News on Red Hot Chili Peppers/Weezer, Krauss & More
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer have been tapped to headline Las Vegas' centennial celebration. The show will be held July 2 on the ground of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority; 50,000 free tickets will be distributed beginning April 18 via the event's official Web site.
The show will be the first of the year for the Chili Peppers, who have been at work on their next Warner Bros. studio album in recent months. Guitarist John Frusciante told Billboard.com late last year that a summer 2005 release was in the cards, but no details have yet been confirmed.
As previously reported, Collective Soul will headline the related "Road to Vegas" tour, a 10-date outing that kicks off May 27 in San Francisco. Beyond music, the tour promises interactive Vegas-themed pre-concert attractions, including gaming lounges, Elvis impersonators and showgirls.
-- Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
”Home on the Highways," a compilation of previously released Alison Krauss + Union Station tracks, will be available beginning May 10 exclusively at Cracker Barrel stores across the United States. In addition to 11 tracks -- including "Momma Cried," "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" and "Let Me Touch You for Awhile" -- the disc also features video of an impromptu jam session and other behind-the-scenes footage. 
On his first new studio album in eight years, Stanley "Buckwheat" Dural Jr. ventures into new waters, playing a Hammond B3 organ in addition to the accordion with which he is most often associated. Due June 7 via his own Tomorrow Recordings, "Jackpot!" boasts a dozen tracks, three of which find Dural playing the B3 he employed as a member of Clifton Chenier's Red Hot Louisiana Band in the 1970s.
DJ/producer Chris Fortier helms the seventh volume of the Australian compilation series "Balance," due May 10 via Stomp/EQ. The triple-disc set features tracks from Rabbit In The Moon, !!!, Bent, Hard Floor, Carl Craig and Agoria, among others, as well as two selections from Lucas Rodenbush and Rub n Tugs' remix of David Gilmore Girls' "Crackhousewarmingparty."