NOW THEY ARE SIX

Needless to say, James Durbin did not spend a single uneasy nanosecond in the penalty box on Thursday night's elimination round of American Idol, waiting to hear how America voted. It should come as no surprise to anyone who saw his performance of Muse's apocalyptic anthem, "Uprising," the night before—sung in a black leather steampunk duster, complete with marching band drum corps—that the minute James was asked to step out and hear the verdict, he was pronounced "safe" to sing another week. The odds in his favor are soaring as high as one of James' own high notes, now that there are only six contestants left. (Read more)

Btw, did I ever tell you about the time I saw Muse live (and how!) onstage? Yes, I know I mentioned it in passing last post, but I mean the whole story. I call it, "I Was a Teenage Geezer." It was all the fault of our pal, Lia Matera, who, a few years back, started burning us CD samplers of her favorite new alt rock bands.

Thanks to Lia, Art Boy and I are crazy for Brit rockers, Muse. Our favorite thing is to putter around the kitchen at the end of the workday with the Absolution CD cranked up to 11. So when Lia emailed one morning back in 2007 that she’d just bought us all online tickets to see Muse live in San Francisco at the Bill Graham Civic, even a pair of notorious homebodies like us were thrilled. Still, she almost talked Art Boy out of going, with visions of a giant mosh pit of sweating, drunken 20-year-olds flailing away while monster speakers splintered our eardrums. (Earplugs required, she told us.)

Since I hadn’t been to a rock concert in longer than anyone in Muse has been alive, I asked if they’d rope us off in the geriatric section, so as not to frighten The Youth.

“We will be completely invisible to them!” Lia promised me. “People our age are blank spaces between pheromones. We might as well put on invisibility cloaks.” (Click here for the whole sordid tale.)

I only bring this up because Muse is set to headline the gigantic outdoor music festival Outside Lands in Golden Gate Park, SF, this summer, August 12-14. Here's the info. Get in line now, says I.