Gavin DeGraw
With Matt Wertz
At the Wilbur Theatre
Thursday, September 4, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $28.00
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:00 am

Kate Voegele
With the Virginia Coalition
At the Somerville Theatre
Friday, September 26, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $17.50
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:00 am

The Fratellis
With the Airborne Toxic Event & Electric Touch
At the Orpheum Theatre
Friday, October 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00
Tickets go on-sale Friday, August 1, 2008 at 10:00 am

Against Me!
With Ted Leo and the Pharmacists & The Future of the Left
At the Wilbur Theatre
Sunday, October 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 10:00 am

Jonatha Brooke
With Glen Phillips
At the Wilbur Theatre
Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $25.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 10:00 am

Alan Jackson
With Trace Adkins and James Otto
At the DCU Center
Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $46.50 and $59.50
Tickets go on-sale Monday, August 4, 2008 at 10:00 am

Joan Osborne
With Matt Morris
At the Somerville Theatre
Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $28.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 10:00 am

Broken Social Scene
With Land of Talk
At the Wilbur Theatre
Sunday, October 26, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $27.50
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, August 2, 2008 at 10:00 am

All tickets available at 617-931-2000 and Ticketmaster.

Columbia Pictures has announced that Jack White and Alicia Keys have recorded the theme song to the upcoming James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."

The pair follow in the footsteps of such previous theme-song providers as Shirley Bassey, Sheena Easton, a-ha, Duran Duran, Madonna, Carly Simon and Chris Cornell.

Now, what rhymes with quantum?

Two shows are picking up stakes:

The Missy Higgins show scheduled for tonight at the Wilbur Theatre and the Spiritualized show set for the same venue tomorrow have both been moved across the street to the Roxy. All original tickets will be honored. Tickets are still available for Higgins here, and Spiritualized here.

Also you can read up on Spiritualized's dreamy new album here.

Set times have been announced for the two stages of hip-hop heavies at tomorrow's "Rock the Bells" show at the Comcast Center featuring Nas, A Tribe Called Quest, Ghostface and more.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and the show kicks off at noon with D.C. comer Wale. Pace yourself though, because headliners Tribe don't go on until 9:25. Here's the main stage line-up and here's the side stage. Tickets are still available here. And remember, set times are subject to change.

Liz Phair recently re-released her splendid debut album "Exile in Guyville." To support the re-issue she's taking to the road and will hit the Paradise on Aug. 29. Tickets are $25 and on sale here.

Additional tickets for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show Aug. 2 at Gillette Stadium will go on sale today at 10 am through Ticketmaster.

These should be fairly decent ones too since, according to the press release, "The tickets were previously held back while stage dimensions and production elements were finalized."

Farm Aid 2008 with Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and more
At the Comcast Center
Sept. 20 at 1:00 pm
Tickets are $35.00, $55.00, $95.00 and VIP tickets for $200.00*
*plus $7.00 venue and applicable convenience fees
Tickets go on-sale Monday, July 28, 2008 at 10:00 am

Alanis Morissette
At the Orpheum Theatre
Sept. 20 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $35.00, $45.00 and $55.00
Tickets go on-sale Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 10:00 am

Kate Voegele
With Virginia Coalition
At the Somerville Theatre
Sept. 26 at 7:30 pm
Tickets are $17.50
Tickets go on-sale Friday, July 25, 2008 at 10:00 am

It was a good year for British music. Nominees for the Mercury Prize were announced today and it's an eclectic list that includes soul, rock, folk, dance and roots music. All that said, we're guessing Radiohead is a lock.

Adele, "19" (XL)

British Sea Power, "Do You Like Rock Music?" (Rough Trade)

Burial, "Untrue" (Hyperdub)

Elbow, "The Seldom Seen Kid" (Fiction/Universal)

Estelle, "Shine" (Atlantic)

Laura Marling, "Alas I Cannot Swim" (Virgin/EMI)

Neon Neon, "Stainless Style" (Lex)

Portico Quartet, "Knee-Deep In The North Sea" (Vortex)

Rachel Unthank & The Winterset, "The Bairns" (EMI)

Radiohead, "In Rainbows" (XL)

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand" (Rounder/Decca)

The Last Shadow Puppets, "The Age Of The Understatement" (Domino)

The winner will be announced Sept. 9

Good news for those of you who can't make it to Chicago in August for the always-awesome Lollapalooza festival: Fuse, the cable television music network, is setting up shop at this year's three-day blowout, Aug. 1-3 at Grant Park, to broadcast performances, interviews, and breaking news. Headliners include Radiohead, Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, and Gnarls Barkley.

In other Fuse news, the network is stepping up its original programming, which could mean we're in for some cool music-related reality shows or it could spell disaster. Coming this fall:

“Redemption Song,” where ten down-on-their-luck women vie for a record deal.
“Fuse Excellent Adventure,” where comedian Nate Jackson travels the musical corners of the earth to meet the world’s most interesting, entertaining and devoted music fans.
“Rock Bottom,” which follows rising musical groups as they stage an intervention and give one troubled band member dealing with drug addiction, alcoholism or personality problems a choice – clean up your act or get replaced.

Perry Farrell told British music mag NME that the members of Jane's Addiction are planning to meet to discuss getting back together. "We've got to figure out a common ground," Farrell said. "Jane's Addiction is a very inflammable group -- there's a lot of very strong personalities. But I still think it would be worth it to get Jane's Addiction together because the people and the party that could ensue from that would be so amazing it's worth making up over." Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins, Farrell, and Eric Avery performed together for the first time in 17 years during the NME Awards in Los Angeles on April 23.

Talk about a no-brainer. Feist, whose upbeat ditty "1234" propelled her to untold heights of indie-fabulousness, has rerecorded her global hit -- with altered lyrics -- and filmed a sweet new video of the song for "Sesame Street." The singer is slated to appear on the children's television show in August, but you can check out the video here.

This morning's inbox contained a message from Britney Spears' manager Larry Rudolph:

Britney Spears is spending her summer in the recording studio, working on a brand new album. She’s working with a team of top-notch producers and songwriters and we’re very excited about what she’s accomplished so far. No album release date has been confirmed yet.

Check out the video for "House of Cards," the slow jam from "In Rainbows." According to sources more knowledgeable than yours truly the images were created using 3D plotting technologies that collect information about the shapes and relative distances of objects, and the video was made entirely with visualizations of that data. In other words, it's modern, mysterious, cerebral, and beautiful. Totally Radiohead.

Coldplay kicked off its summer tour in La La Land last night complete with floating video globes, missed cues, pre-recorded backing tracks, and a two-song trip to the uppermost tier of the Fabulous Forum. Read all about it here. And here's the set list:

"Life in Technicolor"
"Violet Hill"
"Clocks"
"In My Place"
"Viva La Vida"
"42"
"Yes"
"The Scientist"
"Chinese Sleep Chant"
"God Put a Smile Upon Your Face"
"Square One"
"Speed of Sound"
"Trouble"
"Lost!"
"Strawberry Swing"
"Yellow"
"Death Will Never Conquer"
"Fix You"
"Lovers In Japan"
"Death and All His Friends" / "The Escapist"

Beck is snubbing us on his upcoming tour. In fact he's skipping every market east of Chicago on the road show supporting "Modern Guilt." Here's hoping he's going to flesh out the schedule in coming weeks. If not, we might take back the glowing review.

This just in from MTV...We'll forgive the mangled grammar. They must be so excited.

"After 14 years since Guns N’ Roses last official music release, Axl Rose selects Rock Band 2 to debut official new track “Shackler's Revenge” from the highly-anticipated album Chinese Democracy."

In other Rock Band 2 news:

Rock Band 2 is the first and only video game to feature the music of AC/DC. It includes their epic rock anthem, "Let There Be Rock.”

For the first time ever, music from American music icon, Bob Dylan, is featured in a video game with “Tangled Up In Blue.”

Rock Band 2 will feature backwards compatibility with all Rock Band downloadable music content released to date.

Owners of the original Rock Band will have the ability to export most of the Rock Band disc tracks and upgrade them into Rock Band 2 gameplay--the first time ever in videogame history!

Here's the complete track list:

AC/DC “Let There Be Rock”
AFI “Girl’s Gone Grey”
Alanis Morissette “You Oughta Know”
Alice in Chains “Man in the Box”
Allman Brothers “Ramblin’ Man”
Avenged Sevenfold “Almost Easy”
Bad Company “Shooting Star”
Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want”
Beck “E-Pro”
Bikini Kill “Rebel Girl”
Billy Idol “White Wedding Pt. I”
Blondie “One Way or Another”
Bob Dylan “Tangled Up in Blue”
Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”
Cheap Trick “Hello There”
Devo “Uncontrollable Urge”
Dinosaur Jr. “Feel the Pain”
Disturbed “Down with the Sickness”
Dream Theater “Panic Attack”
Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf”
Elvis Costello “Pump It Up”
Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way”
Foo Fighters “Everlong”
Guns N’ Roses “Shackler’s Revenge”
Interpol “PDA”
Jane’s Addiction “Mountain Song”
Jethro Tull “Aqualung”
Jimmy Eat World “The Middle”
Joan Jett “Bad Reputation”
Journey “Anyway You Want It”
Judas Priest “Painkiller”
Kansas “Carry On Wayward Son”
L7 “Pretend We’re Dead”
Lacuna Coil “Our Truth”
Linkin Park “One Step Closer”
Lit “My Own Worst Enemy”
Lush “De-Luxe”
Mastodon “Colony of Birchmen”
Megadeth “Peace Sells”
Metallica “Battery”
Mighty Mighty Bosstones “Where’d You Go”
Modest Mouse “Float On”
Motorhead “Ace of Spades”
Nirvana “Drain You”
Norman Greenbaum “Spirit in the Sky”
Panic at the Disco “Nine in the Afternoon”
Paramore “That’s What You Get”
Pearl Jam “Alive”
Presidents of the USA “Lump”
Rage Against the Machine “Testify”
Ratt “Round & Round”
Red Hot Chili Peppers “Give it Away”
Rise Against “Give it All”
Rush “The Trees”
Silversun Pickups “Lazy Eye”
Smashing Pumpkins “Today”
Social Distortion “I Was Wrong”
Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot”
Soundgarden “Spoonman”
Squeeze “Cool for Cats”
Steely Dan “Bodhitsattva”
Steve Miller Band “Rock’n Me”
Survivor “Eye of the Tiger”
System of a Down “Chop Suey”
Talking Heads “Psycho Killer”
Tenacious D “Master Exploder”
Testament “Souls of Black”
The Donnas “New Kid in School”
The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat”
The Grateful Dead “Alabama Getaway”
The Guess Who “American Woman”
The Muffs “Kids in America”
The Offspring “Come Out & Play (Keep ‘em Separated)”
The Replacements “Alex Chilton”
The Who “Pinball Wizard”
Bonus Artist / Bonus Song Title
Abnormality “Visions”
Anarchy Club “Get Clean”
Bang Camaro “Night Lies”
Breaking Wheel “Shoulder to the Plow”
The Libyans “Neighborhood”
The Main Drag “A Jagged Gorgeous Winter”
Speck “Conventional Lover”
The Sterns “Supreme Girl”
That Handsome Devil “Rob the Prez-O-Dent”

Word is that after more than a decade in the making, a track from the long-awaited Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" will be released in September -- on the video game Rock Band 2. The inclusion of "Shackler's Revenge" in the popular game would seem to indicate that the new album will actually be released this fall, an event akin to hell freezing over. Stay tuned for an official announcement, expected later today.

John Mellencamp comes to the Bank of America Pavilion for two shows tomorrow and Tuesday with Lucinda Williams. (Tix still available here).

We did a quick email Q&A with him this week about his new album "Life, Death, Love, And Freedom," which was produced by T Bone Burnett and, like good coffee, is strong, dark, and stimulating. ("SE" also snuck in a question about his upcoming musical theatre collaboration with Stephen King, "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.")

Tuesday will be a big day for Mellencamp, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. In addition to his second Boston show, "LDLF" drops in stores, and he will have news in the Globe about this year's Farm Aid benefit concert.

Q. Having produced yourself for so many years where did the impulse to call T Bone come from for the new album?

A. Having known T bone for a long time, I always liked his production. He gave me the freedom to concentrate more on the songs and my performance and not being as concerned [with] what the band was doing.

Q. As a songwriter and performer you have always projected a very individual attitude that seemed unconcerned with outside opinion or influence, but that sense of liberation really comes across forcefully on this album. Is that simply a function of evolution or did you approach the songwriting/singing differently this time?

A. All of the above... at this point it would seem incorrect to chase some elusive
formula.

Q. There is a good deal of rumination about death on the record but there are also several instances of you expressing gratitude, wonderment, and even a little bit of hope for the way you have lived, fought, and loved. Did recording this album alter your feelings about mortality at all or the way you hope to live the rest of your life?

A. One should not assume that this record is personal, these songs were written over a 15 day period in the tradition of the American folk songbook.

Q. It's terrific that you're touring with Lucinda. Any chance you two might be performing together at all?

A. Haven't discussed it yet...it’s a nice idea.

Q. Little Big Town member Karen Fairchild provides some great harmonies on the album. What was the inspiration for her inclusion?

A. I have worked with Karen on [his last album] "Freedom's Road" as well as LBT opened up for me for a tour, so I have found that our voices sound good together.

Q. How much did you love Billy Joel's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction speech? What did you make of his sentiment that the world needs to hear the particular way you give voice to feelings of frustration and alienation?

A. Billy is a great songwriter so I always appreciate his thoughts...and humor.

Q. On your last album you observed that freedom's road must be under construction. Do you have any reason to believe that it will be re-opened any time soon?

A. There is always hope and optimism.

Q. What is the status of your theatrical collaboration with Mr. King?

A. Still working. Steve is very fastidious, and I believe is re working the 2nd act.

-Britney's going to be part of Madonna's upcoming "Sticky and Sweet" Tour. And Madonna's brother claims she's a narcisisst in his upcoming book.

-Amy Winehouse can't stop hitting people.

-The Smashing Pumpkins plan to celebrate their 20th anniversary. China is the appropriate gift.

-Duncan Campbell, along with Maxi Priest, is taking over for his brother Ali as the new lead singer of UB40.

-The Flaming Lips describe their new album as a combination of John Lennon and Miles Davis.

-Former Foreigner belter Lou Gramm is recording a Christian Rock album.

-Lil Wayne has reclaimed the top spot on the Billboard albums chart from Coldplay.

-The CMT series "Gone Country" is returning for a second season of trying to turn non-country singers into country singers. This year's batch includes: misunderstood actress Sean Young, former "American Idol" contestant and mini-Fran Drescher Mikalah Gordon, Chris Kirkpatrick of N Sync who clearly didn't learn his lesson from "Mission: Man Band," Sebastian Bach, Jermaine Jackson, and Irene Cara of "Fame" fame. (Anyone remember "D.C. Cab"?) The show premieres next month.

Remember that contest we told you about where local bands compete for an opening slot at Coldplay's Boston show? The folks at WFNX have whittled the field down to 15 and now it's your turn. Check out the bands here and vote for your favorite. The top three will go to Coldplay, who make the final selection.

Somebody at Capitol Records has his/her finger on the pulse. Responding to music fans' growing appetite for vinyl -- a subject that writer Jonathan Perry covered eloquently in the Boston Globe -- the label is launching "From the Capitol Vaults," a vinyl campaign that kicks off with the Aug. 19 release of eight remastered titles: A Perfect Circle’s "Mer de Noms," Coldplay’s "Parachutes" and "A Rush Of Blood To The Head," Radiohead’s "OK Computer," "Kid A," "Amnesiac," and "Hail To The Thief," and Steve Miller Band’s "Greatest Hits 1974-78."

What a guy. To celebrate his 38th birthday, Beck gave us a present: "Modern Guilt." Read the Boston Globe review here.

“That’s not our bag. I didn’t spend a year in the most expensive studio in England, with the most expensive producer in America and the most expensive graphic designer in London, to then give it away. F*** that.”

The ever-candid and refreshingly old-school Noel Gallagher on why Oasis won't be taking a cue from the recent pay-what-you-like tactics of Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. Fans can expect to pony up full price for the new Oasis album, "Dig Out Your Soul," due in October.

Hot Stove, Cool Music has announced the headliners for the fourth annual Summer Sessions blowout, to take place Aug. 17 at Bank of America Pavilion. Legendary blues guitarist Buddy Guy, blues-rocker George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and Boston Globe scribe-turned-ESPN commentator-turned-bluesman Peter Gammons (with the Hot Stove All-Stars) will top the bill at this year's charity concert to benefit Theo Epstein's A Foundation to Be Named Later. Expect a host of local sports and music luminaries to join in the festivities. Click here for info and tickets.

This just in: tickets at various price levels have been released for Madonna's Oct. 15 concert at the Garden. Click here immediately to nab a pair.

Berklee alum and onetime Newbury Comics clerk extraordinaire Aimee Mann has tapped the Submarines -- featuring ex-Jack Drag leader Jack Dragonetti and his lovely wife, Harvard grad/former Star Hustler singer Blake Hazard -- to open a string of East Coast dates this summer, including a July 26 show at Berklee. They all live in L.A. now, natch. Mann is touring behind "@#%@*! Smilers," her latest collection of downbeat gems, and the Submarines are plying tunes from the duo's new collection of blissed-out pop, "Honeysuckle Weeks." Should be a happy-sad kind of night. Click here to buy tickets.

Pop music renaissance man Elvis Costello is about to add a new tag to his hyphenate: television talk-show host. The 13-part series "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..." features the whip-smart songwriter chatting and playing music with such luminaries as Elton John (a co-producer of the program), Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, artist and film director Julian Schnabel, and saxophonist/former President Bill Clinton. "Spectacle" premieres Dec. 3 on the Sundance Channel.

Here at "Sound Effects" we believe in the power of two. In tomorrow's Globe and right now over at Boston.com we take a look at how the hip-hop shift in the pop world transformed the traditional duet. Where two singers once came together we now have rappers and vocalists teaming up for the ever-popular "featuring" format that rules the charts. (Think "Yeah!' by Usher featuring Ludacris or "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, or pretty much half the songs in the current top 40).

Tons of great songs have come out in this format over the last ten years but hearing "No Air" by Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown got us to thinking about all those great old duets from the '60s-'90s.

As a sidebar to the story we could only fit in 20 of our faves. (Click here for a look at that list, pictures, and videos). But here on the blog we wanted to stretch out and include even more, because once we started compiling the list, we had friends, family, and everyone within shouting distance of our cubicle offering up suggestions of treasured classics- and not so classics- and songs that didn't fit the nitpicky rules of the main story which focused on big pop chart hits, not deep cuts or one-offs like some of those listed below. (Some of those rules still apply here like no songs by groups that were established as duos- sorry Sonny & Cher, Simon & Garfunkel, and Peaches & Herb- or had male/female lead singers like Human League.)

So we've added about 30 more and wanted to single out a few for special praise either for the quirkiness of the pairing, the sweet video that made the song seem better than it was, or the moment in time that it captured. Please feel free to add your choices in the comments because with hundreds of great options there's no way we could list them all.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside," Ricardo Montalban & Esther Williams. This song has been done by dozens of terrfic pairs but we're partial to this sweet and sassy version from the movie "Neptune's Daughter.' Check out Mr. Rourke's pipes!

"Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth," David Bowie & Bing Crosby. Hands down our favorite Christmas duet. Whoever thought to put these two unlikely partners together is a genius.

"Hate That I Love You," Ne-Yo & Rihanna. Of the few recent bona fide duets we like this easy, breezy one because it captures that feeling of being attracted to a person who drives you crazy and knows all the right buttons to push.

"Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy," Judy Garland & Barbara Streisand. We remain amazed at the skill displayed by these two divas.

"The Weight," The Band & The Staples Singers. Do two groups count as duet? We don't care. This clip from "The Last Waltz" is the definition of soul-stirring.

"There's Nothing Better Than Love," Luther Vandross & Gregory Hines. They may both be gone now but this sweet little tune lives on to remind us of how smooth they both were.

And in no particular order:

"I Never Talk To Strangers," Bette Midler & Tom Waits
"U Got the Look," Prince & Sheena Easton
"What Have I Done to Deserve This," Pet Shop Boys & Dusty Springfield
"The Heart Won't Lie," Reba McEntire & Vince Gill
"I Knew You Were Waiting For Me," George Michael & Aretha Franklin
"Fairytale of New York," The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl
"When Love Comes to Town," U2 & B.B. King
"Dancing in the Streets," David Bowie & Mick Jagger
"Say, Say, Say," and "The Girl is Mine," Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney
"Does He Love You," Reba McEntire & Linda Davis
"Whenever I Call You Friend," Stevie Nicks & Kenny Loggins
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
"The Closer I Get To You," Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway
"Did You Evah," Iggy Pop & Debbie Harry
"Don't Give Up," Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush
"Tiny Dancer," Elton John & Ryan Adams (From CMT's excellent duet series "Crossroads")
"On My Own," Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald
"Devoted to You," Carly Simon & James Taylor
"Tramp," Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
"Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves," Annie Lennox & Aretha Franklin
"The Next Time I Fall," Peter Cetera & Amy Grant
"Mendocino County Line," Willie Nelson & Leann Womack
"Easy Lover," Phil Collins & Phillip Bailey

Globe film critic Ty Burr makes a welcome "SE" guest appearance with this review of the Feelies' reunion show last night in Hoboken:

I was headed down to New York yesterday anyway, so when I read the New York Times article on the Feelies getting back together, my blackened old post-punk heart did a flip-flop. The gods of geometric strum, the missing link between the Velvets and REM, the mysterious New Jersey cool-jerks who originally only played on holidays were having a reunion, 17 years after co-leader Bill Million dropped off the face of the earth. (He went to Florida, actually. Details here.) Two shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken, more or less the womb from which they sprang, followed by a July 4th opening slot for Sonic Youth in Battery Park. Details here, if you move fast maybe you can still scam a ticket.)

Everyone and everything said the Wednesday night show at Maxwell's was sold out and then some, but then the heavens opened and manna dropped down in the form of a friend who got me on the guestlist. So there I was last night in Hoboken -- vastly gentrified from when I lived there for a year at the dawn of the 80s -- glorying in the droning, relentless guitar attack of this most eccentric of bands. Place was packed, Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley of Yo La Tengo were in the front row, director Jonathan Demme (who gave the Feelies a cameo in 1986's "Something Wild") was behind me with his wife and teenage son.

The re-uned Feelies line-up is not the one from the group's 1980 debut, Crazy Rhythms, but rather from the three less aggressively angular albums that followed from 1986 through 1991: Lead guitarist/vocalist Glenn Mercer, rhythm guitarist/strum maniac Million, bassist Brenda Sauter, drummer Stan Demeski (whose daughter's blog review of the first reunion show is downright adorable), and percussionist Dave Weckerman. They played two sets of muscular folk/punk/sonic meltdown that was remarkable for both the energy that built throughout the evening and for the group's astounding tightness. These are people who haven't played together for 17 years? (Well, all the members except Million have gigged together recently but he stepped back in without missing a beat, riffing his miked acoustic so fast his hands became blurs.)

My ears are still ringing (pleasantly, pleasantly) from all the jangle, so I'll pass on a full setlist, but there were plenty of favorites -- three songs off "Crazy Rhythms," including the spacious, off-kilter title cut -- and the usual propulsive covers: the Stones' "Paint It Black" and Patti Smith's "Dancing Barefoot," Neil Young's "Barstool Blues," "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" and "What Goes On" from the VU playbook. And a new song, a shimmering gallop with the stop-start chorus "Time. Right. Now. Tonight!"

Exactly. I tried to pin the group's manager down as to any upcoming Boston dates, but he shrugged and said, hey, they do what they want to do. The Feelies apparently approach their music career as a pesky annoyance from the real lives they're living west of the city, but then they set up shop on stage and everything falls else away, for them as for us.

Oh, all right, here:


TY BURR

-Eddie Vedder is embarking on the second leg of his solo tour and it will kick off with two shows at the Opera House Aug. 1 and 2. Liam Finn opens. A special pre-sale for members of Pearl Jam's Ten Club will begin at 9 am PDT on July 7 at the band's website. No public ticket info yet but we will post it when we get it. (And is it just "SE" or does Eddie sort of look like Desmond from "Lost"?)

UPDATE: Here is the public on sale info for the Vedder shows:

Tickets go on sale Friday, July 11 at 1:00 pm through the Opera House Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets.The base ticket price is $75 plus additional venue, service and handling fees. There is a four-ticket limit for the public on sale.

-It's official: The Boy George visa problems we told you about have led to the cancellation of his tour including his Aug. 13 date at the Wilbur Theatre. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

-Coldplay managed to stay on top of the Billboard album chart this week, followed by fellow hold-overs Lil Wayne and the "Camp Rock" soundtrack but the bad boys of the Sunset Strip roared in at number 4 with their first new album in 11 years "Saints of Los Angeles." Horns up, dude!

In honor of the Celtics' 17th NBA Championship, Bon Jovi is offering $17 tickets for the band's pair of Boston shows on July 9 and 10 at TD Banknorth Garden. We're guessing these aren't front-row seats. On the contrary. But it's still a baahgain.