• RS’ 100-Band SXSW Twitter Marathon!
• Muse Pack Anthems Into SXSW Show
• Hole Cover the Stones at SXSW
• STP Rock New Songs, With Krieger at SXSW
• Lady Gaga Sued by Producer/Ex-Boyfriend
• BSS, Truckers, Band of Horses: SXSW
• Weekend Rock List: Rock Biopics
• James Murphy Talks Greenberg Songs
• Win a Special Greenberg iPod
• Rob Sheffield Remembers Alex Chilton
• Spoon, Broken Bells Shine at SXSW
• Secrets of The Runaways: Inside the Film
• Steve Perry Denies “N-Word” Story
• New Dead Weather Album Title Revealed
• Graham Nash on Hollies’ Hall of Fame Career
• Idol Axes Lacey Brown, Ke$ha Performs
• Universal’s New CD Plan: $10 Discs
• Win a Joan Jett Guitar and More Prizes
• Jimi Hendrix’s Last Days: The New Issue
• Best New Bands of 2010
• Dixie Chicks Team With Eagles for Tour
• Phish Announce Big Summer Trek
• Breaking: Local Natives
• Stooges, Genesis Join Rock Hall of Fame
• Jackson Estate, Sony Strike Huge Deal

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Muse are a band that like things on a massive scale, igniting big sounds on the biggest stages, with the kind of big visual effects known only to the likes of Pink Floyd and Daft Punk. That’s the Muse comfort zone, but the British trio’s special appearance Friday on a much smaller stage at a MySpace Music-presented South By Southwest show traded grand gestures for relative intimacy, without deflating the band’s soaring post-punk prog sound.

There were still laser-beams and songs delivered at arena-rock size at the outdoor amphitheater of Stubb’s BBQ in Austin, but singer-guitarist Matt Bellamy embraced all that is the ground-level nature of the annual SXSW music festival. “We’re feeling good vibes in this town right now,” he told a packed crowd.

RS is tweeting 100 bands from SXSW 2010! Follow the action here.

The band’s hour-long set began with the ominous keyboards and revolution rock of “Uprising,” a track from last year’s The Resistance, calling for “fat cats” to succumb to heart failure while promising, “They will not degrade us, they will not control us…” The band stretched out in a variety of disparate sounds and directions, usually within a single song. Bellamy led the crowd in clapping to the straight-ahead heartbreak beat from the ’80s-style pop hit “Starlight” (from 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations), but also unfurled the galloping Spanish surf-guitar vibe of “Knights Of Cydonia,” sounding like something Dick Dale and ELP might have cooked up together for a Spaghetti Western soundtrack, before Muse slipped into the Queen-like vocal harmonies of “You and I must fight for our rights / You and I must fight to survive.”

There was a welcome bit of funk in some of Muse’s prog, and occasional, if brief guitar flourishes that echoed Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Aerosmith, demonstrating real hard-rock chops in the anxious playing fingers of Bellamy. The songs were anthemic, melodramatic and performed with all the self-confidence of a consistently platinum-selling act. There are many fans and many critics, and the comparisons to Radiohead are not often meant as a compliment. But Bellamy, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard demonstrated that the great walls of sound Muse have spent the last decade creating can still connect to an audience at ground level.

Indie-rock quartet Metric opened the show, beginning their set with the crackle and hum of “Twilight Galaxy.” The quartet’s 45-minute set was fueled on excited postmodern pop and explosive melody. At one point, singer Emily Haines included a few whispery, spectral moments of Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My” as an intro to Metric’s “Gimme Sympathy,” which asks the contentious pop music question: “After all of this is gone / Who’d you rather be? / The Beatles or the Rolling Stones? / Oh, seriously.”

Haines hopped and banged a tambourine in a short sparkly dress during “Help I’m Alive,” her voice going from heavy to high and wailing, “My heart keeps beating like a hammer!” She picked up an electric guitar for “Gold Guns Girls” to slash rhythm during the intense soloing of guitarist James Shaw, stirring up a crowd of festival-goers close enough to be reached.

Muse Set List:

“Uprising” (Riff Version)
“Supermassive Black Hole”
“Resistance”
“Hysteria”
“Stockholm Syndrome”
“Nishe”
“United States of Eurasia”
“Starlight”
“Time is Running Out”
“Unnatural Selection”

ENCORE
“Plug in Baby”
“Knights of Cydonia” (Harmonica Version)

More SXSW 2010:

• RS’ SXSW Twitter Marathon: Catch the Tweets Here!
• Spoon, Broken Bells Grab the Spotlight as SXSW 2010 Launches
• Stone Temple Pilots Debut Songs, Rock With Robby Krieger at SXSW
• Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Drive-By Truckers Bring Big Guitar Rock to SXSW
• Hole Cover the Rolling Stones, And Courtney Love Isn’t Satisfied at SXSW

“Make a hole!” yelled one of the bouncers at Dirty Dog, where Courtney Love was about to continue her return to music with a reconstituted version of her band Hole on the third night of the SXSW Music Festival. It was creeping up on 1:15 am. The crowd was packed so tightly together stage left of the dive bar that an emergency situation seemed imminent. Just then the bouncer bulldozered an opening through a space out of thin air to accommodate Woody Harrelson, dressed in a light tan suit and matching Kangol cabbie hat, and his entourage of almost 10 deep. John Doe, frontman for the punk band X, was nearby in the crowd and grew absolutely irate. He pointed at a passing Harrelson and barked, “You fucking celebrities.”

Harrelson and crew, en route to Love’s dressing room, did an about-face minutes later, as Love had just taken to the stage. She was dressed like a wood nymph in pink, with a halo atop her long blond locks. She was telling the audience that she wasn’t doing this for them, but for herself. Then she flipped everyone the bird and said, “Suck it.”

RS is tweeting 100 bands from SXSW 2010! Follow the action here.

A sludgy, bluesy opening number led to a cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” followed by a take on the new Hole song “Skinny Little Bitch,” from the forthcoming album Nobody’s Daughter, out April 27th. It sounded much better live, with Love’s raspy growl coated by new guitarist Micko Larkin’s swirls of fuzz.

Love continued with “Doll Parts,” an older song that was supposedly written in response to her first encounter with Kurt Cobain. After that, she started complaining that her voice was shot and that if she kept playing loud songs she wouldn’t be able to play Perez Hilton’s party the following night. “It’s 1:00-fucking-am and I’m an old person,” she said. “It’s time for me to get my blowjob on.”

But she broke out a few more covers, including a full-on band version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gold Dust Woman” and an acoustic duet version of “Bette Davis Eyes” with Larkin. Elsewhere in the crowd, Matthew McConaughey, wearing a Kangol to match Harrelson’s, looked on approvingly. But Love, who wouldn’t let up about her voice, wasn’t pleased. “Worst show of my life,” she told the crowd, in parting. “I’m so glad you were here to witness it.”

More SXSW 2010:

• RS’ SXSW Twitter Marathon: Catch the Tweets Here!
• Spoon, Broken Bells Grab the Spotlight as SXSW 2010 Launches
• Stone Temple Pilots Debut Songs, Rock With Robby Krieger at SXSW
• Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Drive-By Truckers Bring Big Guitar Rock to SXSW
• Muse Pack Arena-Size Anthems Into Surprise SXSW Show

The big story on SXSW’s third day was the surprise Muse performance at Stubb’s, which was announced during the broadcast of the Fox show Human Target earlier in the week (yes, really) — though Rolling Stone’s own showcase featuring Band of Skulls, Jimmie Dale and Colin Gilmore, Court Yard Hounds, John Doe, Rye Rye and Nneka was a pretty hot ticket, too.

Christopher R. Weingarten of @1000TimesYes continued his Twitter odyssey yesterday, tweeting about 24 bands in 14 hours for @RollingStone. Relive his epic quest in our TwitterCam (clips range from the dark rock of Zola Jesus to the pumped-up party pop of Yacht) and catch up on his 140-character reports here:

Check out our day one and day two Twitter marathon recaps.

54) SCORPION CHILD: Local Wolfmother-styled blooz-metal loudly shimmies all over a pre-noon crowd, beckons “scaredy-cats” to dancefloor

55) WARPAINT: Emo’s Jr. absolutely packed by noon to watch these up-and-coming art-rockers lay down spacey, bassy grooves.

56) LOCAL NATIVES: Snaky grooves, spastic energy, excellent Talking Heads cover. So why is this audience so mellow?

57) JAVELIN: Their trademark, water-damaged, rapcentric funkfuzz inspires everything from languid headnods to total spazzing.

58) BANG BANG ECHE: A 15-minute set from impossibly young kiwi synth-garage punx, walking line between savage, spasmodic and huggable.

59) ZOLA JESUS: Keyboard-saturated gothpunk at its most life-affirming and holyshitbeautiful. In the hottest sun-baked cabin in Texas.

60) ANTLERS: Cinematic rock, near-emo wail and devoted followers triumph over the blaaaaazing sun and a malfunctioning kick pedal.

61) VULTURE WHALE: Fairly brawny Birmingham garage twang. Unexpectedly deafening for guys who don’t move around much.

62) FIGHTING WITH WIRE: Gnashing Irish crunch-pop terrorizes a pub. Like Foo Fighters for ugly people (and that’s a compliment).

63) CASIOKIDS: The name of this cartoon-trance crew implies 8-bit fun, but they’ve got quite a handle on understated ambiance too.

64) WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS: “This has been our worst show so far. Glad you could be here to rub it in.”

65) EPILEPTINOMICON: Denver trio makes pulseless, charred, feedbacky, quasi-mystical emo noise for ski mask and sweater

66) YACHT: Wild, cinematic nu-new wave party devolves into random partiers storming the stage. “Ladies and gentlemen… That guy!”

67) BLACK ANGELS: Stoner-psych ramblers face comedy of gear errors; shirtless guy who offers them a gift of moss on a stick.

68) MAN MAN: Zappa-punks premiere new material that’s as hectic, fun and dangerous as their audience’s pre-show chicken fights.

69) CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS: Rapidfire banjo, fiddle and beatboxing in the Driskill Hotel’s stately Victorian Room. Their newgrass cover of “Hit ‘Em Up Style” has been upgraded from “must hear” to “must experience.”

70) WET HAIR: Iowa City drone ‘n’ drum duo make appropriately planetarium-worthy ooze in the Hideout’s black box theater.

71) MUSE: The day’s big unannounced show. Appropriately anthemic, appropriately huge, appropriately packed. People that couldn’t get in catch sneak peeks from the parking garage, listen and dance from the street.

72) FREDDIE GIBBS: Midwest gangsta rap artisan delivers rapidfire rhymes, each one crystal-clear. And looks good without a shirt!

73) DONNIS: Atlanta rapper brings his usually nimble rhymes, but his stage presence is filled with bounceworthy crunk energy.

74) THE COOL KIDS: Party rappers with no shortage of anthems. But half the show is the way their minimalist beats slap against your ear

75) GRASS WIDOW: Vinyl-friendly San Fran all-girl trio where bubblegum pop and post-punk dissonance politely intertwine.

76) LITURGY: Hypnotic, occassionally blissful black metal; even more bonechilling in tight quarters.

76) LITURGY: Show more awesome since the band was arrested, tried and acquitted for possession of weed in Fort Worth THIS VERY AFTERNOON

77) LIARS: Beefing up their sound with members of Fol Chen, working way up to art-rock legacy band. Spitting sweaty gothaboom fractals. “Let’s fuck em up with a couple of fuck-em-up ones.”

More SXSW 2010:

• RS’ SXSW Twitter Marathon: Catch the Tweets Here!
• Spoon, Broken Bells Grab the Spotlight as SXSW 2010 Launches
• Stone Temple Pilots Debut Songs, Rock With Robby Krieger at SXSW
• Broken Social Scene, Band of Horses, Drive-By Truckers Bring Big Guitar Rock to SXSW
• Hole Cover the Rolling Stones, And Courtney Love Isn’t Satisfied at SXSW
• Muse Pack Arena-Size Anthems Into Surprise SXSW Show

• Down at SXSW, Rolling Stone has already caught hot performances by Stone Temple Pilots, Spoon, Broken Bells, the xx and many more up-and-coming acts. Keep it tuned to our SXSW coverage for all the best showcases, and be sure to follow @rollingstone as we continue to tweet 100 SXSW shows.

• Guitar god Jimi Hendrix landed on the cover of the new issue, and David Fricke looks back at the Greatest Guitarist of All Time’s last days and lost music.
• The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomed the Stooges, Genesis, Abba, the Hollies and Jimmy Cliff at the 2010 induction ceremony, which featured performances by Phish and more. Be sure to check out our backstage and onstage photos. Plus, two-time Rock Hall inductee Graham Nash visited RS to talk about the Hollies.
• Big Star’s Alex Chilton passed away at age 59. Rob Sheffield paid tribute to the Memphis rock god, and we flashbacked to Big Star covers.
• We took a close-up look at the Best New Bands of 2010 in a gallery of on-the-road photos. We also explored intimate backstage shots of Ryan Adams.

This weekend, The Runaways biopic starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as Joan Jett and Cherie Currie hits movie theaters — Rolling Stone brought you a peek inside the year’s most anticipated rock film, now tell us your favorite rock biopics (and no, Purple Rain doesn’t count). We’ll tally up the votes on Monday; check out five of our favorites for inspiration:

• Sid and Nancy
• 24 Hour Party People
• The Doors
• Walk the Line.
• Ray

This week the rock world lost Alex Chilton, so we’re devoting our Flashback to covers of Big Star songs by artists ranging from Beck to Wilco to the Bangles, who perform the classic “September Gurls” in the video above. As Rob Sheffield wrote in his remembrance of Chilton, the singer was “the ultimate indie cult hero”, who despite “years of hard living, always seemed indestructible — and thanks to his music, he always will be.”

Below, watch four artists — Beck, Bat for Lashes, This Mortal Coil and Jeff Buckley — take on Third/Sister Lovers’s “Kanga Roo,” while Wilco, Garbage and Elliott Smith each cover “Thirteen.”

Beck – “Kanga Roo”

Bat for Lashes – “Kanga Roo”

Jeff Buckley – “Kanga Roo”

This Mortal Coil – “Kanga Roo”

Wilco – “Thirteen”

Elliott Smith – “Thirteen”

Garbage – “Thirteen”

Rolling Stone is giving away three iPod Nanos stocked with music from Greenberg, Ben Stiller’s new dark comedy featuring a score by LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy. Each 8gb Green iPod Nano comes with a six-song soundtrack sampler. In addition to 11 Murphy songs, the full Greenberg soundtrack includes tunes by Nite Jewel, Albert Hammond Jr., Galaxie 500, the Sonics and Duran Duran.

James Murphy on the making of the Greenberg soundtrack.

The Greenberg Giveaway sweepstakes is open to residents of the 50 United States and Washington, DC who are 18 years of age or older as of March 19, 2010. To enter, fill out the form after the jump with your name, e-mail and age. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes begins at 2:00 pm EST on March 19, 2010 and ends at 11:59 pm EST on March 31, 2010. Number of Winners: 3. ARV: $154.99. Certain restrictions may apply. Complete Official Rules are available after the jump.

Read Peter Travers’ review of Greenberg

Loading…

Official Rules for the “Greenberg Giveaway” Sweepstakes

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington DC (EXCLUDING RESIDENTS OF OVERSEAS MILITARY INSTALLATIONS, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER U.S. TERRITORIES) who as of March 19, 2010 are 18 years of age or older.

Sponsor: Rolling Stone LLC (“Rolling Stone”)

1. How to Enter:
a. To enter the “Greenberg Giveaway” Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”), visit the RollingStone.com website at RollingStone.com/Greenbergsweepsakes and follow the registration and entering directions provided therein, or e-mail your name, address, telephone number, age and email address to contests [at] rollingstone [dot] com with the subject line “Greenberg Giveaway”. Limit one entry per person. Sweepstakes begins at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on March 19, 2010. All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on March 31, 2010. For privacy policy, visit http://www.rollingstone.com/privacypolicy-update.

b. No mechanically reproduced or computer generated entries permitted. Not responsible for lost, late or misdirected entries, or entries containing incorrect or incomplete information. Not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer, on-line, or Internet systems or services, servers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry or confirmation or winners notice on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, problems with RollingStone.com website or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Sweepstakes. Entries become the property of RollingStone.com and will not be acknowledged or returned.

2. Winner(s):

a. Selection of Winners. Three (3) winners will be selected from a random drawing held on or about March 31, 2010 from among all eligible entries received by a panel of judges selected by Sponsor. The winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received.

b. Decisions of Sponsor are final on all matters relating to the Sweepstakes.

3. Prize(s):

a. Three (3) winners will receive the following prize (the “Prize”):
• One (1) 8gb Green iPod Nano
• One (1) sampler from the official soundtrack

b. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) of Prize: $154.99. Actual retail value of the Prize may vary. If the prize includes travel and winner cannot travel on the dates required to attend the Event, winner will forfeit the Prize in its entirety and Sponsor may, at its option, either select a second place winner in his or her place or be relieved of liability for fulfillment of the Prize. Winner is responsible for any expenses not expressly included in the Prize description, such as additional ground transportation expenses, incidentals, meals, beverages and any other expenses.

c. Certain restrictions and blackout dates may apply. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value.

4. General:
a. Employees, directors and officers of Sponsor, its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotional agencies, and their immediate family members and/or those living in same household are not eligible.

b. No substitution or transfer of prize permitted except as provided herein. Prizes are non-redeemable for cash. In the event of unavailability, Sponsor may substitute a prize of greater or equal value.

c. All federal/state/local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner, who will receive an IRS Form 1099 reflecting the final actual value of any prize valued at $600 or more. Consult with your tax professional regarding potential tax implications.

d. Potential finalists must execute Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability Form(s) within 10 days of notification. Noncompliance, or return of prize notification as undeliverable or inability to locate finalist within 5 days after notification will result in disqualification and selection of an alternate finalist. Winner’s travel companion must execute a Release of Liability Form.

e. By participating in the Sweepstakes and accepting any prize, entrants and winner agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, “Released Parties”) from and against any and all liability whatsoever for any loss, harm, damage, injury, cause of action, claim, cost or expense (including without limitation any property damage, personal injury and/or death) arising out of or in connection with the Sweepstakes, including without limitation participation in any Sweepstakes-related activity and/or possession, acceptance, use or misuse of any prize.

Released Parties shall not be responsible for any cancellations, delays, diversions or substitutions or any act or omissions whatsoever by any performer(s)/event(s), air carrier(s), hotel(s), or other transportation companies or any other persons providing any of these services and accommodations to passengers including any results thereof such as changes in services or accommodations necessitated by same. The passenger contracts in use by the airlines or other transportation companies shall constitute the sole contracts with respect to the winner’s and his/her travel companion’s transportation and such contracts shall be solely between the winner, his/her travel companion and such transportation companies. Released Parties shall not be parties to such contracts and shall assume no responsibility in this connection. Released Parties shall not be liable for any loss, theft or damage of cash, cameras, jewelry, securities, heirlooms, negotiable papers or other valuables. Released Parties are not responsible if Sweepstakes cannot take place or if prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism.

Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. By participating in the Sweepstakes, you waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

f. Participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes consent to use entrant’s name, biographical information, image and likeness for editorial, advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. Entrant releases and holds harmless the Released Parties for any liability, claims and causes of action based on defamation or violation of rights of publicity or privacy.

g. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of RollingStone.com or who is otherwise in violation of the Official Rules. Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes in the event the Sweepstakes is not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, or technical failures of any kind. In the event of a dispute as to entries submitted by multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter the Sweepstakes at the actual time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is deemed to be the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PARTICIPANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR TAMPER WITH OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT(S) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

h. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which shall be final and binding with regard to all matters relating to the Sweepstakes.

i. Any dispute arising from this Sweepstakes will be determined according to the laws of the State of New York, without reference to its conflict of laws principles, and the entrants consent to the personal jurisdiction of the State and Federal Court located in New York County and agree that such courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes.

5. The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Rolling Stone LLC, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

6. Winner’s List:
For names of prize winners, after March 31, 2010, send a separate, stamped, self-addressed, No.10 envelope to: “Greenberg Giveaway” c/o Rolling Stone Online, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.

The Scorpions begin to unveil plans for their farewell U.S. tour, the Psychedelic Furs announce a 25-date trek and after disbanding six years ago, Orbital reunite for three gigs, including sets at the Ultra Festival and Coachella. The full details for all three artists, after the jump.

Scorpions
June 18 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
June 19 – Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
June 22 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater

Psychedelic Furs
May 27 – Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Hotel
May 28 – West Melbourne, FL @ Levelz
May 29 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
June 1 – Baltimore, MD @ Rams Head Live
June 3 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Blockley
June 4 – New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
June 5 – Boston, MA @ House of Blues
June 6 – Fairfield, CT @ Stage One
June 8 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
June 10 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre
June 11 – Chicago, IL @ Metro
June 12 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
June 13 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room Lounge
June 14 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland
June 16 – Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre
June 17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot
June 19 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
June 20 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
June 22 – San Francisco, CA @ Fillmore Auditorium
June 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern
June 25 – Anaheim, CA @ Grove
June 27 – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
June 30 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s
July 1 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
July 2 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live

Orbital
March 27 – Miami, Florida @ Ultra Festival
April 16 – San Francisco, CA @ Warfield Theatre
April 18 – Indio, CA @ Coachella

Photo: Wilson/Webb (Greenberg), Horowitz/WireImage(Murphy)

In Noah Baumbach’s new film Greenberg, Ben Stiller plays a curmudgeon who’s more likely to push people away than attract them. And that’s precisely why LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, who wrote the soundtrack, likes the character so much. “I’m Greenberg-esque,” Murphy says proudly.

In fact, Murphy’s music was a chief inspiration for the movie: Baumbach was obsessed with LCD Soundsystem’s sarcastic ballad “New York, I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down” while writing the script of a sad-sack Manhattanite living in L.A. So when it came time to approach someone to craft the soundtrack, Baumbach immediately thought of Murphy. “It’s not like it was a stretch, like what would I do if I were a serial killer?” says Murphy about relating to the movie’s plot. “It was more like, what would I do if I were a 40-year-old grumpy dude out of place in Los Angeles? It was real method for me, but I can get into that.”

Murphy has never scored a film before but he agreed to the project so he could take a break from working on LCD’s next album, due out this May. “When given the opportunity to fail myself or fail someone else, I choose to fail myself,” he jokes. When it came time to write, Murphy deliberately chose to move away from typical soundtrack cliches — “[Soundtracks] are just these tones… and sounds all over the place,” he says — and would check in with Baumbach regularly while the director was still editing the movie. “We’d sit and talk, we’d have tea, I’d pet his dog, and we’d look at [scenes],” Murphy says. “It literally could have been two roommates who were making a movie for $15,000.”

The resulting Greenberg soundtrack sounds nothing like LCD Soundsystem: Seventies-style California pop that calls to mind Harry Nilsson and Brian Wilson. “Please Don’t Follow Me,” with its pounding piano riff and bright brass tones, is one of the catchier numbers. Still, LCD fans will find that tracks like the psychedelic freakout “Oh No (Christmas Blues)” hew closer to Murphy’s trademark dance-punk style. “This is how I think scores should sound,” Murphy says. “I’d rather just make stereo music to put into a song, not give somebody all the parts to be spread around the sound spectrum.”

For all his troubles, Murphy got to make a cameo in the movie in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-him moment. “I’m one of the people in the party scene,” he says. “I didn’t have a bunch of lines. I just walk from here to there. And I look like a Sasquatch.”

Related Stories:

• LCD Soundsystem Offer Peek at New Album With Studio Footage
• LCD Soundsystem’s “Sound of Silver”: 12th Best Album of the Decade
• Meet LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, The “Failed Hipster” Who Wants to Make You Move

Photograph by Tony Landa
Night two of the SXSW Music Festival featured a trio of big guitar bands with new lineups, playing new — in some cases not even completed — albums. The pressure was on to strike a balance between satiating fans with classics and testing new material without trying their patience.

More SXSW day two guitar rock: full report on Stone Temple Pilots’ set.

The Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers — now without its third singer-songwriter, Jason Isbell — proved the worth of their new album, The Big To-Do, right from the get-go at Stubb’s. Remaining singer-songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley went back and forth with hardened new songs about old themes, principally boozing (”The Fourth Night of My Drinking”), whoring (”Birthday Boy”), and employment with “fast food wages” (”This Fucking Job”).

Muscle Shoals legend Spooner Oldham joined the band on keyboard for their final song, “Let There Be Rock.” Hood said it was in homage to record stores, where boys and girls learn about music new and old, and about Big Star’s Alex Chilton, who died of an apparent heart attack Wednesday.

Band of Horses followed with their bar-raising stadium rock. Under a crescent moon emblazoned on a blue backdrop projected onto the underside of the stage’s half-shell, frontman Ben Bridwell led his revamped lineup through a stout set including “The Funeral,” one of the great singles of the passing decade. The middle of the set featured two songs — “Factory” and “Compliments” — from the new album Infinite Arms, out May 18th. They may have been working titles but the mechanics therein were anything but in flux. “Factory” was a casual rocker with a punchy refrain and an undercurrent of keys, over which Bridwell sang something to the effect of, “I got to get my shit together and try to find something to sing.”

Headliner Broken Social Scene arrived with as much manpower as the two prior bands combined. Twelve microphones awaited the ever-fluctuating Canadian collective well past midnight. Jason Collett, a former core member participating in SXSW as his own concern, joined the band’s brain trust — Kevin Drew, Andrew Whiteman, and a freshly shaven Brendan Canning — for the intro track, a new one called “World Sick” (hear it here). The song took advantage of the band’s five-guitar assault, its ascending and descending melodies hopscotching gracefully along Drew’s lyrics about the homesickness inherent to incessant touring.

The band played a handful of old songs, among them a “7/4 (Shoreline)” embellished with a seven-person horn section, but mostly they rocked out new songs from the forthcoming Forgiveness Rock Record, out May 4th. “We’re gonna play our guts out,” Drew said, referring to dance- and keyboard-inflected songs like “Forced to Love,” “Texico Bitches,” and “All to All.” “But we’re human beings,” Drew continued, “still trying to figure things out.”

Stone Temple Pilots are not a band many could have expected to survive two full decades. Even acts without the internal wounds of serious addiction and ongoing conflict rarely make it this long, but when STP emerged onstage at the Austin Music Hall for a special performance at South By Southwest on Thursday, they delivered like journeyman rock stars with their shit together — tight and focused, and unburdened with the bitterness or bad memories from the recent past.

Singer Scott Weiland shimmied stylishly across the stage in a snug vest, tie and wraparound shades, rasping to an explosive “Vaseline,” as guitarist Dean DeLeo ignited bursts of noise and melody. Bassist Robert DeLeo strutted in a black suit and white patent-leather shoes, and drummer Eric Kretz pounded anxious beats from a gleaming white drum-riser. The 4,400-capacity Austin Music Hall was packed, and during 75 minutes of hits and new songs, the SoCal quartet managed to make the big shed feel as intimate and overheated as a club show.

They dove into STP’s earliest records, with the brooding, sludgy “Wicked Garden” and the aching resignation of “Creep” still tapping into some early-’90s disaffection and gloom, while the slower “Big Empty” floated to Dean DeLeo’s dreamy slide guitar, with sudden thunderous riffs as repeated exclamation points. Stone Temple Pilots were real grunge-era hit-makers for several years, with songs that remain a staple of rock radio, but the band’s renewed drive onstage after reappearing from a half-decade in limbo saved them from becoming mere oldies.

Songs from the band’s upcoming new album were unveiled throughout the set, fitting easily between the hits. “They’re brand new,” Weiland declared, “but they’ll feel like you’ve been hearing them for 20 years.” The self-titled 11-song collection, due May 25th, will be their first since 2001, and includes the riff-raff of “Between the Lines,” which sounded in Austin like sped-up Rolling Stones, with a flamboyant accent of Ziggy Stardust, as Weiland reminisced on the early days of romance with his estranged wife, purring breathlessly: “I like it when we talk about love, even when we used to take drugs.”

The taunting “Huckleberry Crumble” and “Hickory Dichotomy” were ’70s guitar rock with deep blues in their veins, as Weiland vamped center stage. He tossed his sweat-soaked vest into the crowd and promised another fresh new tune, saying “I hope you dig it,” but instead dove into “Plush,” one of STP’s most recognizable hits. The band had barely begun when Weiland held his microphone out over the crowd, which shouted an entire verse back at the stage.

For the band’s two-song encore, STP was joined by Doors guitarist Robby Krieger, introduced by Weiland as “a man who was part of the greatest rock & roll group in history,” before diving into a fiery “Roadhouse Blues,” leaving enough room for DeLeo and Krieger to stretch out on dueling leads. The night ended with an intense reading of “Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart,” another drug tale from 1996.

Earlier in the set, Weiland graciously told fans, “It’s your party, not ours.” But after tumultuous times both together and apart, Weiland and Stone Temple Pilots have learned to make the most of surviving long enough to enjoy it themselves.

Set List:

“Vasoline”
“Crackerman”
“Wicked Garden”
“Hollywood Bitch”
“Between the Lines”
“Hickory Dichotomy”
“Big Empty”
“Sour Girl”
“Creep”
“Plush”
“Interstate Love Song”
“Bagman”
“Huckleberry Crumble”
“Sex Type Thing”
“Dead and Bloated”

Encore:
“Roadhouse Blues”
“Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart”

On day two of SXSW, you could see the mechanisms of the hype machine in full effect. The current crop of buzz bands (the xx, Surfer Blood, Bear In Heaven) packed their rooms wall-to-wall. However, bands who had their moment but still release excellent albums (Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson, Vivian Girls) had more modest crowds. Maybe it’s the economy of cool, maybe it’s that bands were expected to play 10 day shows in four days and thus spread audiences thin. But however you watched them, there was still plenty to watch.

Christopher R. Weingarten of @1000TimesYes continued his Twitter odyssey yesterday, tweeting about 26 bands in 14 hours for @RollingStone. Relive his epic quest in our TwitterCam (clips range from the woozy indie drone of the Besnard Lakes to the heavy riffage of Howl) and catch up on his 140-character reports here:

Catch up on our day one Twitter marathon.

• SXSW 2010 Day One Twitter Marathon: 27 Reports, From Andrew WK to Paul Wall
• Spoon, Broken Bells Grab the Spotlight as SXSW 2010 Launches

Photo: Jack/FilmMagic
You know you’ve reached The Fame when someone slaps you with a massive lawsuit. Lady Gaga is being sued for $30 million by producer and ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari, the co-writer of Gaga’s hit “Paparazzi,” who claims he discovered the singer in 2006 and created the moniker “Lady Gaga.” In the suit, Fusari seeks a 20 percent cut from Gaga’s two companies Team Love Child and Mermaid Music, saying he entered into a contract with Gaga in 2006 that also promised him a portion of her merchandising and revenue, the New York Daily News reports. Fusari, who previously had hits with Will Smith’s “Wild Wild West” and Destiny Child’s “Bootylicious,” also claims that he was shortchanged on his royalty fees.

Get a look at Lady Gaga’s wildest outfits.

“It’s an age-old story in the music business,” said Fusari’s lawyer Robert Meloni. “You become famous and you turn on the person who discovered you.” According to the suit, Fusari initially recruited Gaga, then just Stefani Germanotta, to join what he envisioned as “an all-girl version of the Strokes.” “Fusari was expecting someone a little more grunge-rocker than the young Italian girl ‘guidette’ that arrived at his doorstep and was worried that he had made a mistake,” the suit contends. Recognizing Gaga’s ability, Fusari claims he helped craft Gaga’s songwriting to something with more of a dance feel. Their collaboration resulted in three songs that eventually appeared on The Fame — “Paparazzi,” “Brown Eyes” and “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich” — plus the bonus tracks “Disco Heaven,” “Again Again” and “Retro Dance Freak.”

Fusari also claims he accidentally created the “Lady Gaga” name, explaining in the suit “one day when Fusari addressed a cell phone text to Germanotta under the moniker ‘Radio Gaga’ [a song by Queen], his cell phone’s spell check converted ‘Radio’ to ‘Lady.’ Germanotta loved it and ‘Lady Gaga’ was born.” Rolling Stone told the tale a little differently in our June 2009 Lady Gaga cover story, where Brian Hiatt reported that Fusari was struck by some Freddie Mercury-like harmonies the singer recorded and began singing “Radio Gaga” to her as a running joke; Gaga texted Fusari her new name and never answered to “Stef” again.

Besides being collaborators, Fusari and Gaga also shared a romantic relationship, though Fusari’s suit claims that ended in January 2007, adding that Gaga was a “woman scorned” and eventually became “verbally abusive” to Fusari. “All business is personal,” the suit says. “When those personal relationships evolve into romantic entanglements, any corresponding business relationship usually follows the same trajectory so that when one crashes they all burn. This is what happened here.” When reached by Rolling Stone for a response, Lady Gaga’s rep said the singer has no comment on the suit.

Check out photos from Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball show.

Related Stories:

• Lady Gaga Talks “Telephone” Clip, MTV Confirms Video Not Banned
• Lady Gaga Announces Massive Summer Monster Ball Arena Tour
• Lady Gaga and Beyonce Unleash Orgy of Sex, Violence, Product Placement in “Telephone” Video

Photo: Soul Brother/FilmMagic

• A deal that would have brought Paula Abdul to ABC’s revamped version of Star Search has collapsed, according to the Hollywood Reporter, because the former American Idol judge’s salary demand was too high.

• Janet Jackson’s new single will be released March 30th, Jermaine Dupri tweeted last night. The track, called “Nothing,” appears on the Why Did I Get Married Too soundtrack.
• Sarah McLachlan’s first new studio album in seven years, The Laws of Illusion, will hit stores on June 15th, just weeks before the Canadian singer’s Lilith Fair reboot launches its first date.
• Taylor Swift’s six-times-platinum Fearless has become the most awarded country album in history. The 20-year-old star was honored by her label earlier this week, as she scored her 10th consecutive Top 10 Hot Country Song.

Photo: Ferrey/Getty
ZZ Top bring guitars and beards out on the road with a spring/summer trek, Kate Nash readies a tour in support of her upcoming album My Best Friend Is You and Milwaukee’s two-day Verge Music Festival locks in headliners Three Days Grace and Weezer as well as She and Him and Eagles of Death Metal. Full details, after the jump.

ZZ Top
Apr. 29 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Sun Fest
Apr. 30 – Melbourne, FL @ Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts
May 4 – Jacksonville, FL @ Moran Theatre
May 5 – Columbus, GA @ Columbus Civic Center
May 8 – Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
May 14 – Belton, TX @ Belton Expo Center
June 19 – Belleville, ON @ Waterfront Festival
June 25, 26 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
July 31 – Stillwater, OK @ Tumbleweed Dance Hall
Aug. 7 – Lake Delton, WI @ Crystal Grand Music Theater

Kate Nash
Apr. 26 – Toronto, ON @ Mod Theatre
Apr. 28 – Boston, MA @ Great Scott’s
Apr. 29 – New York, NY @ The Bowery
May 1 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
May 3 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
May 5 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
May 7 – Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
May 8 – San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
May 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre

Verge Music Festival
June 4, 5 – Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest Grounds
Three Days Grace
Weezer
Eagles of Death Metal
She & Him
The Raveonettes
Cold War Kids
Rogue Wave
and more…

Graham Nash is one of the few artists who has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first, in 1997, with Crosby, Stills and Nash and again at this week’s ceremony in New York, with his first band the Hollies. But when Rolling Stone sat down with Nash to discuss the induction, he seemed more ecstatic for his Hollies bandmate, Allan Clarke. “I was thrilled for my partner for all those years,” Nash says. “He’s been a very underestimated lead singer.”

Nash, a photography fanatic, also filled us in on his new book, Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock & Roll Photographs, which compiles his picks for some of rock’s greatest pictures by photographers like Annie Leibovitz, Jim Marshall and Anton Corbijn into a handsome, hard-cover book. “I have a good eye for photography and I have a good ear for music, so if we could combine both of them, I could come up with an interesting journey,” says Nash. (The songwriter also curated a photo exhibition featuring many of those photographs at Seattle’s Experience Music Project, which is on view through May 23rd).

Nash also took a moment to discuss some of the back stories behind those photos, including the Henry Diltz picture that would later be used as the cover for CSN’s 1969 self-titled debut. (Check out the band’s track-by-track breakdown of the album here.) When the record was released, fans confused Nash with Crosby, since Crosby’s name appears directly above Nash’s on the album sleeve. “We’re all sitting in the wrong order because we decided to call ourselves Crosby, Stills and Nash,” says Nash. “It flows off the tongue better than any other combination. That’s why people keep calling me Crosby. They think I wrote ‘Guinevere.’ ”

Related Stories:

•Graham Nash Performs “Right Between the Eyes”
•CSN Reflect on Their Epic 40-Year Career
•CSN Talk About CSN: Déjàa VuMovie

The biopic based on Joan Jett and Cherie Curie’s all-girl rock band The Runaways hits theaters in select cities tomorrow, and Rolling Stone is giving away three badass prizes to celebrate. One grand prize winner will receive a Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker Gibson guitar — the same model guitar Jett played while in the Runaways (check it out in the image above, and find out more on Gibson’s site), and a Runaways movie prize pack including a copy of Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story, a copy of Todd Oldham’s Joan Jett photo book with intro by Kathleen Hanna, a copy of The Runaways movie soundtrack, a copy of Joan Jett’s greatest hits album, and The Runaways movie T-shirt, poster, guitar pick and button. Two runners up will each score a Runaways movie prize pack.

The Runaways Gibson Guitar giveaway is open to residents of the 50 United States and Washington, DC who are 18 years of age or older as of March 15, 2010. o enter, fill out the form after the jump. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 pm EST on March 18, 2010 and ends at 11:59 pm EST on April 2, 2010. Number of winners: 3. Certain restrictions may apply. Complete Official Rules are available after the jump.

Loading…

Official Rules for the “The Runaways Gibson Guitar Giveaway” Sweepstakes

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States and Washington DC (EXCLUDING RESIDENTS OF OVERSEAS MILITARY INSTALLATIONS, PUERTO RICO, AND OTHER U.S. TERRITORIES) who as of March 18, 2010 are 18 years of age or older.

Sponsor: Rolling Stone LLC (“Rolling Stone”)

1. How to Enter:
a. To enter the “The Runaways Gibson Guitar Giveaway” Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”), visit the RollingStone.com website at RollingStone.com/therunawayssweepstakes and follow the registration and entering directions provided therein, or e-mail your name, address, telephone number, age and email address to contests [at] rollingstone [dot] com with the subject line “The Runaways Gibson Guitar Giveaway”. Limit one entry per person. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on March 18, 2010. All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on April 2, 2010. For privacy policy, visit http://www.rollingstone.com/privacypolicy-update.

b. No mechanically reproduced or computer generated entries permitted. Not responsible for lost, late or misdirected entries, or entries containing incorrect or incomplete information. Not responsible for any problems or technical malfunctions of any telephone network or lines, computer, on-line, or Internet systems or services, servers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email or entry or confirmation or winners notice on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet, problems with RollingStone.com website or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to entrant’s or any other person’s computer resulting from downloading any materials in connection with the Sweepstakes. Entries become the property of RollingStone.com and will not be acknowledged or returned.

2. Winner(s):
a. Selection of Winner. Three (3) winners will be selected from a random drawing held on or about April 2, 2010 from among all eligible entries received by a panel of judges selected by Sponsor. The winners will be notified by e-mail or telephone. Odds of winning depend on number of eligible entries received.

b. Decisions of Sponsor are final on all matters relating to the Sweepstakes.

3. Prize(s):
a. One (1) grand winner will receive the following prize (the “Prize”) with an approximate retail value (“ARV”) of: $1200.00:
• Gibson Guitar, Joan Jett Signature Melody Maker
• The Runaways Movie Prize Pack: A copy of Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story, a copy of Todd Oldham’s Joan Jett photo book with intro by Kathleen Hanna, a copy of The Runaways movie soundtrack, a copy of Joan Jett’s greatest hits album, and The Runaways movie t-shirt, poster, guitar pick and button.

b. Two (2) runner-up winners will receive the following Prize with an ARV of $132.41 each:
• The Runaways Movie Prize Pack: A copy of Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story, a copy of Todd Oldham’s Joan Jett photo book with intro by Kathleen Hanna, a copy of The Runaways movie soundtrack, a copy of Joan Jett’s greatest hits album, and The Runaways movie t-shirt, poster, guitar pick and button.

c. Actual retail value of the Prize may vary. If the prize includes travel and winner cannot travel on the dates required to attend the Event, winner will forfeit the Prize in its entirety and Sponsor may, at its option, either select a second place winner in his or her place or be relieved of liability for fulfillment of the Prize. Winner is responsible for any expenses not expressly included in the Prize description, such as additional ground transportation expenses, incidentals, meals, beverages and any other expenses.

d. Certain restrictions and blackout dates may apply. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value.

4. General:
a. Employees, directors and officers of Sponsor, its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising or promotional agencies, and their immediate family members and/or those living in same household are not eligible.

b. No substitution or transfer of prize permitted except as provided herein. Prizes are non-redeemable for cash. In the event of unavailability, Sponsor may substitute a prize of greater or equal value.

c. All federal/state/local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winner, who will receive an IRS Form 1099 reflecting the final actual value of any prize valued at $600 or more. Consult with your tax professional regarding potential tax implications.

d. Potential finalists must execute Affidavit of Eligibility/Release of Liability Form(s) within 10 days of notification. Noncompliance, or return of prize notification as undeliverable or inability to locate finalist within 5 days after notification will result in disqualification and selection of an alternate finalist. Winner’s travel companion must execute a Release of Liability Form.

e. By participating in the Sweepstakes and accepting any prize, entrants and winner agrees to release and hold harmless Sponsor, its respective parent companies, subsidiaries, affiliates and related companies, and each of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents (collectively, “Released Parties”) from and against any and all liability whatsoever for any loss, harm, damage, injury, cause of action, claim, cost or expense (including without limitation any property damage, personal injury and/or death) arising out of or in connection with the Sweepstakes, including without limitation participation in any Sweepstakes-related activity and/or possession, acceptance, use or misuse of any prize.

Released Parties shall not be responsible for any cancellations, delays, diversions or substitutions or any act or omissions whatsoever by any performer(s)/event(s), air carrier(s), hotel(s), or other transportation companies or any other persons providing any of these services and accommodations to passengers including any results thereof such as changes in services or accommodations necessitated by same. The passenger contracts in use by the airlines or other transportation companies shall constitute the sole contracts with respect to the winner’s and his/her travel companion’s transportation and such contracts shall be solely between the winner, his/her travel companion and such transportation companies. Released Parties shall not be parties to such contracts and shall assume no responsibility in this connection. Released Parties shall not be liable for any loss, theft or damage of cash, cameras, jewelry, securities, heirlooms, negotiable papers or other valuables. Released Parties are not responsible if Sweepstakes cannot take place or if prize cannot be awarded due to travel cancellations, delays or interruptions due to acts of God, acts of war, natural disasters, weather or acts of terrorism.

Sponsor’s failure to enforce any term of these rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. By participating in the Sweepstakes, you waive the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages.

f. Participation in the Sweepstakes constitutes consent to use entrant’s name, biographical information, image and likeness for editorial, advertising and publicity purposes without additional compensation, except where prohibited by law. Entrant releases and holds harmless the Released Parties for any liability, claims and causes of action based on defamation or violation of rights of publicity or privacy.

g. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any person tampering with the entry process, the operation of RollingStone.com or who is otherwise in violation of the Official Rules. Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, terminate or modify the Sweepstakes in the event the Sweepstakes is not capable of completion as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, or technical failures of any kind. In the event of a dispute as to entries submitted by multiple users having the same email account, the authorized subscriber of the email account used to enter the Sweepstakes at the actual time of entry will be deemed to be the entrant and must comply with these Official Rules. Authorized account subscriber is deemed to be the natural person who is assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, on-line service provider or other organization which is responsible for assigning email addresses or the domain associated with the submitted email address. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PARTICIPANT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITE OR TAMPER WITH OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SWEEPSTAKES IS A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK REMEDIES AND DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH ENTRANT(S) TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

h. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which shall be final and binding with regard to all matters relating to the Sweepstakes.

i. Any dispute arising from this Sweepstakes will be determined according to the laws of the State of New York, without reference to its conflict of laws principles, and the entrants consent to the personal jurisdiction of the State and Federal Court located in New York County and agree that such courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all such disputes.

5. The Sponsor of the Sweepstakes is Rolling Stone LLC, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

6. Winner’s List:

For names of prize winners, after April 2, 2010, send a separate, stamped, self-addressed, No.10 envelope to: “The Runaways Gibson Guitar Giveaway” c/o Rolling Stone Online, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104.

Photo: Kravitz/FilmMagic
When Rolling Stone talked to Jack White last November, the multitasking rocker promised a new Dead Weather disc by March 2010. So far, no LP, but the Dead Weather’s official website just revealed the title of the upcoming record — Sea of Cowards — and a vague timetable for its release: “Coming Soon.”

While it’s unclear when Sea of Cowards is arriving — reports of an early May release are being bandied about — we won’t have to wait long for the first single, as TwentyFourBit has identified an Amazon.com page boasting the song “Die By the Drop” as the album’s first single. It appears that “Die By the Drop,” backed by the B side “Old Mary,” will be released digitally on March 23rd, a mere five days from now. Added bonus: 30-second excerpts of both tracks are currently streaming at the e-tailer. UPDATE: The band’s reps tell Rolling Stone Amazon’s March 23rd release date is incorrect. As of now, there is no firm drop date for the track.

“We have a lot of songs cooking right now, we’ve been playing a few of them live, and I’m sure by March the entire 20 or 25 songs will be onstage by then,” White told Rolling Stone in November 2009. “We can’t tell you that much about it except that it’s gonna be really expansive, and I use that word loosely in a scientific sense, meaning that I’m just using it to distract you.”

Related Stories:

• The Dead Weather Muse on the Future of Music, Supergroup Wars
• Jack White Says Expect a New Dead Weather Disc in Early 2010
• Jack White Can’t Stop Dancing in Dead Weather’s Second “I Cut Like a Buffalo” Video

Photo: Wargo/WireImage

What’s the only thing better than becoming the first acclaimed all-female rock band? Becoming the first all-female rock band to get your own biopic. At least that was the feeling during Wednesday night’s premiere of The Runaways, the true story of the five teenage girls who spent the Seventies kicking their way down the Sunset Strip and into the boys’ club. On the red carpet at New York’s Landmark Sunshine theater, the E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt called the Runaways “my heroes.” Debbie Harry embraced Runaways rhythm guitarist Joan Jett. Chloe Sevigny showed up in black leather, perhaps as a tribute to Jett’s favorite kind of pants. Outside, teenage girls lined up for autographs — one was even clutching what looked like a brand-new guitar.

Check out photos from the set of The Runaways.

Asked about the young rockers amassed behind the velvet ropes, Runaways star Kristen Stewart, who plays Jett in the film, was thrilled. “If I go out there and everyone’s wearing shag haircuts like Joan,” she said, “I’ll know we did something right.” Sure enough, if Stewart earned one rhinestone for every shag haircut outside, every inch of the metallic strapless dress she wore that night would be bedazzled by now.

For the second time in the past 30 years, the Runaways are becoming icons, and the film makes it easy to understand why. Director Floria Sigismondi, who’s made music videos for the White Stripes and Marilyn Manson, offers a fresh, unapologetically girlie twist on hoary old rock biopic clichés. So instead of groupie orgies, there’s a very sweet love scene between Jett and singer Cherie Currie, who never takes off her roller skates. And instead of fights over record contracts, there’s heated debates about the fashion-forwardness of pink corsets.

But there’s never any doubt that these feathered-haired vamps aren’t just as serious about playing music as corseted beauties like, say, David Bowie. It’s just that this is a coming-of-age story, not only for the teenage girls in the band, but for rock & roll itself, which was changing right along with them. “The Seventies was a perfect time to be a teenager, because it was such an era of experimentation with sex and drugs and rock music,” says Sigismondi. “And the Runaways were a truly experimental band: they did all the things young girls weren’t supposed to do.” That includes getting high in airplane bathrooms and urinating on some rude rocker dude’s guitar (as Jett does in one scene).

True to that spirit, Sigismondi is also doing a few things she’s not supposed to do, like casting two former child stars — Stewart and Dakota Fanning, both flown in from a little vampire movie franchise you might have heard of — in a feature that deals frankly with subjects like pill-popping and softcore porn and masturbation. As one blog recently joked, it’s Twilight Girls Gone Wild.

At first, Fanning was anxious about playing Cherie Currie, especially since she knew her real singing voice would be used in the film. “Even the thought of singing karaoke has always terrified me,”admits the 16-year-old actress. “And I had never felt the power of a band behind me.” So Sigismondi arranged for Fanning to practice with the Living Things, an L.A. rock band that features the director’s husband, Lillian Berlin. Currie also taught Fanning her favorite trick: wrapping the microphone chord around her leg, and then unspooling it until it flies into the air for her to catch. Soon, Fanning was so comfortable onstage that she invited her own mother to watch her writhing around to the jailbait anthem “Cherry Bomb,” which includes heavy-breather lyrics like, “I’ll give you something to live for / Have you, grab you ’til you’re sore!”

Currie was impressed. “I got knots on my head the size of lemons when I didn’t do that microphone thing right,” she admits. As a token of her admiration, she lent Fanning a prized Runaways relic: a Davie Bowie belt she’d made herself at age 15. Fanning wears it proudly during the film.

Stewart also heavily researched her role, though she did most of her homework on the bathroom floor of Joan Jett’s hotel room in Seattle. She’d flown out to see Jett play on New Year’s Eve of 2008, and the two women spent the whole night sprawled on the linoleum, talking excitedly about the Runaways. Jett burned albums and live bootlegs for Stewart, and even allowed her to borrow tape-recorded letters to an aunt that Jett had made at age 13. “Getting her voice down at that age was really important to me,” says Stewart, 19. “She’s just saying things like ‘I’m eating a microwave pizza now!’ It’s funny that this total rock star was once just like any other lazy teenager.”

Now, that former lazy teenager couldn’t be more proud. Jett admits that seeing the 19-year-old actress on screen was “like looking into a mirror.” And she’s proud that her band is finally getting its due. Though their debut album never sold more than 25,000 copies, Jett has since gone platinum with her group the Blackhearts, and Runaways lead guitarist Lita Ford may be the best-known heavy-metal goddess of all time. Plus, Jett says, the Runaways’ message — that girls can do whatever the hell they want to — is still important for people to hear. “Women are still second-class citizens,” she says. “I was flying back from a show in Japan, and the flight attendants walked around first class asking all the men what they wanted to drink, and no one asked me. That’s why it’s important for me to get this movie out there, not just to inspire girls to pick up an instrument, but to tell them, ‘Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Make your own victories. Make your own mistakes.’ ”

That also goes for Currie, who once refused an interview with a certain music magazine. “I turned down the cover of Rolling Stone, because I knew the girls would kill me,” she says. “Kids, how do they deal with something like that? We were so young.”

Related Stories:

• Watch a New Runaways Trailer, See Exclusive Photos From the Set
• Joan Jett Talks Big Hits, Career Blows and Runaways Drama
• Lita Ford Returns With “Sexual” LP, Explains Runaways Movie Rift