UNCASVILLE, Conn. -- It may have seemed as though singer Gwen Stefani didn't need the band No Doubt anymore, not after two hit solo albums. But Wednesday night at the Arena at the Mohegan Sun casino, the group identity that had been on hiatus made itself felt.

As did the back catalog. With no new record to tour behind yet, the California ska-pop-punk band had to rely on the old stuff to make it through the nearly two-hour show, throwing in a few rarities among the masive hits from albums such as Tragic Kingdom and Rock Steady.

Coming out to an all-white stage set and all dressed in white, with bassist Tony Kanal, drummer Adrian Young and guitarist Tom Dumont sporting matching blond Mohawks and Stefnai's hair tied up to look similar, the band started off with a slightly ska-ified version of the rave-up "Spiderwebs" (courtesy of horn players/dancers/keybaordists/backup singers Stephen Bradley and Gabrial McNair), the Madonna-esque dance pop of "Hella Good" followed, before the swaying "Underneath It All" and a Police-styled "Excuse Me Mr." After that, it was off to the races.

The set list basically followed that of the other shows on this summer's tour; the bounce of "Bathwater" came a little later than our friend the Internet tells us in other towns, but that's about all.

The only clinker was a cover of Adam and the Ants' "Stand and Deliver," which came off as a light, breezy shuffle despite, at one point, all six musicians banging away on drums. Even the sight of Young in a tutu striding deep into the audience while playing a marching snare drum couldn't save it.

On the other hand, the cover of Talk Talk's "It's My Life" was elegant and lush, with Kanal's growling bass leading the way, as it did for most of the evening. (Hats off to the soundmen; Young's bass drum was insistent but not overpowering, letting Kanal shine through.)

On such songs as "It's My Life" and the breakthrough ballad "Don't Speak," Stefani's voice felt like it had gained confidence, bass and power over the years, losing the hiccupy quality that had defined much of her early work. She also retained her trademark onstage athleticism (really, the whole band did) without looking or sounding like she was trying too hard.

Indeed, to these ears most of the No Doubt recorded ouevre has sounded a little too tightly wound, more like hints at, and templates for, live performances. Even though it's been five years since their last tour and eight since their last studio record, they delivered on that promise, even on the nervous electrop-pop of "New," which unfolded into a rock anthem.

Paramore, who preceded No Doubt, made an interesting contrast in terms of group dynamics - while they had the arena-filling sound, the hits that most of the crowd knew and reacted to immediately and plenty of onstage energy, it still felt like singer Hayley Williams and four other guys. Maybe it's just a matter of seasoning and having a big stage set to work with.

Paramore tore through high-drama, high-tempo sing-along anthems such as "Misery Business" and "For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic." With Williams' strong vocals and the snarling, hook-laden guitar parts of Josh Farro and Taylor York, they were infectious.

And when it all started to sound very similar (including the new "Ignorance" from their forthcoming album), they were able to change things up -- a little, anyway -- with the hit single "Decode," from the Twilight soundtrack, which merged the Paramore sound with a hit-single melody, and the new "Where Lines Overlap," with a catchy piano figure.

Singer Janelle Monae opened the show with a short set that threw in influences from Tin Pan Alley ("Smile," starting with the diminutive Monae standing on a stool singing the song as "Small") and '70s soul, courtesy of a band consisting of drummer, guitarist and DJ, on the cataclysmic "Sincerely," which heard her yowling with her powerful voice and also heading deep into the crowd.

rmassimo@projo.com / (401) 277-7206

Tickets are being sold to holders of American Express gold and platinum cards beginning today, and will go on sale to the public Monday at 10 a.m. at www.livenation.com, at the Orpheum Theatre Box Office at 1 Hamilton Place or by calling (800) 514-3849.

No tickets will be sold at Fenway Park.

"Paul McCartney is a towering figure in the history of rock and roll. He is also one of rock's great performers and we are thrilled that so many of his fans will have the opportunity to experience Paul McCartney in concert in the unique setting of Fenway Park," Don Law, president of Live Nation New England, said in a statement. "These two nights will be among the most memorable in our city's rich legacy of concerts."

Get more of the latest pop music news on Rick Massimo's blog

Tuesday night at the Comcast Center, Aerosmith didn't have guitarist Brad Whitford, recovering from surgery (replaced by Bobby Schneck); their hired keyboard player, in the back of the stage, did the lion's share of the backup vocals and played some guitar; heck, even the gong at the end of "Dream On" was canned. Tyler, while still in fine voice, looked every one of his 61 years and prowled the stage more slowly than in years past. And man oh man do they need a new album - eight years and counting since Just Push Play.

All that said, they've still got some of the most tuneful hard rock of the '70s and '80s, one of rock's most charismatic singer-guitarist duos in Tyler and Joe Perry, a secret weapon in grooving, pounding bass player Tom Hamilton, and enough of a back catalog that they can put on a fairly new show even when albums are long in the making.

After this many years, I don't know whether the Boston rock gods are capable of a true surprise anymore, but they put as many curveballs as they could in the set list, starting with a strong "Train Kept A-Rollin'" that started pedal-to-the-metal, rather than with the half-time of the long-ago recorded version. Then came relatively rote versions of the hits "Cryin'" and "Love in an Elevator" before they whanged into "Jaded," their strongest single in years. "Dream On" was next, which was uncommonly early in the set for the national anthem of Aerosmith.

The ballyhooed front-to-back performance of their classic 1975 album Toys in the Attic went fairly well, although they left off the closer, "You See Me Crying"; three out of the nine songs on it are Aerosmith concert staples anyway ("Walk This Way," "Big Ten Inch Record," "Sweet Emotion"); and two others ("Toys in the Attic," "No More No More") have been frequent set-list guests.

That left "Uncle Salty," reminding all that the band may not usually play straight blues, but it's in their DNA; the T. Rex-style "Adam's Apple" and the slow pounder "Round and Round" for the you-had-to-be-there moments. Other rarities included their closing cover of "Come Together" from the infamous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band movie and the Perry-sung "Combination," which closed with a strong guitar solo.

It got sad in the middle of "Living on the Edge," when Perry faced off against his Guitar Hero self, clearly a nod to the video game's sponsorship of the tour. Well, at least the real Perry "won."

But you could forgive it all when they slammed into the deathless "Draw the Line," with a long, dizzying slide-guitar solo from Perry, as well as a coda where drummer Joey Kramer batted at the guitar with his sticks (Perry's solo during "Sweet Emotion," playing guitar with one hand and theremin with the other, was another visual highlight).

Fellow Bostonians The Dropkick Murphys explore the commonalities between the bagpipes and the Les Paul, the jig and the shuffle, the rock 'n' roll attitude and the Irish attitude. And in preceding Aerosmith, they did all that and tore the roof off at the same time.

They opened with "Famous for Nothing," with pipes and banjo joining in a hardcore-punk feel, and continued that way throughout their one-hour set. Even when the song was pure four-on-the-floor rock, such as on "Walk Away" and "Flannigan's Ball," or pure hardcore, as on "Citizen C.I.A.," the voices of singer Al Barr and bassist-singer Ken Casey gave the requisite Pogues-like, rabble-rousing sneer.

Of course, they ran through the Red Sox tough-guy anthem "Tessie," and they got political during the war ballad "Faraway Coast" and the angry "Worker's Song" ("We're the first ones to starve/ The first ones to die"), but they pulled out all the stops near the end, in quick succession bringing a troupe of young Irish step dancers on stage for "Captain Kelly's Kitchen"; venturing deep into the audience for the staggering alcohol ballad whose name can't be printed here; tearing through a spot-on "Baba O'Riley" (with bouzouki taking over the sequencer part), and bringing out the Boston College marching band to lay down the heavy metal on "Shipping Up to Boston."

It was dazzling, angry and energetic. About three-quarters of the Aerosmith fans didn't know what to make of it; the rest loved it.

It was only natural for the Dropkicks to join Aerosmith for an encore of "Dirty Water" (which was sloppy and besieged by microphone problems).

Would-be Idols first need a wristband, and they'll be distributed on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, starting at 7 a.m. That gets you the right to get into the auditions, for which you'll need to get to Gillette by (that's right, BY) 5 a.m. Sunday, June 14.

For more information, go to the Idol Web site.

That's just awesome.

Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. They're $65 and $95, plus other charges, and will be available at the venue, by calling (877) 598-8689 and through www.livenation.com.

This is the first time Springsteen has brought the E Street Band to the venue, though he played there as part of the tour for his Seeger Sessions record in 2006.

Guitarist Bobby Schneck, who the statement says has played with Green Day, Weezer and Slash, will fill in.

No word yet on which shows - including the June 16 show with Dropkick Murphys at the Comcast Center - Whitford will miss. I'll update once I hear anything.

Not the jokey elements: There wasn't a mini-trampoline or vacuum cleaner to be seen, and (more disappointingly) no a capella showcase, as they did last week at Fenway Park. But the guitar soloing of Trey Anastasio - reminiscent of Carlos Santana one minute, Mark Knopfler the next, Duane Allman a lot and Trey Anastasio all the time - and keyboard ornamentation and soloing of Page McConnell are as strong as ever, as well as the pushing, prodding rhythm section of bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman.

They started off small, with two new songs - "Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan" and "Nothing" - that stayed basically inside the pop lines. "Back on the Train" was the first really extended jam, but the ending was uninspired.

It wasn't until "Golgi Apparatus" that the true Phish freakishness kicked in. The kitchen sink of a song saw the band run from funk to ska to arena rock and sweet balladry, negotiating all the changes on a dime and ending on a thrilling crescendo. They followed with "Sparkle," a one-step hoedown that accelerated massively toward the end.

Still, the first set was a warm-up: While there were highlights such as the fractured doo-wop of "Lawn Boy" (with McConnell stepping out from behind the piano to croon) and the majestic closing ballad "Prince Caspian" (with an extended, wonderfully melodic solo from Anastasio), "Taste" was a guitar solo too far and the gentle rhumba of "Let Me Lie" (an Anastasio solo song) and the hippie reggae of "Makisupa Policeman" were pleasant enough but didn't really stick.

None of this, by the way, was of much concern to the audience - most of the sellout crowd had filed into the venue in a celebratory mood, with people looking at each other as if to say "Can you believe this is happening?"

In the second set the band let their freak flag fly, going straight for the jugular with a long jam on "Seven Below" (as the traditional glow sticks filled the air) and complete de- and re-constructions of "Fluffhead," "Scent of a Mule" and "Harry Hood," with bits of reggae, gypsy music and Frank Zappa-esque off-kilter riffing - all of which veered far from the structures set up in the first verses and choruses, but always with a control and authority that landed them where they started. The stately ending to the nearly 15-minute "Harry Hood" was in particularly gorgeous contrast to the extended chaos that had come before.

They reeled it back in to end the regular set with the country-rock of "Possum" and the grand anthem "Bug," both of which were long by typical rock-band standards but fastballs down the middle for Phish, as well as the faux calypso of "Contact" and the straightahead boogie of "Julius." After what had just come before, these Phished-out pop songs went down a lot smoother than those that had opened the show.

Several days ago, I did a live broadcast from my site, Chamillionaire.com, to let fans know where I am right now and what my intentions are musically for the future. Instead of clearing things up, the broadcast unintentionally spawned rumors of my retirement from music. Since then, I have been bombarded with emails and phone calls regarding my so-called retirement and the reasons behind me not dropping the promised "Venom" album.

It was definitely not my intention to mislead anyone into thinking that I plan to completely retire from music. I love making music and will continue to do so. What I am retiring is the "Mixtape Messiah" part of my career. This means no more jacking beats and no more underground mixtapes. I have been making and putting them out for over a decade and I feel like it is time to step to another level. The upcoming installment of the "Mixtape Messiah" series, "Mixtape Messiah 7", will be the final one. Moving forward, a large majority of the music I release will be on original beats.

Additionally, even though I don't plan on releasing any of the original material that I had wanted to call "Venom", I will definitely be releasing a third Chamillionaire album with Universal. I am confident that my true fans will have plenty of fresh, new music to be as excited about as I am and I look forward to supplying their demand for new music.

I hope that my fans will understand that over time, you grow as a person and this means you will evolve as an artist. The experiences that you encounter throughout your life all contribute to those changes and that is bound to affect the music an artist feels like making at any given time. I love that my fans feel so deeply about the work I have done in the mixtape scene or the "Get Ya Mind Correct" era of my career, but at this time I want to focus 100% of my studio time on perfecting the commercial music I will release in the future.

Thanks for understanding.

Chamillionaire

Once again, auditions for the TV show American Idol will be held on the grounds of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. But if you're looking to make it to Hollywood to sing for Simon, Paula, Randy and Kara, you'd better be an early riser.

According to a statement released Thursday by the Fox network, would-be Idols first need a wristband, and they'll be distributed on Friday, June 12, and Saturday, June 13, starting at 7 a.m. That gets you the right to get into the auditions, for which you'll need to get to Gillette by (that's right, by) 5 a.m. Sunday, June 14.

For more information, go to the Idol Web site.

"Wang Dang Doodle," Koko Taylor with Little Walter

From Alligator Records:

Grammy Award-winning blues legend Koko Taylor, 80, died on June 3, 2009 in her hometown of Chicago, IL, as a result of complications following her May 19 surgery to correct a gastrointestinal bleed. On May 7, 2009, the critically acclaimed Taylor, known worldwide as the "Queen of the Blues," won her 29th Blues Music Award (for Traditional Female Blues Artist Of The Year), making her the recipient of more Blues Music Awards than any other artist. In 2004 she received the NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award, which is among the highest honors given to an American artist. Her most recent CD, 2007's Old School, was nominated for a Grammy (eight of her nine Alligator albums were Grammy-nominated). She won a Grammy in 1984 for her guest appearance on the compilation album Blues Explosion on Atlantic.

Born Cora Walton on a sharecropper's farm just outside Memphis, TN, on September 28, 1928, Koko, nicknamed for her love of chocolate, fell in love with music at an early age. Inspired by gospel music and WDIA blues disc jockeys B.B. King and Rufus Thomas, Taylor began belting the blues with her five brothers and sisters, accompanying themselves on their homemade instruments. In 1952, Taylor and her soon-to-be-husband, the late Robert "Pops" Taylor, traveled to Chicago with nothing but, in Koko's words, "thirty-five cents and a box of Ritz Crackers."

In Chicago, "Pops" worked for a packing company, and Koko cleaned houses. Together they frequented the city's blues clubs nightly. Encouraged by her husband, Koko began to sit in with the city's top blues bands, and soon she was in demand as a guest artist. One evening in 1962 Koko was approached by arranger/composer Willie Dixon. Overwhelmed by Koko's performance, Dixon landed Koko a Chess Records recording contract, where he produced her several singles, two albums and penned her million-selling 1965 hit "Wang Dang Doodle," which would become Taylor's signature song.

After Chess Records was sold, Taylor found a home with the Chicago's Alligator Records in 1975 and released the Grammy-nominated I Got What It Takes. She recorded eight more albums for Alligator between 1978 and 2007, received seven more Grammy nominations and made numerous guest appearances on various albums and tribute recordings. Koko appeared in the films Wild At Heart, Mercury Rising and Blues Brothers 2000. She performed on Late Night With David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O'Brien, CBS-TV's This Morning, National Public Radio's All Things Considered, CBS-TV's Early Edition, and numerous regional television programs.

Over the course of her 40-plus-year career, Taylor received every award the blues world has to offer. On March 3, 1993, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley honored Taylor with a "Legend Of The Year" Award and declared "Koko Taylor Day" throughout Chicago. In 1997, she was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame. A year later, Chicago Magazine named her "Chicagoan Of The Year" and, in 1999, Taylor received the Blues Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009 Taylor performed in Washington, D.C. at The Kennedy Center Honors honoring Morgan Freeman.

Koko Taylor was one of very few women who found success in the male-dominated blues world. She took her music from the tiny clubs of Chicago's South Side to concert halls and major festivals all over the world. She shared stages with every major blues star, including Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, B.B. King, Junior Wells and Buddy Guy as well as rock icons Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.

Taylor's final performance was on May 7, 2009 in Memphis at the Blues Music Awards, where she sang "Wang Dang Doodle" after receiving her award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Of The Year.

Survivors include Taylor's husband Hays Harris, daughter Joyce Threatt, son-in-law Lee Threatt, grandchildren Lee, Jr. and Wendy, and three great-grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements will be announced.

After some months of not feeling 100% healthy, I recently had some medical tests run and the prognosis is that I am suffering from Multiple Sclerosis. Apparently, it has been affecting me for quite some time.

...

My focus will certainly be on maintaining my health--many people remain strong and continue to live their lives as productively as they had before an MS diagnosis and I plan to be one of those people.

Best wishes to her. The whole statement is here.

In acts-that-started-making-records-this-century news, the Hannah Montana soudntrack is at number three and Lady Gaga is at number five. OK, so maybe the '90s weren't so bad after all.

After two weeks, Billboard sez, Eminem has the fifth biggest-selling record of the year so far. Think Interscope missed him? I think so too.

The nobody-buys-actual CDs-anymore numbers:

• Album units, current chart week: 5.6 million units

• DOWN 12.4% from last week's charts: 6.6 million units

• DOWN 20.4% from same week, 2008: 7.2 million units

• This week: Only the No. 1 album sells more than 100,000 copies.

• This week last year on The Billboard 200: Usher's Here I Stand stood up in its debut week at No. 1 with 443,000 while the Sex and the City soundtrack started in the runner-up slot with 66,000. Al Green's Lay It Down was the lone other entry in the top 10, coming in at No. 9 with 34,000.

• The No. 10 album this week, Rascal Flatts' Unstoppable (Lyric Street), sold 27,000.

• The No. 10 album for the same week of 2008, Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs (Atlantic), sold 33,000.

• Average total of the No. 10 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (2000-2009): 58,645.

The whole top-20 saga is here.

The short version is, Tony Iommi, in a lawsuit against a merchandiser, has claimed that, as the only continuous member in Black Sabbath's 41-year history, he owns the trademark.

Ozzy's statement in full (from my e-mail):

It is with great regret that I had to resort to legal action against my long term partner, Tony Iommi, but after three years of trying to resolve this issue amicably, I feel I have no other recourse. As of the mid-1990's, after constant and numerous changes in band members, the brand of "Black Sabbath" was literally in the toilet and Tony Iommi (touring under the name Black Sabbath) was reduced to performing in clubs. Since 1997 when Geezer, Bill and myself rejoined the band, Black Sabbath has returned to its former glory as we headlined sold-out arenas and amphitheatres playing to upwards of 50,000 people at each show around the world. We worked collectively to restore credibility and bring dignity back to the name "Black Sabbath" which lead to the band being inducted into the UK and US Rock & Roll Hall of Fames in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Throughout the last 12 years, it was my management representatives who oversaw the marketing and quality control of the "Black Sabbath" brand through OZZFEST, touring, merchandising and album reissues. The name "Black Sabbath" now has a worldwide prestige and merchandising value that it would not have had by continuing on the road it was on prior to the 1997 reunion tour. Tony, I am so sorry it's had to get to this point by me having to take this action against you. I don't have the right to speak for Geezer and Bill, but I feel that morally and ethically the trademark should be owned by the four of us equally. I hope that by me taking this first step that it will ultimately end up that way. We've all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright. We're all in our 60's now. The Black Sabbath legacy should live on long after we have all gone. Please do the right thing.

I (and you) would have to read all the contracts to know who's right, but the love-hate between these guys has always been fascinating.

According to Jack over at Heartbreak, Francis and Barefoot Truth are working out a show where they will accompany each other through each other's catalogues.

Tickets go on sale Friday, June 5, at www.etix.com, at the Hi-Hat and at Lupos, 79 Wahsington St., Providence.

More on the collaboration here.