Working For The Weekend …

Our weekend crew is set to take over Pollstar.com for the next 72 hours. Then it’s back to rehab. In the meantime, please take a moment to read the following items scheduled to post this weekend. Thank you.

Saturday – The Mobile Gnome – The Cleveland duo heads back out in support of their full-length debut.

Sunday – Detroit Moves On Memorial Day – Moby, Carl Craig, Girl Talk, Josh Wink and Richie Hawtin are just a few of the big names in dance on the roster for this years Memorial Day electro festival.

Monday – Idol Worship – The punk-who-would-be-pop-prince, Billy Idol, roars back onto the scene with a new hits package and tour.

Big Bad Toby Keith – The country super-star hits the road with some help from Montgomery Gentry, Carter’s Chord, Mica Roberts and Trailer Choir.

Next week’s HotStar is Kate Nash.

Link-O-Rama …

Snoop Dogg booking sparks controversy for Monterey Music Summit – San Jose Mercury News

Avril Lavigne gets used to the fame – Los Angeles Times (registration may be required)

Neil Diamond talks about his yin and his yang – The Telegraph U.K.

The story behind the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss collaboration – The Times Online U.K.

Remembering Frank Sinatra – The Sun U.K.

Q&A with the legendary Freda Payne – Minneapolis / St. Paul Star Tribune

Dates, Dates & More Dates …

Our feature on the Mr. Gnome tour posts tomorrow, but in the meantime you can browse through the individual dates, like May 22 (Omaha, NE), May 24 (St. Louis, MO), May 26 (Denver, CO) and May 28 (Boise, ID). Other stops on the tour include Austin, Columbia, Kansas City, Madison and San Francisco.

Hal Ketchum updates today with new listings for May, June, August, September and January. Newly posted dates include May 26 (La Plata, MO), June 18 (Corpus Christi, TX), June 27 (Taos, NM), August 20 (Northampton, MA), September 9 (Sheridan, Wyoming) and January 24 (Nashville, TN).

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! New Lisa Loeb dates! Lisa doesn’t do that much touring these days so a new listing for the lady is a pleasant surprise. New dates just posted are July 8 in Huntsville, AL, at the Merrimack Hall; September 14 in New York at Harmony On The Hudson; and November 15 in Washington, DC, at Grosvenor Auditorium.

And what can we say about Menudo that hasn’t already been said? Except for new dates at Six Flags theme parks in Valcenica, CA (July 13), San Antonio, TX (July 17) and Jackson, NJ (August 17).

During the day we also updated the schedules for Kentucky Headhunters, Richie Havens, The Benjy Davis Project, Al Green, Sister Hazel, T-Pain, John Fogerty, The Wailers, Kid Rock, K.J. Denhert, Lonnie Brooks, Ben Taylor, Davy Jones, The Tubes Feat. Fee Waybill, Paul Weller, Bret Michaels, Simple Plan, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, American Music Club, plus thousands and thousands of artists and bands that everybody should know about. So spread the word.

And that’s the final curtain for this week. As always, thank you for your support, have a great weekend and support live music. Don’t make the bands come looking for you. G’night.