News …

“Stagecoach” 2008 recap – “If the latter [Coachella] is becoming more about scoping breakout acts and celebrating youth, Stagecoach values the experience of a long life spent in Cadillacs, divorce courts and empty highways.” – Los Angeles Times (registration may be required)

Producer Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse abandon recording James Bond theme – Associated Press

Did you buy any songs from MSN Music before 2007? Then you better read this – The Charlotte Observer

France awards Kylie Minogue the Order of Arts and Letters – The Australian

Of bands and brands – “Is this the way of the future?” – The Times Online U.K.

Gretchen Wilson skips prom, but will graduate high school – Associated Press

Views …

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – “They created a New Orleans party, the kind that simultaneously defies sorrow, affirms continuity, heartens the locals and draws eager tourists.” – The New York Times (registration may be required)

Michael Buble in San Jose – “If Tony Bennett is the reigning king of the Great American Songbook, then Michael Buble is its crown prince.” – San Jose Mercury News (registration may be required)

Queens Of The Stone Age in Edmonton – “Pink Floyd could make a single chord change sound like a whole new world. Speed it up and turn it up a few notches and we see that QOTSA has mastered the same illusion.” – The Edmonton Sun

Bruce Hornsby and Ricky Skaggs in Kalamazoo – ” … a high-energy hoedown to remember” – Kalamazoo Gazette

The Waifs in New England – “Playing before a standing room only crowd during the first of two shows, the trio and their three-piece backing band offered 19 harmony-filled, rootsy songs during a set that lasted approximately 90 minutes.” – The Republican

Gordon Lightfoot in Kitchener – “The capacity crowd openly embraced him. He received standing ovations at the start and end of the concert and, again, after his encore of ‘Old Dan’s Records.'” – Waterloo Record

Newsboys in Texas – “The Newsboys delivered an astro disco alt-rock-pop funky concert at Kay Yeager Coliseum Saturday night – one that had a crowd of about 3,500 on their feet and whipped into a frenzy.” – Times Record News / Wichita Falls Online

They Say It’s Their Birthday … (Or so says Associated Press)

Michael Palin (Monty Python) is 65

Kurt Loder is 63

Bill Ward (Black Sabbath) is 60

Ian McCulloch (Echo & the Bunnymen) is 49

Craig David is 27

Chris Brown is 19