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Buy plenty of bottled water! Say goodbye to your loved ones! Go on a shopping spree you’ll never have to pay off! It’s “Top Downloads Night” on “American Idol.” Contemporary music on “Idol?” CLEARLY the end of the world is near!! This very well could be our final “American Idol” live blog together!



The contemporary quandry is one that’s always plagued the show. How are these contestants expected to compete in a current pop landscape after the show’s over when all they’ve had to up to that point is sing Barry Manilow and tunes from the Great Depression? It baffles me that TV’s biggest show hasn’t figured that out yet. Pop music is less about singing ability and more about image. Just ask Lady Gaga. (Oh wait! The contestants can because rumor has it, she’s slated to appear in some capacity this week.)



Ironic, then, that America and the judges are finicky about showing love to “Idols” covering songs still on the radio. Sound too much like the original = failure. (Poor Felicia Barton!) But deviate too much and they send you packing anyway! (Ju’not Diaz and Dead Wife Guy’s buddy never stood a chance!)



That’s why I’m concerned for Allison tonight. She shines when she can connect to a song on an emotional level, and there ain’t that much emotion in Akon’s catalogue. All signs point to a Kelly Clarkson cover, and it’s nearly impossible to tackle one of those without sounding like your rocking out at a karaoke happy hour.

Megan’s doomed, to, unless she can find a way to deconstruct a pop song and make it play to her strengths. I guess her strength is her beauty, so perhaps she’d be better off turning her song into an instrumental and just stand there and look amazing. Hell, I’d still vote for her!

MTV.COM user pickles had some hilarious ideas regarding Megan’s always-changing name. She wrote, “Whenever I hear Megan Joy, I always think of Almond Joy. Actually, if her name changes to Almond Joy next week, I don’t even think I’d be surprised. She seems to have a new name every week. And the whole ‘Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t…’ phrase kinda suits her. Ooooh. Maybe she can get Lil on this whole name changing bandwagon and she could show up as Lil Mounds.” Hilarious! And delicious!

And lastly, sad news in the Gokey household, as Danny’s grandfather passed away this past week. But look at the bright side, Gokester. At least you have another corpse to dig up and exploit! That will help you last another 3-4 weeks easily.

But what’s with all this projection?! Enough pointless predictions. Let’s get live-blogging already!



7:52 pm - Whew! I’m back from a whirlwind trip to Florida. I got to check out the awesome, brand new “American Idol Experience” attraction. Stay tuned for a blog entry tomorrow.

7:55 pm - Did you miss last week’s Motown drama? There’s still time to catch up by watching my latest “Idol” in 60 Seconds recap. Clicky.



7:58 pm - Fun fact: tonight’s episode is 85 minutes long, the same running-time as “Cloverfield.” And just like the monster in Cloverfield, Danny Gokey is frightening New York hipsters.

8:01 pm - Oh my Zoe! We’re only 60 seconds in and there are already too many styling disasters to mention.

8:02 pm - Spotted in the audience behind Randy Jackson: David Spade, a skinny Mandisa and quite possibly the crazy old lady that lives next door to me.

8:02 pm - Seacrest just asked Kara to define artistry. She failed.

8:03 pm - Spotted in the audience throwing their kids around like a sack of potatoes: Harry Hamlin and Lisa Rinna’s massive lips.

8:04 pm - Tonight’s theme: any song that’s ever been downloaded. And now the Top 9 are hanging out with Seacrest in his radio studio (where everyone is using iPod earbuds to hear him? Woah, Seacrest, how about you spring for some professional audio equipment? Cheap-o!)

8:05 pm - And now Seacrest is playing with a computer that has silly “Idol” samples in it. Basically, Ryan is your annoying co-worker who plays “Scarface” excerpts at inopportune times.

8:05 pm - Anoop is singing Usher’s “Caught Up.” Douchey Anoop is back.

8:06 pm - I don’t even know where to begin. The flat notes, the snarling, or the chain that’s wrapped around his left shoulder?

8:07 pm - Dear Anoop. Never brush the dirt off your shoulders. EVER.

8:07 pm - There you have it. As if we needed any more proof that Anoop is a-jerk, his cheering section is a bunch of white frat guys.

8:08 pm - Holy crap. Kara just told Anoop that she feels like a bunch of frat guys dared him to sing that Usher song. Kara is reading my mind! Or, even scarier, is she reading my blog??

8:09 pm - Kara, if you’re reading this right now, poke Paula.

8:10 pm - Loopy Paula is back!! She just hiccuped something about developing “signature moves.” What do you mean, Paula? Like clapping like a seal, or pulling crayons out from your crotch?

8:10 pm - Seacrest to Anoop: “Let’s go back to Kara’s comment…because I saw you shaking your head and biting your tongue.” Clearly Ryan is just as obsessed with the ShamWow hooker story as I am.

8:11 pm - Stank attitude alert! Raise your hand if you want to punch Anoop right now? Good luck with that r&b career, buddy.

8:15 pm - Megan Joy is rehearsing Bob Marley/Lauryn Hill’s “Turn Your Lights Down Low.” I feel like it should be called “Turn Your TV Down Low.” Oof.

8:15 pm - Megan Joy just said the judges punched her in the mouth last week with their comments. Clearly Megan is just as obsessed with the ShamWow hooker story as I am.

8:16 pm - The good: Megan’s finally wearing heels. The bad news: she’s taking hair advice from Jason Castro. The worst news: the song is just abysmal.

8:19 pm - The judges hated her. Paula’s telling her to sit on a stool and stop dancing. You know you’re in trouble when Paula says you shouldn’t dance.

8:20 pm - I agree with the judges. That song was just all sorts of wrong. Her vocals weren’t the worst they’ve ever been, but the song had four notes and she just squawked all over ‘em.

8:26 pm - Coke Real Moment with Gokey. He mentions the dead grandpa in t-minutes three, two…

8:27 pm - Danny is doing a Rascal Flatts number in order to “tone it down.” Also, to “pander to the South.”

8:28 pm - The beginning of the song felt very cold and calculated.

8:29 pm - It built nicely, and he didn’t pull the Taylor Hicks crap this week, but it didn’t move me. I still think he’s overrated.

8:30 pm - Paula wants to push “repeat” in her heart after hearing that performance. Does that mean she’s gonna call Emilio tonight?

8:31 pm - Okay, judges. Let’s not go crazy. Sure, Anoop and Megan were craptacular, but let’s not anoint Danny the “Idol” just yet. Ugh.

8:33 pm - Allison is playing the guitar and singing No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak.” Three lines in and I’m tearing up. This is beautiful!

8:34 pm - I’m not feeling her hair at all. Remember that scene in “Mannequin” when Kim Catrall and Andrew McCarthy lip-sync to the Starship song? She’s wearing that wig.

8:35 pm - Randy is dissing her outfit. The judges have it out for this girl. The conspiracy against Allison continues.

8:36 pm - OMG now Kara is complaining about her outfit, too. NOOO! Not one word about her mindblowing vocals? Seriously, Kara?!! So much for “artistry.”

8:36 pm - Thank you for doing your job, Paula. Abdul: “You can outsing artists who are twice your age.” But let’s be honest. Gwen Stefani is three times this girl’s age, no matter how many songs about high school she records.

8:37 pm - I give up on this show. Seriously. Simon’s claiming her silly outfit distracted from her vocals. And then he claimed she shouted the song. COME ON DUDE! The first third of that was 4000X more emotional than I’ve ever heard that song.

8:42 pm - If “Glee” is not a huge hit, I have no faith in TV viewers. How amazing does this show look??

8:44 pm - Adult contemporary Scott is singing the adult contemporary staple “Just The Way You Are.” This is Scott’s best performance to date, but that’s like celebrating the recent stock market bump. The economy’s still f*****, folks!

8:46 pm - Kara likes Scott’s new look, which is essentially Sharon Stone’s look from that scene in “Basic Instinct” when she showed us her ladyparts.

8:46 pm - Paula Abdul: “Out of all the contestants that have graced the stage, I’m most proud of you and I want the audience to know it has nothing to do about your challenge but everything to do that makes me forget about that challenge.” So……it’s about the challenge then.

8:47 pm - Question: is it worth giving a blind man a standing ovation?

8:48 pm - Congrats, Scott. You sang a song on tune this week! Let’s give the man a parade.

8:53 pm - Matt is already coming off more likeable in his Coke Real Moment.

8:54 pm - He jumped his cue and started the song while Seacrest was introducing him. Mistake #1. Mistake #2? Letting “Idol” position him out in the audience with a keyboard. The crowd could not look more disinterested in him, and he’s standing - literally - four inches from them. Mistake #3? He’s wearing leather again! Dear Matt, you are not Chris Martin.

8:56 pm - Paula just used the word “aborted” in reference to his performance.

8:57 pm - Call it, doctors. This dude is a dead man.

This week in New Reviews, we have not one but three new albums from Prince: LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND and Elixer by his protégée Bria Valente. First, LOtUSFLOWER finds the Purple One embracing his inner-guitar god. “Whether it’s the spare funk of ‘Wall of Berlin,’ the metal grind of ‘Dreamer’ or the hazy cover of ’Crimson and Clover,’ the music kicks into high gear when Prince starts soloing, delivering one epic face melter after another in a style halfway between David Gilmour’s and Eddie Hazel’s,” Gavin Edwards writes in his three-star review. “The drawback is that when he isn’t playing guitar, the music on this disc is oddly muted.”

Even better is the three-and-a-half star, funky MPLSoUND. As Edwards writes, “Five of MPLSoUND’s nine songs sound like lost B sides from assorted classic Prince albums (Dirty Mind, 1999, Controversy, etc.); these days, even a really good Prince song usually reminds the listener of a better, earlier one.” And Rounding out the collection is Elixir, which mustered a two-star rating. “Prince has touted Elixer as a quiet-storm album in the Sade mode, but most of it is just generic pop ballads.” Still, it’s hard to complain when all three albums have been packaged together at the low price of $11.99 exclusively through Target (or $77 if you joined Prince’s new membership-based LOtUSFLOW3R Website.

Also out today: the latest disc from PJ Harvey and John Parish, A Woman A Man Walked By. Harvey’s last album, 2007’s White Chalk, was her quietest ever, but her roar returns on Woman. Will Hermes writes that Polly Jean is “gleefully deranged” on the LP, going “animalistic on the title track … and echoing the strap–on threat from her classic “50Ft Queenie.”

UGK’s UGK 4 Life also hits shelves today. The album brings member Pimp C, who died of an accidental overdose in 2007, “back from the dead,” as the deceased rapper eerily proclaims in the LP’s opening track. “Pimp’s surviving partner, Bun B, doesn’t wallow in the macabre. Instead, we get UGK basics: songs about drugs, sex and flossing, flavored with thudding, no–nonsense beats,” Jody Rosen writes in his three-and-a-half star review. The album serves as a proper send off to Pimp C, reminding us that we’ve lost “one of its most musical and melodic MCs.”

For more reviews of the biggest releases in stores now, check out Rolling Stone’s CD Reviews Section.

Photo: Loccisano/Getty

The Allman Brothers leave the Beacon and schedule a summer trek with Widespread Panic, the Hold Steady map out five June dates after the release of their live CD/DVD A Positive Rage and Grizzly Bear celebrate the release of Veckatimest with a summer on the road. Full dates for all three tours, after the jump.

The Allman Brothers
August 19 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
August 21 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
August 22 - Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC
August 24 - Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook US Cellular Pavilion
August 27 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
August 29 - Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center for Perf. Arts
August 30 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
September 2 - Chicago, IL @ Charter One Pavilion
September 3 - Chicago, IL @ Charter One
October 3 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
October 4 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
October 6 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
October 7 - Portsmouth, VA @ Ntelos Wireless Pavilion
October 11 - Raleigh, NC @ Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
October 13 - Knoxville, TN @ World’s Fair Park
October 14 - Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park
October 16 - Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
October 17 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

The Hold Steady
June 7 – Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
June 8 – New York, NY @ The Bowery Ballroom
June 10 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
June 14 – Ithaca, NY @ Castaways
June 15 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom

Grizzly Bear
May 24 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
May 25 - George, WA @ Sasquatch! Festival
May 26 - Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
May 28, 29 - New York, NY @ Town Hall
June 1 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
June 2 - Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero
June 3 - Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center
June 4 - Montreal, QC @ Le National
June 5 - Toronto, ON @ Phoenix
June 7 - Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
June 8 - Milwaukee, WI @ Pabst Theatre
June 9 - Bloomington, IN @ Buskirk-Chumley Theater
June 11 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
June 12 - Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo Music Festival
June 13 - Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
June 15 - Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
June 16 - Austin, TX @ The Parish
June 19 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
June 21 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
July 19 - Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival

The Breeders‘ limited-edition EP Fate to Fatal comes out April 21st, and as Rock Daily reported in our preview, the Deal sisters shot the video for the title track at an usually athletic location: a St. Louis roller derby. Now we’re happy to bring you Skate to Fatal, the making-of video that takes you behind the scenes of the harrowing shoot. Click above to hear a glimpse of one of the four tracks that’ll appear on the disc (the others include Bob Marley cover “Chances Are,” the Mark Lanegan-featuring “The Last Time” and “Pinnacle Hollow”) and watch the ladies in action.

So how did the Breeders wind up with skaters in the first place? Here’s the story, straight from Kelley Deal:

“When we did Lollaplaooza in 1994, my mom and dad were there in Chicago and they adopted this girl that day” — “Not literally!” shouts Kim Deal — “they found wandering around. Her name is Amy Whited. We saw her again in St. Louis this summer. She’s been involved in roller derby, the Arch Rivals. Then in October the Breeders did an Obama benefit in Cincinnati, Vote Early Rock Late, and the Cincinnati roller girls were there. That next month, I went to Minnesota to judge a craft competition, and one of the teams was the Minnesota roller girls. I was like, I can take a hint, we’re going to do this. There’s some video of the band in London when we recorded the song we’re using as B-roll.”

In the Skate to Fatal video, Kelley adds, “This song really lent itself to using roller derby as the visual,” citing lyrics like “I don’t want to break a thing.” The clip was co-directed by James Ford and the band’s own Mando Lopez. Stick with Rock Daily for the video’s premiere in the coming weeks!

This year’s “American Idol” has already seen some serious star traffic thanks to return engagements from three of the show’s first four winners: Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Carrie Underwood. This week, last season’s champ, David Cook, is dropping by to sing his new single.

Last week, we asked you who you’d like to see back on the “Idol” stage and by a huge margin, loveable, dreadlocked season-seven strummer Jason Castro beat out the competition. In fact, Castro stole the show with 45 percent of the vote, easily outpacing the tie for second place between season-three seventh-place finisher Jennifer Hudson (who is rumored to be returning to the show) and season-five sixth-place finisher Kellie Pickler, who each got 13 percent of the vote.

Third place was also a tie, between season-two runner-up Clay Aiken and season-six winner Jordin Sparks, who each got 8 percent of the vote.

Not too many of you were eager to see Clarkson’s former pal and season-one runner-up Justin Guarini (5 percent), season-four sixth-placer Constantine Maroulis (3 percent), or controversial season-six mediocrity Sanjaya Malakar (3 percent). And, frankly, none of you voted for season 4 washout Corey Clark, who was disqualified because he had not disclosed some legal issues — and who later claimed he’d had an alleged affair with judge Paula Abdul.

Not so great for them, but the good news is that Castro’s attorney tells MTV News that the singer is currently in negotiations to appear on the show this season.

By Matt Harper

Asher Roth is a true man of the people. A few weeks ago, the young MC hinted that he was going to start a revolution down at South by Southwest — and Asher did not disappoint.

After his packed performance at Club de Ville, Asher took to the crowded Austin streets with our MTV News crew. Despite going to the doctor earlier that day because of an irritated throat, he insisted on hanging out with the throngs of music lovers wandering the streets.

Asher lit up when he got the MTV News mic (or, as he affectionately referred to it, his “magic wand”) and immediately started talking to all the fans on the street. So what did Asher want from the SXSW’ers? He asked them to give their Twitter-size assessment of their experiences thus far. Although the request confused many of the inebriates on Austin’s famed (and debaucherous) Sixth Street, Asher is a charming and convincing dude and was able to coax answers — albeit many incoherent ones — out of everyone.

By this point, it was well after 2 a.m., and we were all getting a bit famished. We dashed over to the closest pizza place (a ridiculous $4 a slice … a far cry from Asher’s college days). Seeing the daunting SXSW lines, Asher flashed a smile and challenged two girls near the front to a game of rock-paper-scissors for their place in line. It took about 30 seconds for him to lose 2-nil … but the girls were nice enough to let Asher order with them, and of course he returned the favor by shelling out for the pizza.

So with pizza in hand and a bunch of new SXSW friends in tow, our night ended. And Asher Roth had once and for all secured the title of SXSW Man of the People.

When Rolling Stone hit Austin’s South By Southwest Music Festival a week ago, we handed Semi Precious Weapons‘ outrageous frontman Justin Tranter a Flipcam and a simple set of directions: film yourself doing what you do before, during and after gigs and hand over the footage. We wound up with two days’ worth of video — 250 different clips featuring the outrageous singer bathing, high-kicking, hanging with Perez Hilton, Juliette Lewis, Sylvain Sylvain and Rachael Ray, baring his nipples, hopping onstage at the Japanese punk showcase, breaking his heel, applying eyeliner, showing off his dance belt and greeting the glam-rock band’s fans. It took days to sift through the footage (and remove the bits that wouldn’t get past the censors), but we’ve finally done it: click above to watch 48 wild hours in the life of Semi Precious Weapons at the music industry’s biggest annual event.

When Rolling Stone first profiled the New York party band in December 2008, Tranter told us, “There’s 10 songs on our record and nine of them are about how fantastic I am.” Their debut album, We Love You, is packed with winkingly cocky lyrics (sample: “I can’t pay my rent but I’m fucking gorgeous”) and raw garage-rock riffs that have won over a diverse audience of admirers (Rachael Ray to Tranter onstage: “I still want those boots, bitch!”). Tranter tells RS that he was recognized on the streets of Austin from his stint on MTV’s Made and an appearance on E!’s Chelsea Lately. We have to assume next year he’ll be hearing about the jacuzzi footage we nabbed last week.

Don’t miss all of Rolling Stone’s SXSW reports — interviews, video and reviews tackling Metallica, Jane’s Addiction, Kanye West, the Decemberists and a boatload of up-and-coming bands. Plus, check the new issue of RS (out this week!) for David Fricke and Caryn Ganz’s wrap-up of the fest’s top five breakout acts.

[Video: Pete Maiden]

After a successful one-night-only reunion concert last year, the members of ’70s supergroup Bad Company will once again come together, this time for a run of summer 2009 shows. According to a press release, the band’s founding members — singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs and drummer Simon Kirke — are all on board for the 10 shows that kick off June 17th in Hollywood, California and conclude July 4th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The Doobie Brothers will join Bad Company on the tour.

In August 2008, the three remaining members of Bad Company (bassist Boz Burrell passed away in 2006) reunited for the first time in nearly a decade to perform at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. A DVD of that sold-out show, Bad Company – Hard Rock Live, will be released on August 8th. “It’s great to be back with Paul and Simon,” Ralphs said in a statement. “We made great music together and had the time of our lives doing it. I’m really looking forward to getting back out there this summer.”

As of right now, the jaunt doesn’t take the band west of Michigan. Prior commitments may prevent this from becoming a full-scale reunion tour, however. As Rock Daily previously reported, Mick Ralphs is set to reunite with glam band Mott the Hoople in October, and Rodgers still has some touring obligations to Queen following the release of The Cosmos Rocks last year. Check the tour dates as they stand now below:

Bad Company
June 17 - Hollywood, FL @ Hard Rock Live
June 19 - Atlanta, GA  @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
June 20 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
June 23 - Raleigh, NC @ Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
June 24 - Virginia Beach, FL @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
June 27 - Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
June 28 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre
July 1 - Independence Township, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 2 - Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC
July 4 - Atlantic City, NJ @ Resorts Atlantic City

Related Stories:

• Bad Company to Reunite for One-Night-Only Concert
• Mott The Hoople Reuniting For 40th Anniversary Concerts

Photo: Cultice/Fox

When Rock Daily first saw the trailer for The Osbournes: Reloaded, which debuts tonight on Fox, we dismissed it as a “debacle” that paints the legendary Black Sabbath singer as a clown — a show unbefitting the Prince of Darkness. We may have predicted the show would get canceled after a handful of airings, but what we didn’t see coming was that the new Ozzy Osbourne family variety show would be at the center of a fight about constitutional rights down in Florida. The Fox affiliate in Panama City, WPGX Fox 28, has opted not to air the show, claiming the program is “unsuitable and contrary to the public interest,” the city’s News Herald reports.

“This is more of an MTV thing,” WPGX general manager Jeff Cavileer told the News Herald. “They are reporting it to be a variety show. There is worse stuff than this out there. This show in my market does not serve my public in Panama City. I did not feel it was appropriate.” Cavileer added that the Osbournes show would follow American Idol, a series that attracts a lot of young viewers (and we’d add also features a difficult-to-understand star — cough, Paula). Instead, WPGX will broadcast a repeat episode of The Simpsons. However, viewers down in the panhandle are now complaining that the station heads have no right to decide what they can or can not watch and are even threatening to boycott the affiliate.

Keep in mind, this is Panama City, Florida, we’re talking about here, the self-proclaimed “Spring Break Capital of the World” and not the Bible Belt. Many a Girls Gone Wild has probably been filmed there, parents fear sending their daughters there, yet the Osbournes are somehow too taboo. A pretty great First Amendment discussion has broken out in the comments section over at the News Herald article, so be sure to check that out.

For the rest of the non-Bay County America, the Osbournes and their gags about kissing grandmas and having Ozzy work drive-thru will air tonight after AI. To butcher a Voltaire quote, Rock Daily does not agree with the show, but we’ll fight to the death for your right to watch it.

Related Stories:

• The Osbournes Return To TV With “Punk’d” Pranks, Grandma-Kissing Gag

By Melanie Wolfson

This past weekend, I put friends (and a term paper) on hold, because one of my favorite bands — the Gaslight Anthem — was in town … twice. Sort of.

After seeing my fellow New Brunswick, NJ natives perform time and time again since their debut in 2007, it was a no brainer that I’d be at both area shows on their first-ever U.S. headlining tour, Friday night at New York’s Webster Hall, and then Saturday, at the Trocadero in Philly. This was more important than some term paper.

So, was it worth it? Or, would my heart be broken by the fact that Gaslight, a band I could once claim as my very own, have now moved on to headlining tours and mainstream acclaim. And did I ever finish that term paper? Well, read on to find out.

At the kickoff ot their The ’59 Sound tour (the Webster gig), I learned to accept the fact that the Gaslight Anthem will no longer be playing in houses or at the Court Tavern, the local New Brunswick bar. I guess I’m willing to accept that fact. Still, I’m not sure what was more shocking- that crowdsurfers emerged from the sea of rowdy fans, or that seeing these guys now entails paying $8.00 instead of $2.75 for a beer. Either way, it’s clear that the band now has a huge following. Even the security guards were singing along.

Another sign that I was in uncharted waters … Gaslight are now playing clubs with V.I.P. sections, something I discovered by accident at Webster Hall. I still don’t know how I ended up there, but I had a great balcony view nonetheless. And it was pretty amazing to watch the band’s new crowd — not just kids with Mohawks, but parents with kids in tow — take in the show.

On Saturday, I brought my 14-year-old brother along, who, thanks to the guidance of his older sister, is a big Gaslight fan. The show ended up being even better than the first night, since we nabbed front row spots, and I had made the drive to Philly for the first time without getting lost. I enjoyed watching my brother take in the performance; as his first real concert, I can tell frontman Brian Fallon and the rest of the Gaslight guys have one more lifelong fan.

And while it’s strange to see the Gaslight Anthem on bigger stages now, one thing remains the same- the band is staying true to their Jersey roots and will still play smaller shows when they have the time, despite their growing fame. I already have my tickets to their double dose weekend of performances in May at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, and already can’t wait.

Hopefully I won’t have another term paper due then.

The 1967-68 outtakes on The Place and the Time (Sundazed) were first
released as bonus tracks on 2007 reissues of Moby Grape’s Columbia LPs,
including withdrawn versions of 1967’s spectacular Moby Grape and ’68’s Wow. Here, on one CD, these rarities — among them rowdy audition tracks and Moby Grape outtakes — are a dynamic alternate portrait of the star-crossed San Francisco band at work, fusing pop, soul, blues and country with psychedelic
zeal.

Photo: Getty

Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo will release a live CD and DVD documenting his in-store performance at the Fingerprintz record store in Long Beach, California, according to the official Weezer site. Recorded in December 2008 while Cuomo was promoting his Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, the set features a mix of Weezer songs played to a small crowd, with 150 members of the audience joining Cuomo for an encore jam. Both formats will be released April 28th, with the DVD featuring an interview between Cuomo and Rushmore actor/Coconut Records man Jason Schwartzman.

Cuomo and Schwartzman will also team up on April 11th when they plot an Alternative Radio Countdown Takeover on Sirius Radio and play new material they’ve been working on. And here’s where things get strange — stranger than the Red Album cover, the Alone II cover and even that train conductor costume Cuomo wore to Fingerprintz: Actor Rainn Wilson, or The Office’s Dwight Schrute, joins Cuomo on the Weezer leader’s new material. Wilson was in The Rocker, so it kind of makes sense. Plus, maybe Wilson can inspire Cuomo to break out those Green Album-era glasses again.

In news more Weezerian, the band have announced their first tour date of 2009, a gig at Tokyo’s Fujirock Festival on July 26th. The official site also hints, “Beyond that date there will be more international and North American shows announced when they are confirmed,” perhaps in support of their seventh album the band is rumored to be releasing this year.

Related Stories:

• Rivers Cuomo: “I Feel Incomplete Until the Music Gets Out There”
• Weezer Break Records With New “Troublemaker” Video
• Weezer Cover Nirvana, Jam With Fans at Tour Kick Off Show

Sean Connery is a legend. He’s Indiana Jones’ dad. He’s Bond, James Bond. And my interview with him from last night left me both shaken and stirred.

When I arrived at Dressed to Kilt — a Scottish benefit for American veterans — here in New York on Monday night, little did I know that by 8 p.m., I’d have had one of the most interesting experiences of my professional life. I’ve interviewed a good deal of people, but never someone like Sir Sean.

When he showed up to the red carpet, mayhem ensued: Publicists starting shuffling around and the press line shifted, so that all the reporters could get a quote from the legendary Scot. In a nutshell, everyone wanted a piece of him. So, when we saw our opportunity, we sort of bombarded him. And there I was, face to face with Connery.

I asked him about how he got involved with the event — why I chose such a mundane question is beyond my reasoning in hindsight. But now I’m happy I did, because here’s what followed:

Jocelyn: How did you get involved with tonight’s event?

Connery: I wrote in and sent my money, and they accepted it. But how did you get in?

Jocelyn: I’m kind of a big deal. So, I don’t know if you’ve heard about me. (In the background you hear my coworker, Vanessa White Wolf, say to herself: Oh no!)

Connery: No, tell me.

Jocelyn: No, I’m just kidding.

Connery: I thought you were serious! … You have to read the script.

Jocelyn: I do. I’m a little flustered to be around you right now.

Connery(slightly intrigued): Oh, really?

Then we headed back to business, and he shared what he thought of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” And to see the whole amazing episode for yourself, check out the video!

Dear Billy,

So I heard you’re looking for a new drummer. And in a manner befitting of a guy who called his last album Zeitgeist, you’ve taken to the Internet to find this person. This is a very big deal to me, as I have always been a die-hard Smashing Pumpkins fan (despite writing this column in 2007 ), which is why I’m here to help you in your search.

I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but there are lots of drummers on the Internet. And most of them are probably going to be emailing you their “resume, photograph/headshot [and] any music/audio showcasing [their] talents,” like it says on the Pumpkins Web site. Most of these drummers are totally not fit to carry Jimmy Chamberlain’s timpani mallet … amateur bashers who just want the fame and glory that comes with (maybe) playing on an upcoming Pumpkins’ album.

But there are some who are worthy. And since I care so deeply, I’ve trolled through thousands of hours of clips to find five of them. After the jump, you’ll find your next drummer. I promise.

1. omnip0tent1: Not only does this kid have an awesome YouTube name, but he’s “been playing drums ~6 months” and he sort of rocks on “Bullet With Butterfly Wings.” He plays in shorts, just like Travis Barker. Also, check out the sweet tapestry behind him. That should make him a mortal lock for the gig.

2. techfreakazoid: He looks like your accountant’s son, he plays on an electric kit and he’s not old enough to remember Adore. Sign this kid up immediately. At the very least, he can do spreadsheets for you.

3. Joshua Hui: The so-called “five-year-old rock star.” He can handle business on “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” And he will totally up the cute-factor of the band, something that’s been sadly missing since Melissa Auf der Maur departed. If he’s late for practice, you could totally send him to time out. Could also take over some of the “on-stage temper tantrum” duty for you.

4. austinhostetter: As he puts it himself, “this is honestly the worst drum playing I’ve ever done, but I had fun.” Ringo Starr has been getting by on this logic for almost fifty years now.

5. The Cadbury Gorilla: This dude is already an Internet sensation, and he positively kills Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight.” Plays with passion, power and finesse. Also, let’s face it, dude, you probably need a simian in the band at this point.

By Kathleen Newman-Bremang and Talia Manzo

Miley Cyrus hasn’t won an Oscar in her short career, but she has delivered an emotional acceptance speech. The teen queen tells MTV why she broke down at the Kids’ Choice Awards.

Who’s your favorite “American Idol” hopeful? Can’t decide? Neither can Jordin Sparks! Jordin told MTV she’s still a fan of the show that made her famous — and she even votes every week!

Of all the artists who have spoken out on the alleged Chris Brown and Rihanna altercation, we had yet to hear from Soulja Boy Tell’em … until now.

Whitney Port became the enemy of “Twilight” fans everywhere, but she became Kim Stolz’s favorite MTV reality show spin-off star during their interview last weekend.

Can’t wait for the “Star Trek” reboot? Don’t fret! Check out our Movies Blog for all the hints we gathered about the upcoming J.J. Abrams flick from the movie’s new trading cards.

Photo: Bedder/Getty

“It’s just like playing a three-hour show,” said the Dead’s Bob Weir, backstage at New York’s Angel Orensanz theater, “but it’s broken up by cab rides.” Weir wasn’t joking. To unofficially kick off their spring reunion tour, the Dead had grand plans to play a free concert in a large outdoor venue in New York City, possibly Battery Park. When both the weather and city paperwork scotched that idea, the band did the next best thing. On March 30th, the Dead played three free, back-to-back shows in the city like Prince did in L.A. Saturday night; the roughly 4,100 free tickets were distributed to fans by Internet lottery.

And what a long, intermittently strange day it was, beginning with Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and touring guitarist Warren Hynes playing “Friend of the Devil” on The View. (The band is longtime friends with co-host Whoopi Goldberg.) At 5 p.m. the men did a rare acoustic-trio set at the intimate Angel Orensanz, a former synagogue on the Lower East Side. The show focused on American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead classics like “Dire Wolf,” “Cumberland Blues” and “Casey Jones,” but the highlight was a largely instrumental, 20-minute version of “Bird Song,” the three men weaving guitar lines in and around each other.

At 8 p.m., Lesh, Weir and Haynes were joined by drummers Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti at the Gramercy Theatre, where the full band played an hour of nonstop electric music. Nearly half the set was taken up by an introductory jam and “Playing in the Band,” followed by beefy renditions of “Good Lovin,’” “The Wheel” and “Franklin’s Tower” that revealed how tight the reformed band has become after lengthy rehearsals in February. (Dropped from the set list due to the one-hour time limit were planned versions of “Viola Lee Blues” and “Built to Last.”)

At 11 p.m., the day of the living Dead wound up at the largest of the three venues, the 3,000-capacity Roseland. Still in electric mode, the Dead awed an enraptured, dancing crowd with nearly two more hours of music, starting with “Althea” (on which Haynes sang Garcia’s parts, as he often did), followed by “Cassidy,” “Eyes of the World” and a typically improvisational “St. Stephen.” The set ended with a celebratory, guitar-jammy “Sugar Magnolia,” Haynes throwing in Chuck Berry riffs. “This band is interesting,” said Hart afterward, slipping into Forest Gump voice. “It’s like a box of chocolate: You never know what you’re gonna get.”

The shows served as a warm-up for the Dead’s full tour, which starts April 12th in Greensboro, North Carolina, and continues through mid-May. (The band has worked up nearly 100 songs, including rarely performed oddities like “King’s Solomon’s Marbles.”) What did the band think of the music they made on their Manhattan “cab tour”? “It still needs some work,” Weir said after the Roseland set. “We have to stratify our parts more. But hope is on the horizon.”

For much more from the Dead’s triple-gig marathon in New York, keep your eyes peeled for a full story in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone.

Related Stories:

• Still Truckin’: The Dead Reunite in Pennsylvania
• Backstage at the Rock & Roll Inauguration: The Dead’s Phil Lesh on Obama Gig
• Grateful Dead Roadie: “I Took My Job as a Sacred Task”

Photo: WireImage

• U2 will set single-day concert attendance records in three cities with their 360° Tour. With 82,000 tickets at Jersey’s Giants Stadium, 72,000 for Boston’s Gillette Stadium and 65,000 for Chicago’s Soldier Field nearly instantaneously selling out yesterday, second shows were added to each market, Fox Business reports.

• Unearthed demos of Crosby, Stills & Nash’s greatest hits will be released June 2nd via Crosby, Stills & Nash Demos, Reuters reports. Among the tracks coming out of CSN’s stocked vaults are early versions of “Almost Cut My Hair,” “Déjà Vu” and “Love the One You’re With.” Nash recently treated RS to an acoustic set.
• Rancid will release their first album in six years, Let the Dominoes Fall, on June 2nd. The album was recorded at the Skywalker Sound Studio with Bad Religion’s Brett Gurewitz serving as producer. Booker T plays organ on the track “Up To No Good,” one of the album’s 19 tracks.
• OutKast’s Andre 3000 took the Stankonia interlude “Cruisin’ in the ATL” a little too seriously and was arrested for speeding in his native Georgia. According to TMZ, Andre 3K was pulled over after going a blistering 109 mph in a 65 mph zone. After taking a dapper photo surely good enough for our Rock Star Mugshot Gallery the Love Below rapper was released on $1,200 bail.

Photo: Getty

Despite reports that Rihanna wasn’t helping the Los Angeles district attorneys prepare their case against Chris Brown, the “Umbrella” singer’s lawyer, Donald Etra, reiterated to Us yesterday, “She will do everything that the law requires her to do… nothing has changed.” A district attorney spokeswoman backed up Etra’s statement, saying, “We deal with her attorney, who says she is a cooperating victim.”

Brown still hasn’t entered a plea after being charged on March 5th with a pair of felonies for assault and making criminal threats. Brown will be arraigned on the charges next Monday, April 6th. Last month, after reports surfaced that Brown and Rihanna had reunited at Diddy’s Florida mansion following their alleged February 8th incident, lawyer Etra still said, “At this point, she is willing to do anything that the law requires her to do. If subpoenaed, she will testify.”

Regardless, Rihanna’s further cooperation likely isn’t that key to the case at this point, even if the singer refuses to testify. There’s proof of abuse in that “horrific” photograph of a battered Rihanna, plus there are Rihanna’s statements to police immediately after the incident.

Both Rihanna and Brown were no-shows at this past weekend’s Kids Choice Awards. The two young stars were nominated for Favorite Singer and Favorite Song, but on March 11th Brown withdrew himself from competition in light of his pending charges. Rihanna lost Favorite Female Singer to Miley Cyrus, and Favorite Song went to Beyonc&#233’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” rather than “Don’t Stop the Music.”

Related Stories:

• Chris Brown Charged With Two Felonies In Rihanna Assault Case, Faces Up to Nine Years In Prison
• Rihanna Will Testify If Subpoenaed in Chris Brown Case
• Chris Brown Enters No Plea In Rihanna Assault Case, Arraignment Pushed to April 6th

Jason Newsted’s 15-year stint playing bass for one of heavy metal’s biggest acts came to an end nine years ago, when he exited Metallica for “private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love.” On April 4th, when Metallica are inducted into Cleveland, Ohio’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Newsted will be there to accept rock’s highest honor, and he’s even agreed to reunite with drummer Lars Ulrich, frontman James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett for an impromptu set he promises will include “at least one song about Satan.” (Revisit the band’s career in Metallica: Through the Years in Photos.)

Since splitting the band to form the short-lived Echobrain, Metallica fans have wondered whether Newsted has ever regretted leaving the band. With less than a week to go before the Rock Hall, Newsted tells Rolling Stone the answer is absolutely not.

“I tell you very honestly, 1 billion percent, I have never regretted leaving Metallica,” Newsted says. “It was the right thing for everyone. It was the right thing to do for the camp, that’s it. I’ve never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that, not once. I made up my mind. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger, and because of that, I have never looked back. The past is where its supposed to be.”

Perhaps that’s why Newsted has yet to see a copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica, a video game that doesn’t even feature him in pixilated glory. According to Newsted, he wasn’t even aware of his absence from the game.

“I haven’t seen it, but it’s a wonderful thing that we were able to do, as long as it’s the music that we played and we recorded that everybody is playing along to or listening to,” he says. “And a new generation is getting turned on to Metallica… all of these are positive things. But I’ve never touched a Guitar Hero. I don’t play video games. I play the real instruments. I don’t waste my time with anything else.”

Newsted, who says he’s recently put the finishing touches on Voivod’s 15th studio offering (it will be the band’s last effort featuring late guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour’s contributions, and is slated for release in June), says Metallica is worthy of the Rock Hall, and says he’s still a fan of his former band.

“I was one of the biggest fan of the band before I went in, and I’m a Metallica fan still,” he says. “I was always the one person in the world who had an inside look and an outside look at the band, at the same time, and now, I’ve been out for a while, and I’m able to be a fan again.”

Does that mean Newsted likes Death Magnetic? “It was better than St. Anger.”

Related Stories:

• Rolling Stone’s Essential Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Coverage
• Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009
• Jason Newsted on Metallica’s Rock Hall Induction: “The Black Album Band Will Be Back”

Jason Newsted’s 15-year stint playing bass for one of heavy metal’s biggest acts came to an end nine years ago, when he exited Metallica for “private and personal reasons and the physical damage I have done to myself over the years while playing the music that I love.” On April 4th, when Metallica are inducted into Cleveland, Ohio’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Newsted will be there to accept rock’s highest honor, and he’s even agreed to reunite with drummer Lars Ulrich, frontman James Hetfield and guitarist Kirk Hammett for an impromptu set he promises will include “at least one song about Satan.” (Revisit the band’s career in Metallica: Through the Years in Photos.)

Since splitting the band to form the short-lived Echobrain, Metallica fans have wondered whether Newsted has ever regretted leaving the band. With less than a week to go before the Rock Hall, Newsted tells Rolling Stone the answer is absolutely not.

“I tell you very honestly, 1 billion percent, I have never regretted leaving Metallica,” Newsted says. “It was the right thing for everyone. It was the right thing to do for the camp, that’s it. I’ve never told anyone that I wanted to go back or anything like that, not once. I made up my mind. It was not an easy thing to do, but it was something I had to do. I thought about it very much before I pulled the trigger, and because of that, I have never looked back. The past is where its supposed to be.”

Perhaps that’s why Newsted has yet to see a copy of Guitar Hero: Metallica, a video game that doesn’t even feature him in pixilated glory. According to Newsted, he wasn’t even aware of his absence from the game.

“I haven’t seen it, but it’s a wonderful thing that we were able to do, as long as it’s the music that we played and we recorded that everybody is playing along to or listening to,” he says. “And a new generation is getting turned on to Metallica… all of these are positive things. But I’ve never touched a Guitar Hero. I don’t play video games. I play the real instruments. I don’t waste my time with anything else.”

Newsted, who says he’s recently put the finishing touches on Voivod’s 15th studio offering (it will be the band’s last effort featuring late guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour’s contributions, and is slated for release in June), says Metallica is worthy of the Rock Hall, and says he’s still a fan of his former band.

“I was one of the biggest fan of the band before I went in, and I’m a Metallica fan still,” he says. “I was always the one person in the world who had an inside look and an outside look at the band, at the same time, and now, I’ve been out for a while, and I’m able to be a fan again.”

Does that mean Newsted likes Death Magnetic? “It was better than St. Anger.”

Related Stories:

• Rolling Stone’s Essential Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Coverage
• Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009
• Jason Newsted on Metallica’s Rock Hall Induction: “The Black Album Band Will Be Back”

Britney Brings Her 'Circus' To Pittsburgh

We catch up with Britney's loyal fans on her latest tour stop.

Like Billy Corgan? Want to be in Smashing Pumpkins? No, these aren’t trick questions. The band — essentially just Corgan at this point — will be holding an open call for drummers on April 10th in Los Angeles. Interested parties should send background info (presumably a brief bio), photographs (presumably of themselves) and performance links via e-mail to pumpkinsdrummer@gmail.com.

The Pumpkins announced the departure of longtime drummer Jimmy Chamberlin in a late-afternoon press release on Friday, March 20th while much of the music press was either in Austin at South By Southwest or hitting the bars for happy hour. On the 24th, Chamberlin blogged about the split, writing, “I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don’t fully possess. I won’t pretend I’m into something I’m not. I won’t do it to myself, you the fan, or my former partner. I can’t just, ‘Cash the check’ so to speak.’ ” Chamberlin was Corgan’s longest-running musical partner, playing on all Pumpkins albums except Adore; he even performed on Zwan’s Mary Star of the Sea.

Corgan has yet to make a personal statement about the state of the Pumpkins. His last public appearance came in Washington, DC in mid-March, when he testified before a Senate committee regarding artists receiving royalties when their songs are played on the radio. According to the press release announcing Chamberlin’s ousting, Corgan will hit the studio this Spring to start work on the next Pumpkins album.

Related Stories:

• Corgan’s Fury: Exclusive Q&A
• Jimmy Chamberlin Explains Smashing Pumpkins Split, Says He Can’t “Cash The Check”

On April 4th, Metallica will march into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when they’re inducted alongside Run-DMC and Jeff Beck. But tonight on Fuse, the band charts its journey to the Rock Hall in a new special called Metallica: In Their Own Words (it airs at 9 p.m.). The doc mixes brutal onstage footage with the band’s reflections on its lengthy and prolific career. Click above to check out a clip from the show, where frontman James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich muse on staying on the road for 20-plus years. (Get reacquainted with the band’s career in Metallica: Through the Years in Photos.)

“When people talk about longevity they go right to the Rolling Stones,” Hetfield says. “No disrespect, they’re not doing what we’re doing, it’s that simple,” Lars Ulrich adds. Hetfield continues, “They’re not head-banging, they’re not playing 100-miles-an-hour songs.”

Flea will induct the San Francisco metal legends on April 4th in Cleveland, where the band will perform with former bassist Jason Newsted. “Lars is ready to rock,” Newsted told Rolling Stone last week. “He sounded like a kid again talking about the induction, and I felt pretty much like that, too. Getting fired up to rock after that many years… it’s pretty special.” Rock Daily will have more from Newsted tomorrow, and full coverage of the Hall of Fame induction live from Ohio on the 4th, so stay tuned.

Related Stories:

• Rolling Stone’s Essential Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Coverage
• Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck Lead Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009
• Jason Newsted on Metallica’s Rock Hall Induction: “The Black Album Band Will Be Back”

The Allman Brothers Band’s return to New York’s Beacon Theatre came to a triumphant end over the weekend, riding the success of 15 shows, over 100 songs played, and a guest list that rivals that of The Last Waltz. The Brothers moved into the recently restored venue March 9th and the critically acclaimed run is already being called the band’s best in their 20-year history of playing the historic landmark.

Over the course of the month, Rolling Stone was there for almost every note, from opening night to the final notes of Saturday’s “Statesboro Blues” encore. When our coverage last left the hallowed hall, bluesman Buddy Guy and jam legends Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell of Phish had set an incredibly high standard for the ensuing guests to live up to — a standard that was more than matched by the impressive list that followed.

The next night, March 13th, featured actor Bruce Willis on harmonica before appearances from the Asbury Juke Horns and Boz Scaggs. Pedal steel master Robert Randolph and jazz drumming legend Lenny White stopped by on the 14th, John Hammond and Bonnie Bramlett took their turn on the 16th, and Sheryl Crow broke up the boys’ club on the 17th.

In one of the poorest-kept secrets in recent memory, the 19th and 20th marked the first-ever onstage meeting of the Allmans and Eric Clapton. Slowhand and the band tackled blues standards and cuts from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs before encoring with “Layla,” featuring perhaps Duane Allman’s most famous riff, each night. Pick up a copy of Rolling Stone Issue 1076 (on newsstands this week!) for a full report.

Next up were Bruce Hornsby, who added keyboards on the 21st, and Jimmy Herring and John Bell of Widespread Panic on the 23rd. The 24th brought some humor, as the band emerged for their second set as “the Allman Brotherzz Band” with chest-length novelty beards to match special guest Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

March 26th brought no visitors, but marked the official 40th anniversary of the band, who celebrated the occasion by performing The Allman Brothers Band (1969) and Idlewild South (1970), their first two albums, in their entirety. The penultimate show featured Kid Rock and a (surprisingly) short, but nonetheless beautiful rendition of “Freebird” before Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Dead, another American institution, took the stage on Saturday to help lower the curtain on 40 years of excellence for the Allmans.

If you missed any of the sold-out shows, or just feel like reliving them, check out some of the best videos from the run below. The Allmans return to the road May 12th at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California, before embarking on a short string of dates throughout May. They’ll help usher in another festival-filled summer with headlining appearances at Warren Haynes’ Mountain Jam on May 31st and their own Wanee Festival on June 5th and 6th.

“I Know You Rider (with Trey Anastasio and Page McConnell),” March 12, 2009

“Can’t Find My Way Home (with Sheryl Crow),” March 17, 2009

“Jesus Just Left Chicago (with Billy Gibbons),” March 24, 2009

“Freebird,” March 27, 2009

“Sugaree (with Phil Lesh and Bob Weir),” March 28, 2009

Photo: Venema/WireImage

New Kids on the Block follow up their cruise with another round of tour dates, Judas Priest perform their entire 1980 heavy metal classic British Steel in amphitheatres this summer and Metric set out in June in support of Fantasies. Full dates for all three treks, after the jump.

New Kids on the Block
May 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
May 29 - Birmingham, AL @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 30 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheater
May 31 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheater
June 2 - Charlotte, N.C. @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
June 3 - Raleigh, N.C. @ Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
June 5 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
June 6 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
June 7 - Washington, D.C. @ Nissan Pavilion
June 10 - Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion
June 11 - Pittsburgh @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
June 12 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
June 13 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 14 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
June 16 - Saratoga, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
June 18 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun
June 19 – Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
June 21 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
June 23 – Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
June 25 – Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Center
June 26 – Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
June 27 – Cincinnati, OH @  Riverbend Music Center
June 28 – Seattle, WA @ Verizon Amphitheater
July 1 - St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless
July 2 - Memphis, TN @ Mud Island Ampitheater
July 3 - Wichita, KS @ Hartman Arena
July 7 – Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
July 9 - San Francisco, CA @ Sleep Train Pavilion at Concord
July 10 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater
July 11 - Las Vegas. NV @ The Pearl
July 12 – Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
July 15 – Denver, CO @ Fiddler’s Green
July 17 – Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
July 18 – Houston, TX @ Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion

Judas Priest
July 1 - St. Charles, MO @ The Family Arena
July 2 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
July 3 - St. Paul, MN @ Harriet Island
July 7 - Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
July 8 - Canandaigua, NY @ CMAC
July 9 - Toronto, ONT @ Molson Amphitheatre
July 11 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
July 12 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach
July 14 - Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Amphitheatre
July 15 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 17 - Walker, MN @ Moondance Jam
July 18 - Cadott, WI @ Rockfest/Cheppewa Valley Music
July 21 - Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavillion
July 29 - Paso Robles, CA @ California Mid State Fair
July 31 - Concord, CA @ Sleep Train Pavillion
August 1 - Marysville, CA @ 98 Rock Jamboree
August 2 - Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre
August 4 - San Diego, CA @ SDSU Open Air Theatre
August 5 - Costa Mesa, CA @ Pacific Amphitheatre
August 7 - Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
August 8 - Las Vegas, NV @ Thomas & Mack Center
August 10 - Albuquerque, NM @ Sandia Casino
August 11 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre

Metric
June 4 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
June 5 – Portland, OR @ Wonder
June 6 - San Francisco, CA @ BFD
June 7 - San Diego, CA @ Independence jam
June 8 – Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern
June 11 – Denver, CO @ Ogden
June 12 – Lawrence, KS @ Granada
June 13 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Ave
June 14 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
June 15 – Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
June 17 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5
June 18 – Washington, DC @ 930 Club
June 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero

Despite one street team’s attempt to ballot-stuff this weekend’s Rock List, echoing the Great “Killers-gate” of 2008, San Francisco punks and inspirers of musicals Green Day were voted the Best Color Band by the Rock Daily readers, edging out other colorful artists like the White Stripes, Pink Floyd and Black Flag. Our Top 20 reads like a rainbow, even if it is missing Agent Orange, the Silver Apples and the Indigo Girls, so check out the entire Rock List: Color Bands below:

1. Green Day
2. The White Stripes
3. Black Sabbath
4. Red Hot Chili Peppers
5. Pink Floyd
6. Deep Purple
7. Black Flag
8. Black Keys
9. James Brown
10. Black Lips
11. Al Green
12. Blue Oyster Cult
13. White Zombie
14. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
15. Black Kids
16. Frank Black
17. Godspeed You! Black Emperor
18. Yellowcard
19. Silversun Pickups
20.  The Red Krayola

Yesterday, Rock Daily was watching the UNC Tar Heels bulldoze the Blake Griffin’s Oklahoma Sooners on their way to a Final Four spot when suddenly a TV time-out led to the above commercial, which left us perplexed for the remaining five minutes of the game. Like previous Guitar Hero ads, famed coaches like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, UNC’s Roy Williams, Louisville’s Rick Pitino and noted hothead Bobby Knight donned tidy-whities while paying homage to Risky Business, fake-playing Guitar Hero to Bob Seger’s “Old-Time Rock N’ Roll” just like Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez, American Idol finalists David Cook and Archuleta and Heidi Klum before them.

However, the curve ball here is an out-of-nowhere appearance by Metallica, whose own Guitar Hero game was released yesterday (Rock Daily talked to James Hetfield about the game at SXSW.) Together, the juxtaposition of college coaches and heavy metal icons make for the strangest pairing ever in a commercial. We get it, March Madness is going on, Metallica has a game out, but the whole synergy just seems so weird, especially when James Hetfield says, “It means you’re gonna have to put on some pants, pops.” Still, we can watch Rick Pitino cluelessly play drums with only one hand all day, so someone please make a .gif out of that.

By Tamar Anitai

FROM BUZZWORTHY: Around the beginning of March, there was a great and mighty gasp heard ’round the Tokiosphere when, on top of his new black-and-white dreads that replaced his signature lion’s mane, Bill Kaulitz revealed another brand-new look. Gone were the kohl-ringed, heavily lined (and lined… and lined… and lined again) cat eyes, pale lips and matte skin. In their place, Bill revealed a rust-colored smoky eye, glossy lips and skin that shined in all the right places in all the right ways.

Continue reading about Bill Kaulitz’s brand new look at Buzzworthy.MTV.com