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Ticket sales are down, and big tours are scaling back to smaller venues. It looks to be a long, hot summer for the touring industry. On the cusp of the industry’s peak period, a number of high-profile tours and festivals have already hit snags, among them highly touted outings from Mariah Carey, the Field Day Music Festival, Lollapalooza, and Beck and Dashboard Confessional. Faced with a crowded tour market combined with high ticket prices, permit hassles, a sluggish economy and poor buzz, these tours and a handful of others have either had to scale back the size of the venues… Read more »

Liam Lynch was onstage about two minutes total, yet it was his song that best summed up Saturday’s 11-hour KROQ Weenie Roast. It was truly the “United States of Whatever.” As in, whatever goes. Good Charlotte unplugged, Pink got the party started with the Transplants, and Jane’s Addiction played unannounced, proving nothing was off-limits at the trend-setting radio station’s 11th annual summer festival. The lineup itself was a little bit of whatever, and certainly more diverse than last year’s “diet Ozzfest,” as Jack Osbourne called it. All three stages showcased a variety of bands, although it was surprisingly the main… Read more »

These days, try putting on a CD by your favorite rapper without hearing an endless series of plugs for Burberry, Air Force Ones, Alizé, Maybach, you name it. But are hip-hop’s ubiquitous product mentions just about artists chronicling their high-rollin’ lifestyles, or have the forces of marketing worked their way into your favorite rapper’s tunes? What’s next, a hit track written about Hummers paid for by the car’s manufacturer? Well, maybe. “Unless someone is paying me a billion dollars or offering equity, we don’t play that,” Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder Damon Dash said of writing products into a song on request.… Read more »

If you’re wondering if she still fucking hates Wes Scantlin, you probably won’t find the answer on Puddle of Mudd’s next album. “There’s a little bit of everything on this album. There’s songs that touch you like ‘Blurry’ did, but there’s no more ‘She Hates Me’s, there’s no more of that comical side, I don’t think, is there?” guitarist Doug Ardito asked Scantlin at last week’s ASCAP Pop Music Awards. “I’d have to write another song called, like, ‘She Kicked Me in the Balls’ or something like that,” the singer answered. Assuming he doesn’t, Scantlin will finish his singing duties… Read more »

We know Metallica and Limp Bizkit will headline the Summer Sanitarium Tour, but what we don’t know is who will be in those bands. Or do we? “We got Yngwie Malmsteen,” Fred Durst deadpanned Wednesday at a press conference to announce the tour, which also features Linkin Park, the Deftones and Mudvayne. “Oh man, he was next on my list,” Lars Ulrich said of the Swedish metal guitar virtuoso. “I’ll take Steve Vai and give you him,” Durst shot back. Of course, Durst and Ulrich were joking. Metallica’s bassist slot and Limp Bizkit’s guitarist slot remain vacant. The latter band… Read more »

Sticking to nearly the same sound that got them booed during their debut performance as kids at a Palo Alto middle school, The Donnas have paved a nine-year path from obscurity to success. “We were just dorks in high school with weird clothes,” Head Donna and lead vocalist Brett Anderson deadpans between bites of breakfast at Mel’s Diner during a tour stop in San Francisco. Now, the female foursome’s powerful punk and tales of romantic angst are the stuff of hot-selling CDs and live performances on MTV. Anderson, bassist Maya Ford, whiz guitarist Allison Robertson and frenetic drummer Torry Castellano… Read more »

Songs by Nickelback, Puddle Of Mudd, Linkin Park, and Jimmy Eat World scored the most spins on the radio this past year, according to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), which monitors radio play. Nickelback’s most-played status with 421,770 spins of “How You Remind Me” earned the Canadian band Billboard Award honors in early December. Second place goes to Puddle Of Mudd’s “Blurry” with 411,487 spins, while Linkin Park’s “In The End” comes in at Number Three with a reported 393,409 spins. At Number Four is Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” with 362,479 spins, and just behind is the Calling’s “Wherever… Read more »

While many have left their hearts in San Francisco, Avril Lavigne will leave her clothes in Cleveland. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum intends to display the outfit the spunky 17-year-old singer/guitarist wore in her MTV Video Music Awards-nominated “Complicated” clip, according to a Hall spokesperson. While flattered at the honor, Lavigne is just as surprised as anyone that her baggy cargo shorts, fitted white tank top and signature necktie will hang in the same building that houses such illustrious memorabilia as John Lennon’s 1965 Rickenbacker 12-string and Hank Williams’ white wool cowboy hat. “I think that’s… Read more »

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich, Blur’s Damon Albarn, Beck, the Neptunes, and the Strokes’ Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi are among the judges for the 2002 Shortlist Music Prize, which spotlights lesser-known acts for their artistic merit. Others musicians accepting the role as so-called “listmakers” for the second annual Shortlist are Mos Def, Paul Oakenfold, Iggy Pop, Jill Scott, the Roots’ Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, and Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. They are joined by directors Baz Lurhman and Spike Jonze, producers Dan “The Automator” Nakamura (Gorillaz) and Gustavo Santaolalla (Cafe Tacuba), as well as journalists and radio personalities. Through the summer and… Read more »

Puddle of Mudd are planning the follow-up to Come Clean, only they won’t do that with the details. While the producer and song ideas are “top secret,” singer Wes Scantlin revealed the schedule for recording the album, which should be released early next year. “After the European tour, we’ll be back in September and doing a lot of just jammin’,” Scantlin said backstage at KROQ Weenie Roast. “We have a lot of new songs and they are ready to go, and we can’t wait to get back in the studio [in October].” Puddle of Mudd, whose Come Clean has scored… Read more »