It began with noise. The kind of fun-with-feedback session usually reserved for the closing moments of a Lemonheads show. Gratuitous and prolonged when, like a defiant spawn of the dissonance and cacophony in the air, came the opening chord progression of “Hospital” - so orderly, so sharp, a melody so saccharine it shouldn’t have tasted so genuinely sweet.

And thus began a litany of Dando-penned classics performed with greater exuberance and conviction than at any time in recent memory. (And there have been plenty, by the way, with The Lemonheads in the midst of a seemingly perpetual tour since releasing a little noticed and under appreciated collection of new songs nearly two years ago).

The band (a different line-up than the one that played Brooklyn just this past summer) dropped “Confetti” on a modest but reverent crowd who sang back-up on perhaps the most sing-alongable line in a catalog full of involuntary sing-alongs:

“He kinda shoulda sorta woulda loved her if he could’ve.”

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What a privilege it was to discover that the evil cold that struck me down last week also reached the lead singer of one of my favorite geeky ’90s rock groups, Cake. And while it took plenty of decongestants to get me out of the house Thursday night, I had to stop complaining when I saw poor John McCrea up onstage, taking swigs from his Thermos in between songs, postponing the laryngitis that’s made its way through New York City.

But really, if he hadn’t accused someone in one of the four opening acts of passing the germs on to him, I doubt we’d have noticed until the very end. Maybe that meant there were more solos from trumpet virtuoso Vincent DiFiore and more rockin’ out from guitarist Xan McCurdy, which is always a good thing.

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For anyone who has seen Brand New in the past year, they know the band has been filling up arenas across the country while promoting their latest album, The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me. Crazy light shows, drawn-out songs that sometimes don’t quite sound like the album versions and minimal crowd interaction on behalf of the band all add up to a typical Brand New concert.

For fans expecting that kind of show, last night’s concert at the Blender Gramercy Theater in New York City was a disappointment.

But for Brand New fans who’ve known the band since they first formed out of the Long Island scene that launched other pop-punk, emo and indie bands like the Movielife or Taking Back Sunday, last night was a rewind back to 2001, when the band released their debut album, Your Favorite Weapon, on Triple Crown Records and still played small clubs.

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Haiti’s most famous diplomat was very busy over the weekend in his native country. Wyclef Jean co-headlined the first Yele Festival with Akon; the event was the brainchild of the two recording artists and manager Jimmy “Henchman” Rosemond.

The two-day event included a tour of Haiti for journalists on Friday and a concert fundraiser Saturday.

“We cater to the press, answering questions, visiting the children’s prisons [in Port-au-Prince], the schools,” Rosemond said Friday. ” … There’s not too much stuff to do in Haiti. For it to be a two-day event is even big in itself. We’re trying to do something with Yele like how [Reggae] Sunsplash was for Jamaica. This will be a yearly event. In between, we’ll have smaller shows and cap off every year around this time with some of the biggest artists in the world.”

The Haitian-born Wyclef made a deal that he would perform in Senegal (Akon was born in St. Louis but raised in Senegal) sometime next year in return for ‘Kon performing in his homeland.

Read the rest of the story at MTVNews.com…

Driving through stop and go traffic from Hollywood to the Grove Theater (located in the parking lot of Angels Stadium of Anaheim), I asked my girlfriend a hypothetical question: Tori Amos and I need you to donate a kidney to survive, who gets it? Without hesitation, she responded Tori Amos. This was no shock to me, as I have known for a long time that the only folks crazier than Tori Amos herself, are her fans.

You see, my girlfriend is a diehard Tori Amos fan, which makes me a Tori Amos fan. Last night was the 9th time I received an all expense-paid trip to Toriland. Now don’t get me wrong, I have total respect for Tori and her music. I even like some of her songs. But on this night, I was just not in the mood. Let’s be honest here. I am a straight man who not only had to sacrifice watching one of the 49ers’ rare wins this season, but I just happen to prefer shows that are a bit more on the rock side. Thankfully, I did skip football and went to the show, as hands down this was the best Tori Amos show I have ever seen.

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Neil Westfall and Tom Denney of A Day to Remember, along with Chris Guglielmo of Bayside, show off their fresh ballpoint-pen knuckle tattoos (”Blink 182,” “Thug Life” and “Make Art”) at the Chicago offices of Victory Records.

Check out all of ADAYTOREMEMBER’s uploads on yourhere.mtv.com…

New You R Here user redman1130 recently got to meet Korn frontman Jonathan Davis after one of the singer’s solo shows in Charlotte, NC, and snapped this photo.

Check out all off redman1130’s uploads at yourhere.mtv.com…

New You R Here user stacey went to the Daughtry show on Friday at the Poland Spring Arena at the Ritacco Center in Toms River, NJ, and snapped some shots with her cellphone.

Check out all of stacey’s uploads at yourhere.mtv.com…

Last Friday the Staples Center hosted thousands of feverish fans amped beyond imagination. No, it wasn’t an NBA playoff game — the long-awaited Spice Girls reunion tour had landed in L.A. These fans were more likely to be wearing leopard print or a Union Jack than purple-and-gold Lakers gear. The moment the lights dimmed, deafening screams erupted from the crowd. Kobe would be thrilled to elicit that kind of excitement.

After a video montage that playfully recapped the rise and fall of the Spice Girls, the five rose from the floor on individual platforms and launched into “Spice Up Your Life,” which had the sold-out crowd gleefully slamming it to the left and shaking it to the right.

The group dutifully mastered some simple choreography, but the major grunt work in the dance department was handled by an energetic troupe of male dancers who participated in most numbers and entertained the crowd during lengthy costume-change intervals. They were good sports, even through the part where the Girls led them out on leashes!

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- “After next track ‘Black Dog,’ everything must’ve all just got too much for me and I cried! I totally cried for about five minutes. I knew it was gonna happen, but it still took me aback when it did!” (last.fm)

- “10:21 GMT: ‘Stairway to Heaven’ — It’s ‘Stairway.’ What more is there to say? Except that they pulled it off like champs. ‘Hey, Ahmet,’ says Plant at the end. ‘We did it!’ Indeed they did.” (openfansite.com)

- “Last night’s show brought together people from 50 countries. Standing around me was an American from Iraq, a couple from Chicago, a man from Birmingham, a person from Australia and a person whose parents didn’t let them go to see Led Zep in 1977 at Madison Square Garden when they were 12 years old. There seem one thing we all had in common … a love for rock and roll and the music and the memories Led Zeppelin gave to all of us.” (The Jeff Pulver Blog)

- “Afterward the crowd funneled out of the O2 arena in a daze, stumbling from the interior of the venue as if sleepwalking to the Tube. Some were singing, others walked humbly content. Most wore smiles that seemed somehow mysterious. No one knew exactly what it was that had just had occurred, or really where they had been, though all knew that it was good.” (Stereogum)