Pearl Jam laid low for a spell after having a big year with their self-titled comeback album. But in recent weeks, there's definitely been a lot of band-related stuff to talk about: Getting censored by AT&T; Eddie Vedder's solo soundtrack for Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" flick; a brand new DVD, "Immagine in Cornice," that documents the band's tour of Italy.

Yesterday, ax man Mike McCready was cool enough to check in and elaborate on all of the above. And here's what he had to say about ...

... his reaction to the AT&T fiasco.

... how encounters with German metal band Scorpions and Iron Maiden shaped his rapport with fans today.

... why Pearl Jam chose to document a tour in Italy.

... giving director Danny Clinch backstage access and becoming more comfortable with fame.

... why some band members get less face time in "Immagine."

... "big brother" Boom Gaspar. (Or should I say "Booooooooooooooooooom"?)

I just got this from Monqui, the group booking the upcoming Arctic Monkeys show in Seattle:

The Arctic Monkeys show that is scheduled for this Saturday (September 29) at the WaMu Theater is moving to the Paramount Theater. All previously sold tickets will be honored for the Paramount show. Tickets will be available for the Paramount show through Ticketmaster outlets.

In response to the previous blog post, Pearl Jam publicist Nicole Vandenberg said that Eddie Vedder solo dates had been discussed but that none had been booked. Hmm. Guess we'll have to wait and see how that all unfolds.

Anyway, check back on Friday when I should have some audio clips of Mike talking about the new DVD, rough Italian crowds and – German metal band Scorpions? Stay tuned.

In recent interviews, Pearl Jam front man Eddie Vedder has hinted that he might play a few shows in support of his solo soundtrack for Sean Penn's critically acclaimed new film "Into the Wild." And guitarist Mike McCready seemed to confirm those plans this morning during an interview that mostly focused on Pearl Jam's excellent new concert DVD, "Immagine in Cornice," which was released on Tuesday.

When asked what everyone would be doing until Pearl Jam reconvenes to work on a new album next year, McCready said he believed Vedder would play Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit concert and “some West Coast dates.”

However, he declined to fill in further details pending an official announcement.

McCready called from Los Angeles where he has been working on demos for a documentary project. He said that recording background songs for the new "Immagine" DVD inspired him to pursue more soundtrack and scoring work.

Here are a few more shots from Endfest 16. Stay tuned while I work up some shots on the Smashing Pumpkins, Social D, Satellite Party and the rest.

KNDD-FM's Endfest 16 brought Smashing Pumpkins, Social Distortion, Bright Eyes, Satellite Party, Against Me!, the Bravery, Paramore and more to the Qwest Field's north parking lot on Saturday. (What's the deal with Entercom stations and parking lot concerts, anyway? And can a brotha get a folding chair or a complimentary End seat cushion help make it through the whole 10 hours? I'm just sayin'.)

Anyway, I made the drive up I-5, armed with my notebook and Canon Rebel, to capture some of the highlights. And the first act I caught was latest Seattle band to stir up a national buzz, Minus the Bear.

I'll be post my photos in installments, broken down by set. So stay tuned and I should have all my best shots worked up by tomorrow afternoon.

Well, off the Endfest. And hopefully traffic will allow me to catch Minus the Bear, a group that you may have noticed has been dubbed Artist of the Week by MTV. Hard to miss with all the commercials that have been running.

Hmmm. Could they be Puget Sound's next Modest Mouse?

Shiny, red energy domes; the return of the cheerful but creepy Booji Boy; and hundreds of superballs, plucked from singer-keyboard player Mark Mothersbaugh's pants and bounced into the audience. It was just another night at the office for pioneering new wave band Devo, Friday night’s headliner at the Puyallup Fair grandstand.

Devo – clad typically in plastic, red bio domes and yellow chemical protection suits - got its sole MTV smash, “Whip It,” out of the way during the early portion of the their set, which also included fan favorites “Peek-A-Boo,” “Secret Agent Man” and their robotic reinvention of the Stones’ “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

The group’s name is, of course, a shortened version of the term “de-evolution,” a concept that drives the Devo aesthetic. And midway through the set, bassist and keyboard player Gerald Casale asked the crowd, “How many people tonight think that de-evolution is real? You don’t have to look far for the evidence.” (The Puyallup Fair being a prime showcase for the sorts of "devolved" consumerism and herd mentality the band tends to parody.)

Casale's query was the lead in to off-kilter set staple, “Jocko Homo,” which was surprisingly anthemic (given its jarringly jerky rhythms) in the live setting. Mothersbaugh turned the song’s Q & A refrain (also the title of the 1978 album that the song comes from) into a rousing call and response exercise.

Q: “Are we not men?” A: “We are Devo!”

And as the song built up steam, the band ripped off the rest of its already torn suits and threw them into the crowd, revealing even nerdier ensembles-- black t-shirts, running shorts and the type of black sock, loafer combo favored by your grandpa. Ad one point, Mothersbaugh jumped into the crowd, working it into a frenzied state as he yelped the song’s comically insightful last verse:

“God made man/ But he used the monkey to do it/ Apes in the plan/ We’re all here to prove it/ I can walk like an ape/ Talk like an ape/ I can do what a monkey can do/ God made man/ But a monkey supplied the glue" We must repeat
O.k. lets go!

This was, of course, followed by a lot of more repetitive but fun call and response.

The unusually melodic (for Devo) “Gut Feeling” provided a rush a little later. And Mothersbaugh exited the stage soon after while Casale announced a “surprise” guest. It was Booji Boy (pronounced “boogie boy”), actually Mothersbaugh wearing a creepy, rubber baby mask (of the variety that horror movie slashers favor) and cherubic robes. The character, which has been with the band since the mid-‘70s, sang “Beautiful World” in a cheesy, choir boy falsetto.

“You know, I just love the smell of a krusty pup,” Booji Boy announced, mid-song. “That’s good, American cooking.”

The show peaked with Booji Boy/Mothersbaugh reaching into his robes and hurling a seemingly endless supply of superballs into the crowd, which fans clamored to grab as they flew their way. And, for the record, a speeding superball is a lot harder to snag than a flying drumstick.

I was surfin' around, lookin' at old videos on the Web, when I came across this classic video for Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues." You know, the one INXS ripped off two decades later. And it wasn't quite how I remembered it.

Wow! Who knew he was a fan? Before I was born even.

Seattle's Experience Music Project just sent out its first call for submission to Sound Off!, it's annual battle of the bands for groups whose members are all 21 and younger (a contest that little ol' me helps judge most years.)

Past participants include regional favorites Schoolyard Heroes, The Lonely H, Capitol Basement and Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. And what you do if you want to enter next year's contest, which will take place next February, is download the application, fill that suck out and mail it with a non-returnable CD of your original tunes to EMP/SFM, Attn: Sound Off!, 330 6th Avenue North, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98109.

Applications are due Nov. 15. Got it? Got it. Late.

Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich really know how to throw a party.

After a short set by country rapper, Cowboy Troy, Big & Rich made a dramatic entrance, rising from an elevated portion of the Puyallup Fair grandstand stage earlier tonight. The dynamic duo kicked things off with "Radio," from its newest CD "Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace." And Big & Rich shifted right into high gear with funky, feel good follow up, "Comin' to Your City." Fans danced, stomped and clapped along through a good portion of the next hour.

The patriotic "8th of November" was a big hit, as were a cute girl and boy that Big Kenny pulled onto the stage to help sing a few lines of "Big Time." They'll have some nice souvenirs for show and tell tomorrow, since they left the stage with a pair of pair of Big & Rich's guitars.

"This is the start of our superstar careers," Alphin said, as he sent them back to their seats. Puyallup Fair grandstand headliners for 2020, maybe?

Big & Rich took a bow with - what else? - "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," but returned for rowdy chorus that consisted of "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" with Cowboy Troy and Two Foot Fred coming back out for support.

Big & Rich and the Muzik Mafia wound down just a little while ago at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center. And towards the end of the set, Two Foot Fred, aka "the pint-sized pimp of country music," announced that the after party is being held at McCabe's downtown (surprise, surprise.) So check out this set list real quick (CBT is for a Cowboy Troy song) and you should have time to get over there. And while you're enjoying a cold one with the band, I'll be faithfully working up a few shots I took at the show.

Been a while since I've done one of these. But here's a sample of what I've been listening to ...

“Your Little Hoodrat Friend” The Hold Steady

I slept on last fall’s “Boys & Girls in America” release, which I’m still contemplating adding to my best album's of ’07 list, especially since not a week has gone by for much of this year that I haven’t listened to it. (Cheating, you say? Hey, it came out in late ’06. And that's not nearly as bad as the Grammys. OK, you're right. It's cheating.) More recently, I picked up the New York by way of Minnesota band’s sophomore effort, "Separation Sunday." And this song has been hopelessly stuck in my head ever since. I love Craig Finn’s storytelling, and that rambling, slightly unhinged vocal delivery.

“Metal” Gary Numan

Of course, everybody knows Numan’s lone U.S. hit, “Cars.” But I was prompted to revisit the British synth-pop star's work after watching one of those Awesomest Songs of the ‘80s-type shows on VH1. And “The Pleasure Principle,” the album that “Cars” and this clip come from, is incredible. And here's a bit of trivia for your: Later in life, Numan attributed the themes of alienation and paranoia in his music to the fact that he has Asperger’s syndrome.

“Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” Betty Davis

My favorite reissues of ’07 have been Ms. Davis self-titled debut from 1972 and the follow up, “They Say I’m Different,” both of which come courtesy of Seattle’s Light in the Attic label. Ms. Davis, for the uninitiated, was Miles Davis’s wife, and possibly the gal who introduced Miles to Jimi Hendrix’s music, thus indirectly ushering in his fusion period. And if her lyrics hadn’t been so controversial and overtly sexual for their time, I wonder if we wouldn't be talking about her in the same breath as Parliament-Funkadelic. And you may recognize this song as the Bomb Squad's source material for Ice Cube’s “Once Upon a Time in the Projects.”

For a while I’d been hearing that someone had bought the Stone Gate Restaurant and Lounge over at 5421 South Tacoma Way. So I stuck my head in there last week to spy new owner Jeff Call and his crew busting their humps as they hauled sections of a new bar upstairs.

When Call caught his breath, he explained his plans to reopen the space – which housed a Vietnamese restaurant when he and brother, Steve Baker, bought it in March – as a rock club and pizza parlor. Though there is lots of work left, he said he hoped to be up and running in three to four months.

When I asked what sorts of bands he would showcase he offered, “I’m not gonna have the death metal stuff like some of the other guys do.” He mentioned that his own band, Litter Box Bowling, might play a gig or two.

Then Call gave me a quick tour of the 8,000-square-foot space, pointing out where the stage would be set up in the main room, and where the ovens would go in adjacent space. “This’ll be the big, kickback lounge room,” he said when we got upstairs. He planned to keep that level open as a coffee shop during the day. “It’s kind of like three or four bars in one,” he said.

Call said his uncle, Larry Turco, would be working on the pizza recipes. To put that in context, Turco has previously come up with recipes for the locally renowned Clover Leaf Tavern (though he was careful to clarify that his place wouldn’t be serving up "the Nurd" or other Clover Leaf specialties. Mmmmm, the Nurd.)

Call is one of several people I’ve talked of late who feel pretty stoked about the potential for thriving nightlife on that stretch of South Tacoma Way. And as I’ve ventured over to the Factory, 54 and Club Sapphire in recent months, I’ve been struck by the concentration of nightspots in that area, too. (Granted, those last two bars have closed in recent months.) And that’s not to mention the impact that light rail might have when it comes to that area.

“I’m hoping its gonna end up like Pioneer Square,” Call said, alluding to a bustling area of Seattle that's full of thriving nightclubs that benefit from a joint cover. “I just think this is a great location.”

Reba McEntire didn’t tip her hand much regarding her new “Duets” album Friday night at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grandstand. As a matter of fact, lead single “Because of You,” the duet with “American Idol” grad Kelly Clarkson that fans have already heard, was the only new song she performed, delivered elegantly towards the end of her set.

Instead the classy and charismatic performer wowed 8,600-plus with material from her last three decades of hit making. The most crowd pleasing numbers included “The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia,” the rousing “Love Revival” and “Fancy,” a number that she came out wearing a sparkly red dress for during the encore. (Click here to skip to the set list.)

In between songs, Reba promoted her cause celebre, Habitat for Humanity, and told a few endearing stories. She joked about how she had secretly wanted to be a movie star through the ‘80s, and imagined co-starring with the likes of Robert Duvall. “Well, that wasn’t to be,” she said. “My first movie was in 1989, and my co-stars were a bunch of underground worms.” It was a reference to kitsch classic, “Tremors,” and the intro to her song, “Why Not Tonight,” from that film.

And at one point she described a Nashville pitch man’s dilemma after he was told Mercury records only had room to sign one mor “girl singer.” Of course, he handed over Reba’s tape, and the rest was, as they say, history.

“He never did tell me who that other girl was,” Reba said, remarking at how lucky she had been. This was the lead in to a medley of early hits.

Melissa Peterman, a co-star from McEntire’s TV show “Reba,” opened with about half an hour of good natured and mostly self-deprecating standup comedy. One of her funniest jokes was about how karaoke was best when done badly and drunkenly, and how annoying it had become since she started hanging out with Reba. Punch line: “Yes, I’d like to do that in the key of myself.” And the comedian later returned to ham it up during “I’m a Survivor,” the TV show’s theme song.

Reba’s “Duets” album – which also features contributions from Justin Timberlake, Faith Hill and Kenny Chesney, among others – is due next Tuesday. Fans can also check out Miss Reba when she appears with Oprah on Wednesday.

Just got back from Reba McEntire’s show at the Puyallup Fair. She didn’t tip her hand much on her new CD, “Duets”(which I got in the mail yesterday.) Guess everyone will have to wait 'til Tuesday's release date or for her appearance on "Oprah" Wednesday. But it was still a great show. Check back in the morning and I should have a pic or two and a few notes posted. But meanwhile, here’s what she sang:

Reba McEntire
Puyallup Fair & Events Center
Sept. 14, 2007

We’re So Good Together

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter

Whoever’s in New England

Why Not Tonight

You Lie

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia

Medley: I’m Gonna Take That Mountain; Little Rock; Rumor Has It; Walk On; Can’t Even Get the Blues No More

Somebody

Love Revival

Fallin’ Out of Love

The Fear of Being Alone

My Sister

Take It Back/Why Haven’t I Heard From You

Because of You

I’m a Survivor (with “Reba” co-star Melissa Peterman)

Is There Life Out There

Encore:

Fancy

Opening act: Melissa Peterman doing standup comedy

I was listening to the new Kanye West CD, "Graduation," when I was reminded of what a whack lyricist Kanye West can be. As exhibit A, I present this little couplet from one of his new songs, "Champion":

"I don't see why I need a stylist/ When I shop so much I can speak Italian"

Well, good for you, Kanye. You're rich, and you've managed to parlay despite an inability to rhyme or say much of substance. And pretty creative of you to release yet another scholastically themed CD. Maybe you can call the next one "Detention" or "Flunked." Or may I recommend "WASL." See? You can milk this thing until 2012.

But allow me to end on a positive note. Sales of Kanye's new disc are squashing 50 Cent's latest, "Curtis." And that means that our man Fiddy has to quit, assuming he's a man of his word.

Thanks to a perfect storm of technical problems, it's been a while since I've posted interview audio. (And you thought I was just slackin'.) But who better to start back with than Friday Harbor's most famous resident, Steve Miller? I caught up with ol' Steve on the phone Tuesday in advance of his headlining gig next Thursday at the Puyallup Fair. And you can click on the links below to hear what he had to say about ...

... what the heck is a "pompitous of love?"

... what inspired that Tacoma line in "Rock'n Me."

... the making of his classic album, "Fly Like an Eagle."

... looking back at the Monterey Pop Festival 40 years later. (And guess which band that played the festival he still can't stand.)

... and professional wrestling. Yes, pro wrestling. Go figure.

The Cure have rescheduled their tour dates, which include a planned May 25 stop at the Gorge Amphitheatre, according to Pollstar. Tickets for the previously scheduled KeyArena show will be honored at the Gorge show.

First, Amy Winehouse succumbs to "exhaustion." Then we see a listless and still clearly not right in the head Britney Spears on MTV's Video Music Awards. (And I actually feel kind of sorry for her now as much as I've poked fun at her this week.) And now the celebrity meltdown epidemic has infected White Stripes drummer Meg White who, according to published reports, is suffering from "acute anxiety."

"Meg White is suffering from acute anxiety and is unable to travel at this time," the Stripes told fans in a post on their Web site. "We hate to let people down and are very sorry."

So the duo's tour, which included November dates at Seattle's Paramount Theatre, has been called off. Good luck, Meg.

Tonight’s headliner at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grandstand was the amiable Clint Black, who ran through an energetic, hit-filled set. He kicked things off with “The Shoes You’re Wearing,” “A Good Run of Bad Luck” and “State of Mind.” And his early set also included “The Strong One,” a new ballad dedicated to single mom’s that is also the lead single from his forthcoming album.

“(It’s) a CD that is very good, according to me,” he joked. “Pick up two copies because they’re CDs, and they wear out.”

Shortly thereafter, Black kicked off the acoustic portion of the set with a number he said he used to play to a nearly empty house during his early career, when he often just played for the bartender. It was a faithful homage to Willie Nelson’s “Time of the Preacher,” followed by a funny story about being invited onto Willie Nelson’s tour bus. (If you’ve heard Toby Keith’s set staple “I’ll Never Smoke Weed with Willie Again,” you know the gist of this one.)

“They’d burnt some toast because it was really smoky,” he said. “And all of a sudden, Willie emerges from the smoke like a firefighter and offers me some – toast.”

And itt was the second night in a row that an “American Idol” grad had graced the grandstand, as the perky Kellie Pickler from the 2005 season opened. Her set included most of her debut album “Small Town Girl,” with the title track and set closer “Red High Heels” getting especially good responses. And she also paid homage to the legendary ladies of country with covers of Patsy Cline’s “Walkin’ After Midnight,” Tammy Wynette’s “Stand By Your Man” and Dolly Parton’s “Nine to Five.” (Of those, her voice seemed best suited for the Parton number, which she dedicated to the fans who had supported her and voted for her on “Idol,” thus helping her escape her job as a roller skate girl at Sonic.)

Ozzy Osbourne will kick off a 40-city North American tour and perform his first solo arena concert in Seattle in 15 years on Oct. 18 at KeyArena, his publicist announced this afternoon.

The tour is in support of his latest album, “Black Rain,” and follows the first ever free Ozzfest, which maybe you attended at White River or the Gorge in July. (Revisit my interview with the Godfather of Metal here if you missed it this summer.)

The always exciting and decadent Rob Zombie will open, fresh off of directing his new summer blockbuster, "Halloween."

Ticketmaster will sell tickets beginning noon on Saturday.

I was pretty bummed when I read that Amy Winehouse's bout of "exhaustion" - the reason for canceling her U.S. tour - was actually a crack-fueled fueled bender, according to various sources. That "Rehab" song was a lot more fun when the most sensational stories about Winehouse involved her drunkenly heckling Bono at an awards show. That's hi-larious; throwing everything away and becoming a crackhead, not so much.

But Mark Ravenill of England's Guardian newspaper looks at the "bright side," what society learns from its Amy Winehouses and Pete Dohertys. A bit cynical, but entertaining.

Last week, after the announcement that Britney Spears would open the Video Music Awards, I asked you which of the current crop of tabloid all-stars most needs to go away. And here's how you voted:

Which celebrity would you be happiest to never hear from again?

Britney Spears: 38 percent

Paris Hilton: 31 percent

Lindsay Lohan: 25 percent

Nicole Richie: 6 percent

But that was before Britney's trainwreck VMA appearance. Which kind of begs for a new survey, perhaps. Back in a bit.

Daughtry's poppy, post-grunge sound is just a little too close to Nickelback for my tastes. And I still refuse to spell it “DAUGHTRY,” which is technically correct but also kinda silly. You know, like the little dot in the middle of India.Arie. But the band – fronted by “American Idol” alumnus Chris Daughtry – is one of the biggest success stories of 2007, having scored the year's best-selling disc with more than 3 million sales of its self-titled debut and counting. (Take that, Kelly Clarkson.) So, I checked ‘em out tonight at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center grandstand to try to figure out what all the fuss was all about.

But while a crowd of nearly 7,800 seemed pretty impressed, I couldn't connect with the band's earnest but unremarkable anthems. I mean, numbers like "It's Not Over" and "Over You" go down easy enough (and make up your mind, already); but they're not the kind of tracks anyone will be nostalgic for a decade from now.

A few covers, which allowed the band to go a full hour despite having just over 43 minutes of recorded material, stuck out more to me. The band delivered a decent version of Alice in Chains' melancholy "Nutshell" (which actually bummed me out a little since I had to miss the real Alice at the Gorge last weekend.) And the band jokingly kicked off it's encore with a few bars of Motley Crue's "Home Sweet Home" before segueing into its own power ballad, "Home," with a passing "just kidding." (For a fleeting moment, based the melody that opens up "Home," I thought it was a cover, too -- of Poison's "Every Rose Has It's Thorn." But maybe I've just been watching too much "Rock of Love" lately. Guilty pleasure.) The band also took a crowd-pleasing stab at Filter's "Hey Man, Nice Shot" before taking a bow.

Justin Timberlake put on a really slick show Saturday night. And if you were there, you probably figured some sort of high-tech trickery was involved in getting JT to miraculously appear center stage at the beginning. (Hey, where’d that guy come from?) Actually, the man of the hour was smuggled in with one of those laundry hampers that some of you saw being wheeled back and forth from the backstage area. Mob scene averted.

Also, that mini theater configuration you’ve been hearing about these past several months? The cage-like structure that will eventually be put in place so the arena will be able to attract more intimate shows, a la Seattle’s WaMu Theater? Well, expect that to open early next year. Venue spokesman Steve Brown told me to expect an announcement in February.

Which begs the question: Will Tacoma start attracting hipster approved bands like the Decemberists and TV on the Radio – bands that generally head straight to the WaMu, the Moore and the Paramount in Seattle? Hmmm? Stay tuned.

So in case you missed it, Britney Spears opened the MTV Video Music Awards. She comes out wearing sparkly underwear and wiggles around for a couple of minutes, lip-syncing “gimme gimme” a bunch of times. Yaaaaaaaawn! Thoroughly sucktastic.

And then Sarah Silverman follows her. Hey, wonder if she’s going to say something mean about Britney. Nah, she wouldn’t do that.

"She is amazing,” the comedian says. “I mean, she is 25 years old and she’s already accomplished everything she’s going to accomplish in her life.”

Ha ha ha! So funny ‘cause it’s true. But then I went to a movie. I mean, the VMA’s are a lot less obnoxious than, say, the Grammys but still aren't that great. Plus, I figured I'd ave something like 50 chances to see it this week. (Humorously, the show was billed as a "one time only" thing but aired again right after the first broadcast.)

And that’s why I missed the biggest source of water cooler chatter of the evening – Kid Rock decking Tommy Lee.

What? Say it ain’t so. Stop the violence! Could it be related to Pam Anderson, the chica that both of them were married to? You decide. I’m just waiting for the You Tube clips to start surfacing.

Yes, Justin Timberlake played the song from “Saturday Night Live” during an amazing set Saturday night at the Tacoma Dome.

You know the one. It’s about – um – putting something in a box. It’s the subject of the most infamous “SNL” skit since Christopher Walken demanded more cow bell. And it’s one of the most popular clips in the history of YouTube.com, having spawned a gang of parodies.

And it was also the cherry on top of a performance that had already been packed with too many crowd pleasing moments to count. Granted, JT was a bit coy as he introduced the number towards the end of his set.

“I’ve got some good news to tell you guys,” he said, sporting a big, goofy grin and sitting at a piano that had just risen from center stage. “I don’t like to brag, but it’s kinda fun,” he joked.

Then he started to play what appeared to be a tender ballad at first. But nearly all of the 21,000-plus on hand were quick to catch onto the joke -- an unplugged version of the raunhy "SNL" song. And many belted out the lyrics with unbridled enthusiasm.

“One, you cut a hole in the box …”

That’s about as much as I’ll quote here. But the reason Timberlake tossed the song into the show at the last second (it wasn’t on the official set list) was that it had just earned him an Emmy earlier in the day. Good Charlotte had already spilled the beans during their opening set. And go figure.

"Only in America," remarked Timberlake. "You guys watch too much You Tube. You know that, right?"

Not that the sophomoric gag was the only highlight of Timberlake's show. The previous two hours had been a jaw dropping showcase of the man's many talents: funky dance moves, synchronized with backup singers from his 12-peice backing band; prowess on piano, guitar and beat boxing; an an arresting falsetto that could make Prince jealous.
Well, maybe a little jealous.

And that’s not to mention all the frills that enhanced an already exciting performance. To call Timberlake’s set slick would be an understatement.

For starters, the show was delivered in the always satisfying in-the-round format, with a big, four-pronged stage set up in the middle of the arena floor. And the props and special effects included green, red and blue lasers; trap doors that allowed for dramatic exits and entrances; platforms that slid percussionists and keyboard players into different configurations; and semi-transparent curtains that doubled as video screens, with images of the pop star and other scenery projected onto them.

But back to Timberlake's actual performance, the easy and common thing that most people do is to compare him to a young Michael Jackson. But during over the course of the show, JT paid homage to several other soul, funk and R&B greats There were shades of Minneapolis funk in “Sexy Ladies.” (Think the Time’s “Walk,” but not quite as raunchy.) There were echoes of James Brown’s “Funky Drummer” in the syncopated percussion of “Damn Girl,” effectively expanding on the so so album version. And Timberlake’s goose bump raising set closer, “(Another Song) All Over Again” -- performed on the same piano he'd just played "... in a Box" on -- would have done Stevie Wonder proud.

Among other set highlights were “SexyBack,” one of the year’s biggest club bangers, and “What Goes Around.” The latter, obviously a kiss off to ex-girlfriend Britney Spears, seemed an appropriate set high point in the venue where JT reportedly dumped Brit a few years back. The song began with a sweeping, dramatic intro and gradually built up steam, peaking with Timberlake "saluting" his ex into a hand-held video camera, the gesture projected onto the curtains around him.

There have been many contenders for the distinction of King of Pop since Jacko’s sales started to decline and his bizarre off-stage antics tarnished his on-stage greatness. There's Usher, Chris Brown, Ne-Yo.

But JT is clearly the front runner. Let’s go with Prime Minister of Pop for now. And let’s have fun watching him develop over the course of a career that's sure to take him to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Justin Timberlake is a bad, bad man.

Yeah, I said it! So all the knuckleheads that still hold that whole, unfortunate boy band thing against him need to stop hatin'. I'll elaborate on the Prime Minister of Pop's badness with a more detailed report later on. Meanwhile, here's his set list.

Justin Timberlake set list
Sept. 8, 2007
Tacoma Dome

Future Sex/Love Sound
Like I Love You
My Love
Senorita
Sexy Ladies
Until the End of Time
What Goes Around
Chop Me Up
(Intermission)
Rock Your Body
Medley: Gone (N'Sync); Take It From Here; Last Night
Damn Girl
Summer Love
Losing My Way
Cry Me a River
Love Stoned/I Think She Knows
Sexy Back
D--- in a Box
(Another Song) All Over Again

Opening act: Good Charlotte

Nooo!!! Just when you thought it was safe to watch MTV!!!

Why won't Brit just retire and fade away with her mountains o' cash and that tiny sliver of dignity that still remains? And maybe take Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan with her.

Which reminds me (for some reason) I haven't conducted a survey in a while. So I'm wondering which one of the above annoyingly over-exposed celebrities would you be happiest to never hear from again. Answer here or leave your write-in candidates in the comments field and I'll tally the results in the days to come.

A bunch of you witnessed Blue Scholars rock the Fisher Green stage at Bumbershoot last weekend. And today the Seattle duo was announced as a finalist in a competition sponsored by AmieStreet.com. At stake is $10,000 and a chance to perform at the CMJ conference in New York next month at stake. And you get to vote.

Find details here.

Eddie Van Halen's kid, Wolfgang, will play bass on the forthcoming reunion tour. And after I mentioned the Seattle show in a previous post, a few of you have e-mailed me asking if I knew what happened to Michael Anthony.

Well, Rolling Stone knows. According to a report running on the magazine's site, Anthony found out he was fired by reading about it on the Internet. And he talks about being erased from the images of album covers that have appeared on the 'Net since the tour was announced. Now, that's cold, and probably not a good sign regarding the band's ability to play nice long enough to finish a tour.

Eddie Vedder's appearance with Crowded House last weekend at Bumbershoot left a lot of fans just wanting more. And a whole album's worth of solo material is on its way from Pearl Jam's leader to wet those fans' appetites.

Vedder has contributed nine new originals and a pair of cover tunes to the soundtrack to Sean Penn's forthcoming flick, "Into the Wild." And here's the track listing:

Setting Forth
No Ceiling
Far Behind
Rise
Long Nights
Tuolumne
Hard Sun (Gordon Peterson cover)
Society (Jerry Hannan cover)
The Wolf
End of the Road
Guaranteed

The album doesn't go on sale until Sept. 18, but you can find presale info here.

Penn wrote and directed the film, an adaptation of Jon Krakauer’s best-selling book of the same name. It stars Emile Hirsch, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt, Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener, Jena Malone, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn and Brian Dierker.

If you saw Seaweed over the weekend at Bumbershoot, you probably heard Aaron Stauffer announce an upcoming Tacoma date.

Well, guitarist Wade Neal just dropped me an e-mail filling in some of the details. Turns out the band's plan is to play Hell's Kitchen on both Dec. 21 and 22. And while last weekend's comeback shows (also at Seattle's High Dive Friday) were enough to whet fans' appetites, they have in mind a more extensive treatment of their material. The Dec. 21 show will focus on material from 1989 to 1994, while the Dec. 22 concerts will focus on material from 1995 to 1999.

Did I say Dec. 22 "concerts?" Why, yes I did. Neal tells me there will also be an early all-ages show that day for all you kiddies that are not yet of drankin' age. See you there.

Andrew Bird was my favorite act at Bumbershoot 2007, between Sunday's set at the Mural Amphitheatre (which included the undeniably awesome "Plasticities" and "Heretics") and his stripped down, goose bump raising performance at the KEXP lounge on Monday. But if there was one genre that really stood out for me as a whole, it was all the amazing hip-hop acts.

I've seen a lot of garbage rap shows in my time on this beat: Top 40 rap stars who that only spit one verse of their big hit, only to stop for yet another round of call and response or to pull skanks out of the audience for a booty shaking contest; knuckleheads rapping over vocal tracks, suggesting they are too stoned or too dumb to remember the whole song.

But from Wu-Tang's raucous festival closing set at Memorial Stadium, to the criminally underrated Lyric's Born's funky romp at Fisher Green, not to mention all the groups that represented for the 206, there was a lot to counter Nas's proclamation that "hip-hop is dead."

And for those who checked out Gabriel Teodros, Blue Scholars, Ohmega Watts and other local hip-hop groups at Fisher Green, is the Northwest ready for some national recognition or what? Well, all those guys may need to hire Kanye West or Timbaland to produce a few tracks before they get any meaningful airplay on mainstream radio. But I'm just sayin'. Props are overdue.

Anyway, enough of that rant. Here are some scenes from Labor Day at Seattle Center:

Gabriel Teodros and Blue Scholars represented for the 206. Andrew Bird wowed with whistling. And Seaweed rocked the EMP with their second comeback show of the weekend. And, by the way, they promised a Tacoma show -- on Dec. 22 to be exact, though front man Aaron Stauffer wasn't specific regarding the venue. A little Hell's Kitchen, maybe?

Anyway, here are some scenes from Sunday.

I'm sipping Gatorade and gearing up for day two at the 37th annual Bumbershoot festival – the day with strongest schedule, in my humble opinion. But first, a few scenes from yesterday.

The bad news: I missed the biggest news of the day, namely Eddie Vedder's appearance with reunited rockers, Crowded House. And the Shins. I was really bummed about missing the Shins, who I haven't seen since last December at the End's Deck the Hall Ball. Stupid I-5 traffic!

Anyway, I still caught some really cool moments, including the mind-blowing ax work of Mexican guitar duo, Rodrigo y Gabriela and a snippet of gypsy punks Gogol Bordello's set. Here are a few scenes:

Today is the 50th anniversary of Elvis's performance at the Lincoln Bowl. And while you may have read the oral history I pulled together for Aug. 16, the 30th anniversary of the King's death, who better than to tell you what went down than former News Tribune editor, Don Duncan, the man who covered the actual event for the News Tribune.

Here's the e-mail he recently sent me about that historic event:

Do I remember Elvis Presley’s visit to Lincoln Bowl in 1957? How could I forget?

Among the 6,000 people in Lincoln Bowl when Elvis made his first appearance in the Pacific Northwest were two young employees of The Tacoma News Tribune – Wayne Zimmerman, photographer, and Don Duncan, a general-assignment reporter who had cleverly switched days off with the paper’s newest reporter so he could do the story.

Because Elvis and his high-powered agent, Col. Tom Parker, were moving on to Seattle later in the day, we were the only news representatives on hand. “Media” had yet to be invented.

The air was electric as the crowd, many on folding chairs, awaited Elvis’s arrival. Many of the young women seemed to be in a state of near-delerium, not unlike the bobby soxers who swooned over a bow-tied Frank Sinatra in the ‘40s. Many of the older members in the audience (I was then 31), were in a show-me mode.

Elvis was fresh off the Ed Sullivan show, where he’d been photographed from the waist up, to protect America’s youth from his pelvic gyrations and, perhaps, little old ladies from leaving their husbands. How humorous it all seems in retrospect. Elvis’s pelvic thrusts are tame compared with the routines of today’s junior-high cheer leaders.

As I recall, Elvis entered from a trailer parked next to the stage. He bounded on the stage with athletic grace and caressed the microphone, which was mounted on a tall pole. A chorus of high-pitched shrieks welled up from the audience, swelling to near vocal pandemonium at times, not ending until Elvis left the stage half-an-hour later.

Elvis had his trademark sideburns, and was dressed in tight-fitting black pants, a dark shirt unbuttoned to the breastbone and a sequined gold jacket. He lightly ran his fingers over the strings of the guitar slung over his shoulder. I don’t think he played more than a couple of chords during the performance, leaving the heavy work for his band. When a girl a few feet away let loose an ear-splitting scream, Elvis curled his lip and flashed that familiar pouty smile.

“I’ll take care of you later, baby,” he said. And “baby” led another chorus of screams. He was, after all, only 22 and unattached, and one couldn’t blame a girl for fantasizing.

Enough foreplay. Elvis began to sing in a pleasant baritone. As he did so, he began a slow rhythmic movement in his pelvic region. His legs began to vibrate, and his upper torso alternately swayed and shimmied. The man oozed s-e-x appeal at a time when that three-letter word rarely was spoken in polite society.

Elvis sang at least a dozen songs. Among them: “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” before climaxing the show with a frenetic, whirling-dervish rendition of what he called “The Elvis Presley National Anthem.”

Everyone knew what was coming, but by the time he was halfway through the first verse – “Hew hain’t nuthin’ but a houn’ dog, cry-hy-in all the time. . .” pandemonium reigned. Elvis strutted like a duck, hands dangling loosely in front of him. He fell to his knees in an attitude of prayer, taking the slender microphone pole with him. And he concluded with a burst of shimmying that left him limp, his black hair hanging over his eyes, sweat poring from his pancake makeup.

Elvis leaped from the stage like a gymnast and bolted into a waiting limousine, which pulled away in a cloud of dust.

Girls, pulling unwilling boys by the hand, rushed to the place where he had stood and scooped up dirt, which they poured into their purses. Then these wives and mothers of the future raced off to buy Elvis Presley memorabilia. Do they still have it? One can only wonder.

When Elvis left, the spell was broken. I realized that I – despite my vows of impartiality – had been totally captivated by what I had seen and had made only a few scribblings on my notepad. Not to worry, Wayne, toting his heavy Speed Graphic camera, and I, with my near-empty notepad, were soon approached by a man in a big cowboy hat and a huckster’s smile to match.

“Hi boys! Col. Tom Parker’s the name. Elvis’s agent. You want an interview?” We nodded. “Well, soon as he showers and changes clothes he’ll be with you.”

The cowboy hat seemed to fit Parker. So did “colonel.” Some years later we learned that Elvis’s svengali had been born in The Netherlands, christened Andreas Cornelius van Kuijk, and had acquired the honorary “colonel” title from the governor of Louisiana. He had made his first fortune selling Hadacol, a patent medicine favored by many a Women’s Christian Temperance Union devotee until she learned that the reason it made her feel so good was its main ingredient – alcohol.

Elvis arrived shortly, as promised. Up close, he was even better-looking than on stage. Trim, about six-feet tall and looking very comfortable in a casual blue shirt, dark slacks and loafers, he shook hands firmly and was the essence of Southern politeness, prefacing or ending each statement with “Suh.”

Wayne and I had expected a rock star. We found ourselves with a young gentleman straight out of “Gone With the Wind.”

Yes, he’d played a little football in high school, Suh. Modest chuckle. Third-string!

Yes, he’d grown up singing gospel songs in the Baptist Church, and it had influenced his singing style. The image of pelvic gyrations in the choir loft made us all smile.

Oh yes, it was true that he liked to collect things. So far, four Cadillacs, a Messerschmidt, a Lincoln, a Mark II and two motorcycles. Again, the aw-shucks smile, followed by “I’m also trying to save my money.”

Being a patriotic young man, Elvis said, he would go into the military service if his nation called. (True to his words, he did go into the Army in 1960, an event memorialized in the Broadway musical Bye Bye, Birdie.

Did it bother Elvis that Ed Sullivan had chosen to film him above the waist during his recent appearance on the show? Answer: “I’d never do anything to shame my mutha, Suh!”

The last quote would be the one I took from the interview and still repeat at dinner parties. The truth is, I think he tried to live up to it.

Before long, Wayne was busy shooting pictures of young ladies flocking around Elvis. One wanted his signature on her forehead, vowing never to wash her face again. When Col. Parker asked if I wanted my picture taken with Elvis, I was tempted. But, fearing that fellow reporters would laugh, I declined.

Back in the old TNT newsroom on St. Helen’s, I wrote my story on another antiquity, a Royal typewriter. The next day Catherine Hunt, a fellow reporter, brought me a cheap purple sofa pillow bearing a photograph of Elvis and a guitar, along with his printed signature. She also handed me a 45 rpm. recording of Hound Dog on the A-side, Heartbreak Hotel on the flip side. I still have both pillow and record.

I saw Elvis second-hand a few years later, when they were filming “Take Me to the Fair,” during Seattle’s ’62 World’s Fair. There was one interview with a pretty young Seattle girl he “dated” for the week. As I recall, she got to sit with him on a sofa, watch TV and eat popcorn and drink root beer, while half-a-dozen of his bodyguards/hangers-on stood nearby. The other interview was with a 70-year-old woman, Patricia Maude Patterson, who headed one of the world-wide Presley fan clubs. She had taken care of him when he was a small boy in Mississippi and she invited him to her Queen Anne home, “where I played the piano and he sang for me.”

Funny thing about “looking back” stories. Post-Watergate only 20 percent of the voters admitted voting for Richard Nixon although he’d been elected by a landslide in the last election. Same with Elvis. If all the people who say they were in Lincoln Bowl that day in ’57 showed up, they’d probably fill three Lincoln Bowls.

Well, I really didn’t vote for Nixon. And I really did see Elvis.

Don Duncan was a general-assignment reporter for The News Tribune from 1953 to 1958. He returned as managing editor from 1973 to 1979. He is now 81 and living in Kirkland.

The brilliance of Stevie Wonder cannot be overstated.

Try, for example, to make a list of modern R&B singers that are not in some way indebted the man. Or better yet, jot down all the pop icons you can think of that have been able to remain as vital and relevant as Wonder during his hit making years.

Both will be short lists. Wonder can boast of classics that span the golden age of Motown and the Regan Era, from "Fingertips Pt. 2" through "Part Time Lover." And that's not to mention the memorable songs he's penned or co-written for other people (i.e. Rufus and Chaka Kahn's "Tell Me Something Good") and the smash hits rappers have had with songs built on Wonder samples (i.e. Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise," Will Smiths' "Wild Wild West" theme.)

And if absence makes the heart grow fonder, we should be hella fond of Stevie. Before his current trek kicked off in San Diego on Aug. 23, it had been a dozen years since his last tour, and more than two decades since his last Seattle area performance. So Friday night's show at Woodinville's Chateau Ste Michelle is a slam dunk for Puget Sound's musical happening of the year, evident before tickets disappeared in a matter of minutes.

The anticipation was palpable by the time daughter, backup singer Aisha Morris escorted the blind singer-songwriter onto the Chateau stage. Wonder began with a few heartfelt thanks, and dedicated the performance to his mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, who died last year. “We thought we’d see her on Thursday, and Wednesday she was gone,” he recalled.

Then the legend proceeded to show the capacity crowd just how worth the wait he was. Wonder sat at a black grand piano as he kicked things off with the uplifting and highly underrated ballad “Love’s in Need of Love Today,” from his '70s masterpiece album, “Songs in the Key of Life.” And from the start, his voice sounded as robust and expressive as ever.

Wonder turned to a Yamaha synthesizer for the next number, "Too High." And during the course of the show he was backed by a tight 11-piece band with jaw-dropping rhythm section that featured three percussionists. Wonder and his outfit segued effortlessly between heartrending ballads, jazzy jams and kinetic funk grooves that had Baby Boomers shaking their money makers with wild abandon. (Click here for the full set list.)

And how could they resist? “Living for the City” is one of the most piercing protest songs of the rock era - one of the best numbers in the man's arsenal for my money. I literally got chills as he played it. And it was the number that really turned the heat up, the beginning of a groovy stretch that included “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” - his reggae-inflected hit from 1980 - and ever-potent funk jam “Higher Ground."

There were several spontaneous moments Friday. “Ribbon in the Sky” seemed to be winding down when Wonder caught a second wind and slipped into a jazzy groove. He separated the men and women in the audience, and coached each gender for the call and response part of the show.

“Fellas, if you get this part right you might get a little somethin’, somethin’ tonight,” he joked. (Let’s just say some of the fellas could have used a rhythm boost. No “somethin’, somethin’” for them.)

Wonder further galvanized the crowd with '60s hit “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” declaring at one point, “This could be a country song” before singing the chorus with a campy, faux-hillbilly accent.

“I’m not being funny. I like country music,” he insisted, playing a bit of a Charlie Rich song to prove his point. “I may be from the hood, but I know country music.” Then he had the whole crowd singing along with twangy remake of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered."

Among other late set highlights were a story Wonder told about writing “My Cherie Amour” as a teen for the sole purpose of seducing a fan named Marsha. “All I got at the end of the day was a kiss and a smile,” he said, recalling the day he played the song for her. But thank God he tried, since "My Cherie" has been the soundtrack to puppy love everywhere since.

Then following the the powerful one-two punch of “Sir Duke”/ “I Wish,” Aisha Morris sat with her dad during “Isn’t She Lovely,” a song on which she made her recording debut in 1976. The baby you hear in the song is her, shortly after she was born.

Wonder’s set wound down with “Superstition,” “I Just Called to Say I Love You” and “Another Star,” after which Wonder got a little choked up as he said a few inspirational words about “freedom of choice.”

“Most important, we have a choice to use our hearts to love,” he said, adding a few angry words about “haters” and intolerance. He walked off with a bit of political advice. “When you go to vote next year, make sure you vote for the one who’s committed to making us a unified people,” he said.

Sadly, there was no encore, despite a drum kit that had been set up on the left side of the stage, presumably for one of those frantic drum solos the man has been known to wow crowds with since he was "Little" Stevie Wonder 45 years ago. And sadly, there was also no “Boogie on Reggae Woman,” either.

But it was one of those concerts that everyone will remember and cherish. One can only hope, given Wonder's track record for touring, that this isn’t the last time we'll get to see the man live in these parts.

We could use him now more than ever. A little Stevie Wonder is good for the soul.

Wonder starts the show with "Love's in Need of Love Today" (top); but only after delivering a few heartfelt words about his late mother, with daughter Aisha Morris at his side.
AUGUSTUS JASMIN

Stevie Wonder performed in the greater Seattle area for the first time in more than two decades on Friday night. And was it worth the wait? Let’s just say I've revised my best shows of 2007 list already.

Here’s the set list. And check in later this morning when I should have a couple of photos and a more detailed report posted.

Stevie Wonder
Chateau Ste Michelle
Aug. 31, 2007

Love’s in Need of Love Today
Too High
Visions
Living for the City
Master Blaster (Jammin’)
Higher Ground
Golden Lady
Ribbon in the Sky
Overjoyed
(Percussive jam)
Don’t You Worry About a Thing
Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours
Memphis (Chuck Berry)
My Cherie Amour
Sir Duke
I Wish
Isn’t She Lovely
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
Superstition
I Just Called to Say I Love You
Another Star