Play Time

Jon Cooper and the fine folks over at Play, which is owned by the Register's parent company, have quite the birthday party planned for tonight. A free Birthday Bash, that is.

You've probably seen the event advertised in Play, or in Weekend, or seen it written about in Play, or in Weekend, but one more time can't hurt, right? One more slight nudge in the direction of Toad's Place just a few hours before the shindig begins sounds good.

Oh yeah, free pizza, free admission, free music ... what more could you ask for? I know, you're thinking that Play has done this before and the bands performing haven't always been great. Well, tonight, not only do four of the best local bands around play (Mountain Movers, Shadowgraphs, Queen Killing Kings and Arms and Legs), but also Evan Dando and whoever he's calling The Lemonheads these days.

If you're like me, the last time you saw Dando and company, the singer/songwriter had a crack pipe in his back pocket and enough other drugs and alcohol in his system to kill a large moose. The abuse didn't kill him, folks. It made him stronger. The new self-titled Lemonheads disc, released late last year, is great. I would go so far as to say it's the best, most consistent album of Dando's career. Take that.

So I'll you see at Toad's, I presume?
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Over at Cafe Nine, DJ Dooley-O will doing his thing. Aw yeah.

My Side Of The Story has a plan. What's that plan, you ask? To rock The Space tonight.

I have a friend, his name is Mr. Ryan Dixon, who used to love Posh Spice. He had her little Barbie doll (I know, that's sad), and he sang along to Spice Girls songs. I bet he's the only one excited about Victoria Beckham's reality show.

When I watched "The Queen," I didn't think Prince Charles seemed like a bad guy. Now I think we should fire the little bugger.

I mean, I know we need stories, but to ask whether Tyler Hicks is the first "American Idol" flop is about as stupid as asking if dirt is neon green, or if I plan on never eating Chinese food again. Come on, remember good old Ruben? The big dude? You do.

James Blunt may have a run over someone's foot. I wish someone would run over his recording contract.

Happy birthday Liz Taylor, who turns 75 today. In all seriousness, I thought she was like 90, at least. I guess I'm a dumb dumb.

Wow. Naomi Campbell regrets hitting her maid with a phone. Isn't this like the fourth time she's beaten up her maid though? Naomi needs to follow Evan's lead and lay off those pesky drugs.

You know that this woman goes to bed each night cursing Beyonce.

On Tuesday, I heard a rumor that former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley had did himself in, you know, went the suicide route. Well, it says here that's not true. Remember when Peter Criss had that guy pretending to be him? Man, that was rad.

And on that note, I'll call it a day. Come see me at Toad's tonight. I'll be the one hiding in the corner with a beer and a smile. That image just made me laugh out loud ....