Kanye West
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

For the last month or so, everyone in the music industry has been abuzz about Kanye West and 50 Cent — or more specifically, the epic sales campaign the two waged during the weeks leading up to the September 11 release of their latest LPs, 'Ye's Graduation and Fif's Curtis.

And last week the results came in, with West the undisputed victor (see "Kanye West's Sales Triumph, By The Numbers: He Thumped 50 Cent In Almost Every Market" and "Kanye West Pounds 50 Cent In First Week Of Album Showdown"). But who'd come out on top after week two? Would West's sales continue to eclipse 50's, or would the tables turn, resulting in a come-from-behind coup?

Well, neither ended up being the case, and the results stayed pretty much the same: Sales of Graduation were significantly stronger than those generated by Curtis, and interest in both sets waned. According to the latest SoundScan totals, sales for West's latest dipped 76 percent, while Curtis suffered a 79 percent sales cut. What this all means, basically, is there's a new name in the #1 position on next week's Billboard albums sales chart, and that name is Reba.

What's even more surprising than the bubbly, fire-fleeced country sweetheart and former star of the now-canceled CW sitcom "Reba" surpassing the two biggest hip-hop releases of the year so far? The fact that the album is the first #1 of McEntire's 30-year career.

McEntire's Reba Duets — which features collaborations with artists like LeAnn Rimes, Kelly Clarkson, Rascal Flatts, Don Henley, Justin Timberlake, Faith Hill and Kenny Chesney — sold more than 300,500 copies during its first week in record stores to claim the chart's peak position. Reba's previous best was a #2 bow for 1994's Read My Mind. That drops West's Graduation to #2 with close to 226,000 scans and 50's Curtis to #3 with 143,000 sold. (In just two short weeks, Graduation has sold nearly 1.2 million copies.)

Right behind 50 at #4 this week is the new one from Barry Manilow, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which sold 113,000 units. Along with Reba, Manilow was one of 30 newcomers to next week's top 200, and one of six to debut in the top 10. Following Chesney's Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates (which falls to #5 with 112,200 copies sold) and the soundtrack to the Disney Channel original movie "High School Musical 2" (at #6 with 99,400 scans) at #7 is the latest from James Blunt, All the Lost Souls; the disc sold a reported 92,400 copies.

Next, bowing at #8, is Ultimate Victory, the new one from Chamillionaire, with 79,000 in first-week sales. The #9 spot belongs to KT Tunstall's Drastic Fantastic, with week-one scans clocked at 49,700, and, rounding things out with a #10 opener, it's Twista's Adrenaline Rush 2007, which sold 40,700 units.

Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder's first crack at going solo, the soundtrack to Sean Penn's "Into the Wild" flick, debuts at #11, selling 39,300-plus copies. With 38,300 scans, the latest from emotive Finnish metallers H.I.M., Venus Doom, follows at #12, while Motion City Soundtrack's Even If It Kills Me opens at #16, selling 33,000 copies. The Very Best of Diana Krall bows at #19, while Celtic punks the Dropkick Murphys claim the #20 position with The Meanest of Times, which scanned more than 28,200 copies.

Meanwhile, Gloria Estefan's 90 Millas comes in at #25, having generated more than 23,700 scans, and at #26, with 23,600 sold, it's former Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler's latest solo effort, Kill to Get Crimson. One Chance, the debut album from "Britain's Got Talent" winner Paul Potts, follows at #30 with 22,100 sold, and New Found Glory's cinema-themed covers collection, From the Screen to Your Stereo Part II, pops up at #42 with 15,500 sold.

Playlist, Babyface's latest, finishes in the #48 slot, having sold 13,700 units, while Between the Buried and Me's Colors trails in the #57 spot with sales of 12,600. Right behind them at #58 is Thousand Foot Krutch's The Flame in All of Us, which sold 12,500 copies. Rise to Power, the second studio LP by Miami rapper Rick Ross, follows at #62 with 11,600 copies scanned and bagged, while death metallers the Black Dahlia Murder's Nocturnal opens at #72 with 9,600 sold. Train frontman Pat Monahan's first solo outing, Last of Seven, bows at #82 with 8,200 scans.

The Donnas return to the top 200 at #89, having sold 7,600 copies of their new one, Bitchin', while metal act Suicide Silence's The Cleansing cleared 7,000 scans, earning them the chart's #94 opening. Gospel outfit Trin-I-Tee 5:7's T57 debuts in the #102 position with 6,700 sold, while Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew: Spirit If... claims the #113 spot with just over 6,000 copies grabbed up.

Gospel artist Byron Cage's Live at the Apollo: The Proclamation opens at #118 with 5,700 copies sold, while Ministry's swan song, The Last Sucker, comes in at #130, selling 5,000 units. Doom-metal force High on Fire's Death Is This Communion comes in at #142 with 4,500 scans, followed five spots down at #147 by German metallers Rammstein's live offering, Völkerball, which sold close to 4,500 copies. And last but not least, finishing out the week at #173, it's the debut solo album from Havoc, one-half of the hip-hop duo Mobb Deep; The Kush sold 3,900 units its first week in stores.

• Kanye Topped 50, But Who's The Real Winner?

• Reba McEntire
• Kanye West
• 50 Cent
• James Blunt
• Eddie Vedder

H.I.M.'s Ville Valo
Photo: Warner Bros. Records

H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo admits that 2005's Dark Light, his band's first proper U.S. release, was, well, too complex and confusing. Hence, the guys in the Finnish quintet — Bam Margera's favorite band — decided to simplify their goth-imbued sound for the tentatively titled Venus Doom, the LP they've been working on with producer Tim Palmer (Dredg, Ozzy Osbourne) in Helsinki.

"There were too many things going on," Valo said of the band's previous release. "[Venus Doom is] going to be a lot heavier than anything we've done before — that's the whole idea. It's like we're mixing My Bloody Valentine's Loveless with Metallica's Master of Puppets. ... There won't be as much ear candy on this one. There are a lot of riffs, and it's more guitar-oriented than keyboard-driven. Really, we just wanted to rock our own socks off."

But Valo doesn't characterize Venus Doom as a total departure for H.I.M., saying instead that the LP will still contain the singer's trademark brokenhearted lyricism (see "Finnish Rockers H.I.M. Say Everything They Do, They Do For Bam Margera").

"We wanted to make a really rockin' album — one that would explode your speakers," he said. "But we also wanted to maintain the melancholy aspects of love and loss in the lyrics and then have the really sweet vocals amidst this storm of guitars.

"Lyrically, it's about me losing a relationship and then actually regaining it, and losing my sanity and regaining it," Valo continued. "As you grow up, life gets more and more complex, even though when you're a kid you think things are going to get easier. It's like a f---ing puzzle that just keeps on having more and more pieces to it. It's very personal, this album. It's like me getting rid of my demons and putting the pain in the music. It's cathartic, and it's about cleansing yourself and trying to have the courage to take that one step further."

Valo penned one song, "The Kiss of Dawn," for a close friend who committed suicide soon after the band wrapped the recording sessions for Dark Light.

"It's been a tough year," Valo said with a sigh. "I'm not complaining at all. But I've had really sh---y things happen to me in my life, so this is definitely the darkest album we've done, lyrically. It's also a celebration of life. It's about remembering the ones you loved with a smile rather than being all dark and brooding and having hair in your face and trying to be Robert Smith from the Cure."

Other numbers slated for the album's final track list include "Love in Cold Blood," "Passion's Killing Floor" and "Dead Lovers Lane." And while Valo wouldn't confirm rampant rumors that his band will travel with Linkin Park this summer as part of the revived Projekt Revolution Tour (see "Linkin Park Finish Apocalyptic Album, Revive Projekt Revolution Tour"), he says the band will be touring the States around Venus Doom's July 10 release.

And what does Valo's old chum Bam think of the newest H.I.M. material? Well, he hasn't heard a note yet, but the singer did express a desire to work with Margera: He said he'll ask the "Jackass" star to direct the clip for the album's first single. But he hasn't approached Bam to discuss a collaboration just yet.

"We have to finish the damn thing first," Valo said, adding that the entire LP should be in the bag within the next few weeks.

• HIM

Diddy
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

We already know that Diddy and longtime girlfriend Kim Porter are expecting twins. But the rapper/ label boss reveals in the upcoming issue of Vibe that his two sons (one with Porter, one from a previous relationship) will be getting a pair of sisters. The new arrivals could alter his whole outlook, Diddy told the magazine. "People say, to a so-called ladies' man or whatever, that when you have girls it changes you," he said. "So I was like, 'What's God trying to tell me by giving me two girls?' When I pray every morning, I thank God for showing me what he showed me while I still have a chance to enjoy myself." ...

A request by Paris Hilton's attorney to delay her DUI arraignment has been granted, a spokesperson for city prosecutors told The Associated Press Wednesday (September 27). The arraignment is now scheduled for December 5, although Hilton is not required to appear. ...

Jewel, Olivia Newton-John and songwriter Carole Bayer Sager will appear as guest judges when the audition episodes of "American Idol" begin airing in January. ... Guns N' Roses have added two more East Coast dates to their tour itinerary: November 5 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and November 10 at New York's Madison Square Garden. ... Clay Aiken will team with local orchestras on a holiday tour beginning December 2 in Merrillville, Indiana. The 17-city trek will end December 23 in Greensboro, North Carolina. ...

Bono will be the first guest on Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart's upcoming HBO series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the music-themed half-hour interview show, described as "musicians on musicians," will feature Stewart interviewing fellow artists about their craft. The show is slated to begin airing in early 2007. ... Tenacious D will release the soundtrack to "The Pick of Destiny" on November 14, three days before the movie opens. The Dust Brothers' John King produced and Dave Grohl played drums on the album, which includes the first single, "The Pick of Destiny." ...

H.I.M. will not be touring next month. The band's two-week No Sleep Till Halloween tour has been scrapped so the Finnish goth-rockers can concentrate on writing new material. "We just want to keep it fresh for you and stump you with new material," frontman Ville Valo said in a statement. "I didn't feel that I could do that without rehearsing some of this stuff that's stuck in my heart." The trek, which was to launch on October 18 and run through October 31, was also set to feature Papa Roach, Lostprophets and Kill Hannah. ... Underoath keyboardist Chris Dudley fractured his hand on Sunday while playing football with his bandmates. Dudley was admitted to the hospital and doctors advised him to take off the remainder of the band's current Canadian tour to ensure he makes a full recovery. The tour will go on, though, with the group's tour manager, Russ Hickman, filling in on samples. Dudley plans to return for Taste of Chaos International, which kicks off October 8 in Auckland, New Zealand. ...

MySpace has hooked up with nonpartisan youth voting organization Declare Yourself to host an online voter-registration drive. The dedicated site at MySpace.com/DeclareYourself features instructions in English and Spanish on how to register to vote and comprehensive information on the upcoming midterm elections. ... Don Omar will launch his first U.S. headlining tour next month in Atlanta, with popular Latin acts Aventura and Rakim y Ken-Y in tow. The tour will be in support of Omar's latest album, King of Kings, which topped Billboard's Latin Albums chart and earned Omar an American Music Awards nomination for Favorite Latin Music Artist. The tour is scheduled to conclude with a two-night set in San Juan, Puerto Rico. ... The family of Reverend Run released a statement Wednesday that addressed a personal loss that occurred earlier this week. The Run-D.M.C. co-founder had been expecting a child with his wife, Justine Simmons. "On September 26, Victoria Anne Simmons, for some unknown reason, chose to come early and unfortunately did not survive," the statement read. "Justine Simmons is doing fine. We thank everyone for their support and prayers. We hope that our struggle and strength will help and encourage others." ...

Twenty-six live recordings of artists who played at this summer's Lollapalooza in Chicago are available now on iTunes, including songs from Sleater-Kinney, Broken Social Scene, Ben Kweller, Wolfmother, Lyrics Born, the Go! Team, the Hold Steady, Matt Costa and Be Your Own Pet. And on October 19 the site LiveLollapalooza.com will launch with the 26 performances, as well as live photos and other recordings in MP3 and FLAC formats. ... The Prize Fighter Inferno, the side project of Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez, will release their debut LP, My Brother's Blood Machine, on October 31. The effort will contain a dozen tracks, including "The Fight of Moses Early & Sir Arthur McCloud," "Run, Gunner Recall, Run! The Town Wants You Dead!" and "Wayne Andrews, the Old Bee Keeper." ... Motörhead will headline Rock 98.9 Freaker's Ball 2006 concert, slated for October 28 at Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas. Buckcherry, Crossfade and Jackyl are also on the bill. ...

"Boondocks" cartoonist Aaron McGruder and his press syndicate have failed to reach an agreement on the return of the popular comic strip to newspapers, Universal Press Syndicate executives announced Monday. McGruder had requested a six-month sabbatical in order to "restore his creative juices," but The Washington Post reports that the satirical cartoonist did not return a number of phone calls requesting an update on his status. While the future of the printed comic remains unclear, McGruder's animated "Boondocks" was recently renewed for a second season on the Cartoon Network. ... MSN has signed a deal with Control Room, the company that helped webcast last year's Live 8 events, to stream live concerts to its users. Microsoft Corporation's Web portal will exclusively webcast 36 different live events for free, which will be available for on-demand viewing for a period after their initial airing. The first gig, featuring John Legend performing in London, will stream Monday, followed by a performance by John Mayer from New York's Webster Hall. As part of the pact, Microsoft may also stream the shows to other platforms, such as Xbox Live and MSN Messenger. Microsoft also announced Tuesday that it is funding Wallop, a networking site to rival MySpace.

09.26.2006

Paris Hilton has been formally charged for driving under the influence, The Associated Press reports. The heiress is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court but is not required to appear, a spokesperson for city prosecutors told AP. Hilton was arrested September 7 for DUI and was said to have a 0.08 percent blood-alcohol level at the time. ...

With five nods, Shakira leads the list of nominees for the seventh annual Latin Grammy Awards, which were announced Tuesday (September 26) in New York. The Black Eyed Peas, Daddy Yankee, Don Omar and Rick Rubin will also vie for trophies at the November 2 ceremony at New York's Madison Square Garden. ... Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, Carrie Underwood and Josh Groban are the first performers announced for the 2006 American Music Awards. Jimmy Kimmel will host for the second consecutive year. ... Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Tyrese, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and MC Lyte are among those scheduled to attend the Los Angeles Hip-Hop Summit on Saturday at the University of Southern California. Sponsored by Chrysler Financial, the summit will serve to educate students and members of the community about financial literacy. ...

A former Foxy Brown associate dropped two charges against the rapper in municipal court in Jersey City, New Jersey, on Tuesday in exchange for unspecified items to be returned from Foxy, AP reports. The rapper, who was present in court, and Rasheeda Ellis also agreed not to have contact with each other or discuss the case in the media. ... Joseph Barrino, Fantasia's father, filed a $10 million libel lawsuit against Simon & Schuster on Tuesday, claiming "false, exaggerated, sensational, intentional and malicious untruths" in the book "Fantasia: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale," which was made into a Lifetime movie in August. Fantasia is not listed as a defendant and the suit contends the singer's grandmother, Addie Collins, was the ghost writer. The suit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, New York, disputes such claims in the book as Joseph asks his daughter for money when she visits, according to AP. ... Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty's off-and-on girlfriend, model Kate Moss, arrived at a Berlin nightclub with the singer Monday and sang along with him onstage, according to AP. Doherty, who avoided a jail sentence on drug charges earlier this month when a London judge ordered him to continue rehabilitation, checked himself out of a clinic last week. ...

Don Omar will launch his first U.S. headlining tour next month in Atlanta, with popular Latin acts Aventura and Rakim y Ken-Y in tow. The tour will be in support of his latest album, King of Kings, which recently notched its 15th consecutive week atop Billboard's Top Latin Albums chart and earned Don Omar an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Latin Music Artist. The tour is scheduled to conclude with a two-night set in San Juan, Puerto Rico. ... Rock Star: Supernova, the band featuring Mötley Crüe's Tommy Lee, Voivod's Jason Newsted, ex-Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke and singer Lukas Rossi, will shoot a video in Los Angeles on October 4 for "It's All Love." The band, which was born of the CBS reality series of the same name, will launch a 28-city North American tour with the Panic Channel — featuring series co-host Dave Navarro — in Las Vegas on New Year's Eve. The group's debut LP hits stores November 21....

The "Jackass" gang have the #1 movie in the country, but it wasn't easy getting to the top. "Man, if only I could be induced into a coma and still do all this stuff and be woken up at the premiere," Steve-O said to MTV News. "I hated filming that movie. I really hated it." The daredevil also said that there is a treasure trove of great footage that didn't make the "Jackass: Number Two" cut. "We have 40 minutes of deleted scenes that are better than anything from the first movie," he revealed. "I was bedridden for a portion, like I had a really bad injury, and it didn't even make the movie. ... I was launched down multiple flights of stairs in a bellhop cart. Kind of anticlimactic, I landed on my back on a bellhop cart, and it wasn't even in the movie. That's how good the movie is." ... Another day, another batch of Guns N' Roses dates. Over the last month or so, the Axl Rose-fronted rockers have been rolling out more information about their North American tour — the first few dates of which were recently postponed — with news on gigs trickling out every other day or so. The run, which now launches in San Diego on October 5 and runs through January 13 in Reno, Nevada — has been beefed up by three U.S. shows: Huntington, West Virginia (November 3); Everett, Washington (December 10); and Portland, Oregon (December 11). ...

Michael Jackson won't be releasing his next album on the Two Seas record label after all. According to BBC News, Jackson has parted ways with the Bahrain record label founded by Abdulla Hamad Al-Khalifa, a member of the Bahraini royal family. Two Seas was scheduled to put out Jackson's first album of new material since 2001's Invincible. Jackson has now formed the Michael Jackson Company, which will look after his business affairs, and may act as a recording label for his next record, due next year. ... While other peer-to-peer file-sharing networks have cut multimillion-dollar settlements with the Recording Industry Association of America and either gone legit or just quit, LimeWire is fighting back. In a countersuit filed on Monday against the major labels, the file-sharing site alleges antitrust violations, fraud and conspiracy. "This case is but one part of a much larger modern conspiracy to destroy all innovation that content owners cannot control and that disrupts their historic business models," the countersuit alleges. In demanding a jury trial, LimeWire claims that the recording industry, after losing its "strangle hold" on the means of distributing music thanks to the Internet and the advent of MP3s, got together with the goal to "destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control, or force such services to do business with them." The suit also alleges that the labels attempted to engage in price fixing and anticompetitive practices through their legitimate download services, Pressplay and MusicNet. LimeWire is seeking damages and attorneys fees in the suit. ...

Two men have been charged in connection with the Friday morning shooting following a Jim Jones concert in Virginia Beach, Virginia, that left one person dead and several wounded, NBC News affiliate WAVY reports. Verlon Romain, 27, was charged with one count of malicious assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and other weapons charges, while Andre Roberts, 29, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Police are still searching for a third suspect, identified as 19-year-old Ciara Vander, who has a warrant out for her arrest. ... Wolfmother have ended their current world tour six days before schedule after bassist/keyboardist Chris Ross' son entered the world one month early. The band's show at the Hollywood Palladium, originally set for Thursday, has been rescheduled for December 12. Shows planned for Friday in San Diego and Saturday in San Francisco have been canceled. Wolfmother are taking October off to "allow Chris some family time," according to a statement on their Web site. The band plans to make up the missed shows by early 2007. ... If you want to check out the debut single from Damon Albarn's (Blur, Gorillaz) new band, you have to be quick. According to the Web site for the Good, the Bad and the Queen, the group's single, "Herculean," will be available on CD and 7-inch for just one day in the U.K. — October 30. The artwork for the limited-edition single was designed by group member Paul Simonon, the former bass player for the Clash. The band — which also features former Verve guitarist Simon Tong and Fela Kuti drummer Tony Allen — will make their live debut October 26 as part of the Electric Proms events at the Roundhouse in Camden, England.

• Diddy
• Guns N' Roses
• Clay Aiken
• Bono
• U2

H.I.M.'s Ville Valo
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images

Finnish goth rockers — and Bam Margera's favorite band — H.I.M. will be joining forces this fall with Northern Californian alt-metal group Papa Roach for an 11-date road trip that's set to launch October 18 in Lowell, Massachusetts, with dates scheduled through October 31 in Universal City, California. The bill for the North American No Sleep Till Halloween Tour will also feature English metallers the Lostprophets and Chicago rock collective Kill Hannah.

H.I.M., who last toured the U.S. this spring, continue to spread the word about 2005's Dark Light, the band's first proper U.S. release (see "Finnish Rockers H.I.M. Say Everything They Do, They Do For Bam Margera"). The LP, released last September, has sold close to 458,000 copies, and debuted at #18 on Billboard's albums chart.

The tour will also serve as a promotional vehicle for the band's forthcoming, still-untitled DVD, which is slated for November release. The DVD, which will boast a bonus CD, follows H.I.M. through haunted castles in Scotland and is chock full of never-before-seen live footage and rare on-camera interviews.

Papa Roach are touring in support of their forthcoming album The Paramour Sessions, which will feature 13 fresh tracks, including "The World Around You," "I Devise My Own Demise," "Roses on My Grave" and the record's first single, " ... To Be Loved" (see "Papa Roach Singer Says New Album Is 'Like A Meat Locker' "). The LP will be in stores September 12.

Back in late June, the Lostprophets — who will be playing seven gigs before heading out on No Sleep Till Halloween, starting August 31 in Sparks, Nevada, with shows booked through October 8 in Houston — issued their latest offering Liberation Transmission (see "Lostprophets Enlist Metallica Producer But Leave 'Chugga-Chugga' Metal Behind"), which was helmed by producer Bob Rock (Metallica, Mötley Crüe). The album racked up first-week sales of about 27,000, which landed the disc at #33 on Billboard's albums chart; the LP has since sold close to 66,000 units.

Pre-sale tickets for the tour's New York stops will go on sale Friday morning (August 4), with the rest of the dates set to go on sale next weekend.

No Sleep Till Halloween Tour dates, according to H.I.M.'s publicist:

• 10/18 - Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
• 10/19 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 10/20 - New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom
• 10/21 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
• 10/23 - Rochester, NY @ ESL Sports Center
• 10/24 - Toronto, ON @ Ricoh Coliseum
• 10/25 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
• 10/26 - West Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom
• 10/29 - San Jose, CA @ Event Center at San Jose University
• 10/30 - San Diego, CA @ San Diego State University
• 10/31 - Universal City, CA @ Gibson Amphitheatre

• HIM

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and Anthony Kiedis at the 2006 KROQ-FM Weenie Roast.
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images

IRVINE, California — A week after Daddy Yankee cured Cinco de Mayo hangovers with his headlining set at KIIS-FM's Wango Tango, L.A. rock station KROQ-FM also went south of the border, renaming its annual May festival Weenie Roast y Fiesta.

Saturday's capacity crowd at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre was treated to free sombreros and mustaches and greeted by a mariachi band, which was pretty much the extent of the event's Latin breadth.

Shakira sat this one out, leaving opening honors instead to Wolfmother, who played the side stage — or "Stage Dos," as it was billed. The Australian retro rockers ripped through tracks from their just-released debut as the sun beat down on an enthralled audience.

(Click here for photos from this year's Weenie Roast.)

Jam rock was also in the house, in the form of Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley. He took the main stage in the afternoon, slowing things down a bit after Finland's H.I.M. As H.I.M.'s number-one fan, Bam Margera, held onto his prime side-stage vantage point, Marley mixed some crowd faves from Papa Marley's repertoire with his own hip-hop-flavored material.

The globetrotting didn't stop there, as Taking Back Sunday took the crowd back to their New York roots. Singer Adam Lazzara did his best Mick Jagger, narrowly missing his bandmates as he swung his mic in huge circles like a tetherball. The band closed its set with "A Decade Under the Influence," much to the delight of the fans in attendance.

Whatever questions were left in the air after Dashboard Confessional's existential set were quickly quashed by Rob Zombie. With what could have been the loudest performance of the day, Zombie left his mark by jumping into the pit, making his way through the seats and tearing through hits like "More Human Than Human" and a medley of covers that included "Sweet Home Alabama." He actually managed to get people to dance, although they were predominantly female.

Zombie's macho rock didn't set the stage too well for newcomers Angels & Airwaves, former Blink-182 guitarist Tom DeLonge's new conceptual rock band. Much of the audience used the band's set as a beer-and-bathroom break, taking the energy with them.

Dave Grohl, who performed with the Foo Fighters at last year's Weenie Roast (see "Grohl's Nipple Squeezed, Audioslave Play With 'Fire' At Weenie Roast"), made a surprise return this year sans his band.

Perhaps previewing the long-discussed acoustic Foos tour (see "Foo Fighters Showcasing Their Softer Side On Upcoming Tour"), Grohl strummed through four of the band's best-known songs (including "Everlong" and "My Hero") with the help of about 15,000 backup singers.

While Grohl was the special guest onstage, backstage that honor went to "American Idol" castoff Chris Daughtry, who attracted a long line of photo-op-hungry VIPs.

As day turned to night and after an intense set from AFI, Matisyahu proved that a reggae rapper could rock a rock and roll crowd. Although it took some time for his band to get past some monitor issues, Matis finally found his groove. Between his b-boy dancing and climbing to the top of the Marshall amps — which reached so high that he bumped his head on the jumbo screen — Matis kept everyone on their feet, especially with a beat-boxing solo that would make Doug E. Fresh proud.

By the time Matis closed his set with "King Without a Crown," a very large, sombrero-wearing fan made his way onstage, dancing past the five security guards it eventually took to escort him off. Judging by Matis' big smile, it didn't faze the singer at all.

But the kings of the Roast proved to be hometown heroes the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who closed out the night. Flea, John Frusciante and Chad Smith warmed the crowd up for a couple of minutes, building the energy until frontman Anthony Kiedis burst onto the stage. The Peppers played their hits and sprinkled in some new songs off their upcoming Stadium Arcadium. Much of the crowd already knew the words to the single "Dani California" but not to two other new tracks, "Charlie" and "Tell Me Baby."

"I've seen a lot of good shows here over the years," Kiedis said, pointing to a fan 20 rows up. "I saw Jane's Addiction from that seat in 1990."

With that, of course, Kiedis gave the person who occupied that seat at the Weenie Roast his own story to tell.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Angels & Airwaves, More At 2006 KROQ Weenie Roast

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Matisyahu
• Foo Fighters
• Wolfmother
• Rob Zombie

H.I.M.'s Ville Hermanni Valo
Photo: Kristina Sisti

Bam Margera's favorite band — the Ville Valo-led, Finland-bred rock quintet H.I.M. — will be back on North American soil this spring for a 14-date road trip that's scheduled to launch May 2 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The run includes two previously announced appearances: one at the Bamboozle Festival — with Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, AFI, Hawthorne Heights, Thursday and others — in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 7 (see "Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack Good To Go For Bamboozle '06"), and one at the Sasquatch Music Festival in George, Washington, which is set for May 26. Nine Inch Nails, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie and Queens of the Stone Age are also on the bill.

H.I.M. — who toured the States last fall with Skindred and the now-defunct Finch in the opening slots — continue with the promotion of their first proper U.S. release, Dark Light. The LP hit stores in late September and has sold more than 331,000 copies to date (see "Finnish Rockers H.I.M. Say Everything They Do, They Do For Bam Margera"). Aiden's sophomore offering, Nightmare Anatomy, was released in October and has sold close to 56,000 copies.

This month, H.I.M. will be shooting a second video for the track "Killing Loneliness." The band has enlisted Nathan Cox (Linkin Park, Disturbed) to direct the video, which will include a cameo appearance by tattoo artist Kat Von D; she is one of the featured artists on the Discovery Channel's "Miami Ink" series and has made a name for herself as the go-to gal for H.I.M. fans who'd like to mark their bodies with the band's logo, the heartagram.

H.I.M. tour dates, according to the band's publicist:

• 5/2 - Fort Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
• 5/3 - Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
• 5/4 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
• 5/5 - Atlanta, GA @ The Tabernacle
• 5/7 - East Rutherford, NJ @ Meadowlands (Bamboozle Festival)
• 5/15 - Toronto, ON @ The Docks
• 5/16 - Detroit, MI @ State Theatre
• 5/17 - Chicago, IL @ Congress Theatre
• 5/18 - Columbus, OH @ Promowest Pavilion
• 5/20 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
• 5/21 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Hall
• 5/22 - St. Paul, MN @ Myth
• 5/24 - Salt Lake City, UT @ TBD
• 5/26 - George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheatre (Sasquatch Music Festival)

• HIM

Method Man
Photo: Getty Images

Coming soon to the wilds of New Jersey: Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, All American Rejects, tons of emo-lovin' kids and ... Method Man?

It's true. On Wednesday (February 1), festival organizers put to rest months of rumors by confirming that Meth will indeed be performing alongside tons of Hot Topic favorites at the second annual Bamboozle, to be held May 6 and 7 at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey.

The idea of having the Ticallion Stallion appear at the Bamboozle was actually hatched back in November, when organizers first spoke with MTV News about the festival (see "Fall Out Boy, Motion City Soundtrack Good To Go For Bamboozle '06"). And though it had been whispered about ever since — even making the rounds on various indie-punk messageboards last week — no one was willing to confirm the rapper's involvement until now.

Organizers also hinted at the possibility that Meth might be "bringing some of his good friends with him" to the Bamboozle, though they would not clarify whether or not those "friends" included a group of gentlemen who go by the name of the Wu-Tang Clan — who, incidentally, are planning on launching an East Coast tour later this month (see "Raekwon Linx Up With Busta, RZA; Wu-Tang Dedicate Tour To ODB").

But just how will Meth and his various associates mix with the young, rather suburban crowd the Bamboozle is likely to attract?

Aside from the rather obvious parallels between his festival appearance and his short-lived sitcom "Method & Red" — in which he and good pal Redman played a couple of rappers who move into a plush gated community, with somewhat hilarious results (see "Method Man Says Sitcom Isn't Showing The Real 'Method & Red' ") — event organizers aren't really sure. Which was part of the plan: One organizer said they hoped the addition of Meth would "blow kids' minds."

Method Man is just one of several acts to commit recently to the Bamboozle, joining the likes of HIM, Relient K and Panic! at the Disco.

• Method Man
• Panic at the Disco
• HIM
• Relient K

H.I.M.
Photo: Chapman Baehler

Something strange happened outside New York's Irving Plaza before System of a Down's May 9 gig.

On this overcast evening, before the venue's doors were opened, a gaggle of System fans had gathered along Irving Place in long lines to chain-smoke feverishly, given that it'd be a while before they'd be able to light up again. All of a sudden, the monotone hum of hundreds of casual conversations was interrupted by two screeching teenage girls outfitted in the latest goth-wear.

The duo rushed up to a rail-thin man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and started groping and hugging him. Both were wide-eyed and shaking uncontrollably, with mascara bleeding down their cheeks, panting "Oh my God" over and over again. The dude, H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo, indulged them for a minute and then continued toward the much shorter V.I.P. line, leaving the girls wilted.

Apparently, this happens to Valo all the time, at least in Europe. "What can I say?" the singer asked, before laughing devilishly. If all goes well, the phenomenon could become more widespread: H.I.M. launched a U.S. tour on Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, with Finch and Skindred in opening slots.

On September 27, the Finnish goth-rock quintet released Dark Light, its first proper U.S. release. The band's previous efforts — Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666 (1997), Razorblade Romance (2000), Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2002) and Love Metal (2003) — were not initially released Stateside, although they were reissued in the U.S. several months ago.

"This time around, we got rid of the condoms," Valo, speaking from a pub in Amsterdam, said — metaphorically — of recording with producer Tim Palmer (Ozzy Osbourne, Robert Plant). "I mean, we weren't afraid to experiment. We weren't afraid to just go for it. We felt so confident as a band that we knew we could work together and have a great f---ing time doing it.

"All we did was talk about porn films [with Palmer]," the singer added. "My daddy owns a sex shop in Helsinki, and I was working there for a little while. Now I'm selling records, but before that, I was selling sex toys. It's the only other job I've had besides music. But it helped with the record, because you need things in common. We'd be talking about Black Sabbath and then porno."

As it happens, the album was recorded in the Paramour, a Los Angeles mansion built in 1923 by silent film star Antonio Moreno which has housed everything from a nunnery to a school for wayward girls since its erection. "They'd double-booked the whole place, so at the same time, Playboy was shooting films there," Valo explained. "So we're in this nunnery where Playboy models were hanging around, and we were talking about porn and recording a rock record — pretty good combination, you know?"

A few weeks ago in Los Angeles, H.I.M. shot a video for "Wings of a Butterfly," the first single off Dark Light, with director Meiert Avis (Audioslave, Avril Lavigne). In the video, H.I.M. perform from behind custom-made stands topped with magnifying glasses that not only twist the images of the bandmembers but cast the group's heartagram logo across a gothic city — kind of like when Chief O'Hara summons Batman in times of grave danger.

That heartagram symbol is actually the reason H.I.M. are coming to America. Valo scratched it down on a piece of paper more than eight years ago, and his biggest fan, skateboarding prankster Bam Margera, co-opted it as his own icon — it's emblazoned across Bam's cars, his homes and his merchandise and can be found tattooed on the arms, chests and backs of his eager followers. That H.I.M. are known first for that symbol, second as Bam's favorite band and a distant third for their tunes doesn't bother Valo one bit.

"We're the first band on Earth more well-known for its symbol than the actual music, and that's a great way to start," he said. "Bam's a friend. We'll always be Bam's favorite band. A lot of people claim they do their music for themselves. We claim that all of the albums we write, we do for Bam. The heartagram is not Bam's symbol. If people like us because of Bam, that's fantastic. If they like us for who we are, that's fantastic, too. I don't really have a problem with that."

• HIM

Bam Margera
Photo: MTV News

You wouldn't know it from his ragged, goofball public persona, but Bam Margera is quite the workhorse. In addition to his "Viva la Bam" TV show, his DVD series, his popular video game franchise and his ever-expanding line of skateboarding paraphernalia, he's also got a whole bunch of other projects set to drop.

The first is Viva la Bands (which hits stores Tuesday), a 21-track CD/DVD collection of Bam's favorite acts, which of course includes his brother Jess' band, CKY, and Finnish goth-rockers HIM, whom Margera seems to shout out at every single opportunity, but also a whole lot of other, lesser-known bands that Margera grew up listening — and skating — to.

"I'm a skater, so music is everything for me," Margera said. "That's what gets me pumped up to jump down a flight of stairs. Bands that I like mean so much to me that I thought one day, 'I need to have a CD of my favorite songs by my favorite bands, and just have everyone see it.' Because all the bands I like are pretty much from Scandinavia or England, and you really can't hear them over here."

Those bands include Finland's Children of Bodom, England's Viking Skull and Norway's Turbonegro. And while many people may have no idea who those acts are, that's kind of the whole idea.

"All these bands have #1 hits in Finland, but you'll never hear them here. I take those songs and bring 'em here to show everybody. I mean, they sing in English," Margera said. "But they never sign those acts here. And it's so frustrating, so I have to take the matter into my own hands."

And he's applied that method to his TV show too. In recent seasons Bam has booked a lot of his favorite acts on "Viva" — like HIM, Clutch and Cradle of Filth (who will appear on the upcoming season) — in an effort to raise awareness and record sales.

"I always love having a band come on and play. Like, with Cradle of Filth, they have such a diehard fanbase, but they never play them on the radio," he said. "So if I have 'em here, there's a bunch of 13- to 20-year-olds that are going to find out about them here. So it's a good marketing campaign for them. It's a no-brainer."

And when he's not playing publicist, Margera is stepping behind the cameras to make another film (after 2002's "Haggard"), but this time he's getting a little serious, with a dark comedy called "The Dream Seller," based on the misadventures of his roommate (and "Viva la Bam" regular) Brandon Novak.

"Novak was going to be a professional skateboarder — Tony Hawk signed him and everything — but being that Baltimore is the heroin capital of the world, he got introduced to it at the age of 14, and he did it for 10 years," Margera explained. "So it's all about the things that happened to him. Like, he'd fall asleep in the bed of a pickup truck in a parking lot, because he saw a blanket in the back. And then the guy would start driving to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, like three hours away. It's so ridiculous, so you'll laugh and you'll cry a bit too."

Margera said "The Dream Seller" will be available on DVD in June 2006. The new season of "Viva la Bam" kicks off Sunday.

• Cky
• HIM

<i>Red, White & Crüe</i>
Photo: Hip-O Records

The biggest new release this week is as American as Aquanet, Harley Davidson and "Girls, Girls, Girls." Mötley Crüe salute their more than 20 years of hair-metal mania with a double-disc set titled Red, White & Crüe.

Vince Neil, Tommy Lee, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx saunter back into action with a two-disc set featuring classic Crüe tracks like their cover of "Smokin' in the Boys Room," "Dr. Feelgood" and "Don't Go Away Mad (Just Go Away)," as well as some of their lesser-known '90s songs and three new tracks.

Similarly paying herself homage this week is Kylie Minogue, whose Ultimate Kylie gets a Stateside release. The 33-track double-disc set features the Aussie songstress' first U.S. #1 hit, "The Loco-Motion," and runs the gamut of her career, including the dance track "Slow." Also included is a new single called "I Believe in You," co-written by the Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and Babydaddy.

Pop-punk outfit Unwritten Law release Here's to the Mourning on the heels of the single "Save Me." Here's to the Mourning is the band's first studio album since 2002's Elva.

With the Grammy Awards rapidly approaching (February 13), the annual Grammy nominees album is hitting shelves. Grammy Nominees 2005 includes Green Day's "American Idiot," U2's "Vertigo," the Black Eyed Peas' "Let's Get It Started," Usher's "Burn" and Kanye West's "Through the Wire" as well as 15 others.

Also out this week are albums by Tina Turner (All the Best), Ed Harcourt (Strangers), Paul Oakenfold (Perfecto Presents ... The Club), and Pepper's Ghost (Arena).

Out Tuesday, February 1:

• Paul Brady - Say What You Feel (Compass)
• Brazilian Girls - Brazilian Girls (Verve Forecast)
• Precious Bryant - The Truth (Terminus)
• Bobby Caldwell - Perfect Island Nights (Music Force Media)
• Caribbean Jazz Project - Here and Now: Live in Concert (Concord)
• Tommy Castro - Soul Shaker (Blind Pig)
• Ray Charles - More Music From 'Ray' (Rhino)
• Chiara Civello - Last Quarter Moon (Verve)
• Joe Cocker - Heart & Soul (New Door/UME)
• Bill Connors - Return (Tone Center)
• Lars Danielsson - Libera Me (ACT/HighNote)
• Mario Frangoulis - Follow Your Heart (Sony)
• John Frusciante - Curtains (Record Collection)
  Buy Now: Curtains (Record Collection)
  
• Nanci Griffith - Hearts in Mind (New Door/UME)
• Rigmor Gustafsson with the Jack Terrasson Trio - Close to You (ACT/HighNote)
• Ed Harcourt - Strangers (Astralwerks)
  Buy Now: Strangers (Astralwerks)
  
• Scott Henderson - Live! (Tone Center)
• HIM - Love Metal (Universal)
• Impossible Shapes - Horus (Secretly Canadian)
• Johnny Boy - Threat to Society (Thump)
• Jess Klein - Strawberry Lover (Rykodisc)
• Nancy Lamott - Live at Tavern on the Green (Middle Music)
• Jack Logan and the Monday Night Recorders - Nature's Assembly Line (Orange Twin)
• Cass McCombs - Prefection (Monitor)
• Kylie Minogue - Ultimate Kylie (Capitol)
  Buy Now: Ultimate Kylie (Capitol)
  
• Jason Moran - Same Mother (Blue Note)
• Mötley Crüe - Red, White & Crüe (Hip-O)
  Read: "Original Lineup Of Motley Crue Reuniting For World Tour"
  Buy Now: Red, White & Crüe (Hip-O)
  
• Paul Oakenfold - Perfecto Presents ... The Club (Thrive)
  Buy Now: Perfecto Presents ... The Club (Thrive)
  
• Octane - Spock's Beard (Inside Out U.S.)
• Pepper's Ghost - Arena (Inside Out U.S.)
• Kelly Joe Phelps - Tap the Red Cane Whirlwind (Rykodisc)
• Pilot Scott Tracy - Any City (Alternative Tentacles)
• Dafnis Prieto - About the Monks (Zoho)
• SNMNMNM - As Best as We Can! (Unschooled)
• 3rd Force - Driving Force (Higher Octave)
• Tishamingo - Wear n' Tear (Magnatude)
• Tina Turner - All the Best (Capitol)
  Buy Now: All the Best (Capitol)
  
• Unwritten Law - Here's to the Mourning (Lava)
  Buy Now: Here's to the Mourning (Lava)
  
• Leon Ware - A Kiss in the Sand (Kitchen)
• The Yuppie Pricks - Brokers Banquet (Alternative Tentacles)
• Various artists - Days of Our Lives: Love Songs (Varese Sarabande)
• Various artists - Gangster Love Volume 2 (Thump)
• Various artists - Grammy Nominees 2005 (Capitol)
• Various artists - Tunnel Trance Force America (Varese Sarabande)
• DVD: Henry Rollins - "Shock & Awe: The Tour" (Image Entertainment)
• DVD: Various artists - "The MC: Why We Do It" (Image Entertainment)
• DVD: Various artists - "The Roots Present" (Image Entertainment)

February 8:

• Sage Francis - Healthy Distrust (Epitaph)
• Brian McKnight - Gemini (Motown)
  Buy Now: Gemini (Motown)
  
• 3 Doors Down - Seventeen Days (Universal)
  Buy Now: Seventeen Days(Universal)
  

February 15:

• Blue Merle - Burning in the Sun (Island)
• Goldfinger - Disconnection Notice (Maverick)
  Buy Now: Disconnection Notice (Maverick)
  
• They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs (Disney)

February 22:

• Tori Amos - The Beekeeper (Sony)
  Buy Now: The Beekeeper (Sony)
  
• Omarion - O (Sony)
• Thievery Corporation - Cosmic Game (ESL Music)

• Mötley Crüe
• Kylie Minogue
• Unwritten Law
• Ray Charles
• HIM

MTV.com LIVE: HIM Photos 11.16.2005

• HIM

Roadrunner United 12.15.2005

• Slipknot
• Stone Sour
• Hatebreed
• Murderdolls
• Deicide

MTV.com Exclusive: HIM Photos 11.16.2005

• HIM