Uh, WTF?

Earlier this month, [Miley Cyrus] signed a seven-figure book deal with Disney-Hyperion Books to publish her memoirs next spring.

Heading says it all...And please, those "art" photos weren't nude shots, you aren't sexy, and showing your back does not warrant saying Annie Leibowitz took advantage of you. You'll be duetting with your daddy at county fairs in no time.

Fate of Vegoose Uncertain

According to the Las Vegas Sun, Vegoose may be dead. This fall would have been the fourth offering of the festival. There will certainly be more than a few casualties resulting from the current US festival battle for dollars, but Vegoose seemed to have a pretty good niche with its Vegas location and Halloween theme. Maybe now with the Outside Lands festival, the guys at Superfly decided to retire the Goose. We'll keep our eyes out for more news on this.

Hauntingly Beautiful - Coldplay's 'Fix You' by Young at Heart

First the Springsteen eulogy and now this, sorry for the slightly depressing undertones, but this cover of Coldplay's 'Fix You' by is more moving than the Johnny Cash version of 'Hurt'. Unreal.



Young At Heart Chorus is a travelling chorus from New England, USA, with members ranging in age from 71 to 93. The original troupe was formed in 1982 in Walter Salvo House, Northampton, Massachusetts.

Fred Knittle, the lead singer here, suffers from breathing difficulties associated with congestive heart failure. He had been meant to be singing in a duet with Young@Heart chorus member, Bob Salvini but was left to sing alone when Bob died of a heart attack.

Fred Knittle was born in Utica, New York in 1925 and, as the son of a poor barber, he lived through the depression years. From 1944 to 1946, he served with the United States Army Infantry in Italy, the Philippines and Japan. He came back and attended Syracuse University, graduating in 1950. He first worked as an executive for the YMCA in New York and Chicago, before accepting the position of Vice President for Development at The Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, Massachusetts. On his retirement, he joined the Young@Heart Chorus and, for the first time, began singing in public. He facetiously says that, as a member of the Chorus, he went with them from continent to continent until he became incontinent, and then had to retire. While no longer traveling with the Chorus because of his breathing problems, he will accept an occasional opportunity to sing with the group at a special event.

AND HE IS A BADASS ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR (TheWeight creative license with the bio)

Original Warrant Lineup To Play First Shows in 14 Years

From frontman Jani Lane's Myspace site.

Warrant will appear for the 1st time "all original members" in 14 years at The Wild Horse in Nashville 5/17 and Northern Lights Casino in Walker, Minn. on 5/18. This should really be a lot of fun! I encourage all the "die hards" to do your best to be at one of these very special, dare I say it, historical shows. Thanks for all the overwhelming support!! JL

I have to admit that I am hardly familiar with any Warrant songs outside of Cherry Pie and Heaven, but I'm a sucker for stories about band's reuniting after long periods of time. The last time this lineup recorded together was in 1992, the same year the Chili Peppers released 'Under the Bridge' and Arrested Development sang about 'Tennessee.' I am far more familiar with Jani Lane's 2005 appearance on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club than I am with this band. If you've seen images from Jani appearing on the show, you're as aware as I am that he really let himself go. Apparently rumors of this reunion first starting appearing online back in December, but not anywhere I read. If you are one of the Warrant "die hards" and you didn't know about this, its time to book your ticket to Nashville. Last month, Warrant announced on its official website that it will co-headline with Cinderella on a summer tour.

It has also been announced that the band will perform a "plugged-in" set on the nationally syndicated radio show "Rockline", hosted by Bob Coburn, on Wednesday, May 7 at 11:30 p.m. EST/8:30 p.m. PST. You can find a station near you or to listen to the show live via the Internet via http://www.rocklineradio.com/.

Let's all take a trip back to 1991 with a concert video of Warrant performing "Heaven." Listening to this reminds of taping songs off of the radio in my bedroom. I wish I still had some of those tapes.

I Told Myself I Wouldn't Cry - Bruce's Eulogy for Danny

I don't care how emotional I can be, reading something online doesn't typically lead to tears. A shocking elimination on 'The Bachelor' maybe, but not from reading a posting on a web site. I thought I was stronger than that.

BUT, when you are reading Bruce Springsteen's eulogy to his fallen friend and fellow E-Streeter Danny Federici...that is tough stuff. Attending a Bruce show (and I'm an appreciator, not a diehard) is truly an uplifting and therapeutic experience with a smattering of soul searching thrown in. With songs of childhood reckless abandon, unrequited love, and running from the drudgery of everyday life, Bruce brings his fellow concert participants into a "let's leave our crappy lives behind and head for the open road" kind of mindset. And THAT is VERY powerful stuff. (Especially for people in New Jersey, but that post is for another time.)

With the shit on television, and the mindless websites junking up our minds, not many things are "real" these days. When Mariah Carey out-lipsynching Ashlee Simpson is newsworthy, we are in trouble. But Bruce lays it out there and people respond. So how can someone so known for opening his heart and soul be prepared to put his love for his friend into a speech? It is probably impossible. But he did it, and it is every bit as heartbreaking, funny, joyous, rebellious, and moving as one of his concerts. And that, my friends, is the sign of a true artist.

Here is an excerpt which I just loved:

In the studio, if I wanted to loosen up the track we were recording, I'd put Danny on it and not tell him what to play. I'd just set him loose. He brought with him the sound of the carnival, the amusements, the boardwalk, the beach, the geography of our youth and the heart and soul of the birthplace of the E Street Band.

Then we grew up. Very slowly. We stood together through a lot of trials and tribulations. Danny's response to a mistake onstage, hard times, catastrophic events was usually a shrug and a smile. Sort of an "I am but one man in a raging sea, but I'm still afloat. And we're all still here."

I watched Danny fight and conquer some tough addictions. I watched him struggle to put his life together and in the last decade when the band reunited, thrive on sitting in his seat behind that big B3, filled with life and, yes, a new maturity, passion for his job, his family and his home in the brother and sisterhood of our band.

Finally, I watched him fight his cancer without complaint and with great courage and spirit. When I asked him how things looked, he just said, "what are you going to do? I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Danny, the sunny side up fatalist. He never gave up right to the end.

Amazing. Grab a couple tissues and read Bruce's eulogy to Danny Federici here.

Wilco Under a Sky Blue Sky (...at night...in Brooklyn)

With The Verve and Crowded House going half price, I was beginning to question if every band I wanted to see had crappy demand for tickets. But, I had a strong suspicion that my interest in seeing Wilco outdoors in Brooklyn at McCarren Pool was shared by a couple other of the hipperazzi. Looks like I was right. The show sold out in under a minute (update: few tix trickling out until around 12:10 according to BrooklynVegan). And yes, I got tix. Thankfully!

I have only seen Wilco play live at Bonnaroo (2004 and 2007). And in '07, I left the festival with every song still banging around in my head. The drive home from Manchester involved stopping in a random mall on the border of Virginia and Tennessee and picking up the 'Sky Blue Sky' album and falling in love all over again (I love random concert road trips!). And now finally I can see the group without packing my bags for Tennessee. Actually, it kind of is a road trip. The last concert I ventured into Brooklyn to see (I don't leave Manhattan for shows nearly enough) was for Woolly Mammoth at North Six (now defunct) back in 2003.

So what are shows at McCarren Pool like? Is it awkward getting splashed while you are trying to listen to 'Jesus, etc'? And how can I keep my hipster cred while wearing a damn life jacket?

Quote of the Day

Although we here at The Weight rarely delve outside the world of music and pop culture, this was just too good [or sad depending on your emotional disposition] to pass up:

"The owner of a wild animal training center where a grizzly bear killed a handler says the animal is a 'loving, affectionate, friendly, safe bear,' but he is at a loss to explain how a 'simple routine' turned tragic."

Maybe because it's a FUCKING BEAR!

For the full article, click here

Guess the Pyscho

Can you guess what jealous sicko wrote the following:

Well I'd rather see you dead than to be with another man/ You better keep your head or I won't know where I am / You better run for your life if you can / hide your head in the sand / catch you with another man and that's the end

Well you know that I'm a wicked guy and I was born with a jealous mind / And I can't spend my whole life trying just to make you toe the line / You better run for your life if you can / hide your head in the sand / catch you with another man and that's the end

This came up on my iPod and I found it pretty disturbing. I took a wee bit of creative license with the lyrics, but it worked for me, dawg, so that's that. (By the way, I know this isn't that tough. But you when you actually read the words rather than humming the melody, you realize someone needed a hug.)

Click the link for the answer HERE

Grateful Dead Not Playing Concert, Storing Stuff Instead

The Grateful Dead camp decided to make an official statement ahead of their Thursday press conference in order to debunk any Internet rumors about their playing live shows in the near future. I can't believe that there would be sites out there spreading such unsubstantiated speculative rumors.

As it turns out, they are simply donating some artifacts to UC Santa Cruz.

She [Eileen Law] also kept press clippings dating back to the band's inception in '65, photographs, tickets, back stage passes, handbills, promotional materials, business records, stage backdrops, posters, T-shirts and other Grateful Dead merchandise, issues of the band's erratically published '70s newsletter and the more regularly published Grateful Dead Almanac that began in the '90s, copies of all the band's posters, vinyl albums, CDs, videos, all the awards and the books written about the band, show files, cassette tapes of the hot line messages announcing tour dates, publishing information, thousands of fan-decorated envelopes mailed to the band's ticket office, even all the guest lists that went to the venues the band played.

Read the full news here from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Will Bloggers Be the Record Labels Of the Future?

Digital Music News asks this question and presents their version of the future of the music business, as filtered through the blogosphere. Oh boy...did I just use blogosphere unironically? Damnit!

Blogs will be Record Labels, and Bloggers will be the new Music Moguls - BlogJs anyone?