STEVIE WONDER, TENACIOUS D, DEAD WEATHER TO PLAY BONNAROO

Bonnaroo announced their 2010 lineup today. Like last year, it seems like they are having four headliners this year (the festival will be on June 10 - 13): The Dave Matthews Band, the sort of overrated Kings Of Leon, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z. Also on the bill: Tenacious D, Weezer, The Flaming Lips (doing their Dark Side Of The Moon thing), Damien Marley and Nas, Norah Jones, Michael Franti and Spearhead, John Fogerty (he should be a headliner!), newly minted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Jimmy Cliff, The Avett Brothers, Thievery Corporation, Tori Amos, Grammy-winners The Zac Brown Band, Les Claypool, John Prine, Steve Martin (yes, that one), Jeff Beck, The Dropkick Murphys, She & Him, Daryl Hall with a hip-hop duo called Chromeo (I gotta find out more about this), Jamey Johnson, Clutch, Kris Kristofferson, GWAR (what?), Tinariwen, The Gaslight Anthem, They Might Be Giants, Miranda Lambert, Calexico, Cross Canadian Ragweed and many, many more.

BEST OF THE 00's: DAVE GROHL

I remember watching The Backbeat Band on the MTV Movie Awards in 1994 and wondering if Dave Grohl would ever play to such a large crowd again.

At this point, of course, Nirvana had ended with Kurt Cobain's death, and no one could have anticipated that Dave Grohl would have become what he became. Dave was playing drums for a "supergroup" that also featured Afghan Whigs frontman Greg Dulli, Soul Asylum frontman Dave Pirner (a huge star at that time), Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, Don Flemming of Gumball and Mike Mills of R.E.M. They recorded an album of garage rock classics for the soundtrack of the film Backbeat, about the early days of The Beatles when they were playing clubs.

Of course we know how it all turned out: Grohl became the singer/songwriter/leader of Foo Fighters, one of the biggest rock bands of the second half of the '90s. 1995's Foo Fighters (essentially a solo album on which Dave played everything, except one guitar track by Dulli), 1997's The Colour and The Shape and 1999's There Is Nothing Left To Lose showed that Grohl was a great songwriter and leader in his own right, certainly influenced by Nirvana, but not afraid to go more metal, or more pop. Refreshingly, he didn't have a problem with being popular, playing arena stages, and rubbing shoulders with classic rockers.  That would continue in the '00.

2000's releases were a cover of Pink Floyd's "Have A Cigar" for the Mission Impossible II soundtrack (Foos drummer Taylor Hawkins sang lead, and Queen's Brian May played lead guitar), and a bunch of guest appearances.  Dave, along with Frank Black and David Bowie guested on a great song, "Jewel," from Bowie (then-) guitarist Reeves Gabrels' solo album, Ulysses.  In interviews, Grohl expressed hope that those musicians would work together again (which never happened). Also that year, Dave wrote, sang, and played drums on "Goodbye Lament" from Tony Iommi's debut album Iommi. Grohl has always had a great sense of humor (remember the Nirvana In Utero commercial with Bobcat Goldtwhait, and the Foo Fighters "Big Me" video?). In 2001, he played drums on Tenacious D's debut album, a rocking album.

Speaking of rocking, in 2002, he briefly joined Queens Of The Stone Age for the Songs For The Deaf album, probably the best album Dave played on in the '00s. The lineup at that point was singer/guitarist/songwriter/founder Josh Homme, along with bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri and singer Mark Lanegan (formerly of Screaming Trees). I don't always buy into the Queens, but I have a lot of respect for Josh, and this is his finest moment. The album really overshadowed the next Foo Fighters album, One By One, which came out later that year, and that point, I kind of wondered if Dave was still into the Foo Fighters.

There were more sessions: he played guitar on Bowie's cover of Neil Young's "I've Been Watiting For You," played drums and some bass on Cat Power's You Are Free album and played drums on the entire Killing Joke self-titled album (reportedly free of charge).

In 2004, he put out the long-talked about Probot project. A full-on underground metal project, Grohl was recording (on his own) metal jams in the style of some of his favorite old bands.  Eventually he started calling the frontmen of those bands to contribute lyrics and vocals, and the album includes Lemmy, Max Cavalera, King Diamond and Mike Dean of Corrosion Of Conformity among others. The album got respect among real metal fans who didn't give a shit about Nirvana or the Foo Fighters.

In 2005, he played drums on one of Garbage's best songs, "Bad Boyfriend" (filling in for the band's usual drummer, Nevermind producer Butch Vig), and also on most of Nine Inch Nails' With Teeth. It turns out that these outside projects help keep him inspiried for the Foo Fighters, because on the next album, the double CD In Your Honor, he seemed rejuvinated.

Named in tribute to John Kerry (who Grohl "opened" for on his campaign trail in 2004), the album was half rock and half more acoustic stuff.  The acoustic side had some notable guests, including Norah Jones, Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. This was the best of the decade's three Foo Fighters albums, and led to two tours: a rocking arena tour and an acoustic theater tour, which yielded the band's first live album, Skin and Bones. The album featured a song that Dave wrote while in Nirvana, "Friend of a Friend," and during the tour Dave started playing "Marigold," the Cobain-less Nirvana tune that he wrote and sang.

In 2006, Dave returned to rocking and comedy by reprising his role as Satan (first played in Tenacious D's "Tribute" video).  This time he played the role in the D's film, The Pick Of Destiny, also adding satanic vocals to "Beezleboss (The Final Showdown)."  The next year saw another great Foo Fighters album, Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace. Since then, they've released a very Petty-esque song "Wheels," for their Greatest Hits album, and of course now Dave is spending time with his new band, Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Josh Homme and John Paul Jones. I haven't even gotten into the Foo Fighters jams with John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page,  or the fact that Dave has also jammed with Paul McCartney.

The guy really has the best of all worlds: he can play loud rock and also acoustic, he's got a great band but can play in other bands and guest on other people's albums.  He can jam with McCartney and King Diamond. He's got the rock star lifestyle and remains a cool guy (and a family man at that). I imagine he'll be on the road for much of 2010 with Them Crooked Vultures, and after that, who knows.

THEY'LL RETURN TO ROCK YOUR SOCKS

Thank goodness Kyle Gass didn't end up going to hell, where Satan would have filled him with his hot demon gel. That allows the most awesome band in the world, Tenacious D, the opportunity to record album number three. And while they haven't quite hit the lab for that, they have recorded a song that they hope will be included in David Fincher's update of the somewhat adolescent animated sci-fi flick Heavy Metal. (that's according to Entertainment Weekly's website). Hopefully Jack Black will have the time for a full-on tour. And take us far away from the mucky muck.

By the way, Jack Black's last solo track didn't really live up to expectations, but he now has a new little bit of rocket sauce. He collaborates with the Lonely Island guys on a hot new track called "Sax Man."

VH1 ROCK HONORS: THE WHO

Wow: VH1 did such a great job with their Rock Honors show. In past years, they've honored four bands per show, but tonight it was all about The Who. Rightfully so.

They got bands that deserved to be there on the bill - The Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and The Flaming Lips as well as Tenacious D (and also Incubus... I'd rather have heard The Raconteurs or Joan Jett or Oasis or Paul Weller), and they were all great, especially Pearl Jam.

But, of course, it was really all about The Who. It really is amazing how this band, who have been around for forty years now, has held up. So many of my favorite albums are by them: The Who Sing My Generation, Tommy, Who's Next, Live At Leeds just to name a few. I think it's cool to hear their songs on TV (it really works well on CSI) and I'm not surprised that kids are rocking out to them on Rock Band or Guitar Hero. The current band still sound great. (Kudos, by the way, to VH1 for leaving in "Tea and Theatre," a song from their last album Endless Wire, on the broadcast). I was sorry to hear that they are probably ditching the idea of recording a new album with T-Bone Burnett, but I'm glad that they are still going to be touring.

Anyway, it was a great show, if you love The Who, you should check it out. Here's hoping that they release a live document of the event. It's rare that I see something on VH1 that really makes me miss working there (I was there for three and a half really fun years), but this was one of them.

TENACIOUS D TO RETURN TO ACTION?

I was glad to read in Billboard (in a feature written by Gary Graff, a cool guy) that Tenacious D have "one to one and a half" songs done for their next album. Which may be their last. Say it ain't so. Say what you want about the D, they make me laugh; I always have fun when I listen to their music, and when I saw them in concert at Town Hall in NYC, it was a great time. Long Live The D.

ANOTHER MUSICAL TRIUMPH FOR JABLES

I don't know if this will compare with Jack Black's duet with Cee-Lo Green (from Gnarls Barkley) on "Kung Fu Fighting." But it's funny. Jables, along with Ben "Mr. Furious" Stiller and Robert "Iron Man" Downey Jr. last night collaborate with a holographic Gladys Knight (from like 30 years ago, by the looks of it) on American Idol, on, of course, "Midnight Train To Georgia." You can buy it on iTunes, or see it probably all over YouTube. The three of them are co-starring in a movie directed by Stiller, Tropic Thunder, which looks hilarious.

I think that this movie thing is cute, but I'm glad to also report that Jack's day job - TENACIOUS D - is playing a few festival gigs in Europe this summer. Hopefully they'll be doing some stateside shows at some point too.

By the way, the Gladys thing was a bit weird. I've seen the holographic thing done with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, who are no longer with us. But Gladys is still alive. So that was kind of weird. But still funny.

A FLAW IN AN OTHERWISE NEARLY FLAWLESS MOVIE

School of Rock is one of my favorite movies ever. Is it the most sophisticated film ever? Maybe not. Is it realistic? Um... maybe not? But all I know is that I smile throughout the entire thing every time I see it.

I think it captures the love for music that lots of us have. I don't play an instrument, and I've never been in a band, but I relate to the love. And there's something weirdly moving about watching the kids form the band and then play really well.

One of my favorite parts is actually during the credits, where Jack Black and the kids are rocking out to AC/DC's "It's A Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock And Roll." I've read that the scene was mainly freestyled, and it shows. It's a lot of fun.

One problem. Jack Black gives a solo and a shoutout to every member of the band except for the bass player, Katie. Jack? Cello! You wouldn't have forgotten John Entwistle, would you? Would you diss Paul McCartney like that? So, here's a shout out to Katie, played by real life musician Rebecca Brown. I'm not hating on my man Jables, though. I've already predicted that he will own not just the movie charts, but the pop charts this summer. But when Ms. Brown releases her debut, you owe her one: write her bio, or better yet, have Tenacious D open for her!