I know Clapton did some dates not so long ago with Bramhall, Derek Trucks, Robert Cray and Robert Randolph. If it takes one of them taking some leads to light a fire back under his ass, I'm all for it. The cost of concert related merch is as out of hand these days as is the price of tix. I don't really go to that many big shows any more (this summer being the exception with more artists touring that I'd like to see than normal) so I usually just pass on it.

Manager: We're 'Pretty Close' To Getting Deal Done To Find Four New Members Of KISS Video footage has surfaced (see below) of KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons and the group's longtime manager, Doc McGhee of McGhee Entertainment, confirming what has been some fans' biggest fear for some years now — that Simmons and KISS co-founder Paul Stanley are indeed planning to keep KISS running and touring long after they decide to take off the make-up for good. During a familiar rant by Simmons about how KISS could go on forever, Stig Karlsen of Norway's NRK asked jokingly if the band would consider looking for replacements for Simmons and Stanley in a TV show, similar to programs like "Rock Star" and "American Idol". Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

As far as I know, anyone can create a thread for any artist on here. Having seen the Police on the last leg of their most recent tour I most definitely agree about the ticket prices but the performance I saw was anything but "lifeless" and that was with Sting fighting off the ravages of the flu (they canceled a show earlier that same week in Philly because of his illness). As for them being the same group they once were, who is? I damn sure wasn't expecting the Police of the mid-80s. When people traveled far and wide and paid through the nose to see Led Zeppelin late last year were they expecting to see them prancing around the stage like they were still in their early 20s? I very seriously doubt it. I hated to fork over $90 to see the Police from the nosebleed section but since I never got to see them back in the day I can't say I have any regrets.

The Police Pick Madison Square Garden For Final Gig The Police Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. The Police's last-ever show will be held Aug. 7 at New York's Madison Square Garden, with proceeds to benefit New York public television stations Thirteen/WNET and WLIW21. Tickets will only be available via donations to the station, starting June 14. To read the remainder of the article click here.

For the Sonny Landreth fans (myself included), I just saw this tidbit in this week's N & O. I knew he was going to be in town soon but didn't even figure on him sittin' in with Buffett: http://www.newsobserver.com/442/story/1098092.html Saturday brings Jimmy Buffett back to Raleigh's Walnut Creek for the first time since 2002 (see page 14-15), with a special guest -- Cajun guitarist Sonny Landreth. Landreth will stick around to play Sunday at Durham's Papa Mojo's Roadhouse with Mel Melton, his old bandmate in the zydeco band Bayou Rhythm.

Was the second guitarist by any chance Doyle Bramhall II? If so, you may remember him from the Arc Angels that also included Charlie Sexton and SRV's Double Trouble: Tommy Shannon and Chris Layton. There's also a nice feature on Doyle in the very excellent documentary Before the Music Dies, a must-see especially if you haven't seen it yet. T-shirts at the recent Van Halen show ranged from $35 - 55. I didn't even bother with the beer as I'm sure it was probably around $10 a cup. Fuck that, I'd rather just go without.

Jimmy Buffett's Coming To Town BY DAVID MENCONI, Staff Writer Say "concert souvenir" to most people, and they'll probably think of a T-shirt or poster. Say that to Cindy Parker, though, and it's something a little more meaningful -- at least regarding Jimmy Buffett concerts. "Yeah, I have two permanent souvenirs," Parker says. "I have a daughter who's 12 and a son who's 8, both of whom were conceived on Buffett concert weekends. So anybody who's talking about trying in vitro fertilization, save the money and go to a Jimmy Buffett concert instead. Trust me, it works. Click here to read the rest of the article. Click here to read some vintage Buffett articles from the N & O.

I don't exactly go around to concerts with a decibel meter but I'd definitely have to say the Drive-By Truckers are up there as far as loudness is concerned.

Bob Dylan says Barack Obama is 'changin' America Alan Jackson and David Byers His 1964 track 'The Times They are a-Changin' became the anthem for his generation, symbolising the era-defining social struggle against the establishment. Now Bob Dylan - who could justifiably claim to be the architect of Barack Obama's 'change' catchphrase - has backed the Illinois senator to do for modern America what the generation before did in the 1960s. In an exclusive interview with The Times, published today, Dylan gives a ringing endorsement to Mr Obama, the first ever black presidential candidate, claiming he is "redefining the nature of politics from the ground up". To read the remainder of the article click here

Other than Winwood I think it would be safe to say most of the artists on that lineup have seen their better days.

I get your drift but Oh, Sherry was actually a Steve Perry solo tune.

By Don Lehman WHITEHALL - In case you were wondering, a motorized cooler on wheels is a motor vehicle under state law. A Whitehall man learned that on Memorial Day, when he was charged with driving while intoxicated after police pulled him over for swerving and driving on the sidewalk on a four-wheeled, motorized cooler known as a "Cruzin Cooler." Leslie J. "Bomber" Marr, 57, could face felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges because of prior arrests and convictions in drinking-and-driving cases, said Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle. The electricity-powered Cruzin Cooler that Marr was riding contained 14 beers, the chief said. LaChapelle said Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija stopped Marr at about 7:45 p.m. after the officer saw Marr swerving and preparing to cross William Street on the motorized cooler. The machine has handlebars, and its operator sits on a seat atop the cooler, LaChapelle said. "We were told it can do up to 12 mph," the chief said. Marr had apparently just left the nearby American Legion Post 83, but it was unclear where he was going, LaChapelle said. He was not headed toward his Lafayette Street home, and he refused to take a breath test, the chief said. Marr had apparently been working at the American Legion post earlier in the day, according to police. Marr was charged with misdemeanor counts of DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and also was cited for operating an uninsured motor vehicle. He was released pending prosecution in Whitehall Village Court. The Cruzin Cooler was seized by police, the chief said. No listed phone number for Marr could be found Monday. Washington County District Attorney Kevin Kortright said the scooter is considered a motor vehicle under state law. "They tell us he's been riding around town on that cooler for years," Kortright said. "You can't cruise around on your cooler if you're intoxicated." Cruzin Coolers generally run on 300-watt to 500-watt motors similar to those used on other motorized scooters, but there are some models that run on gasoline. The company's Web site boasts the vehicles can travel up to 13 mph and pull up to 400 pounds. Price-wise, they begin at about $300. They are legal in New York, according to the company's Web site.

I have read of some people buying a vinyl copy of their last album (Stadium Arcadium) and burning it to CD because the compression was just too much on the original CD version.

Alton Kelley, poster designer for 60s counterculture, is dead By William Grimes Alton Kelley, whose psychedelic concert posters for artists like the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and Big Brother and the Holding Company helped define the visual style of the 1960s counterculture, died on Sunday at his home in Petaluma, California He was 67. The cause was complications of osteoporosis, said his wife, Marguerite Trousdale Kelley. Kelley and his longtime collaborator, Stanley Mouse, combined sinuous Art Nouveau lettering and outré images plucked from sources near and far to create the visual equivalent of an acid trip. A 19th-century engraving from "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" inspired a famous poster for a Grateful Dead concert at the Avalon Ballroom in 1966 that showed a skeleton wearing a garland of roses on its skull and holding a wreath of roses on its left arm. You can read the remainder of the article by clicking here.

Donna Jean Godchaux grateful to sing again Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay, who spent seven years with the Grateful Dead, is touring. "I've never been happier," says the Alabama native, who moved back to her native state 27 years ago. Chronicle photo by Deanne Fitzmaurice Joel Selvin, Chronicle Senior Pop Music Critic She barely escaped with her life - her husband didn't - but the only woman to ever belong to the Grateful Dead doesn't want to think about the dark times before she left the band after seven years in 1979. "I don't like to talk about it because the memories I have of being in that band are the best of my life," says Donna Jean Godchaux-Mackay, 60, on a rare visit to Marin County since moving back to her native Alabama 27 years ago. You can read the rest of the article here

Who was it that wore the diapers? I'm guessing they've graduated to Depends these days.

Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy and George Thorogood Remember Bo Diddley According to Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, the influence that Bo Diddley’s records have had is immeasurable, but that’s not the most amazing part of his legacy. “But how heavy is it that a person has a beat named after him?” he asks. Indeed, the “Bo Diddley Beat” has left an indelible mark on the rock landscape, and according to Gibbons it will be immortal. “You can play Bo Diddley for three year olds who can’t speak and yet they start gyrating,” he says. I think we must be wired to respond to it and he just happened to tap into it and deliver it in such a masterful way. And it still works.” Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

It's hard to go wrong with any of his records but you may find it best to start here: 1. Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo (Album Version) 2. I'm Yours And I'm Hers (Album Version) 3. Johnny B. Goode (Album Version) 4. I'll Drown In My Tears (Album Version) 5. Come On In My Kitchen (Previously Unreleased) 6. Rollin' And Tumblin' (Album Version) 7. Highway 61 Revisited (Album Version) 8. Hustled Down In Texas (Album Version) 9. Mother-In-Law Blues (Album Version) 10. Dallas (Album Version) 11. Miss Ann (Album Version) 12. It's My Own Fault (Live) 13. Mean Town Blues (Live) 14. Still Alive And Well (Album Version) 15. Be Careful With A Fool (Album Version) 16. Memory Pain (Album Version)

From the Associated Press: The Sex Pistols Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten has been charged in a civil lawsuit filed in Los Angeles with beating a woman during the taping of a reality TV show. Roxane Davis, an assistant producer on "Bodog Battle of the Bands," that featured Rotten, 52, said the former punk rocker hit her because he didn't like the hotel room he was given. The alleged aggression in January 2007 did not lead to criminal charges, but Davis is suing Rotten, whose real name is John Lydon, for sexual harassment and assault. A spokesman for the singer said that Rotten was not available for comment.

Certainly if you want to discuss the Who or any of your other favorite bands there's other alternatives than the boards on their official websites. R.E.M.'s fanclub fee is $10 a year and that hasn't changed since they started it up in the early 80s. They don't have an official messageboard but the membership entitles you to fanclub discounts on merch, several mailouts per year, a holiday package that includes usually includes a single feature previously unreleased material but most of all it gives members dibs on concert tickets for the first 4-6 rows. For the past few tours I've had no problem scoring front row seats. I'm not sure if there's another artist out there that offers a better deal.

One of my favorite Rick Griffin works:

...and still is.

Kiss "underrated"? Goes to show why I'll never understand the whole "overrated"/"underrated" thing.

I don't know if it's the same across the board but I know Skynyrd didn't use to charge for use of their message board at their official website but now it comes along with being a member of their fanclub and I understand why. Before, when it was free there was lots of infighting amongst the members. Now, if you want in you have to pay. I imagine that goes a long way towards keeping the riff raff out that only want to show up just to start trouble. I'm not saying it rules out fighting on the board altogether but I imagine it cuts down on it a great deal.