Former Atlanta Music Guide featured band The Californias have broken up. What many hoped would be an April Fools joke ended up to be true. The group was originally slated to play Music Midtown's Locals Only Stage and kickoff show at the Roxy, along with a Spring tour of the East Coast, all of which have been cancelled. Their final show will be April 1st at the 10 High with Homeroom and Silent Kids. Doors are at 9pm, and they are the first band on. www.thecalifornias.net

Music Midtown's Locals Only Showcase is taking place next Friday April 1st at the Coca Cola Roxy. Doors are at 7pm, and the music from bands like Avenge Vegas, Linger, Five Eight, and Collective Efforts starts at 8pm. Admission is $10.00 and includes a sampler featuring songs from every artist playing the Locals Only stage this year. Other bands rocking the stage this year include Dropsonic, Good Friday Experiment, Honestly, Modern Skirts, and A Fir-Ju Well.

Click over to our newest feature - the AMG Listening Post, and check out our favourite stuff we've found to listen to online from bands like The Futureheads, The Bravery, David Bowie, Queens of the Stone Age , and more. Speaking of The Futureheads, they'll be making a special appearance in Atlanta June 1st at The Loft! Tickets go on sale April 1 at www.ticketalternative.com.

Is nothing sacred? First an error leads to a recount in Florida for the election, then there's the current American Idol recount that's underway, and now there's controversy brewing at March Bandness. First round winner Scent have had to drop out of the competition for "personal reasons." The question is who now gets to fill the open slot? The third round was one of the most hotly contested so far. The Paper Champions beat out local favourites Heavy Mojo by just one point, scoring an 86, the highest in the contest so far. In a statement released by Andrews Upstairs/ Rock Solid Entertainment head honcho, Brad Broadrick states "There were only two bands we could pick from to fill their spot. The second place band from Round 1 OR the band with the second highest number of votes for the entire contest which was tonight's band Heavy Mojo. The 2nd place band from round 1 only brought a handful of people, but the judges scored them high. The 2nd place band from tonight had the higher total number of points and lost by only one point. The judges scored them high and they brought a good number of people, so I have decided to ask Heavy Mojo to fill the remaining slot in the Final Four, thus the people's and judge's choice." The final round with all 4 winners ( Tim Brantley, Heavy Mojo, Line Of Sight and the Paper Champions) takes place March 30th. Because each band needs to bring fans to help win, tickets are selling fast. Tickets are available from www.ticketalternative.com

UPDATED - The partial lineup for 2005's Music Midtown Festival has been announced, and it is far from last year's somewhat disappointing lineup. The festival has been moved from it's annual early May date to June 10 - 12, and a brief list of confirmed artists includes The White Stripes, Loretta Lynn, The Pixies, The Killers, Joan Jett, Bloc Party, Keane, Lou Reed, Louis XIV, The Features, and many more to be announced. After a fantastic sold out show at the Tabernacle, Interpol will return and play Music Midtown Friday night. Calls have been made to bands today who were accepted to play the 99X Locals Only stage. Rumour has it that we'll be watching the likes of Linger, Avenge Vegas, Trances Arc, Psychic Hearts, Collective Efforts , and more this year..So congratulations to our local bands! This year's festival also includes a Country music stage and a hip hop stage produced by Jermaine Dupri. A limited number of advance 3 day passes are on sale now for $65, but the tickets will be $75 starting April 9th. For more information, visit www.musicmidtown.com.

Former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio has announced a brief string of tour dates on the East Coast, including a show at the Fox Theatre on May 6th. Anastasio has been working in the studio on his forthcoming solo album with Atlanta producer Rick Beato . www.treyanastasio.com
Ticket Alternative is now selling advance tickets to select shows at MJQ's Drunken Unicorn. The first show will kick off March 29th with Code Seven, Decibully, and The Snake The Cross The Crown. To purchase tickets, click here.

World renowned Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood broadcasts live from Atlanta on Friday March 11 & Saturday March 12. Britains Radio 1 claims "Atlanta has a long history of producing great R 'n' B artists and has been dubbed the 'new Motown'. Atlanta is also home to the Crunk sound and the team will be checking out the scene and its latest offshoot Crunk NB ." Westwood will also be holding open-mic sessions in the Freestyle Booth to unearth new talent. To top it all, helping out with co-hosting duties will be local boy Lil' Jon. Guests include Big Boi, Ludacris, Killer Mike, Greg Street, DJ Mars, The Aphiliates (T.I, & Ludacris DJ’s) - web site bbc.co.uk/radio1

On Friday March 11th J.BOOGIE brings his dub, hip-hop, reggae and house records all the way from SF to grace the decks of Django , (495 Peachtree Street) An opening set from Kevin O kicks off at 10pm - Tickets are $10.00 each. www.djangoatlanta.com

Check out our concert listings for a ton of new great shows coming to town, such as Kasabian, Muse/Razorlight, The Mars Volta, and more! The Interpol and Kings of Leon shows this month have already sold out, so make sure you get your tickets for these upcoming events quickly.

LONG-VIEW will be coming through ATLANTA on 3/24 and playing at the The Roxy. This is their first ever US Club tour and they will be sharing the bill with Dogs Die in Hot Cars and Phoenix ! LONG-VIEW are crossing the country to promote their first US LP release, Mercury, which drops March 15th on Columbia. The domestic version differs slightly from the UK version released last year on 14th floor, including a new mix of first U.S. single "When You Sleep" and the addition of UK single "In A Dream." We think you'll find " Further" is the best tune. The bands ascent - from the back streets of Manchester to Top 30 in the UK singles chart to recording in the US with Pearl Jam producer Parashar - might have looked swift and effortless from the outside. But this shorthand version doesn't take into account years of honing musicianship and crystallizing an unshakeable belief in songs that reflect real human experience. See for yourself on the upcoming tour or visit www.longviewmusic.com

For those making the trip out to Austin's South By Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival next week, be sure to support the local acts that will be playing the country's most renowned music conference! Atlanta will be represented by The Queers, Hot Young Priest, David Berkeley, Copeland, The Black Lips, The Forty Fives, Magnapop, The Woggles, Lilitu, Samadha, Nashville Pussy, MF Doom, The Letters Organize, Sean Costello, and Caroline Herring. Athens bands such as The Whigs, Parker and Lily, Of Montreal, Jet By Day, and more will be playing as well. For the full lineup of Georgia bands, visit the state's SXSW page.

The first round of Coors Light's March Bandness at Andrews Upstairs is over, and the band Scent has come out on top as the winner! Next Wednesday's round features Frenzy, Skybucket, Tim Brantley, The Red Tree, Eat the Sun, Sold Out, and Mayberry.
Join several Atlanta bands next Friday March 11th for "I Love the 80s" Night at The Loft. Local favorites Avenge Vegas, The Californias, Heavy Mojo, Ryan Waters, State of Man, and Uncrowned will be paying homage to the days of leg warmers and Pac Man with covers of Duran Duran, Motley Crue, The Cure, Violent Femmes, Tears for Fears, Pat Benetar, Talking Heads, and more. 80's dress code is optional but strongly advised, so break out your Members Only jackets! Doors are at 8pm, and tickets are $10/$12. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the St. Baldrick's Charity for Child Cancer Research. For advance tickets, visit Ticket Alternative. www.allstarnightsatlanta.com

The local band Echovalve has won the Rock category of the 2004 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for their song "Dirty Little Secret." The song was chosen by the international committee which consisted of performers such as the Black Eyed Peas, Elton John, Carlos Santana, Foo Fighters, Cake, and more. The band will be playing the Velvet Underground this Saturday with Lazyeye (Disturbing Tha Peace's first Rock act signing) and Hybrid-L. www.echovalve.com

Red Letter Agent are gearing up to release their upcoming EP, Burn the Good Ones Down on March 15. The band will be previewing the record March 10th in the Atlanta Room at Smith's Olde Bar with AMG's own Iain spinning, along with 99X Sunday School's Jay Harren. The band's singles "Burn the Good Ones Down" and "Hide Your Love Away" have been added into rotation at 99X, and RLA will headline the Roxy March 25th with The Whigs, Second Shift, and Y-O-U. www.redletteragent.com

The world's largest student film festival, Delta Campus Moviefest, will culminate in a final screening of various university school film projects at the Fox Theatre next Thursday March 3rd. Students made short films featuring music from various local bands, which were displayed during special screenings at each school. Bain Mattox 's music was the most frequently used throughout the festival, and he and his band will be performing at the finale event as well. For more information, visit www.campusmoviefest.com.

Check out our Concerts listings for a ton of new Atlanta concert dates, which include Garbage, Snow Patrol, Tori Amos, Velvet Revolver , and much more!

My 80's is Better Than Yours is a compilation disc featuring local Atlanta artists now out, featuring covers of popular 80's tunes such as "Metro," "Holiday Road," "Devil Went Down to Georgia," and more. Featured bands on the disc include Y-O-U , Homeroom , Royal 7 , GoodNight City , and Unicorns! the Musical . The CD's proceeds will go to Aid Atlanta , a local organization providing education and support services for people living with HIV. For more information, visit the CD's music page at Myspace.com. The compilation is now available at Tower Records in Buckhead and Criminal Records in Little 5 Points.

Sopo Bicycle Co-Op, a non-profit volunteer-operated community bicycle resource center is hosting Broken Hearts & Bicycle Parts, a benefit for the organization that provides support, sharing equipment, and more for cyclists. The event kicks off this Saturday February 19th with a bicycle rally at 4:00pm. Registration begins at 3:30pm in Little Five Points, located in the cul de sac behind Clothing Warehouse. The afterparty will take place at Lenny's on Memorial Drive and feature various regional acts such as Elevado, Bellglide, Light Pupil Dilate, The Julia Dream, Variac, and more. Admission is $7.00. Doors are at 6pm, and the show starts at 7pm. www.sopobikes.org

San Diego's Louis XIV blow through Atlanta on Sunday March 13th to open for Hot Hot Heat at The Loft. 99X just added the excellent track Finding Out True Love Is Blind and we've got 5 copies of their EP Illegal Tender to give away courtesy of their record label Atlantic. Just email us with your name and mailing address address and we'll draw five lucky winners out of our hat inbox on March 12th. Listen to Finding Out True Love Is Blind : Real | Windows | Quicktime HI - Lo