Since details about VMA-night fights are still coming to light, Rock Daily isn’t quite done with the Vegas fiasco we covered exhaustively earlier this month. Here’s Joe Levy’s take:

It’s hard to say exactly which was a stranger moment at the MTV Video Music Awards: a short shot of the Foo Fighters with Serj Tankian on vocals flailing away at the Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia” — a twenty-seven-year-old snotty punk put-down of American consumerism — or Justin Timberlake chastising MTV for the second time in one night for not playing enough videos by declaiming that we don’t need more “Simpsonson reality television.” Both said plenty about how strained, odd and useless the VMAs have become: The attacks now come from within.

Was it a good idea to stage the show in a Vegas hotel and run the red carpet through the casino, a place Lord knows how many MTV viewers (to say nothing of underage performers like Chris Brown and Rihanna) aren’t legally allowed to enter? What about shrifting off the most interesting performers — Kanye West, Timberlake, the Foos and Fall Out Boy (who, whatever you think of them, at least swung for the fences like they believed the occasion was important and tuning their guitars wasn’t) — to “fantasy suites,” cutting to them for only a minute or so at times as bumpers before commercials? And who let Alicia Keys onstage wearing Gene Simmons’ boots, Diana Ross’ leggings and Jimi Hendrix’s headband? (more…)

MTV banished rock & roll from the main stage at the VMAs (the suckfest should have been titled “Spears and Loathing in Las Vegas”), but the Smoking Section found it upstairs at the Palms Casino Resort, where the Foo Fighters hijacked a suite on the twenty-sixth floor, invited their friends and ripped out the best gig we’ve seen in forever. “Did Britney already do her thing?” Dave Grohl asked us (and fifty other ridiculously lucky fans). “Did she do it? She made it? It’s done? She did it? So what!” With that, the Foos launched into their badass new hit, “The Pretender,” and kept the sweet rock a-coming. Serj Tankian joined them on a cover of the Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia,” Cee-Lo and Queens of the Stone Age teamed up for “Make It Wit Chu,” and Mastodon, Eagles of Death Metal, ex-Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister also made the scene. The cuts can be seen on MTV.com, but what Web viewers will miss was the rager that ensued. After the gig, in a suite across the hall, the S.S. guzzled celebratory beer bongs with Grohl and Queens frontman Josh Homme (Miller Lite) before hitting the harder stuff (Crown Royal) in their dressing room. “I’m actually having fun,” Homme told us. “Yes. At the VMAs.” Grohl, who reveals that the Foos will tour the U.S. in early ‘08, slammed a shot in honor of the Led Zeppelin reunion.

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We hesitate to float our own boat, but here we go: In celebration of our fortieth anniversary, Rolling Stone owned VMA weekend. At the Hard Rock’s legendary pool (comparable to an oil slick because of all the greasy skirt-chasers who troll there), we sponsored a sticky-icky set by Snoop Dogg, who wished “the Rolling Stones” a happy fortieth. Linkin Park took over the parking lot in the name of RS, busting out cuts from Minutes to Midnight. And Kanye West threw down at the Joint, the Hard Rock’s 1,400-seater. “It might be one of the top ten albums of all time,” ‘Ye told us about his new Graduation. That afternoon, we even had our very own RS celebrity poker tournament, in which Nelly nearly took the $25,000 pot. Meanwhile, Adam Levine was hitting the Hard Rock blackjack tables. “There are degrees of loss,” he told us. “Losing a little is a slap in the face. A small bundle is a punch in the gut. I would say I got kicked in the balls.” If the S.S. had won big, we’d cover our blackjack debts, then donate the rest to our favorite charity, Save the Beer Bongs.

Kid Rock has finally explained why he clocked Tommy Lee at the VMAs. Though most people assumed it was a jealousy issue involving the pair’s mutual ex-wife Pamela Anderson (who was a presenter that night) Rock insists he had unrelated beef with Lee — and even accused Anderson of being a publicity whore. “It had absolutely zero to do with her,” Rock told The Kevin & Bean Show on Los Angeles’ KROQ-FM. “I knew it was a bad career move to get involved with her because your life becomes a circus — because that’s what she wants is media attention.”

So why did Kid Rock end up smacking Tommy Lee? It’s kind of Pamela Anderson-related. “It’s been going on for five years,” Rock said. “Last contact I had with him was when me and Pam were going through our divorce. He picked up her BlackBerry and started e-mailing me a lot of horrendous things. It was extremely disrespectful. I had to do what I had to do because this was a long time coming. You know, I came back from the bathroom and he was sitting right there. It was even more disrespectful after everything he’s said, I was like that’s enough, that’s it.”

For his part, Lee has already explained his side of the story on his Web site in a memorable post in which he apologized to Alicia Keys for disturbing her performance, referred to Kid Rock as “Kid Pebble” and called Rock’s punch more of a “bitch slap.”

While Rolling Stone live blogger Rob Sheffield, our commenters, and pretty much everyone who took in Britney Spears’ so-called comeback performance decried Sunday night’s MTV Video Music Awards as a disjointed failure, the numbers tell a different tale: More than 7 million viewers tuned in to the ceremony, 23 percent more than last year. Granted, the 2006 VMAs set a low bar in terms of ratings, falling to 5.77 million (which was down from 8 million the year prior). So what saved the day for MTV this time? Britney curiosity? The fact that the network swore they wouldn’t replay the show again and again and again like usual? The move to Vegas and suite parties? Kanye West, for one, votes Britney: On a satellite radio show today, he ranted, “Man, they were just trying to get ratings, and they knew she wasn’t ready and they exploited her.”

Tommy Lee has explained his VMAs altercation with Kid Rock the best way he knows how: via an elipses-heavy post on his Web site. Lee explains that he was chilling with Criss Angel (who he helpfully IDs in parentheses as a magician) and Travis Barker when Pamela Anderson swung by and sat in his lap. Diddy requested his presence via text message, so Lee headed over to his table where “Miss HOT Megan FOX” was. That’s when things really got interesting:

“Not a minute later and Alicia Keys starts her amazing performance….(”I apologize sweetie…..I had nothing to do with the timing and disrespect”)……back to the stupid-ness!!….so….. I get a tap on the shoulder from Kid Pebble…I stand up and embrace him with a semi hug and say “Hey dude…What up”?? He punches me in the face…..well if ya wanna call it that!?….more like a bitch slap!…….Wuss!!”

Lee then says that before he could take a real swing at “this jealous country bumpkin” security guards booted him from the show. And the rest is … well, pretty much the only interesting thing that happened in Vegas Sunday evening. As Rock Daily noted earlier, Kid Rock was cited for misdemeanor battery after cops tracked him down later that night.

• Kid Rock was cited by police for misdemeanor battery after his scuffle with Tommy Lee at Sunday’s VMAs. Rock reportedly threw a punch at fellow Pamela Anderson ex-husband Lee after the Mötley Crüe drummer cat-called while Anderson was introducing Kanye West. Rock faces up to six months in jail, though an officer tells Billboard it would be “uncommon” for someone in Rock’s situation to receive such a lengthy sentence. To watch MTV footage of the aftermath of the scuffle, click here.

• Michael Jackson’s mother and four of his brothers have issued a letter to the media to refute press claims about the pop star, E! Online reports. Katherine, Tito, Jackie, Marlon and Jermaine Jackson write, “Of these widely reported rumors, what has become the most troubling and heinous is that my son, and our brother, Michael Jackson, is dependent on painkillers and alcohol.”

• Rock Daily previously reported that Nirvana songs were going to pop up in an upcoming episode of Cold Case; now we know when. Eight tracks including “Lithium” will appear during the crime drama’s season premiere on September 23rd to soundtrack an episode taking place in 1994 (full list of songs after the jump). This is not the first time the CBS show has been soundtracked by a single artist: Nirvana joins the ranks of Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Bob Dylan.

• Nas tells MTV’s Mixtape Monday he is planning to follow his trend and release his next album later this year: “They say the fourth quarter is for big dogs. I been doing the fourth quarter for years, so I guess I’m at home in the fourth.”

• Yoko Ono will unveil the “Imagine Peace Tower” on October 9th to honor what would have been John Lennon’s sixty-seventh birthday. The sculpture, which will make Lennon’s 1967 wishes for a conceptual light tower a reality, will be located in Iceland’s capital city of Reykjavik. Ono hopes the tower will “give light to strong wishes of world peace.” (more…)

The Britney Spears Comeback Tracker was a bit mystified by the troubled star’s less-than-stellar Video Music Awards performance of “Gimme More” last night (as were 50 Cent and Rihanna, based on their painful reaction shots … and the rest of America, based on your comments in our live blog). But rather than wallow in despair, let’s celebrate the Britney of yore: the not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman who made her VMAs debut by busting out “… Baby One More Time” in 1999. The sequins-clad “Oops! … I Did it Again” girl (she was still in her ellipses phase, evidently) from 2000. The python-draped superstar who was a Slave 4 Us in 2001. The sassy bride-to-be who romped around to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” before getting a “Hollywood”-worthy kiss from the Material Mom. Click here to check out photos of all those performances, plus a few from last night’s big show. There’s always next year, Brit! It’s never too late to re-do “Toxic”!

“Did Britney do her thing?,” Dave Grohl asked the crowd in suite 26213. “Did she do it? Did she make it? It’s done? She did it? So what!” High above the VMA ceremony, Britney’s medicated performance was the last thing on the minds of the fifty-odd lucky rock fans who crammed into the hotel room at the Palms Hotel & Casino for a ninety-minute performance by Foo Fighters.

The Foos held down two suites on the twenty-sixth floor. One was full of alcohol, and custom Foo Fighters beer bongs. The other they turned into a hot, sweaty pit for guest appearances by Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age, Cee-Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley, Jesse Hughes and Brian O’Connor of Eagles of Death Metal, guitarist Pat Smear, Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister and metal gods Mastodon. The Foos kicked off the set with classics like “Everlong,” “Best of You” and “All My Life,” before Cee-Lo stepped in for a rocked-out rendition of Prince’s “Darling Nikki,” (”Let’s make this sexy,” Cee-Lo said) and a soulful take on the Queens’ new classic, “I Wanna Make It Wit Chu,” featuring Grohl on drums. Mastodon smoked out “Colony of Birchman” at an ear-shattering volume, then Lemmy hopped onstage for the Probot jam “Shake Your Blood.” Down the hall, in room 26217, was the Fall Out Boy suite, with performances by Panic! At the Disco, the Bravery and Cobra Starship.

Though it was only 9 PM when the Foos concert ended, nobody was sober. (more…)

This year’s official MTV VMAs broadcast may have been baffling and disorganized (check out Rob Sheffield’s live blog for a moment-by-moment analysis of the suck and click here for the night in photos) but it turns out that’s just because all the crazy shit was happening backstage and/or elsewhere. Here’s a brief run-down of the best post-VMA gossip and news:

• According to a post on Britney fansite BreatheHeavy.com, the pop princess almost refused to go onstage after she heard Sarah Silverman rehearsing her monologue in which, among other things, the comic called Spears’ kids the “most adorable mistakes” ever. According to the site, MTV asked Silverman to skip this joke, but once she was out there she went for it anyway.

• Pamela Anderson wasn’t just surprisingly appealing as a presenter, she was also the likely cause of the night’s big brawl. According to TMZ, Las Vegas police were searching for Kid Rock after he supposedly “clocked” Tommy Lee, who was apparently provoking him. Both men were escorted out of the Palm’s Hotel and Casino by security, leading to about a hundred VMA jokes about how rock stars are just as violent as hip-hop artists. Kid Rock was eventually located by police, questioned and released. (more…)

Welcome to the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards — bringing the real craps to Vegas! It’s always the TV party of the year. But it’s just never the same without Britney, is it? She needs them; they need her. So who’s nominated for awards this year? Well, I hate to get all “who cares” on you, but you know who cares? Me neither. You don’t care who’s nominated. I don’t care. If Mariah Carey had a best friend Harry who had a brother Larry, HE wouldn’t care. What we want to know is: Britney! In Vegas! Roll the bones!

(Click here for our 2007 VMA photo gallery, featuring Britney Spears, Kanye West, Panic! At the Disco and more)

8:20 PM: MTV’s live Preshow Royale is already a red-carpet fashion clusterfuck, but nobody is going to top Lil’ Mama’s Bo Peep outfit. This woman is a lip-gloss shepherdess fashion goddess!

Lil’ Mama, explaining her costume: “This is the birth of hip-pop, and I’m basically the baby of that. My album is coming soon, going to the young people, so we just celebrating that and just keeping it funky fresh with my stizzyle!” It’s going to be that kind of night.

8:22 PM: SuChin Pak predicts that Nicole Scherzinger’s live pre-show performance is going to be “blistering.” Nice way to put it.

8:24 PM: Maybe if we put Pete Wentz and Nelly Furtado together we could get a not-totally-defeated-by-life smile? Probably not.

8:36 PM: What the hell kind of stripper name is Nicole Scherzinger? Even Lil Wayne admits he can’t pronounce it. Shouldn’t she be “Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls,” just so people can tell what she’s doing here? She looks a little shaky, but maybe she’s not used to standing upright this far from a pole.

8:38 PM: Excuse me, we’re halfway through the pre-show and nobody’s mentioned Vanessa Hudgens yet? MTV, you disappoint me. Get Sarah Silverman out here, stat! (more…)

This weekend Rolling Stone celebrated its 40th anniversary with a series of blowouts at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Check out this video for all the raucous details, starring Kanye West (and special guest Jamie Foxx), Linkin Park, Angels and Airwaves, Incubus and the Bravery, plus cameos from a poker-playing Nelly, Gym Class Heroes, Cee-Lo and more.

Click here to watch Linkin Park, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and more at the RS 40th anniversary celebrations.

It’s VMAs weekend in Las Vegas, but this Saturday was Rolling Stone day. Celebrating our 40th anniversary, we took over the Hard Rock Hotel for a slew of parties and performances that were simply off the hook.

Starting things off yesterday was the inaugural Rolling Stone poker showdown. With over 150 entrants, first prize was more than $20,000, and vying for that big money was an odd cross-section of stars. Rapper Nelly had a solid chip-stack early on, but squandered it by the fifth round. “I wish I could just keep buying in,” Nelly told the Smoking Section in the elevator, afterwards. “Then I’d be here all night.” Elsewhere, Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme hung on until the bitter end, and later informed the S.S. of his VMA duties. He will be playing bass on the Violent Femmes classic “Gone Daddy Gone” joined by his bandmate Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar), Dave Grohl (drums) and Gnarls Barkley frontman Cee-Lo. Josh was pleased to be infiltrating the awards ceremony, and might have even scored a short slot on the show with his other band, Eagles of Death Metal, whose bassist, Brian O’Connor, mercilessly knocked the S.S. out of the poker tourney. (more…)

Keep checking back here all weekend for photos from the RS 40th celebrations at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, featuring Incubus, the Bravery, Snoop Dogg, Angels and Airwaves, Linkin Park and Kanye West.

The Smoking Section is not too lofty a venue to turn down some sweet rock & roll gossip.

Unbeknownst to us, there has been a certain rumor spreading on the Net and elsewhere that Kid Rock has recently indulged in sexual acts with our hero, Paris Hilton. People, this is false information. In lieu of putting out a press release, Mr. Rock issued the following statement to the Smoking Section: “I regret to inform all of you on and offline tabloid junkies that I am not dating nor have been intimate with Paris Hilton. However, I would CONSIDER a one-night stand if heavy drinking were involved.” Rock will hit Vegas tomorrow for the VMAs, another opportunity to beat the drum for his upcoming release. “Rock N Roll Jesus hits stores October 9th worldwide. Thank you for your support.” The S.S. has heard the album, and we predict it will return Rock to the throne.

“It’s gonna be an insane clusterfuck,” says recent RS cover boy Maroon 5 singer Adam Levine, who’s sitting with his girlfriend, Becky, one row in front of the Smoking Section on an America West flight from JFK to Las Vegas. Levine is referring to the madness that will soon descend on Sin City as the VMAs take center stage this weekend, but he’s definitely looking forward to it. In addition to headlining a party for the LifeBeat charity on Saturday night, Maroon 5 will perform at Sunday’s awards ceremony, with producer extraordinaire Mark Ronson joining them on a funkified remix of their current single, “Wake Up Call.” And, as of 10 AM Eastern time on Friday morning, Levine still has no idea what’s up Ronson’s sleeve. “I know it’s gonna be cool,” Levine says. “Because Amy Winehouse has the best record of the last year.” Levine tells the S.S. that he’s also looking forward to hitting the blackjack tables later at the Hard Rock Hotel, even though, over the years, he’s squandered a small fortune there.

Last night Snoop Dogg stepped up at one of many Rolling Stone 40th Anniversary parties at the Hard Rock Hotel. (Incubus and the Bravery kicked it off last night. Today there’s a RS-sponsored celebrity poker tourney, as well as an outdoor concert with Linkin Park, and a late-night blowout at the Joint with Kanye West.) The Hard Rock also houses a club called Body English. That’s where Snoop held his afterparty. On the balcony, Britney Spears drank, smoked butts and looked extremely hot. (The word at the Palms hotel, where the VMAs are going down on Sunday, is that Britney’s show-opening routine will feature a slew of aerialists.) (more…)