Smoking Section

It was a match made in Smoking Section heaven: age-defying maestro Bob Dylan teaming up with age-defying wonder boys Kings of Leon. On October 11th, they kicked off their tour in Vancouver, with Dylan debuting dope ditties like "Workingman's Blues #2" and "When the Deal Goes Down" from Modern Times. "Bob's set was great -- we all kicked ass," Kings drummer Nathan Followill reported the morning after. "We haven't met Bob yet, but the catering girls are cute." The Kings will support the first leg of the tour -- before which they hunkered down in L.A. to record two more slammin' new tracks for their upcoming gem, Because of the Times -- and after that, the Foo Fighters will join Bob's bill. "We're just hoping there's a lot of blonde on blonde on this tour," says Dave Grohl. "If ya know what I mean."

"I just wish I shut up more," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy tells the Smoking Section about the fantastic new DVD Sunken Treasure, which documents life on the road during his recent solo tour. "Anytime I open my mouth and I'm not singing, I just want to crawl into a fucking electrical outlet." Though many of his offhand comments -- onstage and on the bus -- are existentially awesome, he sometimes offers a little too much information. "All I do is fart and swear, scratch my balls, play guitar, sleep and drink forty Diet Cokes a day," he says after an audience member proposes. "Is that sexy?" But when Tweedy sings unaccompanied renditions of songs from his Wilco, Uncle Tupelo and Loose Fur catalogs, the results are brilliant. Tweedy adds that Wilco's new album is due next April. "We have twelve songs tracked," he says, name-dropping a hot cut called "You Are My Face." "I'm really excited. If there's a theme running through the album, it's the theme of hope."

Louis XIV singer Jason Hill is not stuck-up, he's just confident. "We're making such a unique record, I don't think anybody is gonna be able to touch it," he says. "It's super-complex and sophisticated." He's talking about the San Diego rockers' second LP, tentatively called Traitor, due in early '07. Back in May, when the S.S. hit up Vegas for an in-studio hang with the Killers, the Louis guys (who sang backup on Sam's Town) treated us to a taste of their mind-blowing new stuff before we raged all night. Since then they've taken it to another level. "Guilt by Association" layers Queen-style guitar overdubs on top of cellos and flutes. "It's symphonical badass," says Hill. "I think it's going to be a smash." In November, the XIV will play a benefit in New York with David Bowie -- but that won't be the first legend they've rubbed elbows with this year. "We went to dinner at Elton John's hotel room in Vegas," says Hill. "Elton was a foot away, eyes closed, singing along to every song on his new CD. It was a trip. I just got more and more wasted, because every time I had a sip of wine, some guy would fill it back up, fill it back up, fill it back up.