Backstage Pass

At long last, Los Gigs are here.

Madonna turned Madison Square Garden last night into a combination of Studio 54, Las Vegas and Cirque du Soleil, emerging from a giant disco ball to perform two hours' worth of thumping, bass-driven dance music accompanied by eye-popping visuals, her usual coterie of handsome male dancers and, perhaps most importantly, a DJ. More

Britney Spears nude for Harper's Bazaar cover. (Story)

What will she do for attention next?
Sing a sexually provocative song?
Get married again?
Cry on TV?
So much for wanting to be left alone...

Photo by Alexi Lubomirski/Harper's Bazaar.

Sleater-Kinney is heading for "indefinite hiatus," according to a posting on their website. The indie-rock trio says, "The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings."

The band's final regular show will be at Webster Hall on Aug. 2. Their final appearance will be at Lollapalooza in Chicago on Aug. 4.

Full statement

Listen to one of their shining moments, "You're No Rock 'n' Roll Fun" here.

Guns 'n' Roses' Axl Rose was arrested this morning in Sweden for biting a security guard's leg. He was released from jail after he admitted to the charges and agreed to pay a fine of $5,500, and $1,360 in damages to the security guard, police said.

Full story here.

Beyonce's new single "Déja Vu" (Sony Urban / Columbia) doesn't club you over the head with its hotness the way "Crazy in Love" did. This one's smoother, with a jazzier vocal take over the Stevie Wonder-soul horns and the midtempo groove. Then Jay-Z drops a couple of hot verses ("I don't make the list, don't be mad at me/I just make the hits, like a factory") and knocks it out of the park.

Janet Jackson's new single "Call on Me" (Virgin) is laid back, too - a breezy duet with Nelly that goes back to her breathy, carefree hits "Doesn't Really Matter" and "Runaway." Its slight, sweet melody could be a summer sleeper hit, a welcome change of pace from all the brassy, in-your-face beats out right now.

Jessica Simpson, on the other hand, goes glitzy and retro on "A Public Affair" (Columbia), channeling "Janet"-era Jackson doing a song that sounds like Madonna's "Causing a Commotion" and Diana Ross' "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" smashed together. It works, but sounds so unlike Simpson's past, it may get confused as a new song from musical blank slate Paris Hilton.

Full review here.

Listen to Beyonce's "Deja Vu" here.
Listen to Janet's "Call on Me" here. (need RealPlayer)
Listen to Jessica's "A Public Affair" here.

Dashboard Confessional's latest album "Dusk and Summer" (Vagrant) is a fully formed rock record, with grand lyrical themes and a grand sound to match.

Full review here.

Listen to "Dusk and Summer" on MTV's The Leak here.

You know a concert is really hot when a cabbie threatens (jokingly, we hope) to kidnap you so he can take your ticket. You know it’s hot when the scalpers on the street say, “A grand for a floor seat,” to anyone walking by. You know it’s hot when you get a gift bag just for showing up.

Jay-Z’s show, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the release of "Reasonable Doubt," at Radio City Music Hall Sunday night was that kind of hot.

Full review here.

SETLIST: Regrets / Bring It On (w/Sauce Money) / Cashmere Thoughts / Coming of Age (w/Memphis Bleek) / Friend or Foe / Ain't No -- (w/Foxy Brown) / Can I Live / 22 Twos / D'evils / Feelin' It / Dead Presidents II / Brooklyn's Finest / Politics as Usual / Can't Knock the Hustle (w/Beyonce) // SECOND SET: What More Can I Say? / Jigga, My --- / Jigga That ---- / Hola Hovito / Hovi Baby / Public Service Announcement / U Don't Know / In My Lifetime / Streets Is Watching / Where I'm From / Imaginary Player / Money Ain't a Thing / Do My / Best of Me / Who U Wit / I Just Wanna Love U / Jigga What / Big Pimpin' / Encore

Taking Back Sunday's debut as an arena headliner couldn't have gone better and the Rockville Centre-based band seemed almost giddy about it. "We're from right here, right here where you're standing," singer Adam Lazzara told the crowd, many of whom had all just jumped the barricades so they could mosh together on the Nassau Coliseum floor. "Well, OK, not right here. I never lived at Nassau Coliseum before, but the accomodations are quite nice."

Full review here.

See them perform "MakeDamnSure" and "Liar" on Amazon Fishbowl here.

SETLIST: What It Feels Like To Be a Ghost / Bonus Mosh Part 2 / Bike Scene / The Union / MakeDamnSure / Set Phasers To Stun / 20/20 Surgery / You’re So Last Summer / Spin / Timberwolves vs. New Jersey / Liar / My Blue Heaven / Cute Without the ‘E’ / This Photograph Is Proof // Encores: Divine Intervention / A Decade Under the Influence.

Kevin Richardson has left the Backstreet Boys, saying it was "necessary in order to move on with the next chapter of my life." Full statement here.

Welcome to Backstage Pass, brought to you by the folks who bring you Newsday's pop music coverage. It's our way of getting you breaking music news and concert reviews faster, along with some behind-the-scenes and under-the-radar stuff. We'll even throw in links to new songs and videos because this is, after all, about the music.