​--R.I.P. Brendan Mullen, who was one of the first DIY promoters of punk and independent rock and the first regular booker of punk bands in Los Angeles. The Masque, a venue that became home base for all that is first-wave L.A. punk--including the Germs and the Weirdos--was in essence his baby and brainchild. The venue's Monster Island-like proportions (10k square feet) became famous as a cheap place to have shows and rent out rehearsal space until it was shut down by local authorities in 1978. Mullen, an otherwise completely healthy 60-year old, died of a sudden stroke. "Sometimes, your number is just up," said one of his neurologists.

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​--Some will say we have this news item exactly backwards, but, uh--Lucky Dragons are opening for Thom Yorke's newly formed band, a Mad Libsy affair consisting of Yorke, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Radiohead's longtime producer Nigel Godrich, R.E.M.- and Beck-affiliated drummer Joey Waronker, and the percussionist Mauro Refosco. To reiterate: Lucky Dragons, a two person, man-woman operation whose sets generally take place in the midst of the crowd as various communal electronics are thumbed and petted, whose micropointillist laptop clicks and cuts are pretty much the opposite of arena- or club-anything, who will probably play the Cake Shop (if not the Whitney, or someone's house) when they next come back to town, will perform at both of Yorke's October 4th and 5th shows in Los Angeles at the Orpheum. For presumably thousands of befuddled people. Lucky Dragons!

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