French electro-rockers M83 will open for the Killers during their US arena tour, kicking off in January. That's gonna be a good show!

It's been a crazy-ass year for M83: They're just wrapping up their own sold-out US tour in support of Saturdays=Youth (released April 2008). In December, they'll support the Kings of Leon during their three-week UK tour.

Here's a video for the track "Kim and Jessie." 

Click the jump for the Killers/M83 tour dates.

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Check out a new clip from the Hold Steady, the title track from their awesome '08 disc, Stay Positive.

Back in July, when the record came out, we had a beer with Steady singer Craig Finn at the Pencil Factory in Brooklyn. He explained how "Stay Positive" came to be.

"I'm always surprised when people ask me for my autograph," he said. "But people do. And for the last few years, when I've signed my autograph, I was also writing 'stay positive.'"

Guitarist Tad Kubler came up with the riff last summer, and passed along a tape of it to Finn at a July '07 tour stop in Manchester, England. "It sounded like a hardcore song -- I was really into '80s hardcore," said Finn, who calls out a couple of his favorite bands, Youth of Today and 7 Seconds, in the lyrics. The music invoked the positive ethos that sprung out of the hardcore scene. 

"The record ended up being a lot about holding on to youthful ideals in the face of aging, becoming an adult and having more real-life problems," said Finn. "'Stay Positive' is more about me, more personal that most of the songs I've written."

There ya have it. 

Photo: Bedder/Getty

You may remember the sordid tale from 2007 when ex-Culture Clubber Boy George was arrested for allegedly hiring a Norwegian male escort, handcuffing him to the wall and beating him with a metal chain. After entering a not guilty plea last February, denying the assault and imprisonment charges, the trial against Boy George has begun in London's Snaresbrook Crown Court, and the twisted details are emerging from that crazy night in 2007.

Here's what jurors have heard so far:

• Boy George hired Audun Carlsen, a Norwegian male escort, back in early '07.

• The two snorted a few rails of nose candy and BG administered a BJ.

• Later, BG accused Carlsen of tampering with his computer. He sent the escort "bizarre" and accusatory emails over the next two months, then apologized and said he had accused the wrong person.

• Carlsen, like an idiot, agreed to meet with George again in April.

• The two met and posed for a pornographic photo shoot. Once the shoot was over, Carlsen was attacked by George and an unidentified friend. Carlsen claims he was tackled to the ground and then handcuffed to the wall. The assistant left and George produced a box full of chains and leather whips, saying "Now you're going to get it."

• Carlsen was able to break free early the next morning and ran for help wearing only his boxers and the handcuffs, but not before George whacked him in the back with a chain during his escape.  

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My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way and his wife Lin Z, the bassist for Mindless Self Indulgence, are having a baby!

The blob is due in the summer of 2009. 

Gerard and Lin Z were married in '07. 

"It's a great feeling," Way told the S.S. about married life. "It's hard to put into words -- especially since I married the exactly perfect person. Being in a relationship that I thought could only be a fictional thing is amazing. It's knowing that there's always somebody out there, and that's something I've never known."

Pretty fuckin' sweet.

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Most cities across the country will slap you with a fine for a noise violation, but in Fort Lupton, Colorado, Municipal Judge Paul Sacco has employed a more effective manner in dealing with those who break the law by cranking their music too loud.

Repeat noise violation offenders must sit in a room and listen to shitty music. Barry Manilow and Barney the Dinosaur are just a couple of the audio-punishments.

Sacco came up with the idea after noticing that repeat offenders routinely show up in court and pay the small fine. 

"These people should have to listen to music they don't like," he said. "Like Glenn Close trying to sing opera."

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We’ll never forget when – two months after 9/11 -- Bob Dylan played Madison Square Garden and declared, "You don’t have to ask me how I feel about this town. Most of these songs were written here and the ones that weren’t were recorded here."

Bob always saves his best for his old stomping ground, and last Friday night he absolutely destroyed shit up on 175^th Street at the United Palace Theater. 

(Even though he's clearly stated that "old young, age don't carry weight," it's important to mention that Bob is still kicking everyone's ass at age 67.)

It was his 100^th and final show of 2008, and he jump-started the eighteen-song set with “Gotta Serve Somebody,” delivered from the center of the stage accompanied only by his harp. It was the first time he played the song since February 5^th, 2002, and halfway through he started freestyling crazy new verses like:

"Over and Out/Under and In/No matter where you are/No matter where you’ve been/You still gotta serve somebody."

Bob followed that up with "The Times They Are A-Changin'", which was played last on election night. He strapped on a guitar for “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” (originally released on Greatest Hits Vol. II). It was the first time he’d performed that song in New York in more than forty-five years!

Other highlights included “Desolation Row,” a spookily arranged "'Til I Fell In Love With You" and Modern Times killers like "The Levee’s Gonna Break," "Thunder On the Mountain," and "Ain't Talkin'."

The crowd was awesome too – many of them had scored tickets through the Dylan fan club. 

During "Spirit On the Water," Bob sang, "You think I’m over the hill?"

 To which everyone screamed, "Noooo!"

"You think I’m past my prime?" 

"Noooo!"

"Let me see what you got, we could have a whoppin’ good time."

"Yessss!"

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Today, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's new single "Working On A Dream" hits iTunes. Go there and grab it for free.

Photo: Gichigi /Getty

Liam and Noel Gallagher of Oasis got in the ring with their buddy, boxer Ricky Hatton, celebrating his win against Paulie Malignaggi in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The brothers carried Hatton's IBO and Ring Magazine belts into the ring before his 11-round victory. Noel rewarded the boxer with a kiss on the cheek.

Hatton's love for Oasis is well documented. 

He has made a list of the most important things in his life, and Oasis ranks fourth. "There's my family first," he's said, "Then I've got boxing. Next comes Manchester City [the football team]. Then it's Oasis."

We just made a list of the most important things in our life. Oasis came in at #47,932,243,785.

Photo: Getty

According to the Osservatore Romano, the official newspaper of the Vatican, the Catholic church has finally forgiven John Lennon for the 1966 statement he made claiming the Beatles were more famous than Jesus.

In an extremely long sentence, the newspaper read: “The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a ‘boast’ by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll." 

The statement coincided with the 40th anniversary of the White Album.

It continues, "The fact remains that 38 years after breaking up, the songs of Lennon-McCartney brand have shown an extraordinary resistance to the passage of time, becoming a source of inspiration for more than one generation of pop musicians."

(Apparently, the Pope can live without the Harrison songs.)

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Photo: Micelotta/Getty

No Doubt will hit the road in 2009 for their first gigs since 2004. The band made the announcement via an AIM-style conversation on their website.

"I have cabin fever. Maybe we should play some shows or something," guitarist Tom Dumont wrote. 

Gwen Stefani answered, "I think we should go out now. I don't think we should wait. Pack up the babies and get a bunch of nannies. So fun! Would be so inspiring to get out there and play all those songs again."

They plan on writing songs while on the road for that inevitable blockbuster reunion album!!! 

Inevitably, the album will be okay, but it will be over-produced and lose the immediacy and urgency of their first recordings, made when they were desperate and hungry musicians, driven to succeed.

Inevitably, many hardcore fans will say that the inevitable reunion album is No Doubt's best ever. 

Inevitably, they will be lying to themselves.

Inevitably, Gwen Stefani will resume her solo career.

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