fuseblog

Pete Wentz Has A Bachelor Party

Ah, the male rituals of marriage. The courtship, the proposal, the eyeliner, the bachelor party... it's all been a part of the Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson's Road To Marriage, which hit a milestone this week when bassist/groom-to-be Pete Wentz had his awesome bachelor party! Wentz, his FOB BMs (Fall Out Boy Band Mates), future manager-in-law Joe Simpson, Joel Madden (Of Madden Football) and some non-famous people kicked things off with dinner at Mr. Chow, a Bev Hills eatery. They then moved on to the Roosevelt Hotel, where they partied in a suite. Just a bunch of guys in a suite celebrating a bachelor party. FOB fans, close your eyes and imagine that scene.

Also kickin' it...

Those spring chickens Metallica kicked it 80s style and played a club show in order to prove they can keep it real. This being Metallica, though, a "club" means the 2300 capacity Wiltern Theatre in LA, which could probably fit several clubs inside. They played classics like For Whom The Bell Tolls, Master Of Puppets and NO new material. Which is awesome.

Taylor Hicks, who was an American Idol at some point, is coming to Broadway! Which is as good a reason as any to not come to Broadway.

And those cool winners the RIAA may have to pay a #$%! load of legal fees. Karma: still existing in 2008!

In summation:

Pete Wentz Celebrates With Bachelor Party in LA [People]

Metallica Play Club Show, Eye Fall Tour [Reuters]

Taylor Hicks To Play Teen Angel In Broadway's Grease [AP]

Judge Recommending Legal Fees In RIAA v. Andersen [Wired]

Britney In Rear-Ender

Pic above of Sally Worth mentioning Vampire Weekend

It's been awhile since we mentioned our old friend Britney Spears around these parts. This Brit hiatus was and is a result of boredom, lack of truly weird news and plain old fatigue - hasn't the world had enough Britney? Allow us to answer our own semi-rhetorical question: who knows. But once in awhile, something so juicy, so bizarre, so straight up wack occurs that we must acknowledge said happening. That happening? Oh, nothing. She rear-ended a car the other day, that's all. But why is this news? It isn't. But it's in character, kinda pathetic, and it allows a million magazine editors and bloggers to run a headline similar to what you see above. Welcome back, Britney! (Get it, Back? never mind...)

Also Rustling In the Cultural Breeze...

Jessica Simpson and Tony Romo have hit the showers, in an end-of-the-relationship, not a steamy, way. This according to Alan Peppard, who appears to be a gossip columnist for The Dallas Morning News. What will Dallas-Fort Worth area gossip-hounds write about now? Do we care?

Just when you thought Vampire Weekend were everywhere, they are even more everywhere. Pitchfork reports that the Afropop appropriators were mentioned in Sally Worth. Yes, the comic strip Sally Worth.

Jay-Z has responded to Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher's claim that hip-hop doesn't belong at Glastonbury, the long-running UK summer festival. The world has to change, according to Jay. It's a beautiful thing, he says. Rappers have paid their dues, Jay notes. Yawn. Before I was exited for Jay-Z's Glasto set. Now? Not so much.

Once Again...

Britney's Latest Smash Hit! [E! Online]

Sources Confirm Jessica Simpson / Tony Romo Break-up [Dallas Morning News]

Indie Rock Hits The Funny Pages, Again [Pitchfork]

I Got 99 Problems But the Pitch Ain't One [The Sun, via Stereogum]

R.E.M. To W - Yes, I Would Like Fries With That

Did you know that if you show up even a few minutes after McDonald's cut-off time for serving breakfast, and you want breakfast, you're screwed? It's true. Try it. No McGriddle For You. But we digress, before we even started. Here goes:

Peter Buck, the beloved, gentlemanly guitarist for R.E.M. has told President Bush to get a job - at McDonald's (oh snap)! According to Spinner, Buck recently mused to Uncut Magazine that there was probably a McDonald's somewhere that could use a manager and, according to Buck, "he seems like the kind of purse-mouthed snot nose who'd be great at terrifying 13-year-olds." And everyone else.

Also Wasting Our Time...

The Led Zeppelin touring rumors are kicking into gear again... According to the UK's The Mirror, Zep will tour at the end of this year or in early 2009. The source of this rumor mongering? None other than David Coverdale, the Whitesnake vocalist and Plant wannabe who was, of course, one half of Coverdale/Page (a 1993 very, very, very poor man's Page and Plant) and whom Plant famously has called David Coverversion. Coverdale seems to think Whitesnake will open this tour. Don't count on it.

Oasis are set to introduce their fourth drummer, if some blog is to be taken at its word. According to What Became Of The Likely Broads, current Oasis drummer (and son of Ringo Starr) Zak Starkey ain't getting along too well with Noel Gallagher these days. But that never stopped Liam from leaving.

And finally, Metallica launched an awesome new site called Mission: Metallica, in which we the devoted Metallica fans, get to eavesdrop on the recording of their newest album. Unfortunately, soon after launch, the site crashed. Unless Metallica is recording a hot new track called "403 Forbidden," that thing's downer than St. Anger sales figures.

Once again:

R.E.M. Guitarist Says President Bush Should Work At McDonald's [Spinner]

Led Zeppelin Set For World Tour [The Mirror]

Oasis Has A Lineup Change? [What's Become Of The Likely Broads]

Metallica's Mission Beta Site Goes Live (And Then It Goes Dead) [Blabbermouth.com]

A Cute Pop Star Has Acute Laryngitis

In case you were unaware, Avril Lavigne's been all over this great continent of ours, bringing her "Best Damn Tour" to a corporately-named arena near you for awhile now. She was nearing the end but she just... couldn't... make it. Why? Homegirl's voxbox plain pooped out, Herb. In a message on her official site, Avril was un-Complicatedly contrite:

"My sincerest apologies to all of my fans. My intention was to complete the rest of the tour but tonight at sound check in Anaheim I realized this wasn't possible."

Pretty boring. Avril's kind of disappeared from the zeitgeist, has she not? Remember her clothing line?

Also Up In Our Grill:

The New York Post wonders if network television is the new rehab after Lindsay Lohan announces she will follow in Britney Spears' guest star footsteps and begin a six-episode stint on Ugly Betty. If one were to observe the actions of these stars, one would think that diminishing entertainment returns and dwindling respect levels are the "new rehab." And one would be right.

In other repellent Lohan news, People Mag and others are reporting that Lindsay "borrowed" an $11,000 mink fur coat she found after some fab party at some fab Manhattan joint (1Oak). According to the owner, she was unable to find her coat at the end of her partying on January 26th and assumed the coat was gone forever. That is, until she spotted Lohan wearing the coat in some celeb rag. After threatening to sue, she received a discreet phone call from some discreet people discreetly informing her that her coat was ready for pickup. BTW, the owner of the coat is a 22 year-old student at Columbia. She must have sold a lot of heavy books back last semester.

Finally, Scarlett Johansson is engaged to Van Wilder and has taken to showing off a rock as proof. The AP has a photo of her diamond-encrusted left hand. Stereogum has some video of her Tom Waits thing.

The Police Like Trees

Those hip old farts in The Police have been doing the reunion tour thang for about a year now, so they must be getting tired. Of playing, of each other, and of living in a van and loading their gear in each night to dive bars and smelly clubs. So to call attention to the end of this reunion tour, Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland gathered in Times Square today to announce that their final show ever would be... somewhere in New York. Where? Who knows. They didn't say! Which makes for a pretty un-dramatic press conference. So...

Why New York? And what's the deal with the trees? Well, they have decided to donate $1 million smackers to NYCs plan to plant a million trees by 2017. And, again, why New York? Well, The Police kicked off their first ever US tour thirty years ago with a gig at New York's late CBGBs. Now CBGBs is a John Varvatos store. So, um, they should go buy something. Right?

Nine Inch Nails Give Us The Slip

Trent Reznor is really down with this whole shifting paradigm thing. Bare months after announcing a free Nine Inch Nails album (that would be Ghosts), Trent and his NIN compadres have given us The Slip, a "new full-length" Nine Inch Nails album. Unlike the Ghosts release, there is no option for paying anything, at all. It's all free - no matter which file version you choose. High quality MP3, FLAC, M4A or even 24/96 WAVE. Downloads include artwork and credits. Physical product fetishists can look forward to purchasing physical products in July.

How's he making money? Likely via licensing, merch and touring. When you can sell out arenas, you can afford to give away your albums.

Also Up In Our Bidness:

Pitchfork has some pics of this past weekend's Arcade Fire concert for Obama in North Carolina. Registered voters not pictured.

Mark Ronson has given Amy WInehouse the heave-ho from the new James Bond soundtrack, observing that she my not be ready to make music yet. That's ok, we weren't ready to hear it yet.

And finally, Kanye West hates Entertainment Weekly. He also probably hates the little subscription cards that come in Entertainment Weekly.

Celebrities and the Stupid People Like Us Who Love Them

Tom Cruise ain't normal, but he's trying to trick us into thinking he is. Tom Cruise, it won't work. Speaking with Oprah Winfrey from his overstuffed couch near the mean streets of Telluride, Colorado, Cruise noted that he doesn't regret his sofa-leaping episode on a previous Oprah appearance, that he still loves Katie Holmes and that he was misunderstood regarding the whole Prescription Drugs Are Bad thing. And to clarify, he's "not sure" he would take the sofa-jumping back. So, he wouldn't take it back. But he's not sure.

Fame, Fame, Fatal Fame:

While in the Caribbean, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon tied the knot, according to rumors and circumstantial evidence. Carey obtained a Bahamian marriage license this week, and later obtained a tropical drink with an umbrella in it, and later obtained sand in her shoes.

Madonna played an intimate, 32-minute set at Manhattan's Roseland Ballroom on Wednesday night for fans who had patiently waited up to sixty hours for entry. Thirty minute sets are about the average for marginally known indie bands playing in small clubs around the world, and now for Madonna, too.

And in possibly-fake sex tape news, the family and estate of Jimi Hendrix denies that a recently unearthed 1960's vintage sex tape features the legendary guitar player, claiming his presence is as unreal as the awesome, unreal lead line on Little Wing. Fans of salacious Hendrix imagery will have to be content with the original album cover of Electric Ladyland. [NSFW]

People Still Care About Coldplay

So... Coldplay. They're big and famous. Hang with famous people. Make loads of cash money. But on the respect level, it's always been pretty slim pickin's for the NYC/West Village and London/Chelsea shuttling entourage (despite the very respectable A Rush Of Blood To The Head). Which may explain why Chris Martin and the Other Guys decided to enlist Brian Eno to produce their latest full-length, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends. There a few musicians in the rock sphere who command more respect than Eno, who began his career with Roxy Music before producing Talking Heads, U2 and others and also releasing a series of acclaimed solo albums.

Now, you can hear the results for free. As Coldplay fans likely already know, Violet Hill, the first single from this new album, was made available free on Tuesday morning over at Coldplay's site. Apparently, people are still interested in what Mr. Paltrow is up to - according to the NME, over 600,000 people downloaded the track in the first 24 hours. The track will be free until early next week, after which you'll have to put in a little more effort to find a free copy.