Kevin Bronson on December 11th, 2018

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News you can peruse:

■ Lauren Ruth Ward, who capped her busy 2018 with a big show Thursday night at the El Rey Theatre, will join a re-formed lineup of Divinyls when the Australian band tours their homeland in February and March. The L.A.-based singer will be filling the role of the late Chrissy Amphlett, who died in 2013 after a protracted battle with breast cancer and multiple sclerosis. She will be joining a lineup that includes Divinyls co-founder Mark McEntee and guitarist Frank Infante (Blondie). 

Ward said via social media that she met McEntee through Billy Steinberg, one of the original writers of Divinyls’ huge hit “I Touch Myself,” after Steinberg heard her cover the song. Although certainly not the first time a band has continued to tour after the death of its lead singer, the move has drawn some backlash in Australia.

■ Night on Broadway, the free festival that drew thousands to downtown L.A. the past four years for music, art and family events on the streets and in the district’s historic theaters, won’t be happening next year. It will return in 2020, according to the office of City Councilman José Huizar, the event’s main organizer. As the L.A. Times pointed out, the announcement came after FBI agents raided Huizar’s home and office. The event had been set for Jan. 26. The B-52’s headlined last year.

■ The L.A. collective the Wild Honey Orchestra, which annually stages tribute concerts to benefit the Think Tank for Autism, will salute the Kinks on Feb. 23 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Led by music director Rob Laufer, the orchestra will perform “The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society” (an album that just celebrated its 50th birthday), along with other songs from the era. Special guests (and there are always special ones at Wild Honey shows) have not yet been announced. Tickets start at $30 and are available here.

■ Avant-pop greats Stereolab will not only reissue all seven of their albums next year, but they will return to touring. “Keep ’em peeled for news of the live return of Stereolab,” the band wrote on social media. Their last L.A. show was in 2008 (the late Richard Swift was the opening act). Might they be an appropriate reunion band for Coachella? Or even better, Desert Daze?

■ CRSSD Fest has announced the preliminary lineup for its spring fling, highlighted by a rare U.S. appearance by Ladytron. The biannual electronic music festival goes off March 2-3 at Waterfront Park in San Diego. Topping the bill are ODESZA, Phantogram, Jungle, Armand Van Helden, Justin Martin & Friends, Whethan, Maetrik and the Martinez Brothers. Tickets start at $135 and are available here.

■ L.A. pop duo Cardiknox (Lonnie Angle and Thomas Dutton) have released the farewell single “Back in L.A.” and announced they’re splitting. “We fell in love creating music together and making this band,” they wrote on social media. “We grew closer, we were a team, we pushed each other endlessly, until eventually we grew apart. And though that is sad, today is not a sad day. … But for now, farewell.”