Britt Chester

In 1986, one man took to a Judas Priest concert with a video camera to document the mayhem prior to a real rock and roll show. The video, aptly titled "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" became a cult classic, and has since inspired a descendant: "Dubstep Parking Lot." Here is our take on the parking lot happenings before this dubstep show at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado. Prepare yourself.

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So thanks to our pal Skrillex and his utterly inescapable ubiquitousness since the Grammys, dubstep has steadily made its way into the mainstream to the chagrin of true aficionados and the delight of unsuspecting casual music fans. But for as many newbies that have embraced the low-end sound, there's been twice as many who've been confounded by the whole phenomenon. As a public service to the dubstep virgins making the trek to Red Rocks tomorrow night for Global Dub Festival with Flux Pavilion & Doctor P, we tasked our resident dubstep expert Britt Chester with putting together a helpful primer for the uninitiated. Introducing: Dubstep for Dummies.

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SaysIt.com

Ethics be damned, I download music illegally. Why, just the other day, I downloaded Metallica's entire catalogue and then deleted it and downloaded it again just because fuck Metallica. Mostly, though, it's a convenience thing: I would consider buying tracks at a reasonable price on iTunes or some similar service, but I refuse to pay a dollar for a track with a bunch of Big Brother file restrictions on it when I could have the same thing with no file restrictions for free. I'm not proud, dudes, but that's just business.

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Magic will once again try to work his magic this year in the hunt for the US Air Guitar crown.

So by now you've probably heard the news: The tenth annual US Air Guitar competition is about to get under way, and the national finals are slated to take place in Denver on Saturday, July 21, at the Bluebird Theater.

The culmination of a dozen separate regional events, which kick off on Friday, June 15, in Portland and take place all across the country, the Bluebird finale will determine who moves on to the US Air Guitar World Championship in Oulu, Finland, at the end of August.

This year, the beloved Magic Cyclops will be making yet another run at the crown, and this year, he'll have a distinct advantage. While the other contenders will require untold measures to prepare for the altitude here, Cyclops is already primed, so he's focusing on far more important things, like saying his prayers, brother. Page down to see what else he's doing to get ready.

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We haven't even really had a chance to absorb and process the news of Beastie Boy Adam Yauch's death yet -- and this? Some people never cease to amaze me. Seriously. While it's since been amended, just a bit ago we noticed that some insensitive dickhole apparently thought it would be funny to edit the Beastie Boys wikipedia page with a positively stupefying bit about Adam Yauch's passing. Referring to him as "one of the dumb bastards," the anonymous editor then pointed out that "nobody cared because the Beastie Boys haven't been good, ever." Good one, dude. Your mom must be proud. Stay classy.

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The late, great Tupac Shakur brought back to life in 3-D at Coachella last weekend.

See Also: Tupac hologram at Coachella: Here's how it was done

Okay, so now we have it straight from the doctor's mouth: Contrary to an item in the Wall Street Journal last week citing "a person familiar with the discussions" claiming that representatives of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg were intending to discuss logistics for an impending tour featuring the so-called Tupac hologram, Dr. Dre himself, though Interscope, his label, filmed a message last night backstage at Coachella essentially debunking such an assertion. "I want to get rid of all the rumors out there," he says. "This was not done for a tour. If a tour happens, we'll see. This was done strictly for Coachella 2012, baby, just for you." Page down to see the clip.

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See also:
• Ten awkward dance moves weekend one
• Complete Coachella coverage

We were strolling through the Coachella grounds last weekend trying not to trip over passed out people when we encountered this fella. We weren't sure if it was the headdress, the dance moves, or the combination of both, but he coaxed us into sticking around and watching him. Just as we were starting to feel intrusive for "secretly" filming his entire routine, he winked and said, "You got that all on camera, right? Right on!" The full video of him doing his thing is below (trust us: it's worth it), along with a bunch more awkwards from Coachella.

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Update: YouTube video of Wyclef Jean's freestyle added below ("For the record," he sings, "I would never sell out," presumably in response to the anti-MJ clause of the contract), along with video from the Denver Post of Jean's brother surrounded by students and smoking up in an effort to get more people to the show and a recap from the show.

Nick Callaio

The arena didn't change too much from sound check to the end of the show.

See Also:
• Wyclef Jean contract with CU confirms $80K fee, plus a look at the performance rider
• 4/20 at CU Boulder: Wyclef Jean concert, police crackdown to shrink event?
• Wyclef Jean at Coors Event Center on 4/20

From the sounds of it, there are probably more people lingering on the sidewalks surrounding Civic Center park right now than are at the Coors Event Center on the University of Colorado campus for the free Wyclef Jean show. Backbeat's own Nick Callaio is on hand and says there's maybe 400 people in the arena right now. "The crowd looks like a herd of penguins huddled together," he says. "It's almost like a private party with the dude who ran for the president of Haiti."

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Tupac in 3-D last night at Coachella.

By now you've seen Tupac's performance with Snoop Dogg last night at Coachella. The legendary rapper was brought back to life by Dr. Dre's production company, in collaboration with Digital Domain, James Cameron's digital production company, and AV Concepts, a company based in Tempe, Arizona, using a Musion Eyeyliner projection systems. The late rapper was brought back to life employing a theatrical illusion known as Pepper's Ghost.

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screengrab/WGN

Holy Jesus! The bizarro-but-awesome Big Head Todd and Bill Murray saga just took an interesting turn. Last week, as you might remember, we posted a short item about Big Bad Bill being spotted all over Austin recently at SXSW rocking Big Head Todd T-shirts. The actor and La Cabeza Grande had apparently made each others acquaintance at show in Charleston, South Carolina last month. Murray was smitten -- thus the apparel, we presume. Well, apparently, the pair have formed a mutual admiration society or something. This afternoon for opening day, the two pals took in a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field, where they entertained the hometown crowd with a duet of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Page down to have a look.

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