Link-O-Rama …

Fans the world over trek to Woody Guthrie’s hometown for 11th annual festival honoring the music legend – The Oklahoman / NewsOK.com

New Borders “concept stores” replace space once devoted to music with download kiosks – Daily News Tribune

Customers line up for new iPhones, but software problems delay activation – Associated Press

Yes, Virginia, the RIAA really does have a diplomat of sorts – Los Angeles Times (registration may be required)

Could “Guitar Hero” succeed where Napster and Rhapsody have failed? That is, dethrone iTunes as the #1 online music service? – Financial Times

A few minutes with Def Leppards’ Joe Elliot and Phil Collen – Liverpool Echo U.K.

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

The Wedding Present has an extensive tour shaping up for the fall, including dates on both sides of the Atlantic. New North American shows posted include West Hollywood on September 19, Eugene (Oregon) on September 23, Seattle on September 24, Toronto on October 3, New York on October 8 and Washington (DC) on October 11. U.K. dates include Oxford on December 4, Belfast on December 12, Glasgow on December 14 and Leeds on December 16.

R.E.M. adds a bunch of European September dates. Like Tallin, Estonia, on September 11 at Saku Arena; Vilnius, Lithuania, at Siemens Arena on September 14, Munich at Olympiahalle on September 23 and Bologna at Palamalaguti. Other cities include Geneva, Madrid, Oberhausen, Luxembourg and Torino.

The Gourds update today with new U.S. listings for October and November. Gigs include October 6 in Phoenix at The Rhythm Room; November 7 in Milwaukee at Shank Hall and November 12 in Ann Arbor (Michigan) at The Ark.

It’s simply Europe this fall for Simple Plan as the band adds new dates for Belgium, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden and Scotland. New listings include Stockholm on October 31; Brussels on November 3; Tilburg on November 5; Warsaw on November 10; Marseille on November 19; Toulouse on November 20; Lille on November 22; Paris on November 23 and Glasgow on November 27.

During the last couple of hours we also updated the schedules for Supersuckers, The Federation, The Hot Club Of Cowtown, The Plaids, Seth Walker, Todd Rundgren, XYZ Affair, Robin Rogers, Nightwish, Less Than Jake, Dash Rip Rock, Del Castillo, Jeff Foxworthy, Jonathan Richman and Broken Social Scene.

And that’s what’s up at the halfway mark as we move into Friday afternoon and those almost-the-weekend jitters shake us to our concert-lovin’ bones. We have more fresh data coming up in Your Latest Update, scheduled for around 3 pm (PDT) from Pollstar.com!