Bleeding Through
Photo: Craig Burton

It's hard to believe, but Bleeding Through are coming up on their 10th anniversary as a band, and to celebrate, the speedy O.C. metalcore six-piece — and Ozzfest 2006 alumni — will release their fifth studio offering, the Devin Townsend-produced Declaration, on September 30. Even frontman Brandan Schieppati can't believe his band has been around that long — long enough, he claims, to have inspired the current crop of metalcore acts, who almost never credit Bleeding Through as an influence.

"In the world we're in now, of — for lack of a better word — a bunch of new-jack bands that are coming out of f---ing left field every day, people are always like, 'You should care about this band,' or, 'This is the next thing.' But I think you should listen to Bleeding Through's Declaration if you want to know where the roots of this type of music come from," he said, although he refused to identify any of these so-called "new-jack" bands. "Since we've been a band for 10 years, you should listen to us, especially if you want to know where these new bands got their influences from. Whether they'll admit it or not, this is kind of where it comes from."

Schieppati said the last 10 years haven't been the easiest and that every single day has been something of a challenge. Bleeding Through have seen trends come and go, and they've managed to endure, thanks in large part to their loyal fans.

"One thing that a band gets, once they're through their years and once they've been going for some time, and we've been through it time and time over ... but, it's like a bunch of backlashes and, like, a bunch of kids who were once really into your music, and then something trendy comes along, and so they pretend they were never into your music ever," he explained. "They start talking sh--, and then, all of a sudden, for some reason, it's cool to like your band again. So they come back. It's this roller-coaster effect, and whether these young bands want to admit it or not, when these young bands got into this sh-- in f---ing 2003, because they were 19 and that's when they started getting into it, tell me — what bands were around then?"

And like a band that's been around for nearly a decade, Bleeding Through's sound has evolved, as has the inspiration behind Schieppati's lyrics. Declaration lacks the heart-shattered verse that saturated the band's previous offerings, chiefly because the singer is now in a good place emotionally. He was married two years ago, not long after the release of 2006's The Truth, and he's been a happy man ever since.

"I'm not really heartbroken anymore, so I think the thing that really acts as my muse is what we've been through the last seven years of touring and being in this band and, just in general, going to places that have never accepted us," he explained. "It's sort of just about trusting your ability to keep doing this and going through the trends. There's a line in one of the songs where I say, 'There's nothing more to prove/ People come and go/ Ride their fences/ Follow trends.' I think a lot of bands get discouraged by that and break up. But for us, that was our motivation — that we've been this band from day one, and from day one, we've heard the same criticism against it, and we've seen trends come and go, and maybe people thought that we were one of those trends at one point in time, which I can't argue with. We were a new band at one point. But really, what this record is about is not being content with the state of music and people and playing and going to places but just trying to trust in your ability and move forward through it."

Schieppati added that the music reflects this new muse. "There's a certain anger to it, a certain feeling to it and a certain darkness to it," he said. "It's a reflection on the way our lives have been and our career's been so far. It's kind of a testament to that, and it's a reflection on where we're at as a band."

According to Schieppati, it was Townsend who helped Bleeding Through's sound progress naturally with Declaration, because his overall influence on the LP was rather subtle.

"He was adding things instead of subtracting and doing things his own way," he said. "He was making us feel really comfortable and kept us really focused and stress-free so we were happy. Most of the songs we'd written, before we went up to Vancouver, are, for the most part, the way they are on the record, but his input was mostly just little things that made a big difference in the music — tweaking a couple of drumbeats, tweaking a couple of song structures, adding more layers and atmospherics to the record — that was his input. The best thing about working with him is he dives in to every project he works on and treats it like it's his band. He stresses out about things, stays up all night to fix things and do things. ... He was very motivated, and it was nice to work with someone who was on the same page with us."

The record features a guest spot from As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis, and it was a collaboration Schieppati claims was a long time coming.

"When we were looking for a bass player in 2003 [after the departure of Vijay Kumar], Tim was actually going to play bass for us, because As I Lay Dying were losing faith in themselves, and he came to us, like, 'Hey, do you guys need a bass player, because I'd love to play bass with you guys,' " he said. "We told him that a couple of weeks prior, we'd added Ryan [Wombacher] to our band, and I think a couple of weeks after that, As I Lay Dying were signed to Metal Blade, and the rest is history. So it worked out good, because I've always wanted Tim to be on one of our records."

The rest of the week's metal news:

On September 30, Chicago's Disturbed will issue a new live album, Live and Indestructible, but you won't find it in stores. The release will be an iTunes exclusive, and we'll be bringing you more details on the downloadable LP when they're released. ... Hardcore legends H20, Bane, Energy and Cruel Hand will be joining forces next month for a U.S. trek, which kicks off in Detroit on October 28. Dates for the run are booked through November 23 in New York. ...

Sludgy hardcore act 16 have wrapped the recording of their forthcoming LP, Bridges to Burn, and the effort is being planned for a January 20 release. The guys recently re-formed with their original lineup, and they have just one gig booked: December 16 in Los Angeles. ... Even though they've thrown in the towel, San Francisco death thrashers Light This City will be releasing a new album November 11. Stormchaser will feature 12 tracks, including "Fragile Heroes," "The Anhedonia Epidemic" and "A Desperate Resolution." ...

Madball and Suicidal Tendencies will be playing together later this year. They've booked nine gigs together, scheduled for December 1 in Cleveland; December 2 in Philadelphia; December 4 in New York; December 5 in Sayreville, New Jersey; December 6 in Baltimore; December 7 in Norfolk, Virginia; December 9 in Detroit; December 10 in Chicago; and December 11 in St. Paul, Minnesota. ...

See You Next Tuesday will release their new one, Intervals, on October 14. Look for the set to feature 17 fresh cuts, including "She Once Said I Was a Romantic," "Forever on Deaf Ears" and "This Time the Keys Are Broken." ... Darkest Hour have parted ways with guitarist Kris Norris, replacing him with Mike "Lonestar" Carrigan. In November, the band plans to hit the studio to begin tracking its next effort, which will be in stores this coming spring.

• Bleeding Through
• Disturbed

Disturbed
Photo: Reprise

The good news is none of the members of Chicago hard-rock troop Disturbed were hurt Thursday morning when one of the buses in their caravan was involved in a minor accident along Interstate 95 in Florence County, South Carolina. The bad news is someone else was hurt and taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. ­ According to a SCnow.com report, the bus — which was transporting members of the band's crew — ran off the side of the highway after blowing a tire. The vehicle coasted off the shoulder and slid down an embankment before coming to a stop. The extent of the damage the bus sustained in the crash was not immediately known.

A total of eight people were on the bus at the time, and one of them sustained minor injuries, the nature of which were not disclosed. None of the band's members — frontman David Draiman, guitarist Dan Donegan, bassist John Moyer and drummer Mike Wengren — were among the bus' passengers.

The bus' driver, Fred Huffman, told the site, "By the grace of God, we all survived." At the time of the mishap, the bus was making its way toward Virginia Beach, Virginia, where Disturbed is set to perform Friday night (August 1) as part of this summer's Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival. That tour — which also features the likes of Slipknot, DragonForce, Mastodon, Suicide Silence, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho — had stopped in Miami Wednesday night.

• Disturbed

Disturbed
Photo: Reprise

At this point, it's been well established that Chicago's Disturbed are one of the biggest hard-rock outfits in all the land. They've sold millions of records, sold out hundreds of shows and been tapped to headline one of this summer's heaviest tours.

So, naturally, no one batted an eyelash when the boys decided to dub their fourth studio LP Indestructible. And with close to 253,000 copies sold during the album's first week on record-store shelves, Disturbed truly live up to the title; Indestructible is the band's third record to debut at #1 on the Billboard albums sales chart.

According to the most recent Nielsen SoundScan tallies, Disturbed's latest joins 2005's Ten Thousand Fists and 2002's Believe, opening on top during what was a strong week, overall, for the music industry. While the new album bests the scan total put forth by Ten Thousand Fists (which sold 238,500 during week one), it couldn't outperform the 283,600 in sales generated by Believe.

Disturbed's Indestructible may lead the pack, but it was one of five albums on the chart to generate six-digit sales totals — something that, in the age of the download, does not happen often. In addition, the record was one of 20 new releases that will be appear on next week's top 200 — but one of those albums wasn't supposed to enter the chart until a week later.

Rapper Lil Wayne's long-awaited Tha Carter III wasn't officially released until June 10, but the record still managed to enter next week's chart at #167 with 3,900 copies sold nationwide. Clearly, some legitimate record stores began selling the disc before its actual release date — perhaps as soon as copies arrived from distributors. It remains to be seen how these premature sales might affect the LP's standing on the following week's chart; Wayne is poised to claim the #1 spot, with early indicators suggesting he could sell more than 800,000 units, making it the year's best performer by far.

Along with Disturbed's LP, next week's top 10 will include five other newcomers, including the 28th installment in the Now That's What I Call Music! compilation series, which enters at #2 with 185,000 sold. The disc features tracks from Leona Lewis, Britney Spears, Jordin Sparks, OneRepublic and Daughtry, among others. Finishing at #4, with 126,000 scans, is Weezer's latest, the self-titled red album, followed at #5 by Journey's Revelation, with 105,000 sold. Ashanti's comeback album, Declaration, bows at #6, selling 86,300 copies, while Jewel's Perfectly Clear enters at #8 with sales reported at 47,7000.

The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by Usher's Here I Stand at #3 (with 144,600 sold), the "Sex and the City" soundtrack at #7 (60,000), 3 Doors Down's self-titled latest at #9 (45,000) and Chris Brown's Exclusive at #10 (36,200).

Elsewhere on the chart, Swedish melodic death-metallers Opeth's Watershed opens at #23, having sold close to 20,000 units, while Radiohead's The Best Of debuts at #26 with 18,300 scans. Former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale's Wanderlust follows at #32 with 15,400 in first-week scans, while the 2008 Warped Tour compilation claims the chart's #34 position with 14,500 sold. Bret Michaels' Rock My World opens at #39 with 13,400 sold.

R&B artist Lalah Hathaway's Self Portrait opens at #62, thanks to 9,400 scans, while Aimee Mann's @#%&*! Smilers takes the chart's #80 slot with 8,100 sold. Seattle rockers Fleet Foxes' self-titled opus follows at #83, selling 8,000 copies, while Alesana's Where Myth Fades to Legend enters at #97, having sold 7,200 units.

• Disturbed
• Usher
• Lil Wayne
• Ashanti
• Chris Brown

Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow and Michael Amott
Photo: Century Media

Last fall, Michael Amott, guitarist for Swedish melodic death-metallers Arch Enemy, confirmed in an interview with Metal File that Carcass, the legendary British grindcore band he played in during the early '90s, would be re-forming for a spate of live gigs. But while the band has booked a ton of festival appearances overseas, Carcass have yet to announce a single U.S. date.

The File spoke to Arch Enemy frontwoman Angela Gossow (and Ammott's fiancee) last week, just before the band played the final date on the sold-out Tyranny and Bloodshred Tour, with support acts Dark Tranquillity, Divine Heresy and Firewind. Gossow told us that while nothing has been made official, "there is something in the works for the States."

According to Gossow, Carcass have been approached about a possible U.S. headlining run, but the right offer hasn't come to the table yet. "There's obviously huge interest in a Carcass tour," she said. "I'm sure you guys will get it, but nothing has been confirmed or anything."

Gossow and Amott have been engaged "forever," but she says they haven't "found the time to get married yet." If the tour does come to fruition, Gossow said her fiance's life is going to get more hectic than it already is. The guitarist will be pulling double duty with both Arch Enemy and Carcass, because, at the moment, both bands have impossibly full plates.

Arch Enemy, who continue to tour in support of last year's Rise of the Tyrant, have already started working on material for the follow-up, Gossow said. And just six months ago, they hit the studio to re-record some of the band's earliest material.

"We started re-recording the old stuff because, for most people, Arch Enemy started to exist with [2001's] Wages of Sin, because the band got big after I joined," she explained. "Obviously, the band released three albums before that (1996's Black Earth, 1998's Stigmata and 1999's Burning Bridges), and we've been trying on and off to play old songs live. Most of the time, we just get this stare from the crowd, and people think it's a new song or a demo. A lot of young kids haven't heard these tracks, so we just figured we'd re-record them, give them new exposure, and it's going to give us the chance to play them live.

"These songs are 10 years old at this point, and it's going to sound killer," she continued. "Razor-sharp sound — and we'll up the production. The songs will have a little bit of a twist to them; they're going to sound new, even though they're old."

Arch Enemy plan to issue the re-recorded cuts in early 2009, after the release of their forthcoming live DVD, which was shot in Japan in March at a sold-out gig before an audience of 2,500. The footage was captured with 10 cameras, and the DVD will feature tons of backstage footage and interviews, Gossow said.

"We had the Fuji [Pacific] crew doing this, because the boss of Fuji is a huge fan," she said, with a laugh. "Basically, they did it for free, and brought in a crane. You'd never know this guy would like our band, but there are a lot of metal fans out there, and you would never know it, because they look so official, and they're wearing suits. But we're like a metal factory, at the moment. It's so great, because we actually have the motivation and we're just really hungry right now."

The rest of the week's metal news:

The growing beef between Disturbed and the Dillinger Escape Plan got even more interesting this week. It all started when DEP guitarist Ben Weinman claimed in an interview that he'd watched Disturbed practice all their onstage moves during a sound check. Guitarist Dan Donegan fired back, claiming DEP had no idea what it takes to put on as massive a show as Disturbed put on, dismissing the remarks as jealousy. Dillinger fired back on June 2 in a post on their MySpace page, saying Donegan has "little-peen complex" and slamming the band for "sucking." Disturbed frontman David Draiman later said in a radio interview that he respects Dillinger, but that he doesn't "understand what the hell they think they saw with us. ...This is what the big boys do who play stadium shows — they want to worry about how the lights look that they spend so much money on." ...

DragonForce have dubbed their forthcoming LP, which hits stores August 26, Ultra Beatdown. The disc will feature eight tracks, including "The Fire Still Burns," "Heartbreak Armageddon" and "The Warrior Inside." ...

What has drummer David Silveria been up to since taking a "hiatus" from Korn? Starting a new band, that's what. A MySpace page for Satellite Syndrome popped up earlier this week — and has since been pulled down — which stated the band should be releasing its debut album early next year. The group is currently in the studio, recording material for that effort. ...

French progressive-extreme metallers Gojira will issue The Way of All Flesh on October 14. The LP is in the process of being tracked in Los Angeles with producer and ex-Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader. ...

Eerik Purdon has parted ways with Omnium Gatherum. It isn't the first time the bassist has split, and the band still isn't sure why he bolted. "We ain't got a clue really what the hell happened here," the band said in a statement. Omnium are currently on the hunt for a replacement. The band's forthcoming album, The Redshift, will feature 11 tracks, including "Chameleon Skin," "Shapes and Shades," and "Song for December." ...

Walls of Jericho have set The American Dream as the title of their new album, which lands in stores this summer. In other album news, Motörhead will release their next record, Motörize, before the end of the year. ...

Arsis have parted ways with drummer Darren Cesca, and they've already replaced him with Alex Tomlin. Cesca's departure, the band claimed, was due to "differences in personalities and an overall difference in direction."

• Arch Enemy
• Carcass
• Disturbed
• Gojira

Disturbed's David Draiman and Dan Donegan
Photo: Frank Micelotta/ Getty Images

Last week, Australia's Beat magazine ran an article on New Jersey's Dillinger Escape Plan, in which guitarist Ben Weinman said he'd once witnessed one of Disturbed's soundchecks and spotted something rather curious. "[They were] practicing where they were going to walk and when they were going to put their leg up on the monitor and pose," Weinman said. "That was weird for us. There are times [during live gigs] where I don't even know where I am."

Weinman's remarks were an obvious dig at Disturbed, who release their fourth studio effort, Indestructible, on June 3. It's not the first time Dillinger have started beef with a band, and it probably won't be the last. But when asked about the claims about their "onstage posing," Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan seemed stupefied.

"I never even remember meeting these guys, and I think we know anybody that's even in the room during our soundchecks, so that's shocking to me, because I would think that we would have met them if they were standing there during our soundcheck," Donegan said. "That's funny. When we do a bigger production, there may be certain lighting cues for certain highlights of the show, but I wouldn't call it 'posing,' just a cue for our lighting guy, so he can add more drama to the set. If [Dillinger] sold some records, and were at the level we're at, maybe they'd see that, for bands like Kiss and Metallica, there are certain highlight points during a set that you want to focus on. If I'm going to go over to one spot and do a guitar solo, my lighting guy may need to know that, so he can focus in on that.

"If that's posing, then so be it," the guitarist continued. "To me, I don't think we talk about when we're going to put our foot up on a monitor. That's just silly. It's a natural thing we do. Those guys can say whatever they want. If that's supposed to be a jab at us, am I offended? I don't give a sh--. If they're saying it because they're haters, why? Because we sell millions of records and lots of tickets? It sounds more like jealousy to me."

Plus, Donegan points out, Disturbed's stage shows often feature pyrotechnics displays — as they will this summer, when the band co-headlines the inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem Fest with Slipknot. "We have millions of fans, and we find ways to connect with them," he added. "We utilize theatrics and pyro, so we have to rehearse where the pyro is going to go off, because we don't want to have a James Hetfield moment and get caught in the flame. But that's something Dillinger Escape Plan would know nothing about, because they don't play arenas —: they play clubs."

Now that that's all sorted out, there's new material to be discussed: Indestructible, an album Donegan feels is Disturbed's finest achievement to date.

"To us, its even heavier than [2005's] Ten Thousand Fists, and there's more attitude to it," he said. "I know 'heavy' is a relative term, but to me, heavy isn't just Cookie Monster vocals and playing as fast as you can. Heavy metal, to me, was the classic metal bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest — guitar- driven bands with powerful, melodic vocals. [Frontman] David [Draiman] is a melodic singer, like Bruce Dickinson. For these hardcore fans who hear melody in a song and think a band's soft or that we're not metal enough for them, oh well. The metal I grew up on were those classic bands that are still playing today and are respected by everybody. That's the path we've always tried to go down, and we seem to be going down that path."

For Disturbed, the biggest challenge making Indestructible was the production of it. The band decided they wanted to handle it themselves, which their label and management weren't so sure about at first.

"We had to make sure they were OK with us doing it without another set of ears in there — someone who could referee those times where we might be battling it out," he said. "We're just so comfortable with each other, and just so respectful of what each guy's role is in the song writing and recording process, that once we got the first couple of songs tracked, it was enough to keep the label and management out of the way. Removing that producer role had people more on the edge of their seats, just making sure we could handle it that way, without somebody else, and we proved to them — and ourselves — that we can. And it gave us the best record we've made yet."

Thematically, the record's also one of the darkest records the band's churned out. The LP's first single, "Inside the Fire," may be the most personal of all the record's tracks, and the video is a reflection of that, Donegan said. Directed by Nathan Cox, it deals with the same theme the song tackles: suicide.

"It's the darkest song David's written, and it has a personal connection to him; it's about an ex-girlfriend of his, when he was a lot younger, who committed suicide — she overdosed," the guitarist explained. "The video has to do with that same subject, but it's his girlfriend hanging herself. At the front of the video, we wanted to get a suicide prevention hotline number up there, so there's no misinterpretation of what we're saying. We're not condoning suicide, but raising awareness to the issue, so anyone who feels suicidal or is depressed or going through a hard time, hopefully it will hit those people enough to make them know that there's somebody out there willing to listen to them, so maybe they should talk to someone else if they have those feelings."

After this summer's Mayhem Fest, Disturbed plan to head overseas for a few months of live gigs, and will be back in the states before Christmas for a little rest and relaxation. Then, they'll hit the road again with their "Music as a Weapon" tour, which Donegan said is now in the planning stages.

"We continue to evolve as players and songwriters," he said, when asked what fans can expect from Indestructible. "I don't know the magic formula to being able to do it, except that we go into it with the mindset that we're doing it for ourselves and meeting our own expectations. You can't guess what the rest of the world wants. But our fans have proven they're with us, and they're here to stay and we're certainly not going anywhere — whether you like it or not."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Within Chaos and the Destro have been added to this year's Ozzfest, which has been reduced to a one-day destination festival, set for August 9 at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas. The bill also features Metallica, In This Moment, the Sword, Goatwhore, Witchcraft and Soilent Green, among others. Oh, yeah, and they'll be dusting Ozzy off again so he can headline. ...

Norma Jean are in the middle of recording their fourth album, The Anti Mother, with producer Ross Robinson (Glassjaw, At the Drive-In) behind the boards. Slated for release later this summer, the band apparently collaborated on material separately with Helmet's Page Hamilton and Chino Moreno of Deftones. According to a statement from the band, the album's title's derived from "a character we created, which represents anything that is deceptive, and yet possesses an outwardly beautiful nature." ...

Six Feet Under have begun recording new material for their forthcoming Metal Blade Records set. According to the band, "It's great to be back in the studio, and we feel really psyched to lay these new songs down. They are some of the best stuff we have come up with, and [we] can't wait for all of our fans to hear the new stuff." ... The JonBenét have been touring the U.S., road-testing some new material, which they plan to record later this year. The band will be rolling through Anthony, Texas, Friday night (May 16), and dates are booked through June 14 in Austin, Texas. ...

It Dies Today have set Lividity as the title of their next album, which they'll be self-producing for a fall release. ... On August 19, the Acacia Strain will release their forthcoming album, Continent. The disc is being produced by Zeuss, who has worked with the likes of Hatebreed and Shadows Fall.

• Disturbed
• Dillinger Escape Plan
• Norma Jean (Metal)
• The Acacia Strain

Slipknot's Corey Taylor
Photo: Jo Hale/ Getty Images

Since the mid-1990s, Kevin Lyman's Warped Tour and Sharon Osbourne's Ozzfest have both managed to coexist amiably within a cutthroat summer touring market rife with competition. While Warped — which turns 14 this summer — has long catered to the needs of the punk and emo faithful, Ozzfest — now entering its 12th year of existence — has been there to keep the nation's hardcore metal fans in check.

But that's all about to change. In addition to this summer's Warped Tour, Lyman is also launching a metal festival in direct competition with Ozzfest. Rumors have already been spreading that this summer's Ozzfest will be heading out on a smaller run than in past years, following last summer's free, corporate-sponsored version.

Anchored by headliners Slipknot and Disturbed, both of whom plan on releasing new material this spring, Lyman's inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival will be the first serious competition Ozzfest has faced since its inception. On Thursday morning (January 31), Lyman confirmed the tour's lineup to MTV News.

The tour will also feature Mastodon and DragonForce on the main stage, and Sevendust, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho on two separate side stages. Many of the bands comprising the energy-drink-supported festival's bill have appeared in prior Ozzfests.

"This summer, we are truly bringing mayhem," Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor said in a press release. "Slipknot is excited to be a part of it, and to be able to bring the new chapter of our history to the masses. We are already working, building and designing a new show. We cannot wait. We cannot lose. Get ready for Mayhem."

Disturbed's David Draiman said his band is looking forward to being on the tour's first bill. "It's a great lineup, which should set a new standard for rock tours, and we're excited to be a part of it," he said.

The tour will get under way July 9 in Seattle and runs through August 21 in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Dates for the Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival, according to Kevin Lyman (subject to change):

· 7/9 - Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
· 7/11 - Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
· 7/12 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
· 7/13 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/15 - Fresno, CA @ Selland Arena
· 7/16 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
· 7/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
· 7/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
· 7/20 - Denver, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre
· 7/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/23 - St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/25 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Centre
· 7/26 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater
· 7/27 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
· 7/29 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
· 7/30 - Miami, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
· 8/1 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre Amphitheatre
· 8/2 - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
· 8/3 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
· 8/5 - TBA
· 8/6 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
· 8/8 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
· 8/9 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
· 8/10 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
· 8/12 - TBA
· 8/13 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
· 8/15 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
· 8/16 - Washington, DC @ Nissan Pavilion
· 8/17 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
· 8/20 - Saratoga, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
· 8/21 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

Planning on going to Rockstar Mayhem or any other big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews. Go there now to check out coverage of last year's Warped Tour.

• Slipknot
• Disturbed
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Mastodon
• Dragonforce

R. Kelly leaves court in December
Photo: Tasos Katopodis/ Getty Images

Nearly six years after the alleged sex tape first surfaced, the court proceedings in the R. Kelly case continue to move at a snail's pace. The prosecutors originally sought to have testimony from one expert witness, Dr. Sharon Cooper, cover several different areas — the age of the girl on the tape based on forensic pediatrics, the identification of the man on the tape based on the vein pattern on his hands, and the behavior profile of the girl based on the psychology of child sex-abuse victims. Judge Vincent Gaughan had previously ruled that Dr. Cooper could testify about the victim's age, but not the behavior profile, so prosecutors had asked him to reconsider. At a hearing on Monday (January 14), Gaughan ruled once again that Dr. Cooper would not be able to testify about why the girl in the case would deny that she was a victim, or how common denial is in sex-abuse cases. Kelly is due back in court March 12 for another pre-trial hearing, while the trial itself is slated to start on May 9. ...

And the Wu-Tang Clan infighting goes on. U-God — who complained about RZA being callous toward him in the studio nearly four years ago — is now suing Wu's label, alleging that he is owed $170,000, according to TMZ.com. U-God (born Lamont Hawkins) reportedly filed papers in a New York district court, alleging that Wu Music owes him money for services rendered dating back to March of last year. Wu Music is licensed to Universal Music. ...

Paula Abdul doesn't just have the seventh season of "American Idol" on her mind these days. "I want kids!" the singer recently told Ladies' Home Journal for its February issue. "If it doesn't happen naturally, I can always adopt." The 45-year-old Abdul opened up even more about her personal life, saying of 32-year-old boyfriend J.T. Torregiani, "I've experienced real loneliness, so I love knowing there's someone I can share the good and the not-so-good with." ... Everyone's wondering how the seventh season of "Idol" is going to fare in light of some retooling and the writers' strike, but if you ask Chris Daughtry, the show is "in a state of decline." The Daughtry frontman recently spoke with RollingStone.com about the show, adding that if it doesn't right itself, "it's probably not gonna last too much longer. I'm sure that'll be used against me, but that's the truth, you know?" He also said the show is "definitely lacking some credibility at this point." ...

White Stripes, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Mark Ronson, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Cheifs and recent MTV Artist of the Week Kate Nash have all landed Brit Award nominations, although Leona Lewis, Mika and Take That have scored the most, with four apiece. Rihanna, Ronson, Kaiser Chiefs, Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney are slated to perform at the February 20 ceremony. ... R.E.M. have pulled the curtains back on a new Web site surrounding the April 1 release of their 14th studio album, Accelerate. Their NinetyNights.com Web site has daily high-definition-video snippets shot by Arcade Fire collaborator Vincent Moon ...

Björk attacked a newspaper photographer who was attempting to take her picture at the Auckland International Airport on Sunday, according to reports in the New Zealand press. The singer, who was flying in to perform at the Big Day Out concert on Friday, reportedly ripped New Zealand Herald photographer Glenn Jeffrey's shirt after he snapped a photo of her. Jeffrey told the New Zealand Press Association that he was warned by a man traveling with Björk not to take her picture, and once he did, the singer came up behind him, grabbed the back of his shirt and tore it before tumbling to the ground. In 1996, Björk attacked a reporter in an airport in Bangkok, Thailand, after she objected to being photographed. ... The Walkmen and White Rabbits will hop along the U.S. this month for nine shows. On the itinerary are Pittsburgh (Wednesday); Detroit (Thursday); Milwaukee (Friday); Madison, Wisconsin (Saturday); Chicago (Sunday); St. Louis (January 21); Columbus, Ohio (January 22); Philadelphia (January 23); and Baltimore (January 24). ...

For the first time in 25 years, former Clash members Mick Jones and Topper Headon reportedly shared the same stage at a gig by Jones' new band, Carbon/Silicon. The duo performed "Train in Vain" and "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" during the set. ... Megadeth have recruited Chris Broderick (Nevermore, Jag Panzer) to be their newest guitarist, following the recent departure of Glen Drover. Broderick will make his live debut with the band on February 4, at a gig in Finland. ...

Quiet Riot drummer Frankie Banali said the band will not be revived following the late November death of frontman Kevin DuBrow. In an online statement, Banali claims he had been "approached to see if I would be interested in contacting Rudy Sarzo and Carlos Cavazo and to audition singers for Quiet Riot." He said that he's even fielded an offer to re-form "the version of Quiet Riot that included Paul Shortino, Carlos Cavazo and Sean McNabb." But Banali rejected any suggestions of the band performing live. "My friendship, love and respect for Kevin DuBrow, as well as my personal love and affection for Kevin's mother and his family, makes it inconceivable for me to ever entertain any ovation to re-form or to continue Quiet Riot," he wrote. "It would also be a disrespect to the fans who have supported [the band] for nearly 25 years." ...

Roger Avary, the Oscar-winning co-writer of "Pulp Fiction," was arrested on Sunday after a fatal single-car crash in Ojai, California. According to a Reuters report, Avary, 42, was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence, and was released from jail after posting $50,000 bail. Andreas Zedini, a 34-year-old passenger in the car, died of his injuries at a local hospital. Avary's wife, Gretchen, 40, was taken to a local hospital with serious injuries after being thrown from the car.

1.11.08

Mary J. Blige has a love-hate relationship with her fans, she reveals in the new issue of Vibe, out Tuesday. They don't seem to like her when she's happy — but she doesn't want to be dark and depressed just to make them happy. "When I took the chance to show people I can be happy, I lost a million of my fans," she told the magazine. "I was like, 'I'm gonna have to lose y'all in order for us to live, because if I keep going down this dark hole, we're all gonna die together. I'm gonna slit my wrists or take some pills, and it's gonna be over." That's why Blige feels obliged, more than ever before, to write love songs that she dedicates to her husband. "That's my buddy, my best friend, my business partner," she said. "He's got my back like nobody's ever had my back. I feel like God used him to come and pull me together." Also getting Mary's back is Bill Cosby's wife, Camille, who helped inspire the themes on Blige's Growing Pains. "Bill Cosby called me like, 'My wife loves you! She says there's a song you need to write about love,' " Blige tells the magazine. "I finally called Bill back and said, 'We got the record.' He says, 'Mrs. Cosby will be so glad to hear that.' I damn near cried." ...

Wyclef Jean is being sued for copyright infringement by Blahz of New York rap squad Blahzay Blahzay, who is alleging that an unauthorized sample appears on the former Fugee's latest solo effort, Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant, according to XXL. The suit, which was filed last month, reportedly claims Wyclef used a sample from Blahzay Blahzay's hit song "Danger" on his tune "Welcome to the East" but didn't clear the sample or credit the group. Blahz did say in a statement, however, that he was contacted by Wyclef's people over use of the sample, XXL reports. ...

Jessica Alba, Katie Holmes and Rosario Dawson celebrated the 10th anniversary of V-Day, a worldwide effort to stop violence against women and girls, at a private luncheon on Thursday, according to The Associated Press. A two-day event commemorating the anniversary will reportedly be held in April at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. ... While we're talking Superdomes, TVGuide.com reports that Paula Abdul is in talks to perform live at the Super Bowl on February 3. She is reportedly rehearsing a music video for a duet with "American Idol" peer Randy Jackson, and the song is due to be the first single from Jackson's forthcoming solo LP, Music Club Vol. 1. According to TVGuide.com, footage from the Super Bowl performance will be folded into the video if Abdul does indeed perform at the football extravaganza. Tom Petty is headlining the Super Bowl halftime show. ...

Daughtry are working on the follow-up to their self-titled LP — which was the biggest-selling disc on the Billboard 200 during the December 2006-November 2007 chart year. "Some songs are coming out a little heavier than the last record, and some songs are just way more beautiful," frontman Chris Daughtry told Gibson.com about the new material. ... Paris Hilton has been named Woman of the Year by college comedy magazine The Harvard Lampoon. Hilton will accept the award February 6 at Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and speak to the student body. ...

Does Marilyn Manson reconciling with Twiggy Ramirez remind you of Robert Plant reuniting with Jimmy Page? Probably not, but the Antichrist Superstar recently told RollingStone.com that the Led Zeppelin comeback gig spurred him to make amends with Ramirez. "The turning point for me was when I went to see Led Zeppelin's reunion show, and I saw Jimmy Page and Robert Plant look at each other for a moment, and they probably said, 'Holy sh--, we wrote "Stairway to Heaven." ' ... I want to look at Twiggy and go, 'Holy sh--, we wrote "The Beautiful People." ' I called him, and I said, 'Let's go do this.' " How modest. ... Zooey Deschanel swung by NPR Southern California affiliate KCRW's "Open Road" recently, during which it was revealed that the actress is cobbling together an album with singer/songwriter M. Ward, with whom she has performed in concert in the past. According to ThePlaylist.com, the album — the name of which has yet to be revealed — will drop in March via Merge Records. ...

Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo made a guest turn recently on "The Boondocks" as Reverend Rollo Goodlove. Cee-Lo's character lends his support to Huey's hunger strike against BET and narrates the entire episode, which skewers several of the network's top execs. A preview of the show appears on YouTube with a note stating the original airdate was Monday, but the show hasn't aired yet. ... Jill Scott announced dates for her Real Thing tour on Friday (January 11). The recent NAACP nominee (Best Female Artist and Best Actress) will hit the stage on multiple nights in Oakland, California (February 7-8); Atlanta (February 22-23); and Baltimore (February 26-27), as well as play a four-night stand in Washington, D.C., beginning March 11. The run ends March 30 in Birmingham, Alabama. ...

Funnyman Patton Oswalt has been tapped to host this year's Plug Independent Music Awards, which will also feature performances by indie folkie José González and St. Vincent, the solo project by Polyphonic Spree guitarist Annie Clark. The ceremony will be held March 6 in New York. ... The Take Action Tour is getting even more charitable. Do Something, a nonprofit group that helps teens fight discrimination and homelessness, is partnering with the trek to offer three $500 grants to young people looking to make change in their neck of the woods. Go here for more info on the Take Action Grants. ... Fiery Furnaces got some sad news recently when Olga Sarantos, the grandmother of two of the indie-rock group's members, passed away, according to BrooklynVegan.com. Sarantos was heard telling tales of her youth on the band's 2005 disc, Rehearsing My Choir.

• R. Kelly
• Björk
• Frankie Banali
• Quiet Riot
• The Clash

Disturbed's David Draiman
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

For the last month or so, Disturbed have been holed up in a Chicago recording studio, working on material for their upcoming fourth album, tentatively titled Indestructible and slated for a spring 2008 release. According to frontman David Draiman, the follow-up to 2005's Ten Thousand Fists — which has sold close to 1.5 million copies in the U.S. alone — is "dark, very dark," lyrically as well as musically. In fact, Draiman believes it's much more complex and foreboding than anything they have done during their 10 years together.

When someone like Draiman tells you his lyrics are even darker than normal, you've got to ask the man what inspired his bleak prose.

"Dude, I've had a f---ed-up couple of years," he admits with a snicker. "All kinds of horrible stuff went on. Bad breakups; I've had my garage burn down with all of my vehicles in it; I had a bad motorcycle accident that took off a whole bunch of skin from my forearm — just bad luck. It's been a fierce past couple of years, and all kinds of sh-- has gone down. This is therapy, man — I need to get this sh-- out of me."

Just how dark are Draiman's lyrics? "There are a couple of [songs] that people will probably take issue with," he said. "One in particular I can see becoming a problem, but I hope not. I have a funny feeling that some of the Bible Belt people might not be too happy with this."

Life handed Draiman some lemons, but he's not the lemonade type. Instead, he took those experiences and embraced them, using the pain and frustration to churn out some of the most intimidating lyrics he's ever put to paper. And the band followed suit, feeding off of Draiman's mood.

"This record, it's kind of all over the place, stylistically," he explained. "There's a good amount of material on this record that's very reminiscent of [2000's] The Sickness. There's also probably an equal part, or maybe a little less than equal part, of material on the record that has those elements that [2002's] Believe and Ten Thousand brought into the picture — the more intensely melodic stuff, the guitar solos. [Guitarist Dan Donegan is] just shredding, and [drummer Mike Wengren] is doing stuff on this record, and I can't even figure out how he does it. It's really a complex, dark and very fast and furiously paced record.

"These songs, to me, are a lot more interesting than anything we've done in a while," he added. "Just very, very cool, very different, very aggressive, with a lot of that very syncopated vocal style that I kind of took a turn from for a while — that's really come back very prominently on this record."

Disturbed should be finished tracking Indestructible by the end of the year. While Draiman isn't positive just how many cuts it will feature, he does anticipate the disc will include the tracks "The Night," "Run," "Deceiver," "Enough," "Inside the Fire" and "Torn."

Rather than include longtime producer Johnny K (Finger Eleven, Kill Hannah) in the process, the band decided to produce the LP themselves.

"After three records, and doing this for 10 years, if we don't know what we're doing by now, we shouldn't be doing it," Draiman said. "That's the God's honest truth. There was a reason we went with the same producer for three records in a row — we enjoyed our relationship with him and still do. But we think we've learned everything that we need to learn, and we can do it. No offense meant to Johnny, because he's very good at what he does. We just wanted to take a shot at it ourselves.

"We've always been hypercritical ... probably worse than anyone else that could enter the equation," he continued. "We've always hyperanalyzed everything, to the point of being obsessive-compulsive. We drive ourselves nuts, and it comes with good results, but it's difficult, because we all have very strong opinions. If somebody feels one way about one thing and another feels another way about another thing, that could take a couple days to sort out. So it's nice being able to have all these strong opinions, because it shows you a completely different perspective some of the time, and some of the time you need it. A producer's supposed to show you the things that you couldn't already see for yourself, but when I need something, I have Danny and Mikey, which is all I need."

Like Ten Thousand Fists, which featured a cover of Genesis' "Land of Confusion," Indestructible might include Disturbed's version of Faith No More's "Midlife Crisis." Draiman said the band hasn't decided whether the cover will make the disc's final cut, but he'd love it to.

"It's pretty wicked, and it makes it a little bit darker, more rhythmic," he said. "We changed up a bunch of sh-- in it, but it's just as layered and just as complex. I wouldn't want to rewrite anything, melodically, because [FNM frontman Mike] Patton is such a genius. I can't outdo the guy, and I don't even want to try. I don't want to start doing [covers] on a regular basis, because if we have original material that we feel is just as strong or stronger, that's going to get priority."

• Disturbed

Kanye West
Photo: Vince Bucci/Getty Images

Don't believe Kanye West has a sense of humor? He's posted a hilarious new "Can't Tell Me Nothing" clip, starring underground comedian Zach Galifianakis and indie-folkie Will Oldham, on his site. According to Billboard.com, the hilarious low-budget clip — which features Galifianakis and Oldham mouthing the words to the song while they hang with cows and gyrate against tractors — was filmed at Galifianakis' farm in North Carolina. Galifianakis also made a memorable appearance in Fiona Apple's "Not About Love" video, but he recently told Impose Magazine that it was his clip for Anita Baker's "You Bring Me Joy" that won over West. ...

Beyoncé took a big spill at her concert in Orlando, Florida, on Tuesday night, tumbling headfirst down 12 steps at Amway Arena. Video capturing the gaffe is making the rounds on the Web — even though the singer told the crowd not to post the clip on YouTube. "Beyoncé's fall onstage last night ... was a case of her coat's hem getting caught in her shoes," her publicist Yvette Noel-Schure said in a statement issued Wednesday (July 25), "but Miss Knowles picked herself right up, without missing a beat, showing to all that she is the best." ... The Backstreet Boys have pegged October 30 as the release date for their new, yet-untitled album, which will be led by first single "Inconsolable," Billboard.com reports. Don't expect to hear Kevin Richardson on there, though — he left in June 2006 (and wasn't replaced). ...

Wyclef Jean has snatched up Akon, Lil Wayne and newcomer Niia for "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)," the first single from his forthcoming album Carnival II (Memoirs of an Immigrant). The Columbia release will hit stores in November. ...

Has "Deathly Hallows" left you with a question or two? You might be able to get an answer from the author herself — on Monday, "Harry Potter" publisher Bloomsbury will hold a live chat with J.K. Rowling on Bloomsbury.com. In other Potter news, publisher Scholastic says a few hundred of the 12 million copies of "Deathly Hallows" are missing pages, The Associated Press reports. The company said defective books can be replaced by bringing them back to point of purchase, but some fans are stowing them away as keepsakes. ...

Lindsay Lohan might have even more problems on her hands — according to TMZ.com, she pulled an illegal U-turn in April in Los Angeles that wound up causing an accident between vehicles driven by her bodyguard Jaz Bennett and another woman, Signe Dupuy. Dupuy says Bennett gave her a fake name and number after the accident and that she's considering filing suit against him and Lohan. A representative for Lohan told TMZ that a letter sent by Dupuy was filed away because it was assumed that it would also be sent to Lohan's lawyers. In yet another legal case involving Lohan, TMZ.com reports that she filed documents in Los Angeles County Superior Court last week pertaining to the October 2005 car crash in which she hit a parked van in Beverly Hills, California. Last month, Raymundo Ortega, the owner of the van, filed a lawsuit claiming Lohan was drunk at the time of the accident. In the documents she filed, Lohan claims the suit is "nothing more than an attempt to extort money from a celebrity by setting forth false and scurrilous allegations in a complaint." She said the police report claims, "Ms. Lohan had not been drinking. I did not observe any objective signs of either alcohol or drug intoxication and determined that no further investigation regarding intoxication was warranted." ...

It might not be showtime for Swizz Beatz if police in Camden, New Jersey, get their way. According to AP, authorities are threatening to drop their sponsorship of a peace rally due to the producer's scheduled appearance and his perceived anti-snitching stance on his single "It's Me Snitches." But Swizz released a statement to AP explaining the track, which has no anti-snitching content, was renamed for radio from its original title "It's Me Bitches." "If I supported violence or the 'Stop Snitching' campaign, I wouldn't have agreed to be a part of the event [in the first place]," he said in the statement. ...

Devo can't get any satisfaction these days — thanks to Korn. The New Wavers are lashing out at Jonathan Davis and the gang for allegedly biting the group's "devolution" concept in a fake movie trailer posted on EvolutionDevolution.com. "We denounce this as imposters playing with fire," Gerald Casale wrote in a post on Devo.com. He told RollingStone.com that Korn fans have been sending him hate mail since he posted the note on the site. "We went, 'Wow, this is insane. This is a perfect example of devolution. ... Gee, I'm sorry we thought all this up 30 years ago and have been putting it out there and preaching it ever since.' " ... A medical examiner was "hasty" in calling actress Lana Clarkson's death a homicide, forensic pathologist Dr. Werner Spitz testified for Phil Spector's defense on Wednesday (July 25), AP reports. "In my opinion, it was most likely a suicide," said Spitz, who added that he has seen autopsy reports. Spitz testified that Clarkson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the mouth. ...

Mya and Claudette Ortiz, formerly of City High, headlined the weekly R&B Live showcase at Spotlight Live in Manhattan, New York, on Tuesday night. Music industry bigwigs Steve Stoute, Sylvia Rhone and Jacob "The Jeweler" Arabo were in attendance as D-Nice manned the DJ booth. ... Don't worry about calling Bartman — the Simpsons have the United Nations on their side. The World Intellectual Property Organization, a UN agency, ruled Wednesday that the ownership of the domain name TheSimpsonsMovie.com must be turned over to 20th Century Fox after the company complained about the address registered to Keith Malley of Brooklyn, New York. Malley had demanded a $50,000 fee to cede the domain name, but the WIPO found that he "has no rights or legitimate interests" to it. ...

Pearl Jam will perform an intimate concert at Chicago's Vic Theatre on August 2 — which will warm the guys up for their headlining set at Lollapalooza three days later. Tickets will go on sale Thursday, but only for members of the band's Ten Club fan organization; tickets won't be made available to the general public. ... Chevelle have rolled out a new set of tour dates for the late summer and early fall. The first show is set for August 25 in Grayslake, Illinois, and the tour is scheduled to run through September 16 in Dayton, Ohio. ...

In a recent interview, Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan discussed the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's next album. "Musically, [the next LP will be] a lot ballsier," he said. Donegan added that there will be "those signature things that are us, just 'cause stylistically that's the way we perform, and [frontman] David [Draiman], vocally, is always going to sound like him, so ... he's got some big melodic moments, but there's some still aggressive stuff. [We're] trying to get a good blend of the elements of the past three CDs to try to evolve into something fresh and new for us as well." The band will hit the studio in the fall and is planning an early 2008 release for the yet-untitled offering. ...

Indie "death-rapper" Necro has bailed from the Sounds of the Underground Tour because "the tour's demographic was not receiving hip-hop well," he said in a statement. "I was facing hostile, disrespectful crowds and was returning the same energy back tenfold by being more aggressive than them. It was making a lot of people in the tour crew nervous and there was concern someone might get hurt (not me)." ... The Eagles of Death Metal are starting to write material for the follow-up to 2006's Death by Sexy. According to frontman Jesse "The Devil" Hughes, the guys "hear your cries for boot-skootin', guitar-rock-tootin', sex-rock music, honeybabies," and promise a 2008 release for their next set. "EODM will quench your musical thirsts with a burst of mantastic-fantastic!!! Album #3 will be the greatest EODM release to date." ...

Don't expect to see the cast of "High School Musical" lighting up anytime soon — Disney has become the first major Hollywood studio to ban depictions of smoking in its family-oriented films, Reuters reports. In a letter to Representative Edward Markey — whose House committee recently held a hearing on how movie images affect children — Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said Disney would "discourage" smoking in films distributed by its labels Touchstone and Miramax. He added that anti-smoking public-service announcements would appear on DVDs of films that do depict smoking and would encourage theaters to show similar PSAs along with such films. Markey called the move "groundbreaking."

07.24.07

Ja Rule's Sunday arrest in New York on a single felony weapon count was "another instance of hip-hop targeting," according to the rapper's attorney, Stacey Richman. She claims the .40-caliber Taurus pistol police recovered from inside the 2004 Maybach that Ja was riding in when he was arrested belonged to someone else. Ja; his driver, Mohamed Gamal; and his road manager, Dennis Cherry, were charged with criminal possession of a weapon and spent Sunday night in jail. The three were arraigned Monday afternoon, and Ja (born Jeffrey Atkins) was released on $150,000 bond. He's expected back in Manhattan Criminal Court November 7. According to Richman, the car in question was a company vehicle owned by Gamal's Maximum Transportation firm and is used by his clients. "If you get a car, and something's left in the car, is that yours?" Richman wondered. "How you can ascribe that anybody knows what's in a car?" She also contends that the car was stopped about a block away from the Beacon Theatre and that it had been "parked outside for two and a half hours, with the police department, and they ran the plates — they could have just handed out a ticket then, but they didn't. They waited for [Ja Rule] to get into the car." As for the speeding claims, Richman simply doesn't believe them: "Why would he speed for one block? What, he's going to speed to the next light on Broadway? Come on." The prosecutor's office would not comment on Ja Rule's arrest. ...

G-Unit's Tony Yayo was in court Tuesday morning (July 24) in connection with charges of harassment and endangering the welfare of a child, the 14-year-old son of Game manager Jimmy "Henchman" Rosemond. According to Yayo's lawyer Scott Leemon, the rapper rejected a plea offer that would have him serve nine months in jail, and the case was adjourned until September 6. Leemon said the judge in the case asked for more time to make a decision on whether he will enforce subpoenas issued by Leemon to the public-relations firm for Rosemond's Czar Entertainment record label. Leemon would not discuss what information he is seeking from the PR firm. ...

R. Kelly is still feeding off his recent Double Up set, but he's already got another treat in store for next month: Ten new episodes in his "Trapped in the Closet" series. In his latest go-'round, R. dresses as a preacher in a wig — and even more amusingly, from the sound of it, an old man with a fake belly and beard, Billboard.com reports. A DVD encompassing the 10 eps will hit stores August 21, but you can catch them prior to that on, oddly enough, the Independent Film Channel. ... Lindsay Lohan's wax statue at Madame Tussauds in New York has a new addition: It's now dressed in black and white prison stripes. The museum pulled the same move with Paris Hilton's statue when the heiress went to jail. ...

Rage Against the Machine, Daft Punk, Iggy and the Stooges and Queens of the Stone Age are among the headliners of this year's Vegoose Festival. The third annual installment of the Las Vegas event, to be held October 27-28 at Sam Boyd Stadium, will also feature sets from Muse, Cypress Hill, the Shins, Public Enemy, Ghostface Killah, Pharoahe Monch, Battles, Gogol Bordello and more artists to be announced soon. The Stooges will perform their classic Fun House album in its entirety for the first time ever in the U.S. ...

Daughtry will hit the road next month for a spate of headlining gigs. Dates are scheduled from August 1 in Columbus, Ohio, through October 20 in Raleigh, North Carolina. ... Mandy Moore will team up with Paula Cole for a co-headlining tour set to kick off August 18 in Portland, Oregon, and expire August 25 in San Diego. Moore's also set to play some of her own headlining gigs, starting August 30 in Fort Worth, Texas. That trek runs through September 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina. ... Tori Amos has mapped out the U.S. leg of her world tour, which will launch October 9 in Albany, New York, and run through December 17 in Los Angeles. ...

Tupac Shakur's estate is trying to stop the late rapper's former label, Death Row Records, from selling his unreleased recordings as part of a bankruptcy settlement. Shakur's mother, Afeni, sought an injunction in federal bankruptcy court Friday, claiming the label was trying to sell Shakur material that belonged to the rapper's estate and should have been turned over to it as part of a 1997 agreement with Death Row. Shakur's lawyer Donald N. David said that during the label's bankruptcy proceedings, "it was revealed that an album's worth of unreleased Tupac material was being advertised to potential buyers as the jewel in the crown of the Death Row assets." ...

A Los Angeles judge has refused to dismiss Phil Spector's murder charge or reduce it to manslaughter on Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. Prosecutors rested their case Monday, and one of the attorneys said they might not even have to show the music producer pulled the trigger to the gun that killed actress Lana Clarkson in order for Spector to be convicted. "He had the gun in his home, loaded with his bullets," said Alan Jackson, who added that prosecutors only need to show that Spector pointed the gun at Clarkson. "Whether he pulled the trigger, whether he sneezed or she slapped his hand away or there was an earthquake — it doesn't matter. It's implied malice." The defense argued that implied malice wasn't shown and that the prosecution didn't support its second-degree-murder theory, so the charge should be dismissed or reduced. "It's very clear to me ... that there's more than enough substantial evidence to support a conviction if there was one," Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler said, refusing the motion. ...

Static-X, Shadows Fall, 3 Inches of Blood and Divine Heresy are planning a U.S. run that will commence in September. Dates and venues have yet to be announced, but we'll keep you posted. ... There's been some turmoil as of late in the world of Hopesfall. According to a statement from the band, it seems the only remaining member is singer Jay Forrest, meaning guitarists Joshua Brigham and Dustin Nadler, drummer Jason Trabue and bassist Mike Tyson have split. No explanation for the departures has been made public. ... Coheed and Cambria's forthcoming album, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow, will hit stores October 23. ... The Bled's next effort, Silent Treatment, has been set for a September 25 release. The LP will contain 11 tracks, including "You Should Be Ashamed of Myself," "Platonic Sleepover Massacre" and "Breathing Room Barricades." ...

English manager Don Arden, the father of Sharon Osbourne, died Saturday in a Los Angeles nursing home, according to a BBC News report. He was 81. The man born Harry Levy in Manchester, England, but known variously as the "Al Capone of Pop," "The English Godfather" and "Mr. Big" for his uncompromising business practices was at one time the manager of acts ranging from ELO to the Small Faces and Black Sabbath. Sharon was famously estranged from Arden for nearly 20 years after she wrested control of husband Ozzy Osbourne's solo career and was forced to pay her dad a $1 million court settlement. The two reconciled in 2002. ... In an attempt to smooth the pathway to a proposed merger, satellite-radio competitors XM and Sirius have said that if the $4.7 billion merger is approved, they would offer new a la carte pricing plans that would allow users to pay only for the stations they want. The Washington Post reports that the proposed plans would start at $6.99 for 50 stations, which is almost half of the current price of $12.95 for about 150 stations, and include a $14.99 price for 100 stations and the option to add stations one at a time for 25 cents each.

• Harry Potter's Grand Finale: The Experts' Take
• Lindsay Lohan Arrested Again

• Kanye West
• Beyoncé
• Lindsay Lohan
• Pearl Jam
• Disturbed

Disturbed's David Draiman
Photo: Bruce Glikas/ Getty Images

Ozzy Osbourne has Ozzfest, Korn, the Family Values Tour. Megadeth rocks Gigantour, and Slayer's got the Unholy Alliance Tour.

For Disturbed, who spent this summer co-headlining Ozzfest with System of a Down in Osbourne's intermittent absence, there's the Music as a Weapon Tour. This year, David Draiman and the boys will be bringing back the tour — its last run was in 2003 — and bringing Stone Sour, Flyleaf and Nonpoint along for the ride.

The third installment of Music as a Weapon is set to kick off November 15 in Providence, Rhode Island, with 23 total dates scheduled through December 22 in Madison, Wisconsin. The tour will be Disturbed's first U.S. run since Ozzfest wrapped August 13 in West Palm Beach, Florida (see "Avenged Win Over Crowd, System Snore, Ozzy Returns To Form At Ozzfest Launch" and "Disturbed, Four-Time Ozzfest Veterans, Scared To Be 'Old Ones' On Tour"). Stone Sour and Flyleaf are fresh from this year's Family Values, which concluded September 22 in Virginia Beach, Virginia (see "Korn Resurrect Family Values Tour With Deftones, Stone Sour").

"It's our major headlining run," Draiman told MTV News. "We bring out all the bells and whistles — it's our stadium run. The bill is really strong, and we're looking into pyrotechnics this time around, as well as different stage setups, different versions of songs, solos, extended sets. It's going to be the big rock show that people expect from us. You have to keep raising the bar each respective year. It gets more and more difficult to do that, but it's definitely going to be one big, crazy rock show this year."

Draiman said the band will encourage more crowd interaction on this fall's Music as a Weapon, and plan to stage even more dramatic moments during the trek.

"We've become the type of band you can count on to pull off live versions of the songs that sound close enough to what you hear on the record," he explained. "But after awhile, it kind of gets monotonous, playing the same versions over and over again — especially the hits you have to play every show. So, making it a little bit different, giving people a little something they didn't expect and keeping the show fresh is very important."

After Ozzfest, but before the band jetted to Europe for a string of pre-Weapon dates that wrap October 10 in London, Draiman had surgery to repair a deviated septum that made breathing difficult for him, causing the band to miss several gigs. The operation, which corrected the damage three broken noses rendered over the last few years, was successfully completed on August 15.

The band heads into Music as a Weapon riding on the success of its latest single, a cover of Genesis' "Land of Confusion" (see "Todd McFarlane To Make Genesis' 'Confusion' Clip Even More Disturbed"). Disturbed's third studio LP, Ten Thousand Fists, has sold more than 1.2 million copies and remained in Billboard's top 200 since its #1 debut a little more than a year ago.

Disturbed's Music as a Weapon Tour dates, according to the band's publicist:

• 11/15 - Providence, RI @ Dunkin Donuts Civic Center
• 11/17 - Portland, ME @ Cumberland County Civic Center
• 11/18 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
• 11/19 - Amherst, MA @ Mullins Center
• 11/21 - Manchester, NH @ Verizon Wireless Arena
• 11/24 - Battle Creek, MI @ Kellogg Arena
• 11/25 - Dayton, OH @ Hara Arena
• 11/28 - Nashville, TN @ Gaylord Entertainment Center
• 11/29 - Duluth, GA @ The Arena at Gwinnett Center
• 12/1 - Fort Myers, FL @ City of Palms Park
• 12/2 - Orlando, FL @ TD Waterhouse Centre
• 12/3 - Biloxi, MS @ Mississippi Coast Coliseum
• 12/5 - Hollywood, FL @ Seminole Hard Rock Live
• 12/6 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena
• 12/9 - Grand Prairie, TX @ Nokia Theatre
• 12/10 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Ford Center
• 12/12 - Lincoln, NE @ Pershing Auditorium
• 12/15 - Indianapolis, IN @ Pepsi Coliseum
• 12/16 - Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena
• 12/18 - Peoria, IL @ Civic Center Arena
• 12/19 - Green Bay, WI @ Brown County Veterans Memorial Arena
• 12/21 - Cedar Rapids, IA @ U.S. Cellular Center
• 12/22 - Madison, WI @ Alliant Energy Center

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