The Pogues' Shane McGowan
Photo: Fred Tanneau/ Getty Images

If only St. Patrick's Day were always on a weekend. With the annual celebration of all things Irish falling on a Tuesday this year, revelers are forced into a tough decision: Kiss the blarney stone like you would any other year, or dial things back a notch so you can make it into work Wednesday morning.

Either way, some of the biggest acts with Emerald Isle ties will be partying across the country — some of them even got started a day early by playing warm-up gigs on Monday night, thereby giving them a full 24-hour window of celebration.

Among the cities ordering the most Guinness is Boston (of course), where hometown punkers the Dropkick Murphys hit the House of Blues on Monday night with fellow rockers Black 47, with a return engagement for the Murphys booked for Tuesday. Elsewhere in town, 47 set up shop at the Black Rose for an early morning gig before jetting off to New York, while Irish soft-rockers Bell X1 hit the Paradise Rock Club. And even though sensitive Jersey punks the Gaslight Anthem aren't technically an Irish band, you can bet their meat-and-potatoes sound and regular-folks rock will light up Beantown's Hurricane O'Reilly's.

The scene in New York is no less crowded, though the Murphys had to play the Roseland Ballroom on March 6 in order to make their annual hometown gig. But elsewhere across town, Black 47 will hop over from their morning engagement to play at B.B. King's and, perhaps the world's best-known Irish group, the Pogues, promise to bring their quarter-century-long beer-soaked bacchanalia to the Roseland Ballroom for what is sure to be a raucous time most attendees will never remember.

Boston's Street Dogs, led by former Dropkick Murphys singer Mike McColgan, will touch down in Buffalo, New York, at the Town Ballroom with the Swingin' Utters as part of their Crooked, Drunken Sons Tour.

Having already gotten their whistles wet with a slot at the Shamrock Festival in the RFK Stadium parking lot on Saturday, Los Angeles' Flogging Molly are also doubling up and playing a gig at the Congress Theater Tuesday night, after warming up at the House of Blues in Chicago on Monday. Because you'd be a fool not to play on St. Patty's Day if you're a an Irish band, Chicago's Tossers will also be throwing down, playing at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom, while the Young Dubliners will play a free gig in Pershing Square after the St. Pat's parade in Los Angeles.

And though he's English, former Smiths singer Morrissey did once pen a song about his Irish ancestry —"Irish Blood, English Heart" — which he's sure to play in Pittsburgh Monday (March 16) during his show at the Carnegie Music Hall.

• Playlist: St. Patty's Sham-Rock

• The Pogues
• Dropkick Murphys
• Morrissey

Dropkick Murphys perform at Fenway Park on Sunday
Photo: Greyson Welch

The Dropkick Murphys were formed in Quincy, Massachusetts, a working-class 'burb in the shadow of Boston, and as such, they've spent the majority of their lives living as "long-suffering" Red Sox fans.

That all changed in 2004, when the Sox ended an 86-year drought and won the World Series — perhaps thanks in part to the Murphys, who resurrected a song called "Tessie," a Broadway song that had been the unofficial theme of the Sox during the last time they'd won the Series (way back in 1918). The Dropkicks' version became the song of the '04 season, and secured the band a place in Red Sox lore.

Fast-forward to Sunday night, when the Sox found themselves in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park. One more win, and they'd be back in the Series ... so who did they call to help put them over the top? Why, none other than the Dropkick Murphys.

The band set up in center field minutes before the pivotal game to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a pair of other tunes ("I'm Shipping Up to Boston," which featured heavily in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed," and, of course, "Tessie") to fire up the Fenway faithful. It was a moment that the band would never forget, except there was just one problem: extra-tight Major League Baseball security wouldn't allow the Murphys' camera crew into the game, so they had no way of capturing it for posterity.

But the ever-resourceful Dropkicks turned to their merch guy, who smuggled in a handheld camera and shot some guerrilla-style footage. And after the Sox won, they decided to celebrate by giving the tapes (and a handwritten note from band photographer/editor Greyson Welch) to MTV News.

The World Series kicks off Wednesday night (October 24) in Boston.

• Dropkick Murphys

NOFX's El Hefe at the 2006 Vans Warped Tour
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

For years, the biggest knock on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been its unwillingness to recognize the contributions of artists that fall outside the standard definition of, well, "rock and roll."

In recent years, the Hall has taken steps to rectify the problem. The list of 2006 inductees included punk pioneers the Sex Pistols and Blondie, proto-metallers Black Sabbath and forward-thinking jazznick Miles Davis (see "Metallica Thud, Blondie Feud At Rock Hall Of Fame Ceremony"). And now an even more unlikely group of artists will be allowed inside the hallowed Hall: a bunch of sweat-stained and sunburned punks — or, more specifically, their guitars, Converse All Stars and hairspray.

Starting in January, an exhibit honoring Warped Tour — the longest-running touring rock festival and summertime celebration of piercings, Manic Panic and all types of punk rock — will display gear, clothing and various ephemera donated by the hundreds of artists that have graced Warped's many stages over the years.

"It's a great honor for the Hall to recognize the success of Warped, and I know it's a special thing for a lot of the bands," Warped founder Kevin Lyman told MTV News. "So many of them have donated their personal gear, because they realize how great this is. A lot of them have kids now, and so they looked at it like, 'Well, I don't know if I'll ever get into the Hall, but now at least my guitar will.' "

New-school acts like My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory and Gym Class Heroes all contributed items, as did a host of punk stalwarts, including NOFX, the Dropkick Murphys and the Bouncing Souls. And in keeping with the spirit of the tour, the list of donated items is particularly punk — from the Murphys' bagpipes and Anti-Flag's sneakers to a customized Millencolin beer bong.

"When we first reached out to Kevin about making this exhibit happen, we wanted to recognize the significant contributions Warped has made to the state of rock and roll," Todd Mesek, a spokesperson for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, told MTV News. "We wanted to explore just what the fest means and how it has developed so many artists. And so we set out to collect as many artifacts as we could from the past 12 years."

The Warped exhibit is scheduled to open sometime in late January at the Rock Hall's permanent home in Cleveland, and Lyman told MTV News that he's in the early stages of planning a show to coincide with the opening (the Used and Paramore are already on board to play, he said). And when the exhibit wraps — which should be sometime in June — the Hall plans to seal all the donated items in a special time capsule, which will be reopened in 25 years.

(Click here for a look at what goes on behind the scenes at the summer's craziest punk-rock circus.)

• Warped Tour 2006 Photos

• My Chemical Romance
• New Found Glory
• Gym Class Heroes
• NOFX
• Dropkick Murphys

The Dropkick Murphys
Photo: Epitaph

Sure, tie-dye T-shirts and Birkenstocks are perennial fashion staples at any warm-weather music festival. But recently, a bizarre trend has begun to take hold: men in kilts. And it's not just spreading on the feel-good fields of summer festivals — it's becoming a symbol of rebellion.

Kilt-rocking males were definitely out in force at this year's Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, with bare-chested biker types bopping to Blues Traveler and jovial frat boys grooving in the grass to moe.

(Check out photos of Madonna, Korn's Jonathan Davis, Samuel L. Jackson and more showing off their kilts.)

"We sold 150 kilts," says Joe Hunt, 35, a vendor for Seattle-based Utilikilts, which set up shop at the festival. "The response was great."

Utilikilts, a twist on the traditional Scottish kilt, come with detachable pockets and are made from a lighter, machine-washable fabric than a wool kilt. They also come in an array of contemporary colors like charcoal, red, and camouflage, and are sold exclusively online at Utilikilts.com, and at large events like the upcoming Dragon*Con Sci-Fi convention in Atlanta.

"Here's a kilt that you can wear on a daily basis that's trying to get people away from the mindset that you have to wear pants every day," Hunt said. "It's about freedom and having a good time. It's about getting out there, enjoying yourself and feeling the breeze constantly."

While some kids laughed at the kilt booth, others embraced it. "We had a group of guys [at Bonnaroo], probably 15 to 16 years old, and they dared one of their friends to try on a kilt. And once he did, they were like, 'Wow.' Then some girls were like, 'Oh, that looks good,' and then walked out with a kilt each," Hunt said.

The price can be steep (the average kilt runs anywhere from $125-$700), but Hunt asserts that it's a solid investment.

"It's completely comfortable, and if you're in hot weather it's one of the best things you can wear," he said. "We're trying to get away from the whole 'You have to wear pants' thing. Every other culture has a dress for men, like kimonos in Japan and robes in other countries. There's no stigma attached to it."

And kilts have been sported recently by some brave hearts: Axl Rose, Korn's Jonathan Davis, David Byrne and Robbie Williams have all worn them while performing. Guy Ritchie and the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir both got married while wearing one; Ritchie's wife, Madonna, was apparently inspired enough to wear one on her 2004 tour. And Kiefer Sutherland wore a tartan kilt at his stepdaughter's wedding in Edinburgh.

"It's a very old thing, but it's taken off again," said Kelly Stewart, owner of USA Kilts, which specializes in more traditional, custom-made kilts and just supplied a batch for an upcoming episode of "Reno 911!" on Comedy Central and the new Dropkick Murphys video "Walk Away."

"It started with Madonna and her Reinvention Tour (see "Madonna Twirls Rifle, Lifts Up Her Kilt At Tour Opener")," Stewart continued. "Now, people are getting back in touch with their Celtic roots, especially in America — a lot of the younger kids are trying to get in touch with their roots."

But a lot of people are just wearing them to wear them. "We have Japanese customers, we have African-American customers, we have Latino customers, we have fraternity brothers," says Rocky Roeger, also of USA Kilts. "And then we have had kids that have saved their allowances for three months."

In some cases, comfort and culture have taken a backseat to good old-fashioned teen rebellion, which could also account for some of kilts' recent rise in popularity.

In April, a Minnesota teen was banned from a high school prom parade for wearing a kilt. And 18-year-old Missouri football player Nathan Warmack caused a media stir last year when he wore a red kilt to his school dance and wasn't allowed inside.

"He saved up his own money and spent $300-$500 and his principal called him a fool," Roeger said. "Scottish societies were up in arms." The school's staff eventually apologized to Warmack, and a radio station awarded him a free trip to Scotland.

"Once people get past the stigma that it's not a skirt, it's great," Hunt said. "There's nothing un-masculine about it. It's the exact opposite: When you see Sean Connery in a kilt, you don't think, 'Ha-ha.' We try to go out and have a good time and educate people about kilts without forcing people to buy them."

Kilts can be worn with hiking boots, sandals, Doc Martens or no shoes at all, and come in many different colors, patterns and sizes. And you don't need a Scottish background.

"The whole point is to make it your own," Hunt said. "However you feel comfortable. 'Do I not have to wear underwear with it?' That's your choice. There's no need to follow any rules."

• Madonna, Samuel L. Jackson, Sting, Korn's Jonathan Davis, More Show Off Their Kilts
• Radiohead, Common, Matisyahu, More At The 2006 Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival

• Guns N' Roses
• Korn
• Dropkick Murphys

My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way (file)
Photo: Jason Campbell

The Vans Warped Tour has officially announced the lineup and itinerary for the 11th annual edition of the punk/skating tour. As previously reported by MTV News, the bill for the oldest touring festival in the U.S. will be topped by the Offspring and My Chemical Romance, along with the Transplants, MxPx, All-American Rejects, Dropkick Murphys, Thrice, Atreyu and Senses Fail.

The 48-date tour, which kicks off on June 17 at the Germain Amphitheatre in Columbus, Ohio, will snake its way across the country through mid-August, wrapping up on August 14 at the Englishtown Raceway in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Discount tickets will be available on the Warped Web site beginning March 15.

For the full itinerary, see "Warped Tour Organizers Cave, Announce Full Itinerary Two Weeks Early."

New attractions for 2005 include the Amateur Skate Jam (a daily contest judged by pro skaters for local amateur skaters, who will compete for prize money) and, for the first time, fans can also vote daily on the tour's Web site on which band they would like to see play for an extra 10 minutes.

Making their return are such popular attractions as Reverse Day Care (an air-conditioned area where kids can drop off their parents), the Codes of the Cutz hip-hop tent and the Girlz Garage stage. Organizers are also encouraging attendees to donate items for local homeless shelters through Punk Junk, an on-site donation center.

Other bands confirmed to perform so far: A Thorn for Every Heart, Academy Is, Amber Pacific, Armor for Sleep, Avenged Sevenfold, Bedouin Sound Clash, Billy Talent, the Bled, Bleeding Through, Boys Night Out, the Briefs, a Change of Pace, Dead 60's, Emery, the Explosion, the Fight, From First to Last, Funeral for a Friend, Gatsby's American Dream, Go Betty Go, Gratitude, Greeley Estates, Gym Class Heroes, Halifax, Hidden in Plain View, Hopesfall, HorrorPops, Hot Rod Circuit, Juliette and the Licks, Kinison, Left Alone, Lost City Angels, Mae, Matchbook Romance, the Matches, Midtown, Millencolin, Motion City Soundtrack, Near Miss, Plain White T's, Reggie & the Full Effect, Relient K, Rufio, Saosin, Silverstein, Skindred, Something Corporate, the Starting Line, Street Dogs, Strike Anywhere, Stutterfly, Throw Rag, Tsunami Bomb, the Twenty Twos, Yesterday's Rising and ZAO.

For a feature on My Chemical Romance, check out "My Chemical Romance: They're Okay (Promise)."

• My Chemical Romance
• The Offspring
• Transplants
• MxPx
• The All-American Rejects

The Offspring (file)
Photo: Columbia

In the end, it was sheer necessity, combined with a whole bunch of demand, that forced Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman to reveal the full list of 2005 dates for the annual trek. Sometimes, marketing plans just go out the window.

"We were hoping to hold off announcing the dates until the first of March, but the demand of the kids on the Internet made us put them out there," Lyman said. "The kids are prodding, they're on the Web sites. Their dads work at the venues, and find out when the venue is hosting Warped, and the kids put it out there and it pops up on a Web site."

Lyman had previously revealed the first three dates of the tour, along with a few of the headliners (see "On This Summer's Warped Tour: Offspring, MCR, MxPx — And On-Stage Weddings"), but now visitors to WarpedTour.com can check out not only the full itinerary, but also the list of all 45 acts confirmed for this summer's jaunt, from the Academy Is ... and the All American Rejects to the Unseen and Underoath.

Internet presales begin on April 1 (a full 77 days before the first Warped show), but Lyman doesn't see the accelerated schedule as a bad thing. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"It's good to see this kind of demand, it means kids want to go to the Warped Tour this summer," he laughed. "It's probably the day they stop doing that that I'm going to worry about things."

Warped Tour dates, according to tour organizers:  

• 6/17 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
• 6/18 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
• 6/19 - Milwaukee, WI @ Marcus Amphitheatre
• 6/21 - St. Louis, MO @ UMB Bank Pavilion
• 6/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 6/24 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Center Lot
• 6/25 - Houston, TX @ Reliant Center
• 6/26 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 6/28 - Las Cruces, NM @ N.M.S.U. Practice Field
• 6/29 - Peoria, AZ @ Peoria Sports Complex
• 6/30 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre/ UCSD Field
• 7/1 - Long Beach, CA @ Cal State Long Beach
• 7/2 - San Francisco @ Pier 30/32
• 7/3 - Ventura, CA @ Seaside Park
• 7/4 - Fresno, CA @ Selland Arena Lot
• 7/6 - Long Beach, CA @ Cal State Long Beach
• 7/7 - Marysville, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/8 - Boise, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/9 - George, WA @ Gorge Amphitheatre Lot
• 7/10 - Saint Helens, OR @ Columbia Meadows
• 7/12 - Vancouver, BC @ Thunderbird Stadium
• 7/14 - Calgary, AB @ Race City Speedway
• 7/15 - Bozeman, MT @ Gallatin County Fairgrounds
• 7/16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Utah State Fairgrounds
• 7/17 - Denver, CO @ Invesco Field at Mile High
• 7/20 - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 7/21 - Cleveland, OH @ Tower City Amphitheatre
• 7/22 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center Lot
• 7/23 - Chicago, IL @ Tweeter Center
• 7/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ Metrodome
• 7/26 - Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Six Flags P.A.C.
• 7/28 - Quebec, QC @ Colisee Pepsi Parking Lot
• 7/29 - Montreal, QC @ Parc Jean-Drapeu
• 7/30 - Barrie, ON @ Molson Park
• 7/31 - Pontiac, MI @ Pontiac Silverdome
• 8/1 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
• 8/3 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheater Lot
• 8/4 - Jacksonville, FL @ Jacksonville Fairgrounds
• 8/5 - St. Petersburg, FL @ Vinoy Waterfront Park
• 8/6 - Orlando, FL @ Tinker Field
• 8/7 - Pompano Beach, FL @ Pompano Beach
• 8/8 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 8/9 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
• 8/10 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion Lot/ Meriweather Post
• 8/11 - Foxboro, MA @ Foxboro Stadium
• 8/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
• 8/13 - New York, NY @ Randall's Island
• 8/14 - Asbury Park, NJ @ Englishtown Raceway  

• The Offspring
• MxPx
• My Chemical Romance
• Transplants
• Fall Out Boy

The Offspring (file)
Photo: Columbia

Even as much of the Northeast finds itself in the middle of a bone-chilling cold snap, it's never too early to start thinking about those balmy summer months — especially if you're a fan of the Warped Tour. Details for the 2005 version are piling up faster than that snow drift outside your window.

Just-announced acts on this summer's tour include the Offspring, Fall Out Boy, MxPx, the Dropkick Murphys, No Use for a Name, Atreyu, Strung-Out, Mest and Hawthorne Heights. They'll join previously confirmed acts the Transplants, My Chemical Romance and Thrice on the tour's 11th annual jaunt (see "Warped Tour Just Ended, But Next Year's Trek Is Already Taking Shape").

"We always try to pick bands for the tour based on what the kids are telling me. Kids e-mail me all the time with suggestions, and if I get enough of them, I'll get in touch with the band," Warped founder Kevin Lyman said. "Like with the Offspring, who have never played the tour, a kid e-mailed me and was like, 'Why can't you guys work this out?' And I went, 'You know what? You're right.' "

Lyman also said that the tour will kick off on June 18 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Germain Amphitheater, then head to Milwaukee's Marcus Amphitheatre on the 19th and UMB Bank Pavilion near St. Louis on the 21st. More dates will be announced soon.

There are also plans for Warped 2005 to include "at least one" honest-to-goodness wedding. In December, Lyman put out the call for couples looking to get hitched onstage, and the response he got was enough to convince him that he needed to get something started.

"Like most things with Warped, the idea of a wedding started off as a joke. But when I posted on WarpedTour.com, we got such a response that I had to give it a real look," Lyman said. "So now I'm contacting bands to see if they know any ordained ministers. I figure there's got to be some punk-rock ministers out there."

Lyman also is finishing up the Warped Tour 10th Anniversary film, which he's compiled with the help of hundreds of amateur videographers across the country. The film features live performances shot by fans at each of the first 10 editions of Warped, and is due in stores "sometime later this year."

• The Offspring
• My Chemical Romance
• MxPx
• Fall Out Boy
• Dropkick Murphys

Andrew W.K
Photo: MTV

While half the country is braving an intense Arctic front, some of those shivering are warm with the knowledge that summer can't be too far away if the annual Vans Warped Tour trek is taking shape.

Less Than Jake, Finch, the Ataris and Andrew W.K have been added to the lineup of the ninth annual outing, which will commence June 19, according to promoters. The latest additions to the bill have all toured with the punk-rock summer camp before.

Taking Back Sunday, Dropkick Murphys, Mest and the Suicide Machines are also among the 17 additions made to the previously announced full-tour lineup, which features the Used, Simple Plan, Rancid, Distillers and Glassjaw (see "Used, Simple Plan, Rancid, Distillers On Warped Tour '03").

The tour launches in Boise, Idaho, where it took off last year, and winds down in Asbury Park, New Jersey, on August 10. Forty-three shows in all are expected. Venues have not been announced.

Ten bands, including Warped vets Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Mad Caddies, and the Damned have also signed on to perform at select dates, though the specific shows for each group have yet to be sorted out.

Cities and dates for the Vans Warped Tour, according to promoters:

• 6/19 - Boise, ID
• 6/20 - Bozeman, MT
• 6/21 - Salt Lake City, UT
• 6/22 - Denver, CO
• 6/24 - Kansas City, KS
• 6/25 - St. Louis, MO
• 6/26 - Cincinnati, OH
• 6/27 - Indianapolis, IN
• 6/28 - Minneapolis, MN
• 6/29 - Chicago, IL
• 7/2 - Calgary, AB
• 7/4 - Vancouver, BC
• 7/5 - Seattle, WA
• 7/6 - Portland, OR
• 7/8 - San Bernardino, CA
• 7/9 - Long Beach, CA
• 7/10 - San Diego, CA
• 7/11 - Ventura, CA
• 7/12 - San Francisco, CA
• 7/13 - Sacramento, CA
• 7/15 - Phoenix, AZ
• 7/18 - San Antonio, TX
• 7/19 - Dallas, TX
• 7/20 - Houston, TX
• 7/23 - Atlanta, GA
• 7/24 - Orlando, FL
• 7/25 - Tampa, FL
• 7/26 - Miami, FL
• 7/27 - Jacksonville, FL
• 7/28 - Charlotte, NC
• 7/29 - Virginia Beach, VA
• 7/30 - Washington, DC
• 7/31 - Boston, MA
• 8/1 - Montreal, QC
• 8/2 - Toronto, ON
• 8/3 - Detroit, MI
• 8/4 - Milwaukee, WI
• 8/5 - Cleveland, OH
• 8/6 - Pittsburgh, PA
• 8/7 - Buffalo, NY
• 8/8 - Philadelphia, PA
• 8/9 - New York, NY
• 8/10 - Asbury Park, NJ

• Andrew W.K.
• Less Than Jake
• Finch
• The Ataris
• Taking Back Sunday

Portly hellcats Tenacious D threaten to blow Kid Rock off the stage when they open four dates on the Bullgod's spring tour: March 22 in Indianapolis, Indiana; March 23 in Louisville, Kentucky; March 28 in Kansas City, Missouri and March 29 in St. Louis. The dynamic duo have a headlining tour in the works, according to their label. ... Outspoken Hole frontwoman and artists' rights advocate Courtney Love — currently embroiled in a legal battle with her former label, Geffen Records — will participate in a public interview with the L.A. Times on March 16 at the South by Southwest music conference. Singer/songwriter and former Band guitarist Robbie Robertson is the keynote speaker for this year's gathering, which will take place March 13-17 in Austin, Texas. ...

Jo Jo Brim, senior director of A&R at Def Jam/ Def Soul, had no comment whether or not Def Soul has hollered at the newly free-agented Mariah Carey, though he credit her "unprecedented" track record, "amazing voice" and "tremendous following" in saying that she would be a welcome commodity. "If something of that caliber were to happen, it could only mean great things for everybody involved," Brim said. ... Staind, Aerosmith and American Hi-Fi are tied at the top of the annual Boston Music Awards nominations list with seven each, while Godsmack and Cracktorch are loudly nipping at their heels with six. The awards will be doled out on April 11 at Boston's Orpheum Theatre, where those acts will vie for trophies alongside other multi-nommed local heroes such as Dropkick Murphys, the Sheila Divine, Scissorfight and LFO (go to boston.com for a complete list of nominees). ...

Flame-haired, stone-washed '80s mall-pop princess Tiffany ("I Think We're Alone Now") will appear in the altogether in the April issue of Playboy, which arrives on March 4. Yes, she still sings — her most recent album was 2000's The Color of Silence. ...Linkin Park's debut, Hybrid Theory, has been certified seven times platinum after moving 3 million copies in the last three months, according to the RIAA. Other acts earning shiny new plaques are Creed for Weathered (five times platinum) and Usher for 8701 (triple platinum), while Nelly Furtado's Whoa, Nelly!, Enrique Iglesias' Escape, Pink's Missundaztood, Shakira's Laundry Service and Michael Jackson's Invincible have been certified double platinum. ...

Following rapper TiLo's departure from his Methods of Mayhem last year, Tommy Lee has dispensed with the band, — name and all — and is flying solo for Never a Dull Moment, his second post-Mötley Crüe LP, which is set for release on May 21. "Hold Me Down" is the first single off the LP, which features guest appearances by Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger and Deftones singer Chino Moreno. ... Cypress Hill rhyme-roller B-Real recorded a cover of David Bowie's "Fame" with Lee for Never a Dull Moment, but the rapper's part had to be removed due to clearance issues. "Fame-02," sans B-Real, will still appear on Lee's LP. ...

Philly's own Boyz II Men and Daryl Hall & John Oates will provide entertainment at the NBA's All-Star Saturday Night February 9 at the First Union Center in Philadelphia. City High, also from the Philadelphia area, will perform the national anthem before the All-Star Hoop-It-Up tournament, which will see Justin Timberlake and Brian McKnight take the court. ... Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, rocker Patti Smith and Brazilian pop singer Bebel Gilberto have joined David Bowie, Nawang Khechog and the Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery on the list of performers scheduled for the 12th annual Tibet House Benefit Concert on February 22 at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Bowie and his model wife, Iman, are the Honorary Chairs of the event.

Cake, Nikka Costa and the Roots are among the artists lined up to perform at the Ice House in the Mountain Dew Ice Village in Salt Lake City during the 2002 Olympic Games this month. Cheap Trick, Coolio, Pennywise, Lit, Perry Farrell, BT, George Clinton, Black Eyed Peas, Common, Talib Kweli, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, LFO, Fishbone, Save Ferris, Digable Planets, Dishwalla, Dance Hall Crashers and Mystic also perform on various nights from February 8 to 24. ...

Singer/songwriter Ryan Adams, supporting September's Grammy-nominated Gold, will launch a 10-date tour on February 25 in Los Angeles. The outing, which hits the likes of San Francisco, Chicago and Detroit, wraps March 18 in Boston. ... Robert Moog and Apple Computer, Inc. will each receive a Technical Grammy later this month. Moog invented the Moog synthesizer in 1965 and has been an innovator in analog electronic instruments since, while Apple is known for bringing computer technology into recording studios. ... John Forte, a contributing rapper on the Fugee's The Score and the founder of Wyclef Jean's Refugee Camp All-Stars, will release his second solo album, the hip-hop- and folk-oriented I, John, on April 23. ...

02.04.02

Kid Rock and girlfriend Pamela Anderson ducked into New York City's Mercury Lounge Thursday night for a quick glimpse of unsigned Boston quartet Mappari. Perhaps Rock and the "V.I.P." star were still clocking Detroit time, as music industry showcases by Virgin Records' Moth and Mammoth's the Full Nine had the club filled two hours earlier and after only a few measures, the unassuming pair left as hurriedly as they arrived. ... Fabolous and one of hip-hop's founding fathers, DJ Kool Herc, will be at Macy's in Manhattan's Herald Square on Monday (February 4) starting at 5:30 p.m to help The Source celebrate the publication of its 150th issue. P. Diddy's clothing company, Sean John, designed a T-shirt to commemorate the hip-hop magazine's milestone. ...

Bassist Melissa Auf der Maur (Hole, Smashing Pumpkins), bassist Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle), drummer Samantha Maloney (Hole/Mötley Crüe) and guitarist Radio Sloan (the Need) have formed the Chelsea, and they'll rotate instruments and share vocal duties when they hit the stage at Los Angeles' Spaceland on Wednesday. The quartet, which is named for the New York hotel made infamous by the Sex Pistols' Sid Vicious and girlfriend Nancy Spungen, plans to hit a recording studio in the next few weeks. ... Lenchantin's APC bandmate, guitarist/mastermind Billy Howerdel, is writing songs for the follow-up to A Perfect Circle's debut album, Mer de Noms. ...

Santana's follow-up to his Grammy-sweeping, diamond-plus-selling 1999 LP, Supernatural, will be titled Shaman, according to VH1 Radio. The album, due in June, will feature a collaboration with operaman Placido Domingo. ... Adam Ant will be spending Valentine's Day in court to face charges stemming from an incident in a London pub last month. The singer, who suffers from manic depression, was charged with possession of a firearm or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence as well as criminal damage and one charge of committing actual bodily harm after he allegedly brandished a fake gun and was committed to a psychiatric hospital following his January 12 arrest.

• Tenacious D
• Staind
• Linkin Park
• Kid Rock
• Hole

What's a Boston band to do when they can't be in the beloved Irish stronghold of their hometown for St. Patrick's Day?

• Dropkick Murphys

Madonna, Samuel L. Jackson, Sting, Korn's Jonathan Davis, More Show Off Their Kilts

• Mary J. Blige
• Rod Stewart
• Sting
• Dropkick Murphys
• Christina Aguilera