Grand Duchy is the Pixies’ Frank Black (born Charles Thompson, a.k.a. Black Francis) and wife Violet Clark. The duo recently released their debut album “Petits Four,” one of my favorite albums of 2009 so far. They’ll showcase their infectious pop sound at Jazzbones on Saturday (May 2), with a little support from Tacoma's own synth-pop gurus, the Nightgowns (formerly the Elephants.) And that seemed like as good a reason as any to ring the couple up at home in Eugene, Ore.

Click here to listen to some of what they had to say, along with clips from "Petits Four" cuts “Fort Wayne,” “Black Suit,” “Lovesick” and “Seeing Stars.”

Frank Black and Violet Clark will serve up "Petit Fours" Saturday at Jazzbones.
ANNABELLE PHILLIPS

This just in from Snoqualmie Casino:

SNOQUALMIE, WASH. – April 30, 2009 --The Robin Trower concert scheduled for Wednesday May 13 at Snoqualmie Casino has been postponed. The concert has been rescheduled for Thursday, July 2, 2009 at 8PM.

Tickets for the May 13 show will be honored for the rescheduled show on July 2, or ticketholders may receive a full refund at the point of purchase. For more information visit www.trowerpower.com.</blockquote>

Duuuuudes! I typed this blog entry with the hand that shook hands with David Hasselhoff. You know, the guy with the talking car? Huge in Germany? Did lots of slo' mo' beach running with Pam Anderson? Shweeeet!

But seriously, while I normally focus on pop music on this here blog, you know I had to make an exception for clips I gathered on the set of "America's Got Talent," which taped today at Tacoma's Pantages Theatre. Not only did I get face time with the Hoff, I also kicked with new host, Nick Cannon, and judge Piers Morgan (who's not nearly as mean in person. Quite charming, actually?)

Nick Cannon on his first season, "wild and crazy stuff" in Tacoma and upcoming projects

"The Hoff" on the potential for another Susan Boyle, his first visit to Puget Sound and an encouraging tidbit about "Knight Rider" towards the end

Piers Morgan on "eccentric people doing weird things" in Tacoma and being the tough judge

I promised not to give away any big spoilers regarding who made the cut and whatnot. But I can tell you that several contestants will be familiar to many of you who frequent local rock clubs, cabarets and festivals. Seattle b-boy crew Massive Monkees was there. So were performers from Pure Cirkus and Teatro ZinZanni, not to mention Fuschia Foxxx, a.k.a. that sexy lady from the cover of the new Ventures/Wailers album.

lso, there’s a potential outrage for Grit City. There were several indications during taping that this will be yet another show that will try to pass us off as “Seattle” when the episode(s) air this summer; you know, Seattle shout outs, the guy next to me claiming the crowd had been coached to say Seattle.

Boooooo! to faking Seattle and not giving Tacoma props. Hoooooooray to local peeps on national TV. And could we have another Sanjaya on our hands? Time will tell. The Tacoma footage will air some time after the season premier on June 23.

STG Presents just released more details regarding Neko Case's June 2 Tacoma homecoming show. Case - the rising alt-country star and former Tacoma resident who immortalized T-town with her songs "South Tacoma Way" and "Thrice All-American" - will headline Tacoma's Pantages Theater at 8 p.m. on June 2. That's two days before her scheduled appearance at Seattle's Paramount Theatre.

Case will have support from Calexico's Joey Burns and John Convertino for the Tacoma show. Tickets are $33 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Saturday (May 2). Find more details on the Broadway Center site.

Live Nation announced details for the Blazed and Confused tour, which will bring Snoop Dogg, Slightly Stoopid, Stephen Marley and Mickey Avalon to the Gorge Amphitheatre on July 18.

Tickets are $33.50 to $99 and officially go on sale at 11 a.m. Saturday (May 2). But discounted pre-sale tickets are available now here. (Someone remind me of the difference between "pre-sale" and plain ol' "on sale," again? Just sayin'.)

Sonic Youth, the Jesus Lizard, the Gossip, Deer Hunter and the Black Lips are among the names headed to Capitol Hill Block Party, organizer Fuzed Music announced today.

The event, which takes over several blocks of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood every summer, is quickly becoming one of this region's hippest music festivals. Click here for a few scenes from last year's shindig, featuring Vampire Weekend and Gov. Chris Gregoire.

This year's Block Party is set for July 24 and 25, and you can find a more complete lists of performers and other details here.

If you read my post from Friday, you know I've recently become a fan of Tacoma sludge metal duo, Lozen. And last Friday, guitarist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis and drummer Justine Valdez celebrated the release of “Oona,” their new E.P., at the New Frontier Lounge. Click on the clips below to check out what you missed, and surf on over to their MySpace page for details on next week's gigs in Seattle and their next hometown show, set for June 20 date at Bob's Java Jive.

Rumbles

So Long

Neko O Kaburu

Earth People

Precious Baby Squirrels

Was meaning to post this follow-up to the Beyonce scandal post. But it appears the clip of her supposedly singing a hideously off-key version of "If I Were a Boy" on the Today Show was a hoax - perpetrated by one of her fans, no less. (Not sure if that'll keep lawyers from getting involved.) Click here for the Rolling Stone report. And I, for one, will remain on the lookout for lip-syncing fakers. Word!

I was just talking to the Galaxies' Chuck Naubert for a story I'm working on, and he pointed out a little event up in Seattle that had slipped under my radar. (Yeah, shame on me!) That would be the book launch part for rock photographer Jini Dellaccio, the 92-year-old Gig Harbor native who chronicled the rise of the original Northwest Sound. Members of the Sonics, the Wailers and more will take part in a musical tribute. Find more specifics here.

Neko Case - the woman who immortalized Tacoma with her songs “South Tacoma Way” and “Thrice All American” – is finally coming back. Seattle Theatre Group is expected to announce details regarding a June 2 appearance at the Broadway Center’s Pantages Theater next week, a date added as the singer's June 4 show at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre neared selling out.

Case lives in Tucson, Ariz., these days, but spent many of her formative years in Tacoma. Before she was famous, she tended bar at Bob’s Java Jive and was a go-go dancer for Tacoma garage-punk band Girl Trouble. She inspired GT’s “Neko Loves Rock N’ Roll,” which is in the South Sound Mixtape player on the right hand side of this page.

Case has grown steadily in popularity since the late ‘90s thanks to her classic country flavored solo work and stints with Vancouver, BC power-pop outfit New Pornographers. And now with the release of her critically acclaimed new album “Middle Cyclone” she’s experiencing her biggest year yet, with appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman” and on the covers of several national rock mags.

Check back next week and I'll track down some ticket info.

Case appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" on April 15. Check out her performance here.
CARSTEN SNEJBJERG/AP

Tacoma's Lozen is singer-guitarist Hozoji Matheson-Margullis (also the drummer for another of my new favorite local bands Helms Alee) and drummer Justine Valdez. After hearing lots of good things the dynamic duo, I downloaded Lozen's 2007 release "Enemies of Power" from the ol' iTunes, and it's just ridiculous; a full-blown Lahar of pyroclastic power chords and epic sludge that's sure to blow away any Jucifer or Melvins freak. OK, there are some pretty, melodic passages in there, too. Check out lead track "Breach" in the South Sound Mix Tape player if you haven't already.

Anyway, tonight the duo will celebrate the release of a brand, spankin' new album "New 10" at the New Frontier Lounge. Hoz tells me she doesn't scream as much on the new cuts, but "I definitely still love my distortion pedals." By all means check 'em out. Until then you can learn more here.

Oh, and a little history lesson just for fun. Lozen is named after this lady.

DRINK! Ten Miles of Bad Road demands this of its growing fan base after every song, earning the outlaw country outfit a reputation as Tacoma’s hardest boozing band. Better be careful, fellas, before you wind up needin' the ol' Schick Shadel.

The country fried rockers posted below come from the band’s March 26 set at the New Frontier Lounge. And when band leader, Rev. Nate, e-mailed me the correct song titles, he also mentioned big outlaw country festival he's planning to replace “the late, great Hotrod-A-Rama” in August at the Swiss Pub. “No hotrods, but there will be plenty of rama,” he writes.

Of course, there's be plenty of places to catch Ten Miles before then. Latest show dates are on the band's MySpace page. Now what are you waitin' for? Listen to the clips. And DRINK! (Um, if you're legal, of course.)

Let Me Be

Sick N’ Tired

You Better Run

America's most hipster approved metal band, Mastodon, delivered an epic set last night at Neumo’s.

Troy Sanders, Brent Hinds, Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher have strayed from their thrash roots and moved in more of a King Crimson/Pink Floyd/early Yes direction in recent years. And last night the quartet put all those proggy inclinations on display, kicking off their set by delivering new album “Crack the Skye” in its entirety. A recent trend has found numerous rock veterans - Roger Waters, Heart, Motley Crue - delivering their quintessential recordings like this in concert. So was this a statement, an assertion that “Skye” will one day be heralded as just such an essential recording? That, perhaps, it's already an instant classic? One thing's for sure. The Atlanta outfit is quite proud of where it has taken its music. Check out Sanders' enthusiasm for the new songs from the interview I did last year here.

Mastodon left the stage briefly (the touring keyboard player took off) before resuming with most of its previous critically acclaimed album, “Blood Mountain.” And the foursome eventually plunged into “Leviathan,” with only a little nod to the “Remission” album with “March of the Fire Ants” towards the end, a compelling exercise in devolution. But as much as I appreciate the new stuff, I’m actually bigger fan of the heavy, hooky rockers from the band’s first two albums. I was disappointed the cuts like “Blood & Thunder” and “Workhorse” weren’t on the agenda (not to mention that sick cover of the Melvins’ “The Bit” that Mastodon served up at El Corazon a few tours ago.) But it was a solid display from a compelling and innovative band that will be rockin' us for years to come.

I'll take it one further. Mastodon is the new Metallica. There, I said it. And by that I mean old, edgy and on the verge of a massive breakthrough Metallica. But here's hoping Mastodon never goes all "Some Kind of Monster" on us.

From top: Mastodon's Bill Kelliher shreds; a view from a crowded and sweaty balcony; Wednesday night's set list; opening band Kylesa's Corey Barhorst and Laura Pleasants.
ERNEST A. JASMIN

In case you've been in a coma and have, therefore, been insulted from the buzz, "America's Got Talent" is coming. The open cattle calls begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday (April 25 and 16) at the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center, 1500 Broadway, with pre-registration info available by clicking here. (But what's up with that "Seattle" nonsense in the link? This is Tacoma, Grit City, you California TV types!)

Tryouts will be followed by two show taping sessions at 1 and 6 p.m. next Wednesday at the Pantages. Check the Broadway Center site for details on that.

Got new music from Broken Trail in the South Sound Mix tape player (over to the right in down if you have yet to investigate, slacker!) It's from the South Sound country outfit's new CD "What This Country Needs." And here are the next few places you can catch 'em live:

Old General Store Steakhouse and Saloon, Roy, Friday and Saturday (April 24, 25)
Lady Luck's Cowgirl Up, Parkland, May 17.
Red Wind Casino, Olympia, May 22-23.

Hey, just noticed the Girls from Seattle are headed to the New Frontier Lounge on May 9. About time they made it down South. The Girls are actually a bunch of dudes who play party hearty punk and new wave anthems. They first piqued my interest when I saw 'em rock the Comet Tavern last summer following the Capitol Hill Block Party. And now I'm totally hooked after surfing to their MySpace page and laughing my @#%@#@ off at that "monkey hate clean" line they drop in "Dope Disguised as Nuns" (a funny hook lifted from "SNL.") With Hotels and Sons of Ivan. Mark it on your calendar, yo!
DEVIL DOLL BOOKING

Trust no one. Not to lip-sync, that is.

At least that’s been my belief since the revelation that Jennifer Hudson lip-synced her show-stopping delivery of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in February.

So I stared suspiciously at Beyonce on April 1 at KeyArena, paying special attention to her lips on the big screen (for different reasons that usual.) The vocals sounded live, and I figure the girl can sing. But can anyone be that pitch perfect while doing violent pelvic thrusts? Really?

I'm not saying she didn't pull that feat off, but there could be something to my lip-syncing paranoia based on this audio of an allegedly screechy Beyonce from Howard Stern's Sirius radio show, as posted by celebrity gossip site TMZ.

Jeez! Maybe Bey should just be blatant about her lip-syncing, like Britney a week later at the T-Dome. It would be less disappointing.

But let me leave it at that before I incur the wratch of Beyonce’s dad, Matthew Knowles, has a little somethin’ somethin’ to say to all the haters. Click here for the rebuttal.

Well, I couldn’t do a local music bootleg series without taping one of T-town’s finest performers, Vicci Martinez – who recently told me of plans to move to San Francisco, by the way. Catch her while you can. She promised she’d be back and forth to do performances like the April 8 Swiss Pub set that yielded these clips, though.

Songbird

Wanna Fall in Love

Untitled funky jam

Live Nation released the summer schedule for Woodinville’s Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery today, with tickets for all shows going on sale at 10 a.m. April 25. Check out the lineup and show times below. More details are also available on the winery’s web site.

Chateau Ste. Michelle summer concert series

Tears for Fears, 7 p.m. July 10, $40 to $60
Steve Miller Band, 7 p.m. July 11, $49 to $89
The Moody Blues, 7 p.m. July 29, $45 to $95
Lyle Lovett and His Band, 7 p.m. July 31, $47.50 to $77.50
KWJZ Smooth Festival feat. Jazz Attack, Lee Ritenour, Syro Gyra, Wayne Brady and more, 2 p.m. Aug. 1 and 2, $45.50 to $80
Jackson Browne, 7 p.m. Aug. 21, $45 to $65
Elvis Costello and the Sugarcanes, 7 p.m. Aug. 23, $40 to $65
John Legend with India.Arie, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 28, $49 to $76
Diana Krall, 7 p.m. Aug. 29 and 30, $49.50 to $99.50
Chris Isaak, 7 p.m. Sept. 4, $45 to $79.50
Gipsy Kings, 7 p.m. Sept. 5, $50 to $90
Bonnie Raitt with Taj Mahal, 7 p.m. Sept. 6, $49.75 to $79.75
Pink Martini, 7 p.m. Sept. 12, $35 to $55

The Puyallup Spring Fair is always a hot spot for catching country’s rising stars, Dierks Bentley, Joe Nichols and Ashton Shepherd being examples from recent years.

Friday (April 17) the main musical attraction at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center will be husband-and-wife team Joey and Rory Feek, a.k.a. Joey and Rory, best known for smash hit “Cheater, Cheater” and appearing on CMT reality show “Can You Duet?”

I’ll have a story on it in tomorrow’s GO section. Meanwhile, here are some clips from the interview they did with me, on break from shooting another one of those Overstock.com commercials.

Part 1: The ACM nomination, making new friends in Nashville

Part 2: Their new video and the politics of Nashville

Part 3: Before they were famous and what lead up to “Can You Duet?”

Part 4: Rory’s ties to the Northwest and Blaine Larsen

Joey + Rory are the latest rising country stars to visit the Puyallup Spring Fair. They'll play the Puyallup Fair & Events Center at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (April 17).
BRYAN ALLEN

So I had my field recorder at the Little Bill Engelhart tribute on March 28. (Read more here.) And now that I’ve found a few minutes to edit some clips and I’ve okayed it with Mr. E, here is some of what you may have missed that night.

Don’t Go Back to L.A.

I Want a Little Girl (dedicated to Jan Engelhart)

Leavin’ Trunk

I Love an Angel (with Heather Mueller)

When I First Get Up

Lincoln Continental Blues

Little Bill’s stuff isn’t always easy to find in his hometown, a shame considering the role he's played in establishing the Tacoma rock and blues scene as we know it. (Check the story I wrote for the March 22 SoundLife section.) But allow me to direct you here for info on ordering his CDs.

Or you can just catch him live the next couple of times he returns to his hometown, on May 3 at Johnny's Dock or May 10 at the Spar Tavern.

Little Bill Engelhart at the Rialto on March 28, a.k.a. Little Bill Day.
ERNEST JASMIN

Was just talking to the Fabulous Wailers' Buck Ormsby, and he tells me you can still see the webcast of the 50th anniversary show his band played with the Ventures last Friday night at the Moore. It's on the TourTV site on the on demand page.

As mentioned in my post on last weekend's X show, Neko Case appeared on Letterman last night with Visqueen's Rachel Flotard helping out with some background vox. And as "Chrisgra" points out in the comments section, video of Case and company singing "This Tornado Loves You" has surfaced on YouTube. Flotard is the second backup singer from the right, I think.

P.S. You all have listened to the song Girl Trouble wrote about Neko over in the South Sound Mixtape window, right?

One Reel announced another round of Bumbershoot 2009 additions this morning, including the All-American Rejects, the Ting Tings, Brett Dennen, Seattle's U.S.E. The lineup will be finalized in July, according to today's announcement. Find out more on the festival site here.

Last week I caught up with country husband-and-wife act Joey + Rory, who will sing their big hit "Cheater, Cheater" on Friday (April 17) at the Puyallup Spring Fair. I'll have some interview clips posted before then, and a story in GO the day of the show.

Meanwhile, here's a YouTube.com clip from behind the scenes at the "Play the Song" video shoot. Rory says he expects CMT to get finished copies next Tuesday and start playing it after that.

Sax, a spot I first blogged about in January, is generating a big buzz as opening day approaches. But there's a little bit of sketchy info about the place in the blogosphere. So I figured I'd check in with folks behind the scenes to see what's really going on.

The venue, which is still under construction at 2309 Sixth Ave., is owned by Jenny and Andy Yee, who also own the North China Garden next door. General manager Micha Cornelius said April 27 has been penciled in for the soft opening, with a bigger grand opening planned for a few days after that. That all hinges on final inspections and construction going as scheduled. But if not then, Cornelius figured Sax would open a week later.

The main draw will be "high-end dining for a good price," he said. But as the name implies, there will be jazz, specifically Tacoma jazz and R & B act Hybrid, which has been hired as the venue's house band.

But “we don’t want to be the new music scene,” Cornelius added, saying he and the Yees wanted to stand out from other hot spots on the Sixth Ave strip. “They all turn into meat markets with loud music. So we’re going to be completely the opposite,” he said.

Well, maybe not totally opposite. Cornelius said Sax will have a DJ on Wednesdays and Thursdays and ladies night on Thursdays. “Our image is that we’re a relaxed spot for people in their mid-30s,” he said. “But at the same time you don’t want to turn the Sixth Avenue crowd away.”

I'm trying to get my hands on a menu and may see if I can get a tour in the days to come. So expect more detail on this blog or TNT Diner soon.

You know, in case you haven't been following this. And it only took, what? Six years?

Rock supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash will headline the Puyallup Fair grandstand on Sept. 14, fair organizers announced Friday. And while tickets officially go on sale to the general public at 9 a.m. Saturday (April 18), Ticketmaster will have a special online "pre-sale" from 9 a.m. Tuesday through 9 a.m. Saturday. The password is "Crosby." Prices are set at $31 to $61, and you can learn more on the Fair's site.

Aerosmith's recently announced summer tour will make an Aug. 17 stop at
Auburn's White River Amphitheatre. And the veteran rockers -- best known for "Dream On," "Walk This Way" and a slew of other hits dating back to the '70s -- have tapped the bearded blues-rockers of Z.Z. Top for opening support. (If you missed Top's last stop at White River, with country duo Brooks & Dunn, take a gander here.)

Tickets go on sale to the general public on April 24, but there will be a special pre-sale event on Friday (April 17). Find out more here.

I caught the Ventures for the first time as they and their buds, the Wailers, celebrated 50 years in the biz Friday at the Moore. Last night, I caught the tail end of legendary L.A. punk band X's two-night stand at Showbox at the Market. And my ol' lady and I got out of there in time to cab it over to the new Crocodile Cafe (love the redesign) just in time to see Cincinnati's Heartless Bastards play "The Mountain," one of my favorite songs of 2009.

Yep, this is one of those weekends that reminds me just how much I love, love, love this gig. And of course I had my trusty Canon with me to document the action you may have missed.

Anyone who’s seen X live is familiar with Billy Zoom’s perma-grin. Towards the end of the set he noticed me lurkin’ in the corner and mugged for the camera.
ERNEST JASMIN

=> Read more!

Top photo: The Ventures’ Nokie Edwards, Bob Spalding and Don Wilson rock out to their 1960 hit “Walk, Don’t Run.” Later, drummer Leon Taylor would steal the show with an epic solo on “Caravan.” Second photo: The Fabulous Wailers’ Kent Morrill still has that Little Richard-style howl; guitarist John Hanford in the background.
ERNEST JASMIN

The Ventures and Fabulous Wailers celebrated 50 years of rock and the release of their new CD “Two Car Garage” Friday night at Seattle’s Moore Theatre, a triumphant night for two titans of Tacoma rock.

Dressed in dapper, black suits, the Wailers ripped through an opening set that included fan favorites “Dirty Robber,” “Wailin’” and “Out of Our Tree,” plus a touching photo tribute to fallen Wailers Rockin’ Robin Roberts, Ron Gardner, Rich Dangel, John Greek and Mark Marush.

The Ventures’ and Wailers’ Blue Horizon Records has been working on a documentary about the influential Tacoma bands. And several celebrities involved in the project congratulating the two bands preceded the Ventures set, with Alec Baldwin, Billy Bob Thornton, Joe Perry and Times Square’s Naked Cowboy among those extolling the two groups.

Liberty DeVito gave congratulations, with a passing joke about the Ventures ridiculously prolific output (more than 250 albums and counting.) “I think since I said that, three albums just came out,” he said.

Many of those album covers provided fun backdrops during the Ventures’ 21-song set, with kitschy ‘60s imagery featuring bikini-clad girls, go-go dancers and astronauts.

The quartet onstage Friday -- founding member Don Wilson, Nokie Edwards, Bob Spalding and Leon Taylor on drums – got things started with “Walk, Don’t Run,” the hit that propelled the Ventures to stardom in 1960. The Ventures were joined by Lt. Governor Brad Owen for “Surf Rider,” a track that experienced a resurgence in popularity in the ‘90s, thanks to its use in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.” And Alan White of Yes made an appearance later, providing the booming snare drum to “Hawaii Five-O.”

But the night’s high point occurred during the Ventures’ last pre-encore number “Caravan.” Leon Taylor delivered a truly epic drum solo during that hit, meandering from behind his kit midway through to band on Bob Spalding’s bass strings as video of his dad, the late Mel Taylor, played behind the band.

For the encore, both bands teamed up for “Needles & Pins” and “Black is Black,” both featured on the new “Two Car Garage” CD. And, yes, Don Wilson sings. His band is known for instrumental rock, but I’m pretty sure he sang more than Britney Spears did Thursday night at the Tacoma Dome.

And three guesses regarding what the two bands finished up with. There are three things you can count on in life, death, taxes and the Wailers playing “Louie Louie” some time during their set.

The Ventures set list
Ventures, Wailers 50th anniversary show
The Moore Theatre
April 10, 2009

Walk, Don’t Run
Blue Dawn
Driving Guitars
Telstar
El Cumbanchero
Slaughter on 10th Ave.
Apache
Penetration
Out of Limits
Surf Rider (with Lt. Governor Brad Owen)
Secret Agent Man
Sleepwalk
I Got a Woman
Walk, Don’t Run ‘64
House of the Rising Sun
Diamond Head
Hawaii Five-O (with Alan White of Yes)
Wipe-Out
Pipeline
Caravan

Encore: The Ventures with the Wailers

Needles & Pins
Black is Black
Louie Louie (And you were expecting what else for the finale?)

Sorry, Wailers fans. My first notebook fell out of my pocket somewhere between the parking garage and my seat, so I didn't have anything to jot their set down on. Off the top of my head, it included "Dirty Robber," "Wailin'," "Out of Our Tree," "Tall Cool One."

Britney Spears didn’t show up with her dome shaved Thursday night at the Tacoma Dome. She wasn’t listless and pudgy, a la her career low on the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. She didn’t even storm off stage, peeved at the aroma of wacky tobacky, as she did night before last in Vancouver, B.C.

Nope, there were no tabloid-worthy moments during the pop princess’ first Puget Sound performance in half a decade, a victory by itself. Instead, Spears confidently strutted, gyrated and lip-synced her way through a slick two hours of smash hits, eye-popping spectacle and PG-13 erotica, much to the delight of more than 20,000 screaming and mostly female fans. It was another step forward on a comeback trail that’s seen her bounce back from the public meltdowns and trips to rehab that have largely overshadowed her musical career these last few years.

=> Read more!

We seem to be having issues with our gallery system, so I thought I would cut to the chase and post some photos here. The first is The Pussycat Dolls, the rest are Britney...like I needed to say it.
There are more photo here as soon as it is fixed.
Enjoy.

Britney’s back!

Forget all the head shaving, fly-by-night marriages, racy paparazzi shots and other acts of public lunacy. The pop princess has her game face back on. And her comeback tour – Circus Starring Britney Spears, featuring opening act Pussycat Dolls – will bring big-time spectacle to the Tacoma Dome beginning at 8 p.m. tonight.

• PHOTO GALLERY: Britney Spears

For her first area tour stop since the Onyx Hotel tour five years ago (a lifetime in pop terms) fans should expect some serious “ooh ahhh” factor, with acrobats, magicians and a whole team of dancers.

=> Read more!

Good ol' YouTube. There's even video of Brit delivering her anti-weed PSA as she made her exit last night in Vancouver. Appropriately enough, she's wearing a police uniform, though I'm not sure it's regulation.

Aside from lessening any legal concerns Britney Spears fans could potentially run into tonight, leaving the ganj at home will increase the chances the pop princess will finish her entire set tonight at the Tacoma Dome.

It she was upset by the amount of cigarette smoke, and a certain herbal aroma, before she walked off stage last night in Vancouver, BC, declaring, "Don't smoke weed." Anyone who has been club hopping in Vancouver, where uh-boats they’re a little more relaxed about herbal recreation, may find this AP report somewhat amusing.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — The new and improved Britney Spears apparently isn’t a fan of cigarette smoke — or any other kind of smoke, for that matter — while she’s performing.

The 27-year-old pop star left the stage for about 30 minutes during a concert in Vancouver on Wednesday night, apparently because of smoke in the audience.

=> Read more!

I've been meaning to post this pic for a while, actually. That's the Blue Horizon Records crew from Tacoma with "30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin (from left, Justin Peterson, Teddy Haggarty and brother Leonard Haggarty.) This is from a recent visit to New York where they say they shot footage for a forthcoming Ventures/Wailers documentary they've been working on. Footage may show up in Friday's Ventures/Wailers show at the Moore, too.
COURTESY BLUE HORIZON RECORDS

Oy! It's been a crazy busy week, so it's taken me longer than planned to chop up a few Ventures-Wailers interview clips - you know, just to get you warmed up for the show on Friday.

But this one is a good one. It's from February when I got to hang out with the Wailers' Buck Ormsby and the Ventures' Don Wilson during an album cover shoot for the new CD "Two Car Garage" at Austin's Pro Max on South Tacoma Way.

Ormsby's is the first voice after mine, then Wilson. Click this 'graph to hear them talk about what it was like when they got started.

But Jazzbones booking guy Sean Culver recently gave me the skinny on a Nirvana tribute show he's got going on Saturday night. It'll be headlined by touring tribute band Nevermind, for those inclined to commemorate the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's passing which, based on best estimates, was last Sunday. (Personally, I think the guy's birthday, Feb. 20, would be a less depressing occasion for a tribute. But I'll actually be in Seattle checking out X on Saturday, anyway.)

Tacoma's own I-Defy opens, more details here.

I remembered meeting Alec Palao backstage at the Sonics' Halloween bash last year. He's with British label Ace Records, which reissues Fabulous Wailers material. (I just bought their "Wailers Wailers Everywhere/Out of Our Tree" package, actually.)

We talked about how well-known Tacoma's garage-rock pioneers are in discerning circles in Europe versus the bands' home stomping grounds. (Case in point: I spent this past New Year's Eve at the Joan Jett show at the Emerald Queen. And at one point, I excitedly informed folks at my table that Jerry freakin' Roslie had just walked by. Blank stares.) So I e-mailed Alec for a little context leading up to the Wailers/Ventures show Friday.

Here's what he wrote back:

It's not as though the Wailers have ever been huge stars in Europe. However Europeans, and the Brits in particular, have always had an unbridled passion for American rock'n'roll, and have always paid attention to every record that got across the Atlantic, no matter how obscure it may be. The Wailers breakthrough instrumental hit Tall Cool One was issued in Britain on a label called London-American (a subsidiary of Decca), which is to whom many US independent labels licensed their material. Thats probably how George Harrison and other nascent British rockers of the 50s and early 60s discovered the band. It was amongst the breed of early 60s instrumentals that held great cachet in the pre-Beatles period - not as popular a genre as it was in the US, but influential nonetheless.

=> Read more!

Bart Leland of Big Media Inc. tells me that the Prodigy, the Crystal Method and Kaskade have been tapped for USC 12, which is set for May 30 at the WaMu Theatre. There's more info on the big, annual electronic dance over on the USC Events site.

"NBC’s America’s Got Talent" will be film at Tacoma's Pantages Theater, Broadway Center announced today. Host Nick Cannon and celebrity judges David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan will all be on hand for episodes being filmed at 1 and 6 p.m. on April 28 and 29. You can learn more about getting free tickets and being part of the audience here.

AC/DC took seven years between Puget Sound tour stops before headlining the Tacoma Dome last fall. But looks like we won't have to wait so long this time. Live Nation just announced that the Aussie rockers will bring their Black Ice tour back to the T-Dome on Aug. 30, with tickets going on sale on Saturday (April 11). You'll be able to find ticket info on Live Nation's site. And if you weren't at the Nov. 30 show, click here to see what you missed.

My cover story for Sunday's SoundLife section revisits 1959, the year the original Northwest Sound cracked the pop charts, and South Sound artists like the Wailers, the Ventures and the Fleetwoods helped put Washington on the musical map.

My story was inspired by a couple of Seattle shows set for next weekend. The Ventures/Wailers 50th anniversary show will take place on Friday (April 10) at the Moore, and the Ultimate Doo-Wop show, featuring Gary Troxel’s revamped Fleetwoods lineup (minus founding members Gretchen Christopher and Barb Ellis) will be at the Paramount on April 11. So in the days leading up to those shows, I’ll be posting clips from the folks who helped lay the foundation for five decades of Northwest trend setters that have followed.

I'll start with a couple of clips from my interview with Troxel ...

"We were kids all right ...

How "Come Softly to Me" helped launch Dolton Records

... and a few clips from Fleetwoods hits for the uninitiated.

"Come Softly to Me"

"Mr. Blue"

"The Great Imposter"

An early promo shot of the Fleetwoods (from left) Barbara Ellis, Gary Troxel and Gretchen Christopher.
DOLTON RECORDS

One Reel released a partial lineup for the 39th Bumbershoot Festival, with Katy Perry, Modest Mouse, Sheryl Crow, De la Soul and Michael Franti & Spearhead among the big names. The lineup that's been announced so far is below. Find out more here.

Bumbershoot 2009 acts announced so far ...

Sheryl Crow, Modest Mouse, Katy Perry, Michael Franti & Spearhead, De La Soul, Raphael Saadiq, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, The Long Winters, Sly & Robbie & the Taxi Gang, World Party, MSTRKRFT, Roy Ayers, Common Market, UH HUH HER, Dave Alvin and The Guilty Women, Eric Hutchinson, No Age, Matt & Kim, Dead Confederate, The Cave Singers, Swollen Members, Vieux Farka Touré, Lenka, Gang Gang Dance, Todd Snider, Holy F**k, DJ Spooky, Iglu & Hartly, Low vs. Diamond, Sera Cahoone, Eleni Mandell, Carrie Rodriguez, The Honey Brothers, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, Extra Golden, Cordero, Forgive Durden, Hey Marseilles, Adrian Xavier and many more to be announced.

Hey, this is way better than my Soundgarden April Fool's joke (post deleted after I suspected it was lame by noon.) So will this add fuel to the Reznor-Cornell feud (which is kind of one-sided, if you think about it.) And who knew that Trent "Something I Can Never Have" Reznor had such a good sense of humor?

Beyonce, the reigning queen of pop, just flew through KeyArena (literally, during "Baby Boy.") I’ll dig through my notes for more details in a spell. Meanwhile, here’s a set list for anyone who missed all the bootylicious action.

Beyonce’s I Am Tour set list
KeyArena
April 1, 2009

“Crazy in Love” (with elements of James Brown’s “Pass the Peas,” DJ Kool’s “Let Me Clear My Throat”)
“Naughty Girl”
“Freakum Dress”
“Get Me Bodied”

“Smash into You”
“Ave Maria”
“Broken-Hearted Girl”
“If I Were A Boy”/”You Oughta Know” (Alanis Morissette)

“Diva”
“Radio”
“Me, Myself & I”
“Ego”
“Hello” (called favorite song from new album)
Band jam with snippets of Digable Planet’s “Rebirth of Slick,” The Commodores’ “Brick House,” etc.
“Love Hangover” (Diana Ross, sung by backup singers)

Second stage set:
“Baby Boy” (Beyonce clones dance before the real Beyonce “flies” and flips her way across arena to a second, smaller stage)
“Irreplaceable” (crowd sing along)
“Check On It”
Medley with “Bootylicious,” “Bug-A-Boo,” “Jumpin’ Jumpin’”
“Video Phone”

Ballad set:
“At Last” (to backdrop of civil rights and “Cadillac Footage,” culiminating in Barack Obama’s inauguration)
“Listen”
“Scared of Lonely”
Piano solo
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)"

Encore:
Halo