There are no shortages of music festivals in Los Angeles every year, but none carry the cultural cajones of the the Sunset Strip Music Festival. After all, when you’re celebrating one of the most famous streets in the history of rock n roll it’s tough to compete. Hall of Famers like Van Halen, The Doors, Guns N Roses, Poison, Motley Crue, The Byrds, Frank Zappa, Ratt and an endless parade of hair metal bands all made their fame packing clubs like the Whiskey, Roxy, Gazzarris, etc., and the SSMF was organized to celebrate that rich leather & amps history. This year the festival is honoring Motley Crue, who not only headline Saturday’s street festival — when the whole strip gets shut down and turned into a street fair — but they’re also being presented the “Elmer Valentine Award” tonight at the House of Blues. Beyond the Crue, a great line-up awaits on Saturday including Public Enemy, Matt & Kim, Cobra Starship, She Wants Revenge, Bush (aka Daisy Lowe‘s daddy) and a ton of acts at the clubs lining the strip. We’ll be at the festival on Saturday photographing the bands, the madness and of course the fans, and hope to have a great picture gallery or three up next week. Tickets cost $250 for the 3-day pass or $55 for Saturday admittance, and are available now. See you there…

Sunset Strip Music Festival 2010 from Sunset Strip on Vimeo.