Stay-at-home rocker

(Ethan Miller/reuters/file 2001)

Aaron Lewis isn't your typical rock star. For example, the Staind singer's got no use for LA and he's never been to the Playboy Mansion. "I don't think my wife would like that very much," says Lewis, a Longmeadow native who now lives in the Berkshires. "She wouldn't want to go, so I don't want to." Lewis, who's performing solo tomorrow at the opening of a new Hard Rock Cafe at Faneuil Hall Marketplace, said he leads a distinctly simple life. "This is God's country out here. I live in a town of 1,200 people -- there are more cows than people." Other rockers expected at tomorrow's Hard Rock rave include Boston's Barry Goodreau, Joey Kramer of Aerosmith, Scott Ian of Anthrax, and former Ozzy ax man Zakk Wylde.

Pierce shows some new moves

Looking a bit like the Silver Surfer, Paul Pierce was a dancing fool at a star-studded LA fund-raiser over the weekend. The Celts captain, sporting some serious bling, cohosted the Beverly Hills benefit with his bearded buddy Baron Davis. Guests included the legendary Stevie Wonder, former NBA star Magic Johnson, singer Angie Stone, rappers Ray J and Lil' Kim, actress Taryn Manning, actor Sean Patrick Flanery, and Jessica Alba 's ex Cash Warren. The fun continued yesterday with a charity basketball game featuring NBA stars Rashad McCants, Cuttino Mobley, and Deron Williams.

Finishing strong

Among the scores of cyclists who crossed the finish line of the 28th annual Pan-Mass Challenge yesterday were Stacey Lucchino, wife of Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, and ballplayers' better halves Shonda Schilling and Dawn Timlin. We also spied former Bruin Rick Middleton and teammate Terry O'Reilly, who rode a recumbent bike with fiancee Judy Songin. . . .

Lending Keith Lockhart a hand, "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Ray Romano was the celebrity guest conductor last night at the Boston Pops' annual gig on the Hyannis Village Green.

Being from New York, you might expect the Beastie Boys to be down on Boston. But talking to reporters before their sold-out show at the Opera House last night, Adam Horovitz, Michael Diamond, and Adam Yauch -- Adrock, Mike D, and MCA, respectively -- had kind words for their homies in the Hub. The wise-cracking white rappers (above, in June) are asking the audience to "dress to impress" on this tour, but their Boston fan base really represented: More than a few committed fans showed up in ties and tuxes last night. On the road to support their new, all-instrumental CD, "The Mix-Up," the hip-hoppers had a hard time keeping a straight face during their 25-minute media session -- the first press they've deigned to do on this tour. Asked how the band's managed to survive this long -- their debut LP "Licensed to Ill" came out in '86 -- Adrock said it hasn't been easy. Just last week, he said, Mike D tried to run him down in an alcoholic haze. Ah, the Beastie Boys are back.

In the end, Buck Biggers's crusading canine couldn't compete with Jason Bourne at the box office. Indeed, "Underdog" was mauled by Matt Damon's "The Bourne Ultimatum." "I still have a hunch there'll be a good audience for 'Underdog' because it's the only children's movie out now," Biggers said yesterday. The co-creator of the "Underdog" animated TV series, Biggers, who lives in Plymouth, told us he was initially skeptical of the movie, but was "pleasantly pleased" by the big-screen version. So is he upset that Damon's action flick did in his doggie. "Oh, no," said Biggers. "He's from Boston. I'm glad he's doing so well."

While waiting around to start shooting his new movie "The Happening," Mark Wahlberg's been out and about in Philadelphia. Yesterday, the Inquirer ran a picture of the Oscar-nominated actor with his girlfriend Rhea Durham and the couple's two cute kids, Ella Rae and Michael, paying a visit to Abby Cadabby at Sesame Place in the City of Brotherly Love. "The Happening," a thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan, stars Walhberg as a family man on the run after a natural disaster threatens to end the world.

We don't know what to think about that report in yesterday's New York Post claiming that a helicopter last week dropped an enormous box containing a hot tub onto an island in New Hampshire's Bow Lake for Police singer Sting. "It's news to me," Eric Gale of the Strafford, N.H., police told us. According to the Post, Sting was staying on the island during the Police's two-night stand at Fenway, and had specially ordered the tub to soak himself.

There were more than a few familiar faces dining at Amanda Lydon and Gabriel Frasca's Straight Wharf Restaurant on Nantucket the other night. CBS anchor Katie Couric was at one table, while former KISS-108 kahuna Richie Balsbaugh and Aerosmith screamer Steven Tyler were at another, and comedian/actor Kevin Flynn was at yet a third table. Who do you suppose attracted the most attention? Here's a hint: Flynn was with three models. . . . Separately, Tyler and Couric, accompanied by her boyfriend Brooks Perlin, were also into the Summer House over the weekend, where the anchor- woman even played a few tunes on the piano.

Sarah Rodman of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.