"I used to be a real dick. No really, I wasn’t a nice person," Taking Back Sunday front man Adam Lazzara explained to a packed House of Blues in Boston on June 25. "Then one night in Buffalo, New York John Nolan sat me down and said that was the last show he was ever going to play with Taking Back Sunday. I didn’t know what to say."

That night in Buffalo was seven years ago and news of guitarist John Nolan and bassist Shaun Cooper leaving the band came as a shock to not only Lazzara, but to a legion of die-hard fans. In 2003, TBS was in the fast lane to becoming a rock and roll legend. After only one album, the critically acclaimed Tell All Your Friends, they were playing sold out venues and arenas. Songs like "Cute without the E" and "There’s no I in Team" ranked Lazzarra and Nolan as the leaders of a generation of lyrical gods emerging from the Long Island music scene.

However, with growing success came tension among the members. Nolan and Cooper departed from TBS amidst a whirlwind of rumors and speculations to start Straylight Run. Fans were divided into Team Lazzara and Team Nolan camps with what seemed like absolutely no chance of reconciliation. Straylight’s toned down piano driven melodies and co-vocals by Nolan’s sister (and inconveniently, Lazzara’s ex) Michelle were a drastic change from the TBS sound — but Lazzara continued on. He recruited Fred Mascherino and Matt Rubano to replace Nolan and Cooper respectively. Taking Back Sunday would release three more albums, two of which ended up in the Billboard Top Ten, and one more lineup change. Mascherino left in 2007 to work on a solo album and was replaced by Matt Fazzi as the band went into the studio to record 2009′s New Again.

TBS was scheduled to head back into the studio to record their fifth album when rumors of fighting and disgruntlement among the members started circulating again. On March 31, both Rubano and Fazzi announced that they were leaving the band while the Taking Back Sunday website boasted a current Tell All Your Friends re-make picture of Nolan and Cooper sitting with the band, each of the members with their eyes crossed out. A couple of weeks later, Lazzara revealed to Alternative Press magazine that Fazzi and Rubano were "let go" from the band so the original line-up could be recreated.

The impossible had occurred — after seven years of not speaking, Nolan and Lazzara not only found a way to be civil to each other, but also repaired the partnership that had propelled both of them to greatness in the first place. The announcement was of unprecedented epic proportions to TBS fans that had dreamed, but never believed that the day would ever come. They have drummer Mark O’Connell to thank.

"Mark had kept in touch with John and I and hung out with us a lot over the years. Even when we weren’t in the band, we stayed pretty close." Cooper explained to Blast before the June 25th show as he and Nolan sipped beers in the side alley next to the House of Blues.

"After one night where we hung out, he really just decided basically that this is the way it needs to be. We could tell the chemistry just as friends was always there," Cooper continued. "So he hatched this plan and ran it by Eddie [Reyes, guitarist] and Adam, and they told him he was crazy. He told me about it and I told him he was crazy but I was very excited. We talked a lot about John and whether or not he would do it, but he called John and made it happen."

Lazzara had apparently been warmed up to the idea for longer than expected. He had been sending O’Connell out to drop hints that he was willing to talk to Nolan again. Finally, Nolan took the bait, since "Adam was a total panty waist about it," according to Cooper. After more than half a decade of not speaking, Nolan says the conversation was far more normal than people would think.

"It was sort of a ‘How have you been? What have you been doing? I’ve heard this or that’ back and forth. [There was] nothing really about the band or that much about whether or not we were going to do it," Nolan rehashed. "I think we talked a little bit about how I was interested in hearing what he was feeling about where the band was and where he saw the band going – what he was looking for with it. The best thing that I can say is that for the type of conversation it was, it was surprisingly laid back."

Approximately a month after that phone call it was decided that Nolan and Cooper would officially rejoin the band. Lazzara, Nolan, Cooper, Reyes and O’Connell went out to El Paso, Texas — just to make sure they could still get along. In that time they managed to write 15 demo songs.

"When we got together for the first time, nothing was concrete. It was very up in the air – we were very aware that it was crazy and that it might not work, but we all wanted it to," said Nolan.

And it worked. In fact, writing together again came as organically as it did when they wrote Tell All Your Friends.

"The thing was, we decided not to reconcile anything. When this band first got together, we weren’t doing that. We didn’t sit down and talk to each other. ‘What direction do we want to go with this? What kind of songs do we want to do?’ We just got together and worked on songs," Nolan said.

Cooper added, "That’s why I feel this lineup works so well together, because no one is like ‘this song has to sound like this. I have this vision and we have to take it directly here.’ It’s everyone working together. It’s everyone respecting each other and being happy about it. We all like each other’s ideas so that’s cool."

The intention was to go into the studio to finish the songs, but after hearing that their producer, Eric Valentine, wouldn’t be available for months, the boys decided to take it out on a road. They played six dates: New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles, to give fans a taste of what they’ve been working on. The set list contained two songs from the El Paso sessions and a myriad of hits from the Taking Back Sunday repertoire. Every night they end the show with "There’s no I in Team," which Lazarra swore he would never play again after Nolan and Cooper left the band in 2003.

(Live from The Starland Ballroom, NJ – 6/22/2010)

"We got this whole thing started and we understand each other, just as people and as musicians. We appreciate what everyone does. Maybe it didn’t work like that with [the Matts]," Cooper said, "I’m not sure because I wasn’t there, but that’s what I’m guessing."

It seems that everyone in the band is happy about the decision. No matter how much of a dick Lazzara claimed to be all those years ago, he’s humbled now. During many of his talk breaks he’d go silent in the middle of a thought and just stare at the crowd. A few times it looked like he might be close to tears as the entire building welcomed the line-up back. Fans scream back every word he sings to them and the chemistry between him and Nolan is evident to say the least. Back in the alley, the excitement between Cooper and Nolan to be in the band again is almost palpable. Surely if tensions rose once though, they can rise again, right? It’s a question for fans if they should be worried that this is a mirage rather than a resurrection, but apparently not for the band.

"We’ve grown up. Part of us feeling everything out was feeling out how we understood each other and what our goals were. When I think back to when we were together [before], we didn’t have the same goals, and we didn’t understand each other’s goals and we didn’t really understand each other," Nolan explained back in the alley.

"Once we had that confidence that we do get each other and we understand what we’re all going for here, even if we have different ideas and objectives, we all at least understand and respect and are committed to each other’s ideas. That’s the thing that would stop a repeat situation [of] what happened in the past."

Cooper said that he wasn’t in it mentally when the band first started, but he knows what it takes now.

"Mark, Adam and Eddie have this crazy drive that I know I personally didn’t have. I have it now, I damn well have it now," he said. "It’s their perseverance that has made this band what it is. Over all this time, through so much adversity and all the line up changes – they’ve dealt with a lot of bad stuff. Now I just hope we can make them happy. I hope we can write the best songs Taking Back Sunday has ever written."

It has definitely been tumultuous road for this band. When adding up the setbacks and drama Taking Back Sunday has had to struggle through, it seems like nothing short of a miracle that they keep going. Nolan and Cooper have recently come to the conclusion that it’s not the band members that keep it alive — it’s the fans.

"I think a big thing that I’m realizing – that Adam had realized way before I did — (is) that Taking Back Sunday is much bigger than any of the individual members of the band," said Nolan.

"It’s bigger than the sum of its parts," Cooper added.

"I think that’s what kept it going – no matter who’s in it, no matter what direction the band is heading in." continued Nolan, "Taking Back Sunday represents something, and it means something to people."

The last time Blast talked to Cobra Starship, they were opening up for Fall Out Boy on the Beleivers Never Die II tour and anticipating the release of their new album, “Hot Mess.” Then, the group was glad to have been able to make the record after complications arose with lead singer Gabe Saporta’s voice. After throat surgery and a brief vacation for vocal recovery, the band tracked demos in the Poconos Mountains and recorded the album in New York City. The CD dropped last August and since then Cobra Starship has blown up. After less than a year, Cobra has gone from “that band that did the Snakes on a Plane song” and a niche crowd earned by months and months of extensive touring to being a radio top 40 staple and performing at the People’s Choice Awards huge venues, thanks to their platinum single “Good Girls Gone Bad.”

“A lot has changed. It was very beneficial for us and a big deal. It was our first platinum single.” said Cobra bassist Alex Suarez during a phone interview on Wednesday. “We’ve been able to go to countries we’ve never been to and play a lot of places we weren’t able to play before.”

The single also gained the band a new legion of fans, which made keeping the intimate relationship they had previously held with the kids that came out to their shows a little more difficult. It was a philosophy of the band that they didn’t want a fan club because they didn’t agree with making fans pay to meet them. Instead, a free membership to “Cobra Crew” came with every purchase of “Hot Mess.” Entrance into the crew means exclusive news and contests as well as pre-sales and early entry or a meet and greet with the Cobras before every show.

“For a while [our fans] didn’t want us to get a fan club. They were all old school fans and were worried about the new kids coming in. It was a sucky situation because we’ve always been really close to them, but it’s actually worked out well,” Suarez said.

“Hot Mess” brought Cobra not only closer to fans, but also had them working with some of the industry’s up and coming heavy hitters. “Good Girls Gone Bad” was co-written by American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi and featured Gossip Girl’s most notorious bad girl Leighton Meester. For “The World Will Never Do,” the band also teamed up with a then somewhat-unknown rapper – B.o.B , who has since blown up on both iTunes and Billboard charts.

“We had the song written and were thinking we should have someone put a rap down. Either Gabe [Saporta] or Nate [Navarro] knew him and he came in and killed it,” Suarez said. “We’re really happy he’s doing so well right now.”

The third single from “Hot Mess” is “Living in the Sky with Diamonds,” one of the slowest songs on the album, debuted last week. For the video, they were approached by Lewis Carter, who they met when previously touring with All Time Low in the UK. Carter suggested the idea of directing the video for free while Cobra Starship was back in England earlier this year. The video stars British socialite Peaches Geldof and has an artsy, old-time movie feel which is a different direction for Cobra Starship, but characteristic of their desire to always think outside the box.

“[Carter] just called us up and asked to do the video and we agreed,” said Suarez. “We set up in the theatre and it was fun. I like the sparkles.”

Currently the boys and keytarist Vicky-T are out on the road co-headlining the Too Fast 4 Love tour with 3OH!3, Travis McCoy and I Fight Dragons which kicked off in Milwaukee last month. Each night Cobra and 3OH!3 switch off for who closes the show.

“We were planning to tour and just weighing our options on who to go out with, and we had met 3OH!3 on Warped Tour [2008]. Then we found out they were looking for a tour and so it just came together,” Suarez said about the choice of tour mates.

It’s not all fun and games on the road though. The Cobras have already started work on their fourth album by installing a mini recording studio in a spare bunk on the bus.
“It’s just so we can get ideas down and then we’ll go into properly recording the album after the tour,” Suarez said.

The demo stage has proven to be pretty close to the end result for Cobra though. Last year when they retreated to the Pocono Mountains to start writing “Hot Mess,” almost all of the electronic tracks they emerged with ended up being the final cut for the record.

“When we got to the studio, all the electronic stuff was kept from the mountains. We just had to re-track drums and vocals – that’s about it,” Suarez said.

With any luck, you can expect a new Cobra album by early next year. In the mean time, you can catch them on the Too Fast 4 Love tour which rolls through Boston thus Sunday, May 9 at the House of Blues. Fangs Up!

In two years Christofer Ingle has gone from opening up for small tours with just his acoustic guitar to headlining a national tour sponsored by Alternative Press magazine. He’s released six EPs, performed at SXSW twice, and become a massive Myspace sensation. He even signed a deal with Warner Brother records that allows him to control his own imprint label before he’s put out his first full length record. Oh, and he’s only 19 years old

Ingle, better known as Never Shout Never to his fans, has been touring since 2007. He’s known best for his acoustic upbeat pop anthems like "Big City Dreams" and "Your Biggest Fan", but this Spring, he’s put together a full band and is headlining the AP Tour.

"We pretty much have a little jam band behind me. They’re people I rounded up from back home in Missouri. It’s pretty sweet. They’re all really good guys and super talented musicians," said Ingle in a recent phone interview with Blast. ". I call them ‘the shout’".

Ingle’s latest release "What is Love" came out in January and was the first release post signing with Warner Brothers last year. Though still not a full-length, Ingle got paired up Butch Walker who has produced the likes of P!nk, Dashboard Confessional, Weezer and tons more.

"It was a big budget record I got to work with a lot of new sounds. It was awesome, kind of scary though. It was just a little EP, but I wanted to do something different with it," Ingle said.

Ingle’s record deal didn’t come with only a big budget, but he also managed to squeeze his own imprint out of the deal — Loveway Records. So before he’s released his first full-length record, Never Shout Never has the ability to record and release anyone he wants.

"It feels empowering almost. We can put out whatever we want It’s fun to have this imprint that we can just make a whole new vibe with. I’m trying to find people on it that would never get anything with our scene because the scene is so image based and so fake," Ingle said, "It’s a huge blessing. I’m so lucky."

Ingle dropped out of high school in his senior year, only a few short months before graduating, to be able to pursue his music career. It was a huge sacrifice to make to start his climb to the top but on the way he’s trying to give a hand to everyone he can.

"I want to help everyone that I can because this isn’t for me. I’ve been blessed with so many opportunities so I can make an impact," said Ingle.

It seems a bit unreal to think anyone can be this upbeat all the time, but even over the phone Ingle feels like the epitome of adorable. He’s modest, cordial and honestly seems like he’s just out to make everyone have a good time.

"Life is too short to feel bad. Everything is about break ups and stuff like that which really doesn’t matter. There’s so much more out there in the world like love and happiness. The first thing you should do is find happiness," he said.

The positive attitude is something that Ingle tries to pervade throughout everything that Never Shout Never attaches its name to — and it really seems to be working out.

"All I really want to do is spread the word of selflessness. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s not about him or her," Ingle said. "It’s about community, all of us coming together."

Never Shout Never is now featured on the Punk Goes Classic Rock compilation, covering Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody". You can also catch the band and Ingle on the AP Tour with Hey Monday, The Cab and Every Avenue. The tour stops in Boston this Thursday, April 29, at the House of Blues.

The Boston House of Blues was packed with a sold out crowd on Friday night. It was a mixed crowd of late twenty somethings to early tweens with their parents — a surprising gap in demographic for an Owl City show. Nonetheless the floor in front of the stage was packed with bodies and onlookers peered over the side railings of the second and third floors.

The night kicked off promptly at 6:55 with Paper Route. The quintet from Nashville had an As Tall As Lions and just slightly peppier Death Cab For Cutie sound that made them a bit of a surprising opener for the ultimate of peppy headliner. From a distance, the lead singer had a striking resemblance to Brand New’s Jesse Lacey, which was only encouraged by his intense mope-stare to the crowd. Their synthesized groove sound was just the ticket to get the crowd going — at one point they had three drummers on stage for an incredible build up. I’m not entirely sure Owl City was the best fit for them but they were extremely impressive and hey, being first up on a sold out tour can’t hurt, right? Definitely keep your eyes, and ears, out for them soon.

Next in the lineup came Toronto’s newest shining star — Lights. When Blast last talked to her, Lights was fresh in the rush of releasing her second album "The Listening". Now she’s making a crowd pleaser out of songs like "Lions!" and wooing the audience with soft ballads like "Pretend." Though her set is decorated with two synthesized pianos and keytar, Lights’s voice is really the showstopper. When she steps on stage she looks pint sized in jeans, white tank top and leather jacket, but she opens her mouth and that out of this world soprano range really elevates the set. It’s adorable to see her bouncing around the stage, getting the entire crowd to fist pump with her, but I think a phenomenal show is in the works when Lights gets to officially call the shots.

At nine o’clock the main event began. It started with the lights, three "waves" lit up with blues and greens to resemble the ocean. The drums next, then a mini orchestra — two violins and a cello — then glockenspiel and finally Adam Young, Owl City himself, as the crowd erupts. It was the same visceral reaction to every song, which made it strange to think that Owl City was a relatively unknown until last summer when "Fireflies" became so massive, even Nick Jonas covered it. "Fireflies" came in the middle of the set though, to obviously the most applause. When the band departed the stage for their encore, I wondered if they’d come back and just do the song again, you always end with your biggest hit right? It was an excellent surprise to hear the first digital beats of "Hello, Seattle," — his biggest pre-"Fireflies" song. The crowd didn’t disappoint either, showing they knew every word to his songs even before "Ocean Eyes" came out last July.

What is love? First of all, it’s the name of the newest Never Shout Never! album, but we want to know what you think. Blast has teamed up with Warner Brothers Records and has two tickets to see Never Shout Never! headline the Alternative Press Tour at the Boston House of Blues on April 29th, a meet and greet with the band, as well as a photo pass and title of “Official AP Tour Photographer” for the person who best shows what love is.

Here’s what you do: comment this post with a picture you take or draw (free hand or digitally) between now and April 20th. A representative from Blast and Warner Brothers will judge the picture and the winner will be announced on April 23rd.

The winner will then be contacted so they can get their tickets, meet and greet info (for the winner, and a plus one!) and their photo pass (only for the winner).

And don’t forget to stay tuned to Blast for the upcoming interview with Christofer Ingle!

It’s been four years since the music world has heard from Jamie Cullum, but he returns this year with his first solo album, "The Pursuit", since 2006.

Cullum continues to bring jazz to the mainstream with this album, following in the footsteps of 2003′s "Twentysomething" and 2006′s "Catching Tales". It’s a fourteen-track album with nine original tunes and five covers, recorded in Cullum’s Terrified Studios in London.

Of the covers, Rhianna’s "Don’t Stop the Music" will be most recognizable, if only by title. Cullum strips down the dance-club hit to a slow tempo drum, piano and solo-voice (and Michael Jackson sample has disappeared). Cullum’s rendition shows a remarkable ability to re-arrange even the poppiest of hits into his own creation. The stripped, slow down of the song has an intriguing quality that makes it one of the high points of the album.

Cullum does a good job of making jazz appetizing for the palette of a younger crowd that didn’t grow up on the standards of Cole Porter, Miles Davis or Nat King Cole, by blending it with a pop tempo and a contemporary singer-songwriter sensitivity, all the while staying loyal to his roots.

Cullum’s originals like "You and Me Are Gone" push the tempo upwards; with a bit of Broadway dance twist. On paper, the mixture he puts together sounds like a calamity rather than a success but Cullum makes it work. While it certainly isn’t new, it’s something that isn’t being done today which makes it a contemporary revelation.

It won’t please everyone, but anyone looking to go outside the box and constructs of current top 40 will be pleasantly surprised with Cullum’s new effort. It’s classic meets modern and with Cullum at the helm, it feels like the two go good together.

The most dangerous thing about making a movie like "Valentine’s Day" is the cast. Ensembles are a tricky thing and that amount of star power in one film can prove disastrous if not handled properly (see: 2006′s "Bobby"). It can be done though, as proven by last year’s mega-hit "He’s Just Not That Into You". Luckily "Valentine’s Day", despite being filled to the brim with Hollywood A-listers, avoided egos and overcrowding. Everyone put forth a good performance, seemingly aware that they were a part of a bigger picture rather than trying to stand out for themselves. From the hysterically awkward (Topher Grace and Anne Hathaway, Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner) to the heartbreaking (Shirley Maclaine and Hector Elizondo, Jennifer Garner and Patrick Dempsey) "Valentine’s Day" wields its all-star cast impeccably. Garry Marshall, director of "Pretty Woman" and "The Princess Diaries" series executed exactly what the trailers have been calling "Valentine’s Day" — the perfect date movie.

The second second most dangerous thing is providing a feasible plot. Am I really to believe that all of these people end up with a happy ending just because Hallmark overpriced their chocolate that day? Does someone actually think that I am going to buy Jessica Biel and Jessica Alba being alone on such an occasion? While Biel does play the stereotypical single, bitter "I hate V-day with a burning passion" workaholic, all other skepticisms were canceled with an unexpected dose of realism (not to say that no clich©s or cheesy gestures occurred, it is a romantic comedy after all). It was nice to see that a movie marketed as the ultimate ode to love didn’t try to market the emotion itself as perfect. Hearts were broken and not purely to realize that there were better pairings, but to show that sometimes love actually sucks and it can’t always conquer all — sometimes it takes a little of your own effort as well.

(spoilers ahead, so stop reading if spoilers get you all bent out of shape!)

Case in point: When 18-year-old Grace (Emma Roberts) decides to lose her virginity to her high school boyfriend on Valentine’s Day, she is expecting the act to create a magical, almost spiritual, connection between the two to keep them together when they separate for college. What ensues is possibly the most humorous scene in the entire film and more accurately reflects the most common real life experience — the first time is more awkward than magical 99.9 percent of the time and no amount of planning is going to alleviate that. It would have been easier, and certainly more romantic, to give the young sweethearts a flawless, clich© union, but instead Grace develops a more realistic insight about the situation, which if all teens possessed, we might not have season two of "16 and Pregnant".

Grace and her boyfriend are amongst a series of couples and singles in Los Angeles that "Valentine’s Day" follows on the most romantic day of the year, each intricately threaded to each other via plotted social or occupational relationships. That kind of threading is vital in films of this nature so to give the plot some continuity rather than being jerked around between unrelated vignettes.

Trailers have been advertising Julia Roberts as the flagship storyline of the movie, but actually she’s just the most famous name. Punk’d creator/heartthrob Ashton Kutcher is actually the central line of the movie, playing Reed Bennett, a heart-prominently-on-sleeve florist. Kutcher and the workers in his shop serve as the springboard for the rest of the romantic tales and woes of the film. Most notably of the woes is 7-year-old Edison who desperately needs to tell his mystery valentine he loves her with only thirteen dollars to his name. Edison just goes to show that love can’t survive without perseverance, and that little kid romances will never fail to be absolutely adorable and completely endearing. The incurable romantic outlook works well for Kutcher while giving him the tools to act as glue for the plot’s interweaving storylines.

"Valentine’s Day" is a story about love, in all forms, shapes and sizes. There’s laughter, moments to get choked up over, unexpected twists, good guys and bad guys. With a killer cast and a creative, well organized script, "Valentine’s Day" is set to become this year’s ultimate romantic comedy — and what would go better with your overpriced chocolate this weekend?

"Dear John" is the fifth Nicholas Sparks book to be turned into a feature film. As with "Message in a Bottle," "A Walk to Remember," "The Notebook" and "Nights in Rodanthe," the plot is centered around two people who develop a whirlwind romance and end up torn apart by tragedy. No matter the outcome, the two lovers emerge as "better people" because of the relationship they shared.

"Dear John" follows the same formula, but audiences can be relieved that the tragedy is not as predictable as the trailers or the opening sequence makes you believe. While death inevitably plays a part in all Sparks’ stories, it is not the final separator in this film. Instead, human fault and choice are to blame for the lovers’ quarrel — whether that makes the result more tragic or idiotic is still up for debate, but at least it wasn’t completely predictable.

The timeline of their relationship is represented by a montage of scribbled writings on worn paper. The romantics are up to their eyes in mush and the cynics are rewarded for their skepticism when, all of a sudden, Savannah can’t handle anymore waiting and breaks off the relationship, leaving John devastated in Afghanistan.

Channing Tatum, who is most famous for his roles in "She’s the Man” and “G.I. Joe” plays the title character, John Tyree, a young man enlisted in the Army that gets swept up in the overhaul after 9-11. Though Tatum has made a much more favorable impression in the department of eye-candy than acting, he puts forth a steady effort. Though awkward in the beginning, Tatum does a surprisingly good job of expressing the pain in having to choose between the love of your life and the obligation to your country, in addition to the consequences of that choice. His portrayal of a young veteran with his back against the wall is heartfelt and genuine, an unsuspected improvement from the clich© and contrived roles he’s played before.

Tatum’s performance is pushed to a peak by Richard Jenkins, who plays his autistic father, Mr. Tyree. Their relationship turns out to be the most compelling plot point of the film. Without spoilers, the scene most likely to evoke tears is not between John and Savannah, played by Amanda Seyfried, but a touching reconnection between John and his emotionally estranged father.

If anyone’s performance detracts from the film, it is Seyfried’s — Seyfried comes off as stale, uninvolved and unrelatable. But it’s not entirely her fault. Due to the structure of the story, the audience is never able to sympathize with Savannah, who waits for months-on-end for letters from John. Due to a lack of character development, Savannah goes from hot to cold quicker than a Katy Perry song, for reasons introduced later in the film (which are less than satisfactory).

“Dear John” works for the audience it’s intended for — 14-year-olds with a crush on Tatum and the minivan matinee crowd. But unless you’re looking for a no-brainer chick flick (aren’t we all, sometimes?) steer clear of “Dear John.”

It’s official – Taylor Swift is the biggest award winner of the music trophy season. Her mantel will now hold the Grammy for Album of the Year, beating out Beyonc©, Lady Gaga, Dave Matthews Band and The Black Eyed Peas. As usual though, awards were not the focal point of the show. It was the performances that made the night at the Grammys. Some had a better time than others (though the big winner, performance-wise tonight was a miss for Taylor Swift). Also, a note to L’il Wayne, Eminem and Drake – if you are going to need a bleep out of your lyrics for more than three consecutive seconds, it might behoove you to consider a temporary re-write for those at home.

It has to be said that when recognizing a man who has been contributing to the music industry for the better part of four decades, the Grammys’ tribute to Michael Jackson was a bit of a let down. First, the vast majority of the audience at home were lacking in 3D glasses necessary to make out the performance – whether unaware that an extra purchase was necessary or not willing to part with the cash, non-glasses wearing viewers were treated to a performance of blurry red and blue images. To be honest, the 3D stunt seemed like a way to make an extra few bucks rather than paying tribute to Michael Jackson. It also seemed strange that “Earth Song” was picked as the tribute song rather than a medley of the King of Pop’s hits, especially with the wealth of musicians participating in the tribute. This is all without touching how painful it was to see his children put up on stage to accept Jackson’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Considering how hard he worked to keep them out of sight of cameras, the whole charade came off forced and insensitive.

Bon Jovi followed the tribute with another Grammy first – a viewer selected song. Fans and viewers alike have been voting before and during the show for what song Bon Jovi will perform on stage. The band opened with their newest single “Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” and then halfway through the performance, the winning song, “Living on a Prayer” was announced and Bon Jovi slipped into their biggest hit – though disappointingly for only a single verse and chorus.

The Grammys also memorialized Les Paul with a lackluster performance. Legendary Jeff Beck ruled the strings of Les Paul’s most generous gift to music – the hard bodies electric guitar. It was disheartening to see the vocal performance so clearly lip-synched though. If the guitar as well was mimicked, it was harder to pick up. One can only help they kept that legitimate.

The Dave Matthews Band and Maxwell also gave noteworthy performances. Even if she didn’t win any awards during the televised broadcast, Blast votes Lady Gaga as the most solid performances of the evening, kicking off the awards with Sir Elton John.

What was your favorite performance of the night? Least favorite?

If you missed any of tonight’s performances, they will be available for purchase on iTunes tomorrow. Or you can check out the photos below for some of tonight’s highlights.

Okay, we may have been unfair about the Lady Gaga and Elton John (though outfits were equally outrageous). That may very well have been the best opening to the Grammys in years. She might bring the word eccentric to a whole new level, but Lady Gaga knows how to work a stage. It was also nice to see respect given to Sir Elton John by transgressing from “Poker Face” to “Speechless” rather than the debauchery last year when Stevie Wonder was coerced into singing “Burnin’ Up” with the Jonas Brothers. New school and old school collaborations are always an interesting event, but it has to be done right.

Taylor Swift picked up a trophy for Best Country Album, but we wonder how believable her super-surprised face will be throughout the night if she gets brought up for any more awards.

Beyonc© also added more Grammy trophies to her tally, but was anyone else thrown off by that performance? Perhaps she might be tired of performing “Single Ladies”, but “If I Were a Boy”? The choice seems odd since it is not an upcoming single and not a reason for her presence at the awards this year. The split off into Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” was also random considering Morissette herself never appeared on stage. Beyonc© delivered a power-house performance as always, but the message was lost in translation on this one.

Multi-nominated Pink also wowed audiences with a flying-high trapeze performance. The stunts were reminiscent of her earlier VMA performance, but even more daring. At one point she was hanging upside down, held up by a thin sheet wrapped around only one leg, dazzling the audience while spraying them with water which had been poured down her body.

The Grammy Board was feeling a little bit country this year, awarding The Zac Brown Band with Best New Artist over indie rockers MGMT and catchy sensations The Ting Tings.

So far the Grammys have gone without any incredibly awkward moments, minus Stephen Colbert’s acceptance speech for Best Comedy Album. His intro remark “Since this is a Christmas album, I should thank Jesus Christ!” which was met with a noticeable silence from the Grammy crowd. His “..for having such an awesome birthday!” attempt at recovery didn’t help much, but alas no one rushed the stage to call him out on it, so consider it still a success.

Kings of Leon pulled a huge upset when they stole Record of the Year out from under Beyonc©, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift for their smash hit, love anthem of the year, “Use Somebody”. This upset may be a game changer for bets on the last award of the night, Album of the Year. Anyone still think it’s going to one of the three ladies of the night?

Still upcoming are performances by Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi (song chosen by voters on cbs.com/grammys), as well as an all-star Michael Jackson tribute presented in 3-D. We didn’t pick up those exclusive glasses from Target, so you’ll have to tell us if it was worth it. Stay tuned to Blast for a post-show wrap-up and tell us your thoughts on the awards! Meanwhile check out these Wireimage shots of the show highlights.

Welcome to Blast’s (mostly) live coverage of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. We, like you, are watching the awards from our living room and reporting on the “Oh no!”s and “Wow!”s of the evening to keep you updated.

Tonight has already been set up as a girl’s world with Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and Lady Gaga competing for all the top honors. Beyonc© has already claimed four of her 10 nominations, Swift has grabbed two out of her eight with a remaining five hopeful categories, including Best Country Song “White Horse”. Lady Gaga has also tied Swift for two trophies in the pre-telecast awards.

The ladies winning are not a sure thing though. Kings of Leon, who have already picked up a Best Rock Song trophy, could pull an upset in the Record of the Year category, and don’t forget party-jammers Black Eyed Peas who are also nominated for the biggest award of the evening.

Tonight feels like it might be the night for Beyonc© as far as awards go, but with the relevancy of the Grammy Awards up for debate, Blast is interested in a few other things besides trophies. Will Elton John manage to look more flamboyant in his intro with Lady Gaga? How many people will get poked in the eye by her outfit? How much money did the Michael Jackson estate rack up on those 3-D glasses from Target? Will Taylor Swift be able to finish an acceptance speech since Kanye’s invitation to this year’s awards was lost in the mail? You tell us, and check out these Wireimage photos from the red carpet.

Come back at Grammy half-time to get a re-cap of the winners and the best performances so far.

• Taylor Swift: Best grace under fire
• Beyonce: Diva with the best video of all time!
• Lady Gaga: Most original resurger of pop music
• Kings of Leon: Best job at making a straight up rock and roll band with no gimmick cool again
• Miley Cyrus: Tween queen 2009
• Owl City: Best “what the fuck is this but we kind of like it”
• Cobra Starship: Best use of a cameo and catchy hook to make you famous
• Blink 182: Best reunion
• Drake: Most awesome transition from shitty teen drama to rap star ever
• Lil Wayne: Most money for being on songs that aren’t his (surpassing Lil Jon)
• Justin Bieber: Best “this would be adorable except you’re 12 so it makes me feel like a creep”
• Glee soundtrack: Best way to make covers totally awesome yet completely nerdy all at the same time
• Jay Sean: Best introduction of Bollywood flavor into American main stream
• Michael Jackson: Best comeback, it just sucks he had to die to do it

Early this morning, Weezer front man Rivers Cuomo’s bus skidded on black ice and ended up in a ditch. The band was traveling from New York to Boston for their show at Agganis Arena Monday night. Cuomo was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam, New York complaining of rib pain. His assistant was also taken to the hospital but his wife, daughter and a fifth unidentified passenger escaped unscathed. Cuomo was traveling in a five bus caravan for the Weezer tour.

The Boston, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia shows have all been canceled due to the accident.

It sounds like it may be too good to be true, but California piano rockers Something Corporate have announced that they will be re-uniting for Bamboozle Left which takes place in Anaheim, California on March 27 and 28, 2010. The band has been on hiatus since 2006 so they could focus on separate side projects, including lead singer Andrew McMahon’s Jack’s Mannequin. Something Corporate posted a youtube today to announce the re-union.

Looks like it’s time to start memorizing all nine minutes of Konstantine again…

Apparently it’s female reign at the Grammy Awards this year. Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga and Beyonc© were the popular names on the Grammy nomination list last night. Former Destiny’s Child front-woman leads all this year with 10 nominations, followed by Swift with 8. Gaga is nominated for Best Record, Best Album, and Best Song with them as well as two other nominations. The Black Eyed Peas and Kings of Leon also scored multiple nominations for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. A full list of nominees can be found here.

Awards will be given out January 31, 2010 in Los Angeles.

Pop-punkers The Maine have been on the road non-stop for about a year and a half. Their single “Everything I Want” blew up in early 2009 as they set out as co-headliners for the Alternative Press tour with 3OH!3. Then they spent the entire summer playing the Hurley Stage at Warped Tour. Currently they are supporting Boston natives Boys Like Girls and Cobra Starship on the Op Presents tour. Guitar and back up vocalist Kennedy Brock talked to Blast for a few minutes before The Maine headlined a show at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on one of their days off to let us know what the band is up to and their recording plans in upcoming months

BLAST: How is it being on a tour this big? What are your favorite and least favorite things about it?

KENNEDY BROCK: It’s really comfortable being on tour with these guys. We did a tour with [Boys Like Girls] about two summers ago and they really mentored us about what to do and what not to do on tour. Being back is cool with this older brother band. There is a lack of privacy though. That’s not really a big deal at all though. There is just always someone around, somewhere. There’s nowhere that any of the bands go where they aren’t in front of people.

BLAST: You guys have announced that you are going on a break after this tour to record. Have you decided where you’re going? How much about the new record has been decided?

KB: The break is planned to do some writing in preparation for a record and if we have time to record before we head back on the road. As of right now, we haven’t been doing a lot of writing besides what usually gets done on the road. We’re not really sure [where] and it’s not set in stone when we’ll go in to record, but the sooner the better.

BLAST: Does this mean that the rumor about The Maine going on a headlining tour in the spring is true?

KB: That’s not true necessarily either. We have talked about random stuff but nothing has been set up. We’re still trying to narrow down when we’ll go and do stuff.

BLAST: How do you think The Maine has changed since the two EPs and “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop”?

KB: I feel like every time you do something you get better at it. We’ve had a good amount of songs to put under our belt now. We’ve been growing up a little bit. I think everyone is just coming into their own. We are all grown up. There’s not much that’s necessarily changed just more developed I guess. The writing should stay the same. It’s a lot of John O’s [the lead singer] brain and we all try to harness what he does well. Things should stay pretty similar.

BLAST: There’s a journal/diary that you guys did for Warped Tour. Why did you choose Warped Tour to do this?

KB: I think Warped Tour, in itself, is a crazy thing. At the same time, it’s like any normal tour we’ve done. We just wanted people to see where our heads are at during every day. Each of us did journals every day of the tour then mashed them up and added pictures of different things that were happening. I think it’s a cool way of showing everyone the kind of behind the scenes stuff.

The Op Tour featuring Boys Like Girls, Cobra Starship, The Maine, A Rocket to the Moon and Versaemerge will be in Boston November 27th and 28th at Showcase Live in Foxboro, Mass. Order links for The Maine’s Warped Tour diary, “This is Real Life” can be found on their myspace.

You know what they say, any publicity is good publicity. In the midst of all the drama surrounding Ameican Idol runner-up Adam Lambert’s controversial AMA performance and Good Morning America cancellation, the singer has released a new video. “For Your Entertainment”, the title track and first single off of his debut full length CD which hit stores Monday, has been released on Lambert’s official website.

No morning talk show is going to keep Glamberts (title of intense Adam Lambert fans) down. Both the single and the CD are available in all major music retailers.

Panic struck millions this week when internet rumors started circulating that legendary Aerosmith front-man Steven Tyler was leaving the band. The band’s lead guitarist Joe Perry failed to disclaim the rumors, saying he had heard the same as everyone else. Some major news publications even started asking who should replace Tyler to keep the band going.

But Aerosmith fans don’t need to fret. NME Magazine reported the story this morning that Tyler isn’t going anywhere. He appeared at Perry’s solo gig at New York’s Filmore venue and informed the audience that he was in fact NOT leaving the band. Tyler and Perry then broke into one of the band’s biggest hits “Walk This Way”.

Just proves you can’t always believe what you read.

Florida natives Mayday Parade have been on quite a rollercoaster for the past few years. Their first full-length "A Lesson in Romantics" came out in 2006, but had them performing in front of thousands on the Vans Warped Tour in 2007. That same year, co-lead singer Jason Lancaster left the band after personal disputes. But Mayday Parade has continued on and after another successful Warped Tour in 2008, they set down to write their second full-length "Anywhere But Here".

The new record represents a Mayday Parade that has weathered the up and down system of the industry. "Anywhere But Here", hit stores in October of this year and the boys have been showing it off to the masses as co-headliners of the Alternative Press "Fall Ball 2009" tour with The Academy Is…, Set Your Goals, The Secret Handshake, and You Me At Six. Lead singer Derek Sanders managed to find a few minutes to talk to Blast from the road and tell us how things are going for Mayday and how they feel touring on a new record.

BLAST: How is the tour going so far?

Sanders: It’s just fun. We’re with good people, good bands. We’re just trying to give as much energy as possible. We have these pretty sick new risers. We just try to jump around while at the same time trying to sound good.

BLAST: How have fans been reacting to "Anywhere But Here"?

Sanders: It’s hard to tell but I think its been pretty cool. I don’t really know how to judge that. I mean as far as kids coming up to me or on myspace and twitter things have been good, but I don’t really know if anyone would come up to me and say that’s bad. I feel like it’s been a pretty good response but I guess only time will tell.

BLAST: How does "Anywhere But Here"’s sound differ from "A Lesson in Romantics"?

Sanders: It doesn’t have the double vocal sound as much. Other than that, its the same kind of songs for us. I feel like if anyone was a fan of the EP or the full length, it’s the same stuff.

BLAST: I read that you feel the new songs are more "structured" than your previous ones. What does that mean? What accounts for that?

Sanders: The thing is we spent more time in pre production and things like that. Sitting there and deciding on every single part and making sure that every single part was right. We just spent a lot more time with the songs. We made sure everything was really tight and flowed.

BLAST: You guys had about 50 songs for the record. How did you narrow it down to the songs that came out?

Sanders: It was really tough. It was a really hard thing. There was no way to make everyone happy. There are a handful of songs I would have loved to be on the album that didn’t make it. Everyone else feels the same way. We just tried to do our best to make everyone happy. I feel like it came down to the best 11 that we chose. It was just between us, our producer, our management and the label and everyone just choosing.

BLAST: What is going to happen to all the songs that didn’t make it?

Sanders: A couple of the ones that didn’t make it, were into made b-sides for and they come on the deluxe edition. The rest of them? I don’t know. I guess its a possibility we could hang on to them and use them down the road on the next CD or whatever. I don’t know at this point but I’d really love for people to be able to hear some of those songs that didn’t make it.

BLAST: That’s still an incredible amount of songs. Do you guys write on the road?

Sanders: That’s actually how we do a lot of our writing, on the road. And a lot of that is possible now because we’re riding on a bus instead of a van. So you have time to sit down and work out ideas with everyone spread out on the bus rather than cramped into a van. So that makes it a whole lot easier. On the road is where we spend most of our time. Over the past two years we’ve spent nine months out of the year on the road. You just get an idea for a verse or a guitar part and you write it down, and when it comes time to start working on the album you pull it out. And we throw all of our ideas in and put them together to try and make the new songs.

BLAST: I know you worked with David Bendeth, who produced Paramore and Underoath. How did that relationship start?

Sanders: Whenever it came time to choose producers, there were a couple of guys we were talking to, but when talking to David on the phone, it just really made sense. He’s a really smart guy. He’s a really talented guy. He just has a passion for what he does. He really cares a lot about music and I don’t know, it was just really cool. He brought a lot to the songs and we even did a little bit of writing with him.

BLAST: Any last words of wisdom?
Sanders: Thank you to the fans to anyone out there for listening and giving us a chance. The support means a lot. We really appreciate it.

"A Lesson in Romantics" and "Anywhere But Here" can both be found at all major music retailers. The rest of the AP Fall Ball Tour dates can be found at Maydayparade.com or at their Myspace.

Universal Records and its affiliate labels are reaching out to educate listeners about new and upcoming artists. By visiting this website. The site gives you listening samples of artists like Parachute, Shwayze, Owl City, Mika and many more.

Besides getting a free peek at some of music’s hottest upcoming artists, Universal and co. are giving away an autographed guitar, an autographed skateboard, backpacks and the like. Anyone who registers at the bottom of the website has a chance to win signed stuff from some of their favorite artists! Also, if you’re currently in school make sure you add which you are attending.

The site hopes to promote upcoming artists on Universal and their affiliate labels as well as connect to fans of their music.

Hey all Wolfmother fans. We have another awesome giveaway for you. You could win the latest Wolfmother album – “Cosmic Egg”, poster and t-shirt for FREE. Just comment here with why you should win. Blast and Total Assault will decide a winner on November 16, 2009 and post it back here. So give us your best answers!

Last time Shwayze duo Aaron Smith and Cisco Adler let us play Malibu summer from our speakers all year round. This time with “Let It Beat” Shwayze is moving indoors to the club, getting everyone on the dance floor to show just what they can do.

“This isn’t a one trick pony,” Adler said about the new album on Shwayze’s website and Blast agrees. “Let It Beat” compiles Shwayze’s ability to blend hip hop verses over a multitude of instruments you never expected. “Heart and Soul”, the CD’s slowed down jam about life in the Hollywood fast-lane, sports a piano driven melody that has the notion of Phil Collins (which isn’t a bad thing). “Down at the Motel” introduces itself with an organ solo before breaking into epic hip-swinging party anthem status. Insane guitar solos and full band set-ups decorate the entire album. Smith’s, who goes by Shwayze by day, rhymes flow sweetly between Adler’s crooned sing-a-long choruses.

“We set out to do better than we did last time. We just wanted to expand on that. It’s really beefed up on the production side. We started to construct really good songs on this record,” said Shwayze to Blast from his hometown of Malibu, California, “We just really tried to expand our horizons on this one.”

While you can definitely see rocking out to “Let it Beat” on a drive to the beach, Shwayze proves he can shake up the club as well. The album’s first single, “Get U Home”, is driven by an electro-popcentric beat.

“Dirty Little Girl” featuring The Knux follows in the same vein. “Wait All Night” featuring Tabi Bonney slows it down over a dulled drum loop, but the “I don’t want to wait all night/I don’t want to wait all night. I don’t want to wait all night just to watch you leave” hook is designed specifically to get stuck in your head. It’d be interesting to see what the remixes would sound like considering “Let it Beat” songs are already so layered up.

Guest appearances are not scarce on “Let it Beat”. The record leads off with “Livin’ It Up” featuring Snoop Dogg. The song exemplifies a theme that seems to pervade throughout the Shwayze camp – doing the best with what you’ve got and just keep growing.

“I want to capture all genres of music. I want to rap on the Shwayze project, I want to work with a lot of different artists which we were able to do a little bit more on this record. I just want to try everything I can with music and just expand,” said Shwayze.

The Shwayze boys will be hitting the road this week on the Party Rock Tour with LMFAO. They are bringing out a full band and Shwayze guarantees that the shows will be insane, and for all ages. With “Let It Beat” as the driving force, it’s sure to be a damn good dance party.

“Let It Beat” hits music retailers today, don’t forget to get your copy and start getting down because Shwayze assures Blast they don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.

“We’re just here for the long haul here, that’s what I want people to know.”

At first glance, Lights, looks like an indie princess fantasy for scenesters in skinny jeans and torn chucks everywhere. Talk to her for just a few seconds though and you’ll realize that no matter how darling she looks, Lights can throw down with the biggest of sci-fi and fantasy nerds and that she’s proud of it.

Lights dropped her newest full length CD “The Listening” in early October and chatted to Blast from her hometown of Toronto shortly after the release to tell us how the CD came about, how she became her own super hero and why it’s cool to be a sci-fi geek.

“A couple days before the record came out in the states we hit the road to tour on the record so its been going, going, going, but it’s awesome. For the first time I get to tour on my own record. People are coming to the shows and singing along,”said Lights about life since “The Listening” came out.

The title of the album came from Lights’s own self-reflection when writing the songs and learning a lot about herself.

“The title generated from track four called “The Listening” but it went a little deeper than that. The whole record spawned from me kind of having to analyze emotional situations where I was just feeling really low and had to pull myself out with music,” said Lights. “Through that process I learned a lot about myself. All these songs, through all this music, I’ve learned so much more about myself. I thought this is a direct result of that, listening to music. That’s why I took the mouth off of me on the album cover, to help drive that home. It feels appropriate.”

Lights will spend most of the rest of the year on the road promoting the album like musicians do, but she’s also got a little something special up her sleeve. A long time fan of fantasy and comic books Lights teamed up with Marvel writer Tim Coker to create The Captain Lights Adventure.

“The Captain Lights Adventure which [is like] a glorified comic book with my music in the background. It’s going to be playing on MTV in the morning in America and you can see it on the website as well,” explained Lights.

Comics aren’t the only way Lights lets her inner-nerd out. She’s also a WoW (World of Warcraft) veteran. She says no matter how busy she is, she always makes time for WoW the fantasy role-playing video game that has become an ever growing cult sensation among computer gamers – even Brand New’s Jesse Lacey has admitted to being a fan. Lights said she too is a huge fan of the game.

“It was totally something I just wanted to get into. And actually when I started playing, one or two years ago, I didn’t know anyone that played and I was such a lover of fantasy stuff, comic books and all of that I thought I’d have a good time with it and I love it. Every day I always make a little time for it.” Lights said.

Fantasy has always appealed to Lights, simply for what it represents to her. It’s a place to escape, which she explains on in her bio became essential to her during her childhood when her family was constantly moving around. Now fantasy worlds and comic book agendas help Lights channel her out of this world energy.

“Music for starters is something I totally love, it’s my passion, but the same with sci-fi and comics. These are all things that I love so why not implement all these things into it? It’s an absolute reflection of my personality and what I’m into. Its the idea that the reason I love fantasy and all that stuff is the notion of unlimited creativity and aliens and far off worlds and crazy powers and make it all real. It’s all stuff you can invent and the same goes for my music. If I hear a sound in my head then I’ll find a way to make it into the recording. There’s no limits or bounds for what I want. In that sense it all goes together,” explained Lights.

Lights, who changed her legal name to Lights from Valerie Poxleitner, uses her intergalactic notions to help her reach the artistic goal she set for herself when she started playing music, and holding on to that has kept her steady in an industry that’s isn’t known for playing nice.

“People will try to get to you and they are going to hate. In order to keep track of who I really am I set this one goal to always hold on to and that’s to reach as many people as I can in a positive way,” said Lights. “So anything that I do to make you happy or entertain you for a few minutes or just make you think about things – just something positive, that’s my goal.”

“The Listening” is available in all major music retailers now.

In a Billboard shocker moment, famed crooner Michael Bublé took out the New Moon soundtrack for number one on the charts this week. This is Bublé’s second week on the charts – bringing in 203,000 records sold in the past seven days according to Billboard.com. “New Moon” was released last Tuesday, October 20 but Bublé came in first for total record sales. The soundtrack sold 115,000 copies in its first week. The news is even more surprising when Bublé’s “Crazy Love” isn’t present on the iTunes top album chart, while New Moon hovers at number six (at the time this article was printed).

Bublé is famous for his smooth vocals, covering classic songs from past eras. “Crazy Love” features “Georgia on my Mind” and “Haven’t Met You Yet”. Bublé’s usual demographic follows him for his unique voice that has hints reminiscent of Frank Sinatra or Fred Astaire. His modern day rendition of old-time classics have become wedding anthems around the world.

In contrast, the “New Moon” soundtrack, released by Warner Brothers records to help excite Twilighters everywhere for the upcoming release of the second movie in the Stephanie Meyers series, is comprised of all original works. Death Cab for Cutie, Thom Yorke, Lykke Li, The Killers, Muse and more all wrote original songs exclusively for the soundtrack. The contributors’ list is impressive at the very least, but even more so when you consider the songs were written specifically for the movie.

Paramore, who headlined the first Twilight soundtrack, hang in on the Billboard 200 chart at number 16 with “Brand New Eyes” which was released in late September.

Both “Crazy in Love” and the New Moon soundtrack are available at all major music retailers. The Twilight Saga: New Moon hits theatres November 20..

Blast has teamed up with Total Assault once again to bring you a U2 prize pack! The prize pack includes a U2 t-shirt, a vinyl of the new single and a remix CD.

In order to win, we want you to get a little creative. Create a poster and take a picture of it then comment us with it. The most creative poster will win. A little bit extra work, but hey, it’s U2!

Contest will end Tuesday, October 27th.

Pop-punk favorites Paramore are going to be in Boston on October 19 at the House of Blues.

Blast has two free tickets that we want to give away to you guys. To win you just have to write the best haiku about why you love Paramore. Forgotten what a haiku is from those English classes so long ago? It’s a simple three lined poem with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second, and five syllables in the last line.

Example:
i love paramore
hayley williams rocks hard
decode is awesome

Except yours should be better. The contest will end October 15, and the winner will be notified for their info to receive the tickets. Get to writing…

One more thing: Make sure you register an account with Blast to be eligible.

After a parking mix up at the House of Blues, Evan Taubenfeld and crew have been banished to the front of The Paradise Lounge a little bit before soundcheck. Taubenfeld is to open for Secondhand Serenade that night, but when Blast finally arrives at the new locale for the big red bus, he is just finishing dinner. He is hanging out on the bus in a Baltimore Ravens jersey that seems to engulf his small frame. Still, blonde hair and bright-eyed Taubenfeld exudes a confidence that says no matter how big the pond, this fish plans on making a splash.

Taubenfeld first made a name for himself as the musical composer and lead guitarist for Avril Lavigne. He penned most of her biggest hits including, “Happy Ending” and her multi-platinum “The Best Damn Thing”, but now he is striking out on his own and beginning the tumultuous journey of making a name for himself solo.

“Right now, I am the kid from Avril’s band. By the way, I’m really cool with that. She’s one of my best friends in the world. We have a lot of fun together, and we still work together” clarified Taubenfeld. “I am starting now, by doing tours like this and putting out songs like “ËœCheater of the Year’ and “ËœBoy Meets Girl’ and making videos and constantly traveling, trying to build a new name for myself. So some of the new people that get to know me go “ËœThat’s Evan!’ not “ËœThat’s Evan from Avril’s band!’”

At only 26, Taubenfeld has done pretty well for himself. Part of the credit could be given to him always knowing what he wants, and going about it in his own way. Taubenfeld was offered entrance to the Berklee School of Music for both vocals and drums, and turned both semesters down.

“I didn’t think what I wanted to do could be taught. I wanted to become a recording artist, a famous singer/songwriter, a popstar. I didn’t see how going to school could help me do that” said Taubenfeld.

The fact that Taubenfeld was explaining his decision to us from his very own tour bus proves he’s doing all right, but he doesn’t knock music education for everyone.

“My brother, who is my lead guitarist and the music director for Demi Lovato, he went there for four years and he graduated. He’s incredible. I think it’s the perfect place for some people and the least perfect place for others. For Drew, my brother, it was perfect. He came out and he’s just a badass. For me, it probably would have been a really bad place. It’s just too structured and the way that I am as a songwriter, I don’t think the classroom would have helped me” said Taubenfeld.

Instead, Taubenfeld uses his songs to help him. Songs like “Cheater of the Year”, the first single from his album “The Blackllist Club”, paint the picture of a younger more naƒ¯ve Evan getting his heart stomped on by a first love. Taubenfeld explained that songs help him express the more romantic side of himself that he’s too afraid to show normally.

“I am a painfully hopeful romantic person but I hide it extremely well under a very heavily guarded heart because I’ve been hurt. I think I’m fifty-percent cynic who protects himself because to live in the world we live in, especially in LA and in the entertainment business, you have to be tough. The other fifty-percent is hoping to find the girl of my dreams and live happily ever after. I think that conflict is what my record is about if you listen to it” Taubenfeld said.

Taubenfeld presents his broken heart on a record filled with catchy pop guitar driven hooks. He seems like a wet-dream for anyone going for the “after the Jonas Brothers” next big thing, so it’s a little surprising to hear Taubenfeld is managed by Crush “" the same people responsible for Fall Out Boy, Panic! At the Disco, Cobra Starship and others of the same vein. Despite not falling exactly into that demographic, Taubenfeld enjoys being part of the Crush family, and doesn’t let the differences keep him down.

“I think the Crush bands are incredible. I think they are very self sufficient. I am probably the least popular in terms of having my own following, and as far as having my own system that I run. They each have their own world” said Taubenfeld, “but at the same time, I also think I am the most pop leaning so I also have the most potential to sell 50 million records on their roster.”

The truth is that Taubenfeld already is the biggest popstar on the label and has sold more records than you could conceive, just written for someone else. Now he’s out to prove he can do it with his face on the cover. His hyper and interactive demeanor shows no doubts about his potential to make it huge. He’s just being patient. Taubenfeld is here to show the world what he’s about, and he won’t stop until they take a listen.

“It is just expressing where I am in my life. I am excited to be on my own I am also a little bit nervous. I like to have a lot of fun” explained Taubenfeld, “I think what I’m trying to say is – Hey what’s up? I’m Evan, I want to have a good time.”

Meet PantyRaid. The new producer-dance-hit-maker duo is comprised of New York transplant from South Africa Martin Folb (known more popularly by his fans as Marty Party) and Los Angeles DJ Josh Mayer from The Glitch Mob. The two have been friends for years but in 2005 the two decided to get serious about making music together and thus became PantyRaid. Their much-anticipated first full-length album “The Sauce” dropped last Tuesday.

The album is strikingly different from most dance-genre LPs hitting the market. Instead of a mash up of your already favorite club hits, PantyRaid experiments with an electronic and classical fusion (though the voice of pop princess Britney Spears does make an appearance on “Too Fine To Do Time”). “The Sauce” is a blend of masterfully orchestrated electronic sounds and audio tricks to create grimy beats and extrinsic melodies.

Folb and Mayer created a lot of “The Sauce” by trading tracks back and forth via e-mail (considering they make their home bases 3,000 miles away from each other). Folb told Blast the process was still simple since he and Mayer both share the same vision for PantyRaid.

“Sometimes it [started] with a song I wrote, sometimes it started with a song he wrote. We’ll just find something that sounds like PantyRaid “" we both know what that is “" and we just trade it back and forth. We both have the same taste, so it’s easy” Folb explained from Brooklyn.

When asked about the seemingly darker overtones of “The Sauce,” Folb defends that it was never intentional for the album to be dark, but to evoke an emotional reaction.

“It’s emo for sure. Everything we do is emo. We’re very emotional. I didn’t intentionally sit down to write a dark record though. We are very cheerful people, just deep and emotional, I guess” said Folb with a laugh.

“The Sauce” was released on Adam Freeland’s Marine Parade Records. Freeland fell in love with the sound immediately after hearing some of the tracks Folb and Mayer had put together. PantyRaid also appears on Freeland’s remix of his June release “Cope” which Folb said was very exciting for PantyRaid.

With “The Sauce” being touted as “the future of electronic music” by magazines like Clash and IDJ, it seems many more exciting things shall be coming up for PantyRaid. The first single “Beba” has also been creating a lot of buzz and is one of Folb’s favorite songs on the record (and Blast’s too).

“I like “ËœBeba’ because it was the first song I wrote that I knew was PantyRaid. [I thought], “Oh shit, this is a hit.”

As far as leading the electronic world into the future, PantyRaid doesn’t really believe in trying to fit in a genre.
“You can decide on a genre or whatever to put us in, but it’s not going to work out” said Folb confidently, “It’s just our music, a culmination of what we’ve lived and learned together.”

You can learn more about PantyRaid at their myspace (www.myspace.com/pantyraidmusic) or pick up “The Sauce” at any major music retailer.

Blast in association with Total Assault is offering up a free signed poster and an autographed copy of Three Day Grace’s new album “Life Starts Now” which hit music stores September 18th. Comment this post with why you deserve the big prize and the Blast judged best answer will be sent the poster and CD.

Haven’t heard the new album yet? You can check out a full stream here. If you want more information on Three Days Grace don’t forget their myspace page at www.myspace.com/threedaysgrace.

All of you Twilighters out there, get excited Stephenie Meyer posted the “New Moon” movie soundtrack track listing on her website today. The soundtrack includes new original work from artists like Death Cab for Cutie, Muse and The Killers. All songs are exclusive to the “New Moon” soundtrack. You can pre-order the album on Amazon.com today.

* DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE “" MEET ME ON THE EQUINOX
* BAND OF SKULLS “" FRIENDS
* THOM YORKE “" HEARING DAMAGE
* LYKKE LI “" POSSIBILITY
* THE KILLERS “" A WHITE DEMON LOVE SONG
* ANYA MARINA “" SATELLITE HEART
* MUSE “" I BELONG TO YOU (NEW MOON)
* BON IVER & ST. VINCENT “" ROSYLN
* BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB “" DONE ALL WRONG
* HURRICANE BELLS “" MONSTERS
* SEA WOLF “" THE VIOLET HOUR
* OK GO “" SHOOTING THE MOON
* GRIZZLY BEAR “" SLOW LIFE
* EDITORS “" NO SOUND BUT THE WIND
* ALEXANDRE DESPLAT “" NEW MOON (THE MEADOW)

Actor Patrick Swayze has succumbed to his battle with pancreatic cancer. The “Dirty Dancing” and “Ghost” actor died Monday at age 57 after dealing with the illness for almost two years.

His publicist has announced that Swayze died peacefully with his family at his side. Swayze was diagnosed with the particularly virulent form of cancer in March 2008, and doctors originally gave him little time. Swayze survived 20 months, even filming 13 episodes of the A&E original series “The Beast” in 2009.

People magazine reported when Swayze was diagnosed his wife, Lisa Niemi, a licensed pilot, would fly him from Los Angeles to northern California for treatments.

There is no word about a possible public service for the actor. He leaves his wife of 30 years and his mother.

By the way: Grammatical and style errors were corrected in this version of the story

Beyonce was the big winner at last night’s MTV Video Music Awards, taking home the big prize of Video of the Year for “Single Ladies”. It seemed to be lady’s night at MTV because Lady Gaga took home the honors for “Best New Artist” while Britney Spears took “Best Pop Video”. Green Day beat out Kings of Leon and Fall Out Boy for Best Rock Video, but the awards were ironically a very insignificant part of last night’s show.

Just in case you have been in a coma for the past 24 hours, the first thing you need to know about last night’s awards is that Kanye West should no longer be allowed on the premises. By Blast calculations, this is the third year that Kanye has publicly displayed his outrage at the MTV selection for an award. This year’s victim was America’s country sweetheart Taylor Swift, who won the first award of the night “Best Female Video.” In outrage that Beyonce didn’t win for “one of the best videos of all time” Kanye rushed the stage, took Taylor’s microphone during her acceptance speech, and proclaimed Beyonce should have been the winner leaving Miss Swift in horrified silence. Twitter explosions and blog frenzies after report that Swift was to be seen sobbing backstage after the debacle.

Outside of the dramatics, the VMAs this year contained a lot of W-t-fness, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Every cut to Lady Gaga gave viewers a peak at outrageous outfit after outrageous outfit. Apparently being able to see was not a major concern when making fashion decisions. Equally as twisted was her live performance. Gaga performed her latest mega hit “Paparazzi” on the VMA stage. She lived up to her reputation of a fantastic live performance, but the crowd and viewers alike were a little disturbed by Gaga’s literal perception of the paparazzi killing her when she poured blood over her and then pseudo hung herself from the VMA ceiling.

R&B badass Pink also used a harness for her VMA performance, which may have been the most impressive of the night. Pink performed the entire sang, hanging about 50 feet off the ground, flipping around and somersaulting with her trapeze partner. The most amazing part of the stunt was that she was continuing to sing live “" no lip syncing “" as she continuously flipped head over heels.

In fact there wasn’t a bad musical performance the entire night. Taylor Swift was impressive with her take over of the 42nd street subway station and subsequent Times Square performance. Beyonce amazed audiences not only with her fancy leg work but the fact that she didn’t have a wardrobe malfunction visa Janet Jackson at the Superbowl. Jay-Z and Alicia Keys topped off the night with their new duet, but it was the opening of the show that stole most of the attention.

This year’s VMAs kicked off with a Janet Jackson led tribute to her late brother, King of Pop, Michael Jackson. It was touching and very fitting that this year’s awards were dedicated to a man who took music videos to a new height. Dancers recreated moves from the iconic “Thriller” before Janet arose on stage and re-created the moves from “Scream” while Michael’s mirroring performance played on the screen behind. Intermittently throughout the show, props were given to Michael as well as a full trailer of “This Is It”, the film compiled of all the rehearsal footage before his death, which will appear in theatres nationwide on October 28.

Performances really took precedence at the awards. Only five trophies were given out during the actual aired show. Equally as insignificant was host Russell Brand. While admittedly hilarious in his own right, British stand-up comic Brand fell flat as returning host of the awards. While MTV was probably banking on Brand’s gained notoriety over the past year, his brash humor didn’t translate well to the stage. It seemed that producers spent more time cutting to commercial after Brand’s crude punchlines than letting him speak, and that’s when he was brought on stage to introduce anyone at all. Though Brand has conquered television hosting, movies and even the New York Time’s bestseller’s list with his autobiography “My Booky Wook”, hosting just may not be his thing.

Overall, the show was surprisingly entertaining, especially considering the disappointing past couple of years. There wasn’t a boring moment during the entire two and a half hour runtime. Last night’s show was so well put together that it might have actually succeeded in distracting people from the fact that the ceremony is completely irrelevant. Seriously, when was the last time MTV even played a video?

Dashboard Confessional has announced their new album, “Alter the Ending”, on Vagrant/DGC/Interscope records will be released on November 10, 2009. Famed producer Butch Walker worked with Dashboard, which consists of front man Chris Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist John Lefler, and drummer Mike Marsh, on the band’s sixth studio album.

“Alter the Ending” is the band’s follow up to 2006′s “Dusk and Summer”, though Carrabba released an acoustic album “The Shade of Poison Trees” in 2007. The band also contributed the song, “Finishing School” to the Jennifer’s Body soundtrack which comes out this month.

Dashboard will be previewing songs on a nation wide tour later this fall. The dates begin November 7, and the band will travel across the entire US until mid-December with New Found Glory, Never Shout Never and Meg & Dia as tour support.

The dates for the Dashboard Confessional fall tour are as follows and on sale announcements will be made on Monday, September 14.

11/07 Louisville, KY Whitney Hall/Kentucky Center
11/08 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
11/09 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
11/11 Salt Lake City, UT McKay Center
11/13 San Jose, CA San Jose Civic Center
11/14 Irvine, CA Bren Events Center
11/15 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium
11/17 San Diego, CA Soma
11/18 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theater
11/20 Oklahoma City, OK Bricktown Ballroom
11/21 San Antonio, TX Sunset Station
11/22 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
11/24 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
11/27 Pompano Beach, FL Pompano Amphitheater
11/28 Orlando, FL House of Blues
11/29 Orlando, FL House of Blues
12/03 Lowell, MA Tsongas Arena
12/04 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
12/05 Pittsburgh, PA Ice Garden Arena
12/07 New York City Nokia Theater
12/08 New York City Nokia Theater
12/09 New York City Nokia Theater
12/11 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
12/12 Detroit, MI Fillmore Detroit
12/13 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
12/14 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
12/16 Richmond, VA The National
12/17 Charlotte, NC Fillmore Charlotte
12/18 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

Dashboard Confessional has announced their new album, “Alter the Ending”, on Vagrant/DGC/Interscope records will be released on November 10, 2009. Famed producer Butch Walker worked with Dashboard, which consists of front man Chris Carrabba, bassist Scott Schoenbeck, guitarist John Lefler, and drummer Mike Marsh, on the band’s sixth studio album.

“Alter the Ending”is the band’s follow up to 2006′s “Dusk and Summer”, though Carrabba released an acoustic album“The Shade of Poison Trees” in 2007. The band also contributed the song, “Finishing School” to the Jennifer’s Body soundtrack which comes out this month.

Dashboard will be previewing songs on a nation wide tour later this fall. The dates begin November 7, and the band will travel across the entire US until mid-December with New Found Glory, Never Shout Never and Meg & Dia as tour support.

The dates for the Dashboard Confessional fall tour are as follows and on sale announcements will be made on Monday, September 14.

11/07 Louisville, KY Whitney Hall/Kentucky Center
11/08 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
11/09 Denver, CO Fillmore Auditorium
11/11 Salt Lake City, UT McKay Center
11/13 San Jose, CA San Jose Civic Center
11/14 Irvine, CA Bren Events Center
11/15 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium
11/17 San Diego, CA Soma
11/18 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theater
11/20 Oklahoma City, OK Bricktown Ballroom
11/21 San Antonio, TX Sunset Station
11/22 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
11/24 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
11/27 Pompano Beach, FL Pompano Amphitheater
11/28 Orlando, FL House of Blues
11/29 Orlando, FL House of Blues
12/03 Lowell, MA Tsongas Arena
12/04 Camden, NJ Susquehanna Bank Center
12/05 Pittsburgh, PA Ice Garden Arena
12/07 New York City Nokia Theater
12/08 New York City Nokia Theater
12/09 New York City Nokia Theater
12/11 Chicago, IL Aragon Ballroom
12/12 Detroit, MI Fillmore Detroit
12/13 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
12/14 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
12/16 Richmond, VA The National
12/17 Charlotte, NC Fillmore Charlotte
12/18 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle

Both “Rolling Stone” and “Time” magazine have touted The Beatles as the most influential music group of the 20th century. The truth is that every person America hears a Beatles song almost every day, even if they aren’t conscious that the fab four were the ones who penned the tune. In honor of the release of Beatles Rock Band, Blast has put together a list of the 10 Best Beatles Songs of All Time. With 13 albums containing the highest number of Billboard Hot 100 singles in history, picking 10 was like pulling teeth or choosing a favorite child, but we tried our best. Taking from most notable, to critically acclaimed and a smidgen of personal preference here is our list, but don’t hesitate to comment with your own.

10 “" “Let It Be” The title track from the last of the Beatles studio albums. Paul came up with the song after a dream he had a dream about his mother visiting him. Hence “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me speaking words of wisdom, “Ëœlet it be’ and in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me/”

9 “" “All You Need is Love” Possibly one of the most commercialized songs in the history of the world. Sure, most of the younger generations associate this song with Chevrolet, they still know the words. “All You Need is Love” represents the poppier side of The Beatles catalog but a classic nonetheless and a good message, “There’s nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time. It’s easy. All you need is love, all you need is love. Love, love is all you need.” If only life were really that simple, huh?

8 “" “Yellow Submarine” There might be an argument that this might actually be the worst song The Beatles wrote, but here at Blast we think Paul never got enough credit for writing this. Okay, so it’s on the simple side, and doesn’t really make sense but you can blame the acid for that. “Yellow Submarine” never fails to put us in a good mood thus it makes the list.

7 “" “In My Life” Rumor has it that John Lennon wrote “In My Life” about his childhood after a journalist’s suggestion. Paul added to the song afterward and it became one of the songs they argued over rights to when the band split up in 1970. Despite the controversy over it later, it is lines like “Though I know I’ll never lose affection for people and things that went before, I know I’ll often stop and think about them. In my life I love you more” that put “In My Life” on our list.

6 “" “Helter Skelter” McCartney wanted to experiment with the loudness and symbol sounds on the song after reading a review of a The Who record and wanted to out-do Pete Townsend. As a result “Helter Skelter” became known as one of the greatest guitar pieces in music. The song embodies how The Beatles pioneered new sounds in music with their rabid curiosity and willingness to push “the norm” to new limits.

5 “" “Come Together” “Come Together” is the first song off of 1969′s Abbey Road. Lennon began writing the song as a campaign anthem for Timothy Leary’s California campaign against Ronald Reagan. Lennon was sued by Chuck Berry and his management for stealing lyrics. The court case was settled out of court and Lennon agreed to record three of Morris Levy’s (Berry’s music publisher) on his solo record after the break-up of The Beatles.

4 “" “Yesterday” “Yesterday” is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most covered song in history “" which means that those of us at Blast are not the only ones that love it. The acoustic ballad shows a softer side of The Beatles. In fact, the recording is a McCartney solo piece of work, accompanied only by a string quartet. Since the song relied so much on just one member of the band, The Beatles were hesitant to release it as a single.

3 “" “Hey Jude” “Hey Jude” was written for John Lennon’s older son Julian by Paul McCartney during his parents’ divorce. Originally recorded at over seven minutes, “Hey Jude” spent nine weeks at number one, which is the longest of any Beatles single. It was also the first single released on Apple Records. The song also appeared as #8 on Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs” list, which helps us think it deserves to be #3 on our list.

2 “" “Strawberry Fields Forever” The song comes from the fab four’s infamous “psychedelic rock” period “" using a mellotron (a tape recorder flute type instrument) to create the dream-live overtones.. Strawberry Fields refers to a Salvation Army children’s home that Lennon used to play at as a child in Liverpool. Though formally credited to the Lennon/McCartney, most sources credit the song solely to Lennon. Central Park thought enough of the song their Lennon memorial after it, and Blast agrees so much that “Strawberry Fields Forever” ranks in at #2 on our top ten Beatles list.

1 “" “Eleanor Rigby” Fun fact about “Eleanor Rigby” is that none of The Beatles played instruments on it. John Lennon and George Harrison performed back-up vocals but the main instrumentation is a string arrangement played by professional studio musicians. “Eleanor Rigby” is at the top of our list because for Blast it represents the middle of the road between the early Beatles pop stages and their later endeavors into psychedelic rock. “Eleanor Rigby” stands out as a purely classic Beatles song.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we incorrectly stated that Ringo write “Yellow Submarine.” It was Paul.

For eight seasons now, millions of viewers have tuned into Fox twice a week for America’s most popular talent competition “" American Idol. After each season the finalists embark on a nationwide tour to perform their biggest hits from the show. In August the season 8 “Idols”, including this season’s winner Kris Allen and runner-up Adam Lambert stopped at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden. Blast was lucky enough to get a few minutes with finalists Allison Iraheta, Scott MacIntyre and Michael Sarver to talk about the tour, life after Idol and their plans for the future.

“The tour is going great, everything is amazing” said MacIntyre.

“The fans are the reason that it is. I couldn’t imagine this without them and their incredible support” Sarver commented. Fans were already waiting outside of the Garden hours before the show in the sweltering heat hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite contestant. Sarver elaborated that meeting the fans is their favorite part of the day, but due to security restraints and the number of people outside they wouldn’t be able to do it at the Garden.

Fans of the show have already drastically changed the lives of the Idol contestants who now have to adjust to being recognized everywhere they go.

“[My] personal life down the drain. People know who I am now” said Iraheta.

“There is not a single place that I can go where someone doesn’t recognize me, which is flattering” Sarver said. “I’m not going to lie, I like to eat without being talked to, but outside of eating I don’t mind being disturbed. It’s very flattering and very touching for people to know who I am.”

The Boston date was just over the midway point for the tour, and the idols were lucky enough to enjoy a day off in Beantown before they performed at the Garden on August 18.

Sarver and a few of the other male finalists took a Duck tour and a trip to the Aquarium while MacIntyre went scouring the city for a grand piano.

“I found one at a hotel way far away from the hotel we are staying in now. I got to play one song before they kicked me out” MacIntyre said, “(The piano) was in hearing distance of three or four rooms. I like to respect people’s sleep.”

The Boston day off was one of the few on the tour when Iraheta wasn’t shuttled off to recording her upcoming album.

“It’s pretty crazy, you know. (On) days off you record. They have been sending me songs, so just cutting them and getting them out there” said Iraheta. She has been working with famed producer Kevin Rudolf who is an idol of hers.

“It’s definitely going to be the rock album I have always wanted to do” explains Iraheta about the sound of the album when asked how much pop will have to be enthused with the album by record label request. While admitting that some compromise will have to be made, Iraheta is adamant about staying true to herself and her sound, “Hopefully it’ll be just a good rock album” she said.

Iraheta, Adam Lambert and Kris Allen all signed contracts with 19 Recordings Entertainment – the label backing the American Idol competition. All contestants were under contract with 19 Recordings from the start of the show until August 20. If they did not sign with 19 Recordings then they had to wait until August 20 to make any official contractual agreements with any other label or entertainment company.

Due to the contract issue, none of the Idols were able to comment on any specific plans once they were free from 19 Recordings, but each said they were shifting through options.

“It is going to be country” said Sarver of his plans for his full-length album. “I have simply stated that there is going to be an album because I’ve been working on one, but that doesn’t mean legally. I have several options but even if that doesn’t work out, I have built a recording studio in my house so I will release it whether someone picks it up or not – there will be a Michael Sarver album out there” Sarver promises.

While also sorting through record deal offers, MacIntyre, who was born visually impaired has also been offered a book publishing deal to write an autobiography of his experiences so far.

“[It] is something I’ve been wanting to do for a really long time” explains MacIntyre. “It is going to be about my life. I feel like I do have a lot to say still. I have received thousands of e-mails from around the world of the most touching stories. People have told me that even just the little bit of my life story that they have experienced through American Idol has meant so much to them” MacIntyre said.

MacIntyre is also considering a career behind the scenes, writing songs for other artists he admires.

“I would love to write a song for Tim McGraw and for the Jonas Brothers” admitted MacIntyre, “I write a lot of material in that power pop kind of punk genre.”

Though the Idols’ paths are diverging, they are united during the tour and by their experiences on the show.

“This is a chance for fans to see us for who we really are” MacIntyre said, “not through the lens of Motown week or Michael Jackson week.”

Iraheta echoes the sentiment in her advice to anyone auditioning for the show, but it seems to work for life in general too.

“Stay true to yourself and just go for it” she said.

The MTV Video Music Awards will be returning to their home at Radio City Music Hall this September. Russell Brand will be hosting for the second year in a row, introducing nominees like Britney Spears (who won Video of the Year last year), Kanye West, and Kings of Leon. Amongst the new faces this year will be rising starlet Anjulie who has been nominated for Breakthrough Video for her debut single “Boom”. Anjulie talked about the nomination, getting on MTV and how randy Russell Brand is in a recent phone interview with Blast.

“I was doing a morning television show in Toronto, when the Adria [Petty] the director called me and said we were nominated” Anjulie recalled about finding out she was nominated, “I told my manager and he said, “ËœThere’s no way’. So we checked online and there it was.”

“Boom”, which hit #1 on the Billboard dance chart, is the first single from Anjulie’s full length album, “Anjulie”, which hit stores August 4. Anjulie says the concept for the video developed naturally between her and Petty.

“We met together and just brought in our collective ideas. We picked the same magazines, the same art styles. We are very similar creatively I guess” said Anjulie.

The video begins with Anjulie walking a tight-rope before it snaps, sending Anjulie crawling through a Salvador Dali meets Alice in Wonderland type universe. Each shot captures a vibrant and animated display, from the little vs huge room Anjulie tumbles into from the tight rope to the “rolling ocean” from which she sends a message in a bottle. “Boom” showcases Petty and Anjulie’s technique for artistic flare. Petty also directed Anjulie’s second video that will premiere soon.

Anjulie’s relationship with MTV started long before the nomination was announced. The Hills producer John Carr discovered Anjulie before she had finished recording the album. He put one of her songs on the hit reality show and soon thousands were asking how to get a hold of Anjulie songs.

“(Carr) put it on the show and we started getting tons of requests online and on MTV.com. People messaged me on my Myspace asking me how they could hear the songs and get them. Then they put me on the Freshman Five and started playing the video. It just went from there” Anjulie said.

The song also appeared in an episode of The City and the video has been put into regular rotation on both MTV and VH1. Anjulie is sharing real-estate in the Breakthrough Video category with indie heavyweights Death Cab for Cutie and The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. When asked if she would be preparing an acceptance speech just in case of a win, Anjulie said she isn’t expecting anything.

“I don’t think anyone knows about me, as far as the voting public is concerned. I am probably the lowest profile artist on there. So I am really not expecting to win – I won’t be writing an acceptance speech” she said.

Anjulie will definitely be attending the ceremony in early September though and is hoping for a chance to meet no-holds-barred host and comedian Russell Brand.

“You know who I’m excited to meet? Russell Brand. I think he’s really hot” Anjulie confessed. “I have seen all his stand-up. I am like a Youtube stalker of him – he’s hilarious.”

The awards will air on Sunday, September 13 at 9 p.m. on MTV. Be sure to check them out and look for the new Breakthrough Artist, Anjulie.

Honestly, there is nothing more frustrating than a movie that squanders all potential to make itself decent. With Vanessa Hudgens taking top billing, hopes were not all that high for “Bandslam”, but I went in with my fingers crossed that it might prove itself to be a good teen movie and appeal to the cheesier side of my heart. My dreams were crushed.

SPOILER ALERT!: “Bandslam” is the story of loner and David Bowie obsessed Will Burton, played by new face Gaelan Connell, who has grown up being tortured by the nickname “Dewey” since he was twelve years old. Finally, his mother decides to liberate him from high school hell by moving him to Jersey. Once placed in his new school, Will is introduced to Bandslam “" the “Texas high school football big” event of the year where students all across the region compete for a record deal. He is recruited by the most popular girl in school, Charlotte Banks (Aly Michalka), to manage her new band in hopes of beating her ex boyfriend and favorite to win “" Glory Dogs in the competition.

Despite their differences Will and Charlotte develop an unlikely friendship “" one that shows Charlotte there’s more to life than cheerleading and boys and allows Will to find something he’s truly gifted at. Together they create a band with an original, catchy and I’ll even stretch for touching number “" Phil’s Song. Of course, all of it falls to pieces when Charlotte’s father dies and it comes to light that her trip to the dark side of unpopularity was just a social experiment to please her sick dad. Suddenly the underdogs must scramble for a new lead singer to get them the Bandslam trophy. If you have seen any trailer for the movie you already know who they turn to, ready and waiting with a “voice to die for” to save the day.

Hudgens, who plays Sa5m (the five is silent), is set up to be the loner of Will’s new high school and the girl who steals his heart. They tried their best to make her look homely, but sticking books like “Pride and Prejudice” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” in front of her face did little to make the natural prom queen-esque look of Hudgens more of a bad-ass. It came off more condescending and insulting to any kid who actually does have trouble fitting in. There was also a huge hole in the plot as to why Hudgens was so incapable of making friends. The only revealed source of her angst was losing a talent show in early middle school.

The largest complaint I have about Hudgens’s performance was that her presence in the movie was unnecessary and so obviously an attempt to suck in a High School Musical crowd for higher box office results. The movie is complete with plot, conflict and possible resolution without Hudgens ever being present. Her fledgling relationship with Will distracts from his friendship with Charlotte “" which actually results in character growth and development.

By all predeceasing cheesy teen movie standards, Charlotte’s change of heart after she realizes Will’s “Dewey” nickname actually is “DUI” “" spawned after his father killed a 12-year-old boy in a drunk driving accident should have been the resolution. As the original lead singer, she should have re-claimed her spot as lead singer and helped the band save the day.

Instead, despite Charlotte’s redemption, Sa5m stays as new lead singer and the band ends up performing “Everything I Own” “" which the movie’s demographic will attribute to *Nsync’s first album rather than Bread who recorded the original version of the song in 1972. END SPOILER.

As I said, there was potential for a touching, though cheesy, story if producers had allowed the story to unfold between Will and Charlotte rather than trying to squeeze Hudgens into the movie. Connell does a beautifully awkward job of portraying the bumbling Will, just trying to find his place in high school while struggling with a dark past. Michalka is charming and even funny as Charlotte. Lisa Kudrow’s performance as Will’s overprotective mother is also worth a mention, adding some legitimacy and backbone to the story.

“Bandslam” is also impressive with their music references. If any of the tweens checking this movie come out with a curiosity for Bowie and The Velvet Underground or an appreciation for the history of CBGB then “Bandslam” was a job well done. The truth is that the movie’s strive to add a house hold name to the billing may have squandered the life out of a good story. That kind of sacrifice seems extra sad this week considering the death of high school movie king John Hughes. Unless being forced to attend by your little sibling or cousin, Bandslam is worth skipping.

When Blast talked to Cobra Starship last spring, the album was untitled with an unknown release date and a rumored collaboration with Gossip Girl Leighton Meester. Now the boys and girl of Cobra Starship are rocking a top 10 Itunes single in good part thanks to that collaboration with Meester, and “Hot Mess” drops tomorrow, August 11th.

All bassist Alex Suarez and drummer Nate Novarro would tell us in May was that Cobras would continue their celebrity bashing ways “" but with an introspective touch considering they themselves were now celebrities.

After hearing the entire album, Blast can confirm that they boys were telling the truth. So before you get any further into this, any person crossing their fingers that front man Gabe Saporta would magically turn the Cobra Starship outfit into “Midtown continued” should grab a box of tissues and cry themselves another river because it didn’t happen. For those who have been sweating their asses off in their purple hoodies and throwing “ËœFangs up’ all summer in anticipation for “Hot Mess”, please continue.

The album kicks off with “Nice Guys Finish Last”, which sets up the “I’m a bad boy” theme that pervades throughout the rest of the record. The first track’s “Womanizer” beat also makes it apparently clear that “Hot Mess” is going to be a wet dream for radio stations across the country.

“Pete Wentz is the Only Reason We’re Famous” was the first song the Cobras released to the public and brings Saporta’s staple tongue-in-cheek lyrics to another level. The title of the song alone goes with the Cobra Starship attitude that you can’t crack a joke on them if they crack it first. Look out for the line “You can ride to the top/but you can’t ride on my cock” which helped earn the first ever Explicit rating for the Cobras.

“You’re Not in on the Joke” (which shares writing credit with Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump) and “Move Like You Gonna Die” follow in the same vein as “Pete Wentz” as far as calling out scene kids who think of the Cobras as a joke. Saporta turns the laugh around with lines like “I’ve just got one side to show you all/My ass is awesome/So smile while you’re kissing it”. The album is full of “stick it to them” mantras, showing that Saporta is more than aware of what the critics are saying but still doesn’t give a shit.

“Hot Mess” also does not neglect to take Cobra’s reputation as a “dance band” to the next level. The already explosive “Good Girls Go Bad” proves the Cobra potential for radio superstardom. If it hasn’t happened already, high school quarterbacks across the country will be throwing up fangs, claiming they know how to make all the girls go bad. The title track of the album follows suit with the first single, with a ridiculously catchy hook and a synth-soaked beat that makes it impossible not to “shake it shake it”. Both songs have the potential to replace “Since U Been Gone” as this generation’s #1 karaoke anthem.

“Hot Mess” turns into a somewhat perfect summer driving soundtrack, with “Fold Your Hands Child”, “Living in the Sky With Diamonds” and “The Scene is Dead, Long Live the Scene” acting as the somber side of the rise and low mixture essential to any good mix. “Fold Your Hands Child” may rival “One Day Robots Will Cry” as Saporta’s most personal song to date, depicting a long-term relationship in the face of haters. “The Scene is Dead” is worth putting on repeat a few times. The medication and hospital references give a little insight to Saporta’s battle with hospitals over the past year, from throat surgeries to broken ankles, and the pressure to be everyone’s “favorite man”.

“Hot Mess” exemplifies Cobra Starship taking their mission to make “scene kids” stop taking themselves so seriously and to make everyone have a good time to a new level. The things old fans loved about previous Cobra records are still there, and amplified. Every song is synth loaded and Saporta’s voice takes some serious doses of auto tune which creates an album full of ultra-pop-dance floor super anthems.

Those that have been following the band since the “Snakes on a Plane” anthem should prepare themselves accordingly because “Hot Mess” will be the album that puts Cobra Starship on the map. Get ready because everyone that looked at your hoodie with golden snakes on it and asked “What the hell is that?” will now be singing “Hot Mess” with empty Solo cups as microphones. But this album will put Cobra Starship everywhere they have wanted to be. You just have to decide if you are going to love “Ëœem or hate “Ëœem for it.

MANSFIELD – This article is about the geometry of Tom Delonge’s penis. Okay, not really but if you didn’t find that funny then I am going to guess the long awaited Blink-182 reunion doesn’t mean that much to you.

Last night the legendary trio – guitarist Tom Delonge, bassist Mark Hoppus and drummer Travis Barker – played the Boston date of their reunion summer amphitheater tour to a sold out crowd of 20,000 people. Hoppus announced before the second to last song of the set that it was the second largest crowd Blink had ever played in front of.

Opening acts for this particular date of the tour were Chester French, Panic! At the Disco (with a new line up), and Fall Out Boy. Other opening acts for various dates on the tour include Weezer, Taking Back Sunday and All American Rejects. While all the participating bands of the tour put on solid performances – it was clear that the vast majority of the crowd was there for Blink and Blink only.

The most notable difference about the Blink performance at Mansfield’s Comcast Center was the severe clean up of their stage banter. Delonge and Hoppus bounced back and forth between each other in an attempt to cover up some obvious lingering bitterness over Delonge’s initial decision to leave Blink to pursue Angels and Airwaves, but fans were not greeted with the same level of perverted sillyness that was a staple of Blink-182 shows in the past (for reference, please get yourself a copy of “The Mark, Tom and Travis Show” and you’ll understand what I mean). Though certainly humorous and entertaining, there was a noticeable absence of banter about licking balls and songs like “Blow Job”, which was a slight disappoint to all of the older fans who are used to the Blink patented potty mouth humor.

The hour and a half set included songs every album – from “Buddha”and “Cheshire Cat” to the self-titled album the band released before taking their hiatus in 2005. While the crowd erupted for “What’s My Age Again” – the song that broke the boys into the mainstream – and you could hear the thunder of 20,000 people singing along to “All The Small Things”, there was an appreciation by all the old school Blink fans when they went into “Josie” – one of the pre-MTV hits that made Blink-182 a gateway punk band for so many in the mid 1990s. The most touching moment of the show may have been the sea of lighters and cell phones alike that rose in the air when the band went into “Adam’s Song”, the “Enema of the State” anthem speaking out about teen suicide.

There was no greater applause though then drummer Travis Barker’s kick-off of the band’s two song encore. It was an appropriate tribute to Barker, whose near death plane crash in 2008 inspired the band to start speaking to each other again and thus re-unite. Barker began with a drum solo, only for his drum kit to begin rising off the stage. For more than five minutes, Barker banged on his drums as his kit swung in the air from one side of the stage to the other. At one point Barker was turned 180 degrees so that when he looked straight ahead he was looking at the floor of the stage, to the rabid approval of all 20,000 fans screaming in adoration. “He’s moving so fast! He looks like an octopus,” said a fan in the crowd as Barker banged away.

Hoppus and Delonge joined him afterward to finish out the night with “Carousel”and “Dammit”. By the end of it, Blink was on stage for over an hour and 40 minutes, playing songs that appealed to the palettes of the wide variety of fans in attendance – from the now early 20 somethings whose first chords on their electric guitars in middle school were Blink songs to the entirely new generation just discovering “Dude Ranch” for the first time. Blink-182 united a crowd of extreme variance last night and gave them all a show to remember.

The success of the tour will help the boys decide if they will continue together to record a new full length LP in the fall. If the caliber of the Comcast Center show is any indication – it’s good to see you back, Blink-182.