Friday, May 16, 2008

ERIC CLAPTON: Cricket Anyone?

Three days after finishing his brief North American tour, Eric Clapton will lead a classic rock cricket team in a charity match in Cranleigh, England on June 8th. Joining Slowhand will be Roger Waters, Bill Wyman and Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford. The match will benefit a number of charities, including Clapton's Crossroads Center in Antigua. Clapton last played in a celebrity cricket match in 2001, which was England's hottest day on record. He'll start up his tour again next Thursday at the PNC Bank Arts Center with shows through June 5th in Wantagh, New York.

EAGLES: Could Have Been Better

Don Henley is pleased with the Eagles' first studio album in 28 years, Long Road Out of Eden, but he thinks it could've been better. The band is on the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone, on newsstands Friday , and in it Henley says, "There are some weak spots. I still think it should have been a single album. But I lost that one. There were four or five more songs that were good but not finished. But we wanted to get it out for Christmas... We're not getting any younger, so we decided to let it go. But I wasn't done." The Eagles do the second and third of four shows in suburban Atlanta Friday and Saturday.

PAUL McCARTNEY: Irritating

Paul McCartney is the "Most Irritating Pop Star of All Time" in a survey on MusicMagpie-dot-com. The folks behind the survey say, "Paul has driven people up the wall with his holier-than-thou approach to his divorce, two-fingered peace gesture and penchant for wearing trainers with suits." The rest of the Top 10 are James Blunt at number-two followed by, in order, Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Amy Winehouse, Bono, Cliff Richard, Pete Doherty, Joss Stone and Craig David.

ELVIS, BEATLES: Making History

The History Channel will launch a new season of its History Rocks series on June 5th. This year's crop includes 17 hour-long episodes, each spotlighting a pivotal artist in rock and roll history. Featured acts include Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix.

ELTON: Playing for Nelson

Elton John has joined the list of performers at Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday concert on June 27th in London's Hyde Park. And with the announcement come reports that he will be joined by Eminem. Elton is rumored to be making a contribution to the rapper's next album. If they do perform together, it won't be the first time. They did Eminem's song "Stan" at the Grammy Awards in 2001. Also on tap for the Mandela concert are Queen with Paul Rodgers, Razorlight and others. Elton performs in Darwin, Australia on Saturday night.

VELVET REVOLVER: Sorum's Grand Opening

Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum threw a grand opening party on Wednesday for Sorum Noce, the West Hollywood clothing shop he's started with business partner Max Noce. Featuring Sorum's own men's fashion line -- which he calls "real rock and roll couture," the small store is filled with racks of shirts, jackets, custom suits and shoes and display cases of accessories such as ties and jewelry. On the walls hang a collection of vintage shots by legendary rock photographer Jim Marshall. Musicians who stopped by to offer congratulations included V-R's Duff McKagan, The Cult's Billy Duffy and John Tempesta, Camp Freddy's Billy Morrison, Bret Scallions and Mark McGrath. Sorum says he intends to spend plenty of time in the store, especially until Velvet Revolver find a new lead singer and get back out on the road

VELVET REVOLVER: Duff's No Fashionista

While he came out to support his Velvet Revolver and Guns 'N Roses bandmate Matt Sorum at Wednesday's opening of Matt's new clothing store, Duff McKagan tells us that fashion isn't really his thing. "Some people live and die with fashion and follow trends and do all that. I think it's kind of pathetic myself. I'm from punk rock. Wear what you wear. I'll throw on a pair of jeans and I'll wear those jeans for two weeks until my wife goes, 'You gotta change those.' I hate shopping for clothes." Just then, the impeccably tailored Sorum arrived and joked that he steals a lot of his style from McKagan. "He just got an award for Best Dressed Man of the Year, didn't you know? He was on the cover of People magazine, didn't you see him?"

CLARENCE CLEMONS: Different Kind of Appearance

E Street Band sax player Clarence Clemons will make an unusual appearance in Florida Saturday afternoon in support of his new Temple of Soul album, Brothers in Arms. He'll be at the Yoshinkan Aikido martial arts studio in Lake Park at 3:00 and will perform a few songs. The album contains 10 songs, including a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze." Clemons will get back to his day job on Thursday as Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band start a U-K tour in Dublin, Ireland. -

KISS: Demon Is Down but Not Out

Apparently a bug is making its way through the KISS camp and Gene Simmons has gotten it. KISS shortened their set list the other night in Italy, dropping some of the songs he sings, including "Firehouse" and "Watchin' You." Simmons also did not breathe fire, and Eric Singer did a longer drum solo. Singer-guitarist Paul Stanley has been suffering from bronchitis. KISS are in Bulgaria tonight (Friday) and Greece on Sunday.

FOO FIGHTERS: The Tour Rider

The Foo Fighters' lengthy and hilarious tour rider, which outlines all of their demands at each tour stop, has surfaced online at TheSmokingGun.com. The detailed list, which was drawn up by their tour manager, includes everything from vegetarian soups -- because "meaty soups make roadies fart" -- to a 75-pound tub of ice, for which they've included a recipe. The band has some very specific demands, such as tomatoes with no brown splotches, 16-ounce blue or red cups, packages of socks and a bag of tortilla chips with mild salsa "displayed festively." Check out the rest of rider at TheSmokingGun,com.

IN OTHER NEWS

Bob Dylan does the first of two U-S shows Friday in Worcester, Massachusetts before heading to Canada and then Europe. The other U-S show is Saturday night in Lewiston, Maine. It has also been announced that Dylan will headline the New American Music Festival on August 8th and 9th in Pittsburgh.

Tim Renwick, Pink Floyd's touring guitarist since 1987, has recovered four of the seven guitars stolen from his studio earlier this year. A fifth guitar has been located but not yet returned. He says his "favorite Fender Stratocaster and new Martin acoustic are still missing and no sign of the old Gibson amplifier either."

A post on the Rush website says, "Finally, after years of waiting, Rush-dot-com is proud to announce we will reveal the 'secret behind Geddy Lee's bass sound.' Stay tuned for this shocking secret to unfold."

Add Lou Reed to the lists of artists hosting their own radio show. Starting Saturday night at 6:00 [ET], Reed will do a weekly show on Sirius Satellite Radio's Disorder channel. He will co-host it with producer Hal Willner. Other artists who do their own shows include Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Randy Bachman, Alice Cooper and Steve Van Zandt.

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea joined Metallica on stage Wednesday night in Los Angeles to perform "Fight Fire With Fire" from Ride the Lightning.

Entertainment News

ANGELINA JOLIE: Where and When!

We know the who -- Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. And we know the what -- they're having twins. Now we also know the where and when. Angelina says the next two Jolie-Pitts will likely be born in France, the birthplace of her late mother. For those keeping score, that would make exactly zero Jolie-Pitts born in the United States. As for the when -- the Brangelina twins are reportedly going to pop out on August 19th.

BRITNEY SPEARS, MEL GIBSON: On Vacation

Those two paparazzi darlings -- Britney Spears and Mel Gibson -- are on vacation together. As just friends, of course. The two-time mental patient and the anti-Semitic epithet-spewing drunk driver are reportedly heading to Costa Rica, for a little R-and-R at Gibson's new home. They'll be joined by Gibson's wife and dad. Mel and his wife reportedly reached out to Britney, their former Malibu neighbor, after her second trip to the hospital in February.

JENNIFER ANISTON, JOHN MAYER: NY, NY

Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer have taken their canoodling tour to the City That Never Sleeps. After two weekends of smooching by the pool in Miami, the former Friends star and her rock star boyfriend spent Wednesday night at a pair of New York City hotspots doing what comes naturally -- kissing, hugging and giving each other backrubs.

WILL SMITH: New School

Old-school rapper Will Smith is the proud owner of a new school. Will and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith -- who had been home-schooling their two children -- have leased a campus near their California home and renamed it the New Village Academy of Calabasas. The new school, whose motto is "Spiral Up," requires special testing for admission.

KATE HUDSON, OWEN WILSON: Done Again?

That on-again, off-again Kate Hudson-Owen Wilson romance is off again, according to People magazine. A so-called pal of the Butterscotch Stallion tells the magazine, "It was a pretty bad breakup. Owen said it was a tough one." You may recall that last year, shortly after the first time the relationship went belly up, Wilson was rushed to the hospital after reportedly slitting his wrists.

HUGH GRANT, LIZ HURLEY: Snap Happy

Being in the paparazzi usually means never having to say you're sorry. Not this time. Hugh Grant, his ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley and her husband, Arun Nayar, have received apologies -- and 113-thousand dollars -- from a pair of photo agencies. Britain's High Court ruled that the shutterbugs violated the trio's privacy by using long lenses to shoot photos of Hurley's naked son frolicking on the beach while they were all happily vacationing in the Maldive Islands in October. They're giving the money to a cancer charity.

MATTHEW PERRY: Gilmore Guy

While his former Friends co-star Jennifer Aniston canoodles her way up the East Coast with John Mayer, Matthew Perry has rekindled his on-again, off-again relationship with Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham. A source tells the National Enquirer, "This time they're in it for the long haul."

CHARLES BARKLEY: Owe Is Me

Retired NBA star Charles Barkley could be facing criminal charges over 400-thousand dollars in gambling debts he owes to the Wynn Las Vegas Casino. In a criminal complaint, the 11-time N-B-A all-star is accused of refusing to repay four 100-thousand-dollar casino markers he received last October. In a 2006 interview with ESPN, Sir Charles claimed he'd gambled away about 10-million dollars in his time. He said, "Do I have a gambling problem? Yeah, I do have a gambling problem. But I don't consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble."