Speaking of R.E.M., that band has announced it will play a benefit concert on January 31 at New York's Carnegie Hall. Ticket prices start at $250 and go up to $1,250. The proceeds go to the Gay Men's Health Crisis, but I wonder how much scalpers will pocket given that the face value of even the cheapest ticket is already inflated. For the record, $1,250 gets you a front-row seat and a chance to meet the band. I guess those of us who saw R.E.M.'s intimate secret show at the Crocodile a few months back should feel extra lucky now. All you had to do to meet the band was hang out in the back bar.
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The Gorillaz are scheduled to play the Paramount Theatre on March 5, but showgoers shouldn't plan to rush the stage in hopes of getting an eyeful of cutie-pie Damon Albarn. The animated version of Gorillaz will be projected on a screen, and the musicians will play behind it.
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Perhaps Courtney Love's problem-plagued band Bastard might come together after all? I doubt it. Rumors that former Babes in Toyland frontwoman Kat Bjelland has hooked up with her on-again/off-again friend seem to be just that....
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My, my, my... if I'd known how much easier this job would be if I recycled corporate press releases and publicist gossip, I might have stayed home more. But I digress.
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Oh, fuck it. Proposed Never Mind Nirvana director Robert Meyer Burnett contacted me about last week's item on Mark Lindquist's novel--it is, indeed, becoming a feature film. Burnett is a local boy from Mercer Island who attended Evergreen before finishing up at the University of Southern California. He has one film under his belt (Free Enterprise, in which William Shatner raps), but Never Mind Nirvana looks to be a much bigger deal. Peter Krause (HBO's Six Feet Under) is who Burnett would like to play the Mark Lindquist/Pete Tyler character. The way Burnett sees it, it would be super to have lots of the local rock stars name-dropped in Lindquist's book play themselves in the movie; he even hopes to recreate the now-defunct Frontier Room for some key scenes.
So... does that mean Harvey Danger and the Murder City Devils will reunite for that infamous, fictional brawl at the Showbox? Will Love As Laughter's Sam Jayne return to Seattle for that scene in which he and Shuggie's Andrew McKeag bro down in a booth at the Cha Cha (because, you know, that happened all the time)?
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Speaking of Pine Street, regulars of the 'hood may be wondering what's going into the space that formerly housed sketchy second-hand store Abstract (next door to Bimbo's). Carlos Lourenco and Matthew Brose are teaming up for Double Trouble, a shop showcasing local designers as well as '70s and '80s vintage wear, scheduled to open February 1. Look for a special pre-opening benefit/dance party to happen in the very near future.
