Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale
Photo: MTV News

In August 2008, after nearly two years of touring in support of their breakthrough debut, Wolfmother returned to their native Australia for a triumphant homecoming show at the Splendour in the Grass festival. It would be the last time they'd ever share the stage together.

Three days later — amid constant media speculation that the band had broken up — Wolfmother's record label released a statement announcing that drummer Myles Heskett and bassist/keyboardist Chris Ross had left the group due to "irreconcilable differences" but that wild-haired guitarist/frontman Andrew Stockdale had decided to soldier on under the Wolfmother mantle, with plans to write and record a new album ... all by himself, if necessary.

For almost a year, Stockdale toiled away, writing and recording, playing guitar, bass, drums (and even a Fender Rhodes here or there) on what he hoped would become the new Wolfmother album. He battled writer's block, feared that the musical muse had abandoned him and thought about scrapping the project more times than he cares to admit. But he never did. Because he never could.

"I used to think musicians were like monks ... and music was like a religious path, because it tests you. It tests your ego, your jealousies, your competitiveness — all those things. How it's going to consume you. If you can keep writing songs. It tests you in so many ways," Stockdale told MTV News. "I decided to answer those challenges, for one, because I can't help myself, but also, because I'm the Wolfmother guy all the time. I'm the dude from Wolfmother. It confronts me all the time. I didn't want to justify myself to the press, or explain what happened, or what didn't happen, or who said what, or why. ... I didn't want to get involved in all that. So I thought the best thing to do was just make music and let that speak for itself."

And it does. Due in October, Cosmic Egg shouts very loudly, showcasing the added punch of three new musicians (rhythm guitarist Aidan Nemeth, bassist/keyboardist Ian Peres and drummer Dave Atkins) and taking everything that made Wolfmother's self-titled debut such a smash — namely, gut-busting riffs, incendiary solos and bong-glazed mysticism — and cranking it to the absolute maximum.

Tunes like "California Queen" and "Sundial" chug along on meaty chords, dive into sludgy breakdowns and sizzle with Stockdale's flame-kissed solos. "Far Away" and "Pilgrim" are moody, fog-machine ruminations on astral planes and mythic realms, floating on pealing organ lines and stony synths. And, of course, all of it is entirely intentional — because Stockdale loves a good challenge.

"For a while, I was thinking of not going forward as Wolfmother ... but then, eventually, I decided just to do it. It's a bizarre situation, because you're making new music, but you're also connected to the first record, and the new people are replacing people. It's not a new band with a fresh slate," Stockdale said. "But once we got started making this record, I thought, 'It's more of a challenge to continue as Wolfmother,' because there is a first record, there is something to compare it to ... and that makes you push yourself."

Emboldened by the struggle, and with a new album on the horizon, Stockdale is on a mission: to carry the Wolfmother name onward into the future — which is why you can't really blame him if he doesn't want to talk about the past anymore.

"The past is the past ... that's over. Even when we started, people were like, 'Oh, you sound like this, you sound like that.' Well, it's like, 'You can't go see Led Zeppelin tonight. You can't go see Black Sabbath. We're here, we've written these songs, so whatever,' " he hissed. "You know, like Jimi Hendrix ain't here, and it's all good and well for everyone to have these high standards and ideas, but, like, it's not real."

• Wolfmother

The 2007 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival
Photo: MTV News

On The Record: Braving Bonnaroo

Up until Monday afternoon, I was living in a tent. Showering with bottled water. Wandering aimlessly through a dust bowl, looking for shade, water and food. Fighting for survival, skin bubbling and lips cracked. Hallucinating. Dying.

For four days, I was on assignment down in Manchester, Tennessee, camping out with the unwashed masses at Bonnaroo. I got sunstroke, I got covered in dust and I ate a lot of stuff out of cans (or in burrito form). I also had a great time — I believe in my half-dusted haze I may have even called Bonnaroo "probably the best [festival] in America" (see "Bonnaroo Recap: White Stripes, Police, Lily Allen Bring Heat To Already Scorching Fest").

Somewhere in between all the heatstroke and the hyperbole, I began to jot down notes about my experience, and since I just got back into the office late Monday (via helicopter, 'cause that's how MTV News rolls), I've decided to turn my innate ramblings into this week's edition of BTTS (lucky you!).

I've edited out all the gems like "Friday — 2:47 p.m.: Tempeh not just city in Arizona, Seitan not just Lord of Darkness," but what's left is a pretty good look at my dance with death at Bonnaroo 2007, not to mention a convenient way to take potshots at hippies and link to photos like this and this. Read on if you're looking for the inside scoop on the 'Roo (or if you have five to 10 minutes to kill at work).

Thursday, 10:45 a.m.: JetBlue flight 1043 touches down at Nashville International Airport. Instantly, some doped-out hippie toward the back of the plane bleats, "Bonnnarooo!" I already regret my decision to come here.

11:30 a.m.: Rent car, make trip to Wal-Mart. They have an entire section devoted to biscuits here. No lie. Also, Master P's clothing line, P. Miller, is sold here, and if that isn't an apt metaphor for his entire career, then I don't know what is.

3:47 p.m.: Arrive at Bonnaroo. Survey scene at my campsite.

3:49 p.m.: Want to leave Bonnaroo.

5:31 p.m.: Finish pitching tent in "Guest Camping," which is really only "camping" in the loosest sense of the term ... after all, I have showers nearby and I'm actually sleeping like 5 feet from my rental car. Yet, despite these facts, I will spend the entire weekend A) telling everyone within earshot that I'm "totally camping out"; and B) complaining about the fact that "I only have a tent and an air mattress to sleep on." Also, I decide to keep my hair product packed away in the trunk, as I don't want the heat to make it all gooey.

5:32 p.m.: Question my own masculinity.

8:33 p.m.: The Black Angels totally scare the crap out of anyone on any sort of psychedelic drugs with a droning, terrifying set, one made only more droning and terrifying by the sheer number of helicopters hovering in the night sky, whisking talent on and off the Bonnaroo grounds. I'm not even on acid and I'm scared to death.

10:41 p.m.: Purchase an ironic tie-dyed T-shirt. Feel somewhat bad about doing so. On the flipside, I now have something to wear in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, this summer.

11:10 p.m.: The National take the stage roughly 30 minutes behind schedule, still totally kill it. No joke here: The National rule.

11:30 p.m.: Clutch are, inexplicably, playing Bonnaroo. Begin searching crowd for Bam Margera, as he is required by law to remain within 150 yards of the band at all times.

Friday, 8:02 a.m.: Wake up, sun baking my tent. Totally hate life. One of the kids camping next to me apparently decided to sleep on his cooler last night. It's my first up-close-and-personal interaction with a partied-out "Wookiee," which someone tells me is a term of endearment for jam-band fans with "unshaven faces, long hair and a lack of personal hygiene." (There's even a Web site dedicated to their passing out — complete with awesome Chewbacca sounds.)

8:15 a.m.: Brush teeth. Spend next four hours trying to find shade. Consider crawling under car and dying.

3:50 p.m.: Kings of Leon rock out. Later on in the weekend, a writer who did a story about them will tell me that one of the Kings' mom tailors all their jeans for them, so they're extra tight. Apparently, there are "hidden zippers" involved.

6:12 p.m.: I get a henna tattoo of a unicorn (or, if you ask the woman who gave me the sorta-tat, "A horse with a knife on its head"). I spend the next day walking around with my sleeve pinned up because the henna needs to dry. Get sympathetic looks from several hippies.

9:04 p.m.: Tool. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

11:59 p.m.: Super Jam — an annual Bonnaroo tradition — begins. This year, we've got ?uestlove from the Roots sitting in with John Paul Jones and Ben Harper. At the same time, Sound Tribe Sector Nine — a "five-piece electronic jam band fusing live instruments with electronica," according to their Web site — start up nearby. I begin to wonder if I am allowed to bill MTV for hazard pay.

Saturday, 2:37 a.m.: Sounds like Super Jam is ending. I think STS9 are done too. Of course, I can't be sure, as I am sitting in my tent complaining.

12:30 p.m.: A jam-packed day gets off with a bunch of action in some of the 'Roo's smaller tents, but I am nowhere to be found. Rather, I am debating the merits of R. Kelly with my producer Monty on a shaded picnic table. (He's not crazy about R, but I maintain he's "definitely eccentric. Possibly a genius.") Then we start talking about summer festivals in relation to "Peanuts" characters. We decided that Bonnaroo would definitely be Pigpen, and the Lilith Fair is either Peppermint Patty or Marcie, but we really couldn't decide — oh, wait ... sorry, I think my brain shut off for a minute there.

5:30 p.m.: The Hold Steady finish up a triumphant, fist-pumping set at That Tent. Some drunk guy from Louisville, Kentucky, tries to fight me, then launches into a tirade about how he'll "never come back to Bonnaroo" because security confiscated an ice pick he was trying to bring into the campgrounds. This sucks doubly, because the ice pick was "a family heirloom" and if dude wanted to "f--- someone up, [he] definitely wouldn't need an ice pick to do it." Terrifying.

7:55 p.m.: Franz Ferdinand are totally ruling the Which Stage with a spiky set of tunes both new and old (plus a cover of LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends"). Meanwhile, aged fans (and a surprising number of actual police) are trooping over to the What Stage to catch the fest's most hyped set — a purported two and a half hours with the mighty Police.

10:40 p.m.: The Police wrap, a scant 50 minutes before their set is supposed to end. Roughly 77,000 people shuffle off into the night, dreams crushed (I covered the Police's disappointing set in greater depth here). Sting and company presumably hop into gold-plated helicopter, hightail it the eff out of the sticks.

11:22 p.m.: Monty turns to me, asks, "Dude, do you think the Police are even in Tennessee anymore?"

Sunday, 12:12 a.m.: The Flaming Lips prove once again that they're the absolute kings of style over substance (and that they're probably the most underappreciated guys in rock) with a mind-melting, shambling, psych-heavy set that featured a spaceship landing onstage, Wayne Coyne's omnipresent bubble, dancing Santas, hand puppets, confetti and balloons. It's so great that you don't notice that Coyne hasn't been able to sing properly since about 2003. Their set wraps at roughly 2:15 a.m., which makes it the longest performance of their 24-year career.

8:15 a.m.: I finally take a shower.

2:30 p.m.: Hey, Wolfmother are playing! And playing the same songs they've been doing for roughly a year and a half now!

4:40 p.m.: I interview the White Stripes. During the end of our chat, Jack White makes a crack about how people at summer festivals shouldn't wear baseball caps. "Have some self respect," he laughs. Incidentally, Monty is wearing a Yankees cap, and he will spend the next four hours threatening to punch Jack White if he ever sees him in public.

5:00 p.m.: I am officially running out of steam. My notes from this time read like this: "Decemberists = Linen Suits" and "Good too see Jeff Tweedy still looks like the Singin' Hobo." Perhaps my brain is cooked.

8:45 p.m.: With a "God bless Bonnaroo, God bless Tennessee!" the Stripes exit the stage, having just rocked the hemp outta 80,000 or so 'Roo heads. At this point, Monty and I decided we've had about all we can take of Bonnaroo. So we skip Widespread Panic — and miss out on what someone described as "possibly the best 20-minute bass solo you'll ever see" — and decide to get ready to leave.

Monday, 11:20 a.m.: My super-charged helicopter lifts off from Bonnaroo.

As we leave the rolling countryside behind us, I feel myself changing from a sun-kissed, sorta-blissed child of the earth back into the jaded, elitist pr--- that I know I really am. Feels good to be headed home.

B-Sides: Other Stories I'm Following This Week

Seriously, has there been a more hotly anticipated major-label release in recent memory with worse pre-release buzz than Kelly Clarkson's My December? (see "Kelly Clarkson's My December: Rumors Aside, LP Isn't A Radical Departure")

Boy, that Slayer/Manson tour sure sounds like it's getting off on the right foot. (see "Slayer's Kerry King Warns Marilyn Manson About Co-Headlining Run")

A piece that combines the theory of German psychiatrist Hugo Münsterberg, the musings of American critic H.L. Mencken and, uh, the stupid crap of something called "The Beaterator." Stephen Totilo rules. (see " 'Grand Theft Auto' Of 1916; Launching 'Traxxpad'; 'Halo' Toys & More, In GameFile")

Questions? Concerns? Drop me a line at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Bonnaroo Blitz: Lily Allen, White Stripes, Franz

• Bonnaroo 2007 Performances
• The Tribe Of Bonnaroo '07

• The National
• The White Stripes
• The Police
• Kings Of Leon
• The Roots

The Killers' Brandon Flowers
Photo: Karl Walter/ Getty Images

If Peter Parker is going to confront his demons — and the man who killed his beloved uncle — he's gonna need a soaring, weepy ballad playing in the background, right? Well, Snow Patrol have served up a big, fat one for the "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack in "Signal Fire." The swelling ballad is the lead tune on a soundtrack that features new songs from the Killers, Wolfmother, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Walkmen, Flaming Lips and a track from former Phantom Planet drummer Jason Schwartzman's new musical alter ego, Coconut Records.

The soundtrack is due May 1 — three days before the film hits U.S. theaters — according to the Web site of Record Collection, the label releasing the album. The disc has a less emo/ hard rock feel than the last installment's soundtrack, which featured a big ballad from Dashboard Confessional and tunes from Train, Taking Back Sunday, Hoobastank, Lostprophets and Smile Empty Soul.

Instead, the more indie-leaning "3" collection serves up bands including Rogue Wave, moody Irish duo Wasted Youth Orchestra, Black Mountain, the Oohlas and little-known Austin, Texas, rockers Sounds Under Radio.

At the very least, you have to love the always-out-there Lips' contribution, "Spider-Man vs. Muhammad Ali," a seeming homage to the classic 1978 head-scratching DC Comics title that pitted Superman against the Greatest of All Time.

The track list for the "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack, according to the Record Collection site:

· Snow Patrol - "Signal Fire"
· The Killers - "Move Away"
· Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Sealings"
· Wolfmother - "Pleased to Meet You"
· The Walkmen - "Red River"
· Black Mountain - "Stay Free"
· The Flaming Lips - "Spider-Man vs. Muhammad Ali"
· Simon Dawes - "Scared of Myself"
· Chubby Checker - "The Twist"
· Rogue Wave - "Sight Lines"
· Coconut Records - "Summer Day"
· Jet - "Falling Star"
· Sounds Under Radio - "Portrait of a Summer Thief"
· Wasted Youth Orchestra - "A Letter to St. Jude"
· The Oohlas - "Small Parts"

Check out everything we've got on "Spider-Man 3."

Visit Movies on MTV.com for more from Hollywood, including news, reviews, interviews and more.

Want trailers? Visit the Trailer Park for the newest, scariest and funniest coming attractions anywhere.

• 'Spider-Man 3': Behind The Spandex

• The Killers
• Snow Patrol
• The Flaming Lips
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Wolfmother

Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale
Photo: Michael Buckner/ Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — With gigs February 9 in the U.K. and February 13 in Holland, what are the chances Aussie band and first-time nominees Wolfmother will make the Grammys on February 11?

"For sure we'll be there, without a doubt," singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale said. "This is the highlight of the year. We've got to be there to experience it, see what it's all about."

And perhaps collect a trophy in the Best Hard Rock Performance category for their single "Woman"?

"It's Tool, Nine Inch Nails, System of a Down and Buckcherry, so I think we have a very good chance," Stockdale said, marking his sarcasm with laughter. "No. Who knows with those kinds of things? It's in the hands of the Grammy gods. We're just honored to be a part of the Grammy establishment, and to contribute our rock and roll vision and bring it forward to America and be appreciated."

Wolfmother, after all, have only released one album — their self-titled debut, which came out early last year. And Stockdale never dreamed it would take him as far as it has.

"The first thing you're thinking when you start a band is expression and escapism or whatever it is that you are looking for," the singer explained. "The funny thing is, you kinda realize that all the other bands are interested in that [awards] thing when you meet them at award shows and they have made like three or four records and they're like, 'I'm hoping I can win this.' And I think because this is our first record, and we've never really had the time to foster those ambitions and we've never seen them pass us by, it's all just a surprise whenever something comes along."

Wolfmother celebrated the news of their Grammy nomination last month by writing a new song, which they've since recorded.

"The working title is 'Love Attacker,' " Stockdale said. "It's about people who use love as a weapon to manipulate and get their way through desire."

Stockdale's unsure whether the song will turn up on Wolfmother's next album or someplace else first. "It might be out there in no time at all," he said. "No plans have been made ... but it's very exciting to be doing another song."

As for that next album, Wolfmother don't expect to be back in the studio again until the fall.

"We do have a lot of jams, like incoherent pieces of music, that at least could get the ball rolling," Stockdale said. "And I have a few ideas I've been working on in hotels and stuff, which is kind of the way half of the record was written last time. Sometimes it can be a long process and sometimes it happens really quickly, so you just have to keep the fishing net open for ideas and hope that you catch a few."

So why the long wait? Well, tour dates in Japan, Europe and Australia are scheduled through early April, after which Wolfmother plan to hit the States one more time.

"We'll be touring till probably July, and then we'll probably take a break and start working on the second record at the end of [2007]," Stockdale said.

Wolfmother have already toured for more than a year behind their debut LP, but Stockdale's well aware of what it takes to keep on truckin'. "Drink lots of water and get eight hours of sleep a night," he advised. "I used to try and go out all the time and just have three or four hours [rest] and after months, you definitely will burn out.

"And I think, the other thing is, just be honest," he continued. "I think when you deal with the press or whatever, maybe people put themselves through a lot of anxiety trying to be more than they actually are, and that creates this kind of anxiety within the band. I think you just got to relax and let the music take its path. And enjoy playing shows and traveling — enjoy the experience while it lasts, 'cause this is a transient business."

• The 49th Annual Grammy Nominees
• Justin, Ludacris, Amy Lee And More Announce The 49th Annual Grammy Nominees

• Wolfmother
• Nine Inch Nails
• Tool

Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz performs at KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas on Saturday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

UNIVERSAL CITY, California — Finally a band played almost acoustic at KROQ-FM's annual Almost Acoustic Christmas festival.

Foo Fighters, headlining both Saturday and Sunday of the influential rock radio station's holiday extravaganza, opened their shows with stripped-down sets reminiscent of the fest's early years, when artists like Tony Bennett would balance out bands like Rage Against the Machine (which happened in 1993, to be exact).

The Foos capitalized on the "Almost" part of the fest's name — as well as the Gibson Amphitheatre's revolving stage — by cleverly segueing into a full rock show. As singer Dave Grohl strummed "Everlong" solo from just off the circle stage behind him, it turned mid-song to reveal the Foos' core lineup tearing into the hit through their massive amplifier stacks (versus the loungey arrangement of their acoustic set). The band carried out an acoustic tour this summer (see "Dave Grohl Gets Personal At Foo Fighters Acoustic Show In Hollywood").

On Sunday night, the Foos' move proved to be a fitting finish to a weekend in which bands continually went above and beyond typical rock shows.

Beck, as he has done the second half of this year, married his set to a marionettes show at the back of the stage. 30 Seconds to Mars raced through the aisles dressed in Santa Claus costumes. Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse also came as Santas and the rest of Gnarls Barkley dressed as elves (the singer introduced himself as "Dirty Santa and the Ho Ho Hos"). Panic! at the Disco featured elaborate costumes and dancers, going for a "Marie Antoinette" meets the Ringling Bros. vibe. She Wants Revenge covered Paul Simon's "Hazy Shade of Winter." And the Killers played their new Christmas song, "A Great Big Sled."

"We're the only band without a Christmas gimmick," Evanescence singer Amy Lee joked backstage as the Gnarls girls rushed to the stage behind her. "I don't care though. That's metal."

Saturday's show began with the frenzied thrash of Saosin and led into the slotted-way-too-early Wolfmother, who served up crowd favorites like "Dimension," "The Joker & the Thief" and "Woman." Guitarist and lead singer Andrew Stockdale's cocksure swagger more than rocked the semi-packed auditorium for a healthy 30 minutes.

An impressive one-arm drum assault from (+44) drummer Travis Barker followed, paving the way for the more punk-like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and AFI, all battling for crowd favorite.

That love didn't seem to do much though for FOB bassist Pete Wentz, who admitted, "We feel like losers." But he and the band carried on, energetically delivering its new single "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" to the approving audience.

When Fall Out Boy's set ended and the Lazy Susan stage did its 360, it signaled the start of the Black Parade. Serving as grand marshal, My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way channeled Freddie Mercury and Billy Corgan — the latter of whom was spotted in the VIP room backstage — in a riveting, cinematic performance that teased the audience with a sample of what might be among the most anticipated tours of 2007.

MCR's Black Parade gave way to a dressed-in-all-white AFI. Frontman Davey Havok preened and posed through the band's anthem-laden set, as the crowd went line for line with him on "Miss Murder" and "Love Like Winter."

The most surprising set — surprising in good way — on Saturday may have been Incubus. Not seen or heard from in some time, a mature and polished-sounding Incubus rocked the crowd with fan favorites "Warning," "Wish You Were Here" and "Nice to Know You," as well as new material from their recent LP Light Grenades, which recently topped the Billboard albums chart (see "Jay-Z Takes A Week-Two Fall; Incubus' Grenades Blasts To #1").

Sunday's show opened with She Wants Revenge, who turned their breakthrough hit "Tear You Apart" into a massive sing-along. Snow Patrol followed with a radio-festival-friendly run-through of their hits, from "Spitting Games" to "Chasing Cars."

Gnarls Barkley had fewer singles to work with but enough charisma to last all night in singer Cee-Lo, whose between-song banter and perma-smile certainly brought good tidings of joy. "This is the very reason I am rich and famous today," Cee-Lo said as he introduced the Grammy-nominated "Crazy."

Meg White was in attendance for her "brother" Jack's hard-rocking show with the Raconteurs. She got to talk drums backstage with Grohl, who mingled around the hallways also chatting with Beck and the Killers. (The latter's dressing room doubled as a celeb-packed party with Lindsay Lohan, Jimmy Kimmel and Efren Ramirez in on the action.)

And as much as the Foos' singer was the life of the party backstage, he was even more entertaining onstage, whether he was dedicating Prince's racy "Darling Nikki" to all the ladies "for obvious reasons" or mocking the moshers.

"Do you guys not like chicks?" he asked. After all, this is an acoustic festival, right?

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

• AFI, MCR, Killers, Foo Fighters, More At KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas 2006

• Fall Out Boy
• Foo Fighters
• Panic at the Disco
• AFI
• 30 Seconds To Mars

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea performs at Virgin Fest on Saturday
Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

BALTIMORE — As far as British music fests go, this weekend's Virgin Festival was pretty tame.

There were no cataclysmic mudslides, gatecrashers or hooligans, nary a lager-fueled punch-up or life-affirming (and probably chemically aided) live set, and absolutely no one burned their tent down. Because there was no camping.

This daylong mega-concert wasn't held in a muddy field in Chelmsford or Weston Park or Glastonbury. It didn't even take place in the U.K., for that matter. Rather, Saturday's Virgin Fest was plunked down in the infield of the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

And as such, the concert — the U.S. debut of England's massively successful V Festival, which was started back in 1996 by eccentric billionaire Richard Branson — had a rather puzzling feel to it. Sure, the bill was packed with acts that have sold millions on both sides of the Atlantic (the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Who, Gnarls Barkley, the Killers), and all the staples of both the U.K. and U.S. festival experience were represented in full (booming DJ tent, circus sideshows, poorly attended booths trumpeting various social causes). But the whole thing kind of felt like an American rock radio fest trying really hard to be a manic, anything-can-happen U.K. music fest.

That was due mostly to locale, the incredible commercialization of the whole thing and the undeniable American-ness of cameramen continually featuring the bikini-clad girls in the audience on the massive stages flanking the main stage. Because certainly, everyone else was trying hard. Nineteen bands jammed long and hard on the fest's two stages, and more than 40,000 packed Pimlico and partied just as hard as their English counterparts.

Brit chart-toppers Kasabian kicked things off at the un-rocking hour of noon, yet still bounded through an anthemic, electro-heavy set that boomed around the half-full infield — things would get more packed as the day went on — but still had many in attendance hoisting their first (third?) beer of the day skyward.

Wolfmother rocked harder than any three-piece should, the Raconteurs made up for their substandard stage banter — co-frontman Brendan Benson barely addressed the throngs, offering up a half-hearted "Hello. Good Morning. Good Afternoon" mid-set — with sheer volume, and Gnarls Barkley pretty much stole the show from the minute they strode onto the stage, thanks in no small part to their choices of opening number (Queen's "We Are the Champions") and costume (thoroughly awesome Roman gladiator gear). As sweat poured down his face — and onto his breastplate — Cee-Lo toasted the crowd, shimmied a bit and rasped his way through Gnarls' hit "Crazy," truly the day's first audience-uniting moment.

Then, as clouds floated overhead, the Killers — appearing before their largest audience since finishing Sam's Town (see "Killers Album Preview: Massive Sound, Epic Ballads, Big Ideas Fill Sam's Town") — took the stage, determined to let some of Sam's tunes stretch their legs. Which may or may not have been a good idea.

While some of those songs (current single "When You Were Young," the foreboding "Uncle Johnny") clearly connected with the audience, the title track, with its gratuitous and spacious keyboards, left many scratching their heads. And their Hot Fuss hits ("Somebody Told Me," set-closing "All These Things That I've Done") drew huge rounds of applause from their opening riffs and had most of the crowd singing along loudly.

And while Gnarls and the Killers had their supporters, the day's most hyped acts were undoubtedly the Who and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — which is probably why their T-shirts were going for a princely $45 at Virgin Fest merch stands. Both delivered thunderous and proficient sets.

The Who's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend are still consummate showmen, and they played the band's time-tested hits ("Baba O'Riley," "Who Are You," "Behind Blue Eyes") with Daltrey striking rock-star poses and Townshend windmilling away on his ax. The only problem with their set: When they performed "My Generation," it bordered on self-parody — especially with the line "Hope I die before I get old."

Darkness descended over Pimlico during the Who's 75-minute set, and while the Peppers' gear was being loaded onstage, fans flocked to the other side of the infield to bound along to an effervescent set by the Scissor Sisters and then a perfunctory performance by the Flaming Lips involving streamers, smoke, balloons and dancers in Santa costumes.

But the opening riffs of RHCP's "Can't Stop" quickly had the masses migrating back to the main stage. And make no mistake about it: People were pumped for the Peppers — so much so that they even cheered wildly when frontman Anthony Kiedis big-upped Baltimore's "many estuaries" and belted out an ill-conceived rendition of the Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?" And they bounded along to hits like "Dani California" and held lighters aloft during guitarist John Frusciante's many fret-bending solos.

Then promptly at 10 p.m., after 90 minutes onstage, the band eased into a cover of Elton John's "Tiny Dancer," which gave way to a fiery "Give It Away," complete with Frusciante and Flea trading solos. And then the Peppers called it a night.

The thousands at Pimlico headed to the exits — happy and weary from a day's worth of music — and back onto the motorways and home to their flats. Or apartments. Whatever they call them here in the States.

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

• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Killers, Raconteurs And More At The Virgin Festival 09.23.2006

• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• The Who
• The Killers
• Gnarls Barkley
• Wolfmother

Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

SAN DIEGO — It's no wonder the "Jackass" dudes wanted Wolfmother's "Joker & the Thief" for their new movie.

"The song is about people who don't really fit into society," singer Andrew Stockdale said, unintentionally describing Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and their motley crew. "They have their eccentric personalities and are intriguing people to talk to, but they just don't function [in society]."

That said, Stockdale was quick to describe "Joker & the Thief" as a song everyone can relate to.

"If you're trying to work out what you're trying to do with your life, if you don't know what you want to do and are getting into — I don't know what your trick could be, it could be wrestling, it could be rock and roll, it could be insect-collecting or those dudes on the beach with the metal detectors looking for change," explained the singer, covered in sweat after the band's performance at Street Scene (see "Kanye Previews New Song; Lupe, MCR Are M.I.A. At Injury-Plagued Street Scene").

Whatever the case (probably more like insect-eating), the producers and stars of "Jackass: Number Two" wanted it, which meshed nicely with Stockdale's plans for the song.

"I definitely wanted that to be a single," he said. "I made my mind up a few months ago. I was like, 'Man, we gotta put this song out, it's gotta f---ing work.' The crowd, they just go nuts every time. I knew it. Or I guess I can't say I knew it because it hasn't come out yet, but I have a very strong feeling it will connect with people."

For the video for "Joker & the Thief," which follows up "Love Train" (see "Wolfmother Hope More Dudettes Hop Onto Their 'Love Train' "), Wolfmother combined footage from a recent performance at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia, with clips from the "Jackass" sequel.

"I think, in some ways, what they do is similar to rock and roll," Stockdale said. "When you see someone risking that danger, it makes you feel more alive. It kind of accelerates that life force when you see someone smashing something. And all those old [rockers] like [the Who's] Keith Moon and [Jimi] Hendrix, they all used to smash things. There was an element of danger to it that was sort of appealing and humorous, but sort of entertaining."

Stockdale knows all about entertaining. Since Wolfmother began rising from Aussie notoriety to worldwide stardom at the beginning of this year, the vintage-rock revivalists have earned one rave review after another. And for now there's no end in sight. Dates are booked in North America and Europe through November, and Stockdale is promising more touring after a holiday vacation.

			Wolfmother Live And Loud Check out the Aussie rockers performing at the Pontiac Garage for the 2006 MTV Movie Awards.

"I think we're getting tighter, and I think we feel like maybe we've got more a sense of what we're about," the singer said.

The band has also been putting ideas together for its second album.

"I couldn't describe the music to you, but I do have ideas in my mind," Stockdale said. "It's easy to do shows and be entertaining, but when it comes time to create something, it's like, what do you want to say? And sometimes that can be an arduous process. I just know I don't want this album to be what we're all about. I feel like we've got a lot more to say."

Through all their touring, Wolfmother have made plenty of friends, and Stockdale said he's interested in collaborating with artists or producers outside of his two bandmates.

"I think it'd be refreshing in some ways to see what other people are doing," he said.

The "Joker & the Thief" video will premiere next month. "Jackass: Number Two" opens September 22.

• AFI, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, More At San Diego's Street Scene

• Wolfmother

Kanye West at Lollapalooza 2006
Photo: Getty Images/Roger Kisby

CHICAGO — With the temperature a fraction cooler than last year's triple digits and attendance more than doubling — to an estimated 170,000 people checking out 130 bands on nine stages over three days — Lollapalooza seems well on its way to establishing itself as one of the premier destination festivals in the country.

(Click here for photos of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Panic! at the Disco and more of your favorites at Lollapalooza 2006.)

Organizers doubled the size of the festival — which took place along the lakefront here in Grant Park — during its second year as a non-touring fest. The two main stages were set up three-quarters of a mile apart on either side of the festival grounds, with the space between featuring seven smaller stages (including ones dedicated to comedy and kids' music) and a social-responsibility area focused on environmental issues. There was plenty of room for the crowd, which ranged from newborns passed out in strollers to teenagers and their parents sprawled out on blankets.

Lollapalooza featured more hip-hop this year than last (with Common, Lady Sovereign, Lyrics Born and Blackalicious joining headliner Kanye West) and plenty of indie-rock and jam bands spread out over each day's 10-hour schedule, making it nearly impossible to see it all, but we tried. Here's a diary of the highlights. ...

Day 1

11:26 a.m. As the gates open for the festival's first day, a clutch of fans sprint toward the far end of the grounds to get up front for Panic! at the Disco's set, some three hours later. They succeed, beating out four friends from Chicago who have been following the band all summer.

11:56 a.m. Walking past the Kidzapalooza stage, a sunshiny song called "Scrub a Dub" by the band ScribbleMonster bleeds out onto the midway, to the confusion of the kid-less throngs walking by.

12:06 p.m. Dax Riggs, singer of the twisted blues duo (augmented by a touring bassist) Deadboy & the Elephantmen, seems to be challenging Panic to a makeup throwdown with his heavy dark eyeliner.

12:27 p.m. Texan techno-punk duo Ghostland Observatory have the festival's best look so far, thanks to keyboardist/beatmaster Thomas Turner's flowing powder-blue cape.

1:52 p.m. It just seems like Aqualung — essentially Londoner Matt Hales — don't really belong here: The Coldplay-lite (if that's possible) sound comes off kind of limp for the chatty early afternoon crowd. Hales seems to get it, though. He thanks the crowd for cheering for a ballad about "abject misery," then busts a piano freestyle tune that turns things around. "You f---ing could be happy for all the things that are going for him ... he's English, so he's a sad bastard," Hales said. Funny, but a girl near the front still sneers, "Is that Chris Martin?" Hales finally redeems himself with a soaring cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love" (a very difficult song to pull off).

2:41 p.m. Panic! at the Disco bring it. With help from their limber, theatrical friends in the Lucent Dossier dance troupe, they take the stage with a circus flourish thanks to a made-up carnival barker and two naughty cabaret girls in lingerie and clown makeup. Guitarist Ryan Ross wins the fashion award, as usual, busting out a ruffled shirt, fancy red vest, tight black pants and dramatic spangly swirls of makeup on his cheek. The band throws in a tweaked-out cover of Radiohead's "Karma Police" and singer Brendon Urie gets a lapdance from a sexy cabaret clown during "But It's Better If You Do." Sadly, Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan doesn't make the dramatic entrance some had hoped for when Panic bust out their cover of the Pumpkins' "Tonight, Tonight."

3:25 p.m. The Blisters rock the biggest crowd at the Kidzapalooza stage all day. It doesn't hurt that they're tearing through covers of the Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," the Flaming Lips' "She Don't Use Jelly" and Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World." Oh, did we mention that the singer and drummer are Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy's sons? Proud papa Tweedy stands halfway back in the crowd with some of his bandmates, fairly anonymous in a straw hat, tinted shades and a bushy beard, mouthing some of the words to the Beatles' "Dear Prudence."

6:55 p.m. The Raconteurs make their Chicago debut in style, ripping into "Intimate Secretary" with leader Jack White wearing freaky white kabuki makeup. "Steady as She Goes" sounds so big it seems to echo off the buildings downtown, and White chops out some futuristic blues solos that send a few girls in the crowd into peasant-dress-spinning hippy dances. With only one album to draw from, the band slips in a pair of killer covers, a take on Sonny & Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and a chugging Southern-boogie version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" that is one of the weekend's high points.

7:47 p.m. Playing one of their final shows before their announced breakup, Sleater-Kinney appear to be getting along just fine, hitting fans with some signature jagged guitar and yelping vocals on newer songs like "The Fox" and "What's Mine Is Yours" (see "Sleater-Kinney Announce 'Indefinite Hiatus,' Thank Fans For 'Passion And Loyalty' "). Guitarist Corin Tucker sings the line "Don't go away" during "Turn It On" — a sentiment fans can appreciate, with some of them chanting "don't leave us!"

8:34 p.m. Though they'd expressed awe at being one of the first night's closing acts, Death Cab for Cutie are on top of their game, drawing the day's second-biggest crowd (the Raconteurs took top honors) with wistful songs like "The New Year" and "Soul Meets Body," which serve as a nice send-off into the half-moon-illuminated night.

Day 2

12:15 p.m. This is not the best way to start the day: Be Your Own Pet singer Jemina Pearl, who spazzes around the stage during "Girls on TV" like she's stepping on an exposed electrical cord with wet feet, informs the audience that she just threw up halfway through the band's set. She blames it on heat sickness. "It wasn't that much. It tasted like watermelon," she lets the kids know. Thanks ...

12:34 p.m. Seems like Living Things singer Lillian Berlin might have changed his tune a bit since his anti-American onstage banter got him in trouble with Alter Bridge last month. During a bluesy take on their anti-war tune "Bombs Below," he yells "All hail the U.S. military!," and then he jumps off the stage into the audience and grabs a Navy seaman from the pit and throws his arms around him. A short time later, during "Bom Bom Bom," he shouts "We love America!" and, later still, "We salute our brothers and sisters in Iraq." OK, we get it. He also leads the crowd in a chant of "Peace! Peace!" Now that's more like it. ...

1:44 p.m. England's Go! Team put on a cheerleader camp for live hip-hop-soul junkies. Lead rapper/dancer Ninja bounces around in her cheer outfit during "Panther Dash" as the rest of the group swirls around her, trading off instruments, which include guitars, bass, keyboards, flute, xylophones, harmonica and two sets of drums.

2:30 p.m. Mike Patton is a freak. And between the white linen suit, the hair net and the smoothly flowing "Roll it up and smoke it" chorus of "Mojo," it's kind of hard to figure out what's going on with the former Faith No More singer's new group, Peeping Tom, a punk hip-hop/soul mash-up (see "Mike Patton's Agenda: Touring With Peeping Tom, Humiliating Mark Hoppus And Danny DeVito"). He can't quite match bandmate Rahzel's beatboxing skills (he busted out a bit of the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army"), but Patton holds his own.

2:51 p.m. The members of 30 Seconds to Mars can't take their eyes off Coheed and Cambria, who bring a rare touch of prog-metal to one of the main stages.

3:34 p.m. And then there's Wolfmother. The Aussie trio punch up the way-back machine with their Led Zeppelin-meets-Black Sabbath riffery on songs like "Dimension" and "Mind's Eye," inspiring the biggest crowd of the day so far to indulge in the first crowd-surfing of the festival.

4:31 p.m. Gnarls Barkley are known for their sartorial flair, but no one could have predicted that the group would make their entrance in fresh tennis whites. Singer Cee-Lo, swinging a tennis racket, fronts a 13-piece band that includes a string section and three back-up singers, one of whom plays a racket with a drum stick during songs like "Who Cares" and the jam of the summer, "Crazy." Seemingly paying homage to the Raconteurs, who covered "Crazy" the day before, Barkley bust out their Motown-style cover of "There Is an End," written by the Greenhornes — the Ohio band whose rhythm section is moonlighting in the Raconteurs.

6:40 p.m. A dozen dancing alien girls, 12-foot tall Santas, spacemen, another dozen booty-shaking guys in Santa suits, Superman, Batman, the Flash and Wonder Woman, 50 giant blue balloons bouncing over the crowd, confetti guns, a bullhorn spewing green smoke and a giant confetti-filled balloon exploded over the stage using a leaf blower: Just a typical Flaming Lips set. Oh, and they played crowd favorites like "Race for the Prize," "Do You Realize??" and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," which singer Wayne Coyne asked the crowd to dedicate to Israel as a plea to stop bombing Lebanon.

8:38 p.m. Lolla runs like clockwork, but hometown hero Kanye West is making the crowd of nearly 60,000 wait.

8:39 p.m.He finally emerges to the strains of "Diamonds From Sierra Leone," running back and forth across the stage as tens of thousands throw up the Roc diamond hand signal. Kanye's DJ A-Trak busts out some space-age scratches during "Heard 'Em Say," but it wouldn't be Kanye without drama. The rapper is thrown off by sound problems and complains about coming home after touring the world and having to deal with his vocals cutting out. "Y'all embarrass me in front of my city?" he says. "There's gonna be some repercussions!" He gets over it and brings out protégé GLC and fellow Chicago rappers Twista and Common for cameos, as well as Lupe Fiasco, who skateboards onto the stage to trade verses on his hit, "Kick Push."

9:23 p.m. West's string section runs through a cover of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" and the Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" while Kanye attends to some backstage business, returning for a triumphant shout-along version of "Gold Digger" that can probably be heard blocks away. He doesn't say, but maybe it redeems the earlier sound problems, making Kanye the prince of his city for the night.

Day 3

11:59 p.m. What a way to wake up: Mucca Pazza, the punk-rock marching band, crowds the stage with more than 25 players, who spin, jump, run and skip while playing Dixieland rave-ups and doing high-energy mime skits alongside their cheerleader section.

12:53 p.m. Lolla founder Perry Farrell does his customary mini set of songs on the Kidzapalooza stage with guitarist Peter DiStefano. He brings on surprise guest Patti Smith, who doesn't seem to get the whole "kid" part of Kidapalooza, as she goes on to tell the mini rockers that "any a--hole can play guitar." She unveils a song she says she wrote the day before about the Israeli bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana. "How would you feel if 27 [of your children] were blown away by missiles and bombs?" she asks the crowd. The new, untitled song features lyrics such as "And the dead lay in strange shapes ... limp little bodies caked in mud ... small, small hands found in the road." At least it ended on a somewhat hopeful thought for the visibly shocked crowd: "The miracle is love."

2:26 p.m. English dance group Hot Chip prove that even five guys who look like rumpled college math teaching assistants can rock if they can kick out hot jams like "Boy From School."

3:37 p.m. 30 Seconds to Mars make a dramatic entrance in all-white outfits and creepy Kabuki masks. Singer Jared Leto takes his life into his hands by scrambling up the rigging to sing a song from 40 feet above the crowd.

6:35 p.m. Wilco win the award for inspiring the oddest singalong of the weekend when the crowd enthusiastically shouts out the line, "To the handshake drugs I bought downtown" during a set that features four new songs.

7:27 p.m. And Queens of the Stone Age win the award for the loudest set of the weekend. In fact, you can hear it all the way over at the stage Wilco is playing on: three-fourths of a mile away.

8:21 p.m. Perry Farrell promises that the Red Hot Chili Peppers will "take the cork off and blow it sky high." And while the veteran punk-funk band didn't bust out any of their signature outrageous costumes (though the crazy quilt of colors and patterns on Flea's pants and shirt was close), fans ate up funky versions of "Can't Stop," "Dani California," "Scar Tissue," "Readymade," "Me and My Friends" and short snippets of the Clash's "London Calling" and Neil Young's "Needle and the Damage Done." With more than 70,000 people undulating to "Give It Away," the Peppers indeed pulled the cork on what has quickly established itself as Chicago's newest summer tradition.

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

• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West And More Rock Out At Lollapalooza 2006

• Kanye West
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Panic at the Disco
• Gnarls Barkley
• Death Cab For Cutie

Kanye West performs at Street Scene in San Diego on Saturday
Photo: Karl Walter/ Getty Images

SAN DIEGO — Injuries plagued the 22nd annual Street Scene over the weekend, with 15 fans rushed to the hospital during Tool's festival-closing set and My Chemical Romance canceling their performance because two members were hurt prior to the event. None of the audience injuries appeared life threatening, according to officials, but several fans were taken away on stretchers after concertgoers rushed toward the stage at the start of Tool's show.

"Step back so you don't get trampled," Tool singer Maynard James Keenan said after the second song. "It's just rock."

The singer later consulted with a city official onstage and continually addressed the crowd, which seemed to answer his pleas to move back as the show carried on as scheduled.

My Chemical Romance, one of the most anticipated acts on the bill — and one of the few headliners who did not also perform at that other Southern California festival back in April (see "Madonna, Kanye Just Add To Coachella's Eclectic Atmosphere") — blamed their no-show on "unforeseen circumstances" via their Web site, although their publicist released a statement Saturday citing unspecified injuries to two members sustained on Thursday.

"The guys did all they could, including traveling to San Diego and attempting to rehearse against doctor's orders, however, when the injuries proved to painful to play, they decided not to push it any further," the statement read. "The band will return to San Diego in the near future, and they send their sincerest apologies to the fans that came out to see them." Details of the injuries have not been released.

Also highly anticipated but absent was rapper Lupe Fiasco. A spokesperson for Street Scene said he was involved in a car accident, but Fiasco did turn up in Chicago at the weekend's other big festival, Lollapalooza.

With My Chem out, promoters filled their Zarabanda Stage slot with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and bumped Bloc Party up to the headliners of the Time Warner Stage.

(Check out photos of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, AFI, Kanye West and more performing at the festival.)

"We've opened for Tool before, at Coachella, so we're pros," Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner joked backstage. "We've met [Keenan], seems like a nice guy."

Only a few injuries were reported Friday, but the crowd at the Qualcomm Stadium parking lot did appear more aggressive than in years past. At the Time Warner Stage, for instance, a mosh pit broke out during dance-rockers She Wants Revenge's show, which seemed to perplex singer Justin Warfield, who mocked one of the instigators (dubbed "Green Shirt") throughout their set.

"I prefer to bump up next to girls instead of a bunch of guys, but whatever," joked Warfield, whose self-described "weird mood" made for entertaining banter. (The band looked and sounded much more seasoned than at Coachella).

Still, the moshers only multiplied when Wolfmother followed, with a 40-foot oval forming in front of the stage. "It was like a football field, people were just running into each other," Wolfmother singer Andrew Stockdale said backstage after the set. "It was pretty energetic today. The crowd can feel it when you're really getting into it."

Elsewhere Friday, Kanye West followed a rather chaotic set from the reunited Wu-Tang Clan with a show that he admitted didn't really gain momentum until midway through. Fans of Kanye's personality — and aren't we all? — still were entertained, however, as he spent the first half complaining about his new lighting guy ("You must not have studied your notes"), guiding his DJ through an oral history of his work as a producer and boasting about his in-the-works album, Graduation.

Kanye said he wasn't allowed to play any of the new music, but he rapped a cappella what seemed to be an entire song, calling himself "Gnarls Barkley mixed with Charles Barkley." "How am I supposed to stand out now when everybody get dressed up," he rapped later. "At the Grammys that tuxedo might've been a little Guido/ But with my ego/ I could stand there in a Speedo."

West also announced he's 80 percent done with another project. "I can't say who it is, but you all know." (Could Jay-Z be coming out of retirement?)

As West was probably saying too much, AFI were letting their music do the talking on the Captain Morgan Stage across the lot (which covered 2.5 million square feet). Dressed in all white — aside from singer Davey Havoc's black suspenders — the band delivered older hits first (playing "Girl's Not Grey" and "The Leaving Song, Pt. 2" back-to-back) before digging into tracks from this year's Decemberunderground.

While Friday was mostly about the familiar (Queens of the Stone Age and Bad Religion also delivered hit-stacked sets), Saturday promised to be more about previewing new stuff. And Tapes 'n Tapes, the Shins and Bloc Party all delivered, debuting material from their upcoming albums.

Bloc Party even opened with a new track and also proved to be one of the more supportive bands, arriving early and watching British peers in the Editors and the Futureheads from the side of the stage.

"We're used to festivals being on grass, but whatever, it feels more American," bassist Gordon Moakes joked backstage. "We have the biggest trailer we've ever had, so that's the important thing."

Other highlights Saturday included Snoop Dogg's decidedly old-school set, the Subways' raucous stage-destroying show, the New York Dolls' hazy stroll down memory lane and G. Love's groovy, perfect-for-a-sunset — even if said sun is setting behind an Ikea — hour.

For its second year at Qualcomm, Street Scene — which attracted 70,000 between the two days — added two more intimate stages. That's where a more adventurous audience could learn that What Made Milwaukee Famous are actually from Austin, Texas, while the lineup of West Indian Girl does include a girl, singer Mariqueen Maandig. Got that?

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

• AFI, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, More At San Diego's Street Scene

• Kanye West
• My Chemical Romance
• Tool
• Wolfmother
• Bloc Party

Wolfmother's Andrew Stockdale
Photo: Karl Walter/Getty Images

Wolfmother have spent the past five months waging a wild-haired rock assault on audiences from New York to Nevada, traversing purple mountains and fruited plains with guitars blaring and pant legs flaring. And over the course of their travels, they've come to appreciate some of the, uh, finer elements of life on the road in the U.S.

"We love it all. We love the latitudes and the longitudes and the altitudes, the platitudes and the dudes — and the dudettes," frontman Andrew Stockdale laughed. "It's something that every band dreams about doing — making it here in America — and we've been able to do that. We get to play music all the time, we get to meet lots of cool people all over the place. People are so much friendlier to us now because we're in a band and they like our music. And believe me, we take advantage of that."

We totally believe you, dude. Because with a pair of buzz-heavy turns — at South by Southwest in March (see "South By Southwest: An Embarrassment Of Rock Riches Despite The Crowds") and then Coachella in April (see "Madonna, Kanye Just Add To Coachella's Eclectic Atmosphere") — plus a string of sold-out North American dates under their studded belts, we're sure there have been good times aplenty for the three Aussie lads (see "Wild Afros, Raging Riffs, Trippy Lyrics: Wolfmother Live Up To Their Name").

"All these great things have happened to us, but some things stay the same. That's the dichotomy of success. It drives people insane because they're unhappy even though they've had so much success," Stockdale said. "It's not going to change you, it's not going to change your inner being, unless you're in a three-way orgy getting your ass waxed, because that may make you feel better."

It's getting tougher to fit all that waxing into their daily schedule. Because, thanks to the success of their first single — "Woman" has become a staple on rock radio — and a solid showing for their self-titled debut, which bowed at #22 on the Billboard albums chart, Wolfmother are keeping plenty busy.

They've just shot a video for their next Stateside single, "Love Train" — which can currently be heard blasting in a series of iTunes ads — with director Jay Martin, who describes the clip as a combination of "band portraits and epic, heroic performance." And in August they'll return to the U.S. for a brief run of shows, including appearances at San Diego's Street Scene (August 4), Chicago's Lollapalooza (August 5) and Auburn, Washington's EndFest (August 12).

While the prospect of another U.S. run has Wolfmother sufficiently psyched, there's one thing they'd like to see change the next time they rock a city near you.

"Too many guys come to our shows, because it's loud and aggressive. Girls come to our shows and they get crushed," Stockdale said. "By the end of the show, you've got some overweight, balding middle-aged dude cornering us in the back being like, 'I love your band!' Maybe we need to write some more power ballads. Or get some electro/'80s/new-wave thing happening and get some asymmetrical haircuts. And then we'll get heaps of chicks coming to our shows."

• Kanye, Madonna, Depeche Mode, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother, More at Coachella
• You Hear It First: Wolfmother Photos
• Highlights From South By Southwest 2006

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Eminem, Flaming Lips, More Get Freaky At 2009 Voodoo Festival In New Orleans

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Red Carpet Spectacular: Photos From The 2007 Grammy Awards

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AFI, MCR, Killers, Foo Fighters, More At KROQ's Almost Acoustic Christmas 2006

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2006: The Best of Studio Photos

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Red Hot Chili Peppers, Killers, Raconteurs And More At The Virgin Festival 09.23.2006

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How The Vest Was Won

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AFI, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, More At San Diego's Street Scene

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

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MTV.com Exclusive: Wolfmother Photos 04.10.2006

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