Jessica Simpson
Photo: Columbia

Pop princess Jessica Simpson is hitting the road in August for a 25-city tour, and she's taking her own stage with her.

On August 7 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the Dreamchaser Tour will launch with a portable venue, dubbed the Extreme Mobile Venue, according to a tour publicist. The arena-on-wheels features a 300-foot stadium stage complete with a sound system and lights, and concertgoers will be able to bungee jump, climb a rock wall and go mechanical surfing when they're not watching the performances of Simpson and tour openers Eden's Crush, Youngstown, Toya and Plus One.

The venue also features interactive games and exhibits and is bookended by a 9-foot-high ramp for extreme motorcycle riders.

Only the first 10 dates of the tour are confirmed, with a second leg to be announced soon. The trek is expected to hit 25 cities before it draws to a close in mid-September.

Simpson is touring in support of Irresistible, which debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 albums chart upon its release in early June. The follow-up to her 1999 debut, Sweet Kisses, has sold roughly 300,000 copies to date, according to SoundScan.

The first leg of the Dreamchaser Tour, according to a tour publicist:

• 8/7 - Corpus Christi, TX
• 8/8 - Belton, TX
• 8/10 - Joplin, MO
• 8/11 - Tulsa, OK
• 8/13 - Mankato, MN
• 8/14 - Sioux City, IA
• 8/16 - Green Bay, WI
• 8/17 - Madison, WI
• 8/18 - Moline, IL
• 8/19 - Cincinnati, OH

• Jessica Simpson
• Eden's Crush
• Youngstown

Backstreet Boy Howie D
Photo: Jive

LFO, Jon Secada, Aaron Carter and the Monkees will help Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough raise money for his lupus foundation in his hometown of Orlando, Florida, on June 1.

Bringing together pop stars from every decade since the '60s, the concert at Hard Rock Live will also feature performances by Youngstown, Deborah Gibson, the Pointer Sisters and Rascal Flatts. The show is part of a two-day event dubbed Lupus 2001, benefiting the Dorough Lupus Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Dorough and his family after his sister, Caroline Dorough-Cochran, died from the disease in 1998. Dorough will host the concert and may join his guests onstage for the encore, but he'll save his solo set for the following night at SeaWorld. That event will include a dinner and an auction featuring music, film, fashion and sports memorabilia, plus a killer whale show and fireworks.

The Dorough Lupus Foundation seeks to aid victims of lupus who cannot afford treatment, increase awareness about the disease and help fund research for a cure. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster, with two-day combo tickets going for $300 each, concert-only tickets for $175 and passes for the auction and dinner for $150.

Lupus 2000, held in Universal City, California, on June 25, featured such performers as Gibson, Tito Puente Jr. and O-Town and raised $100,000 (see "Backstreet's Howie Raises $100,000 For Charity").

• Backstreet Boys
• Aaron Carter
• LFO
• Jon Secada
• The Monkees

Play a Disney park, find an audience. That seems to be the idea for two up-and-coming pop acts, Youngstown and Steps, who are gearing up for their first nationally televised special, the Disney Channel's "Youngstown And Steps In Concert."

-- Brian Ives

• Youngstown