

Colorado’s André Roberson was honored as the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year, and Stanford’s Dwight Powell captured Most Improve Player of the Year honors.

Oregon’s Dana Altman secured John Wooden Coach of the Year accolades. Currently in his third season as Oregon’s head coach, Altman guided the Ducks to a 23-8 overall record and 12-6 Pac-12 mark (tied for second place with California and Arizona).

UCLA (23-8, 13-5 Pac-12) will face either Stanford or Arizona State in a quarterfinal game at the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday, March 14. Game time is 12:06 p.m. at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

2013 ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE TEAM
First Team

Second Team

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Jio Fontan (USC, Sr., G), Arsalan Kazemi (ORE, Sr., F), Roberto Nelson (OSU, Jr., G), Jason Washburn (UTAH, Sr., C), Eric Wise (USC, Sr., F).

Pac-12 All-Freshmen Team

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Jordan Adams (UCLA, G), Kaleb Tarczewski (ARIZ, C).

Pac-12 All-Defensive Team

Honorable Mention (receiving at least three votes): Nick Johnson (ARIZ, So., G), Eric Moreland (OSU, So., F).

Player of the Year: Allen Crabbe, California
Co-Freshman of the Year: Jahii Carson, Arizona State; Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Defensive Player of the Year: André Roberson, Colorado
Most Improved Player of the Year: Dwight Powell, Stanford
John Wooden Coach of the Year: Dana Altman, Oregon