Billy Corgan Opening Tea Shop

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is launching an unlikely new venture - he's opening a tea house in his native Illinois.
The rocker spent his Thursday taste-testing different brews for his Chicago cafe and he can't wait to officially open the shop.
In a Twitter.com post, he writes, "had my first meeting today to prepare for opening a tea house on the north shore here in the Chicago area. lots of teas to try!"

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It's the latest unusual venture for Corgan - he recently launched his own wrestling club in his home city.
Thanks for the report to Jam.Canoe.ca.

The Who Post A Special Version Of 'Quadrophenia' Single Online

The Who have posted a special version of "Quadrophenia" single "5.15" online.
The track is being streamed in a 3D60 surround sound format to mark the 18th year anniversary of the seminal LP. Scroll down and click below to hear the new version of the track.
The song depicts a story of a young Mod called Jimmy, whose teenage disconnection with society is at its darkest hour.

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Taking the 5.15 train to run away from reality, Jimmy hits the booze in anger, drowning his sorrows and problems on this journey alone. It featured on a special boxset of the album, which was released last month.
Guitarist Pete Townshend recently declared that "Quadrophenia" was the band's "last great album" and that it "felt like the end" of the group after its release.
He said:
"I would say we only made three landmark records. 'Tommy', 'Who's Next' and 'Quadrophenia'. I've always felt that 'Quadrophenia' was the last definitive Who album."
Townshend also revealed that Sex Pistols man Johnny Rotten was his first choice to play the lead role of Jimmy in the 1979 film version.

Dave Mustaine Says It Was 'Very Cathartic' To Perform With Metallica

According to Blabbermouth.net, ex-Metallica guitarist and current Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine joined his former bandmates on stage this past Saturday night (December 10) for the fourth and final intimate show at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of Metallica's week-long celebration of its 30th anniversary as a band for fan club members only.

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When asked by Music Radar if it "felt nice to have mended all fences with" Metallica, Mustaine said, "You know, there's still going to be some dumb fucker who says to me, 'So, do you guys get along?' [laughs] I just know it. The world is full of idiots, and I seem to run into a lot of them. It does feel good, though.
"It was very cathartic to go up there last weekend. I was pretty unsure of what was going to happen. I wasn't nervous; I just didn't know what to expect. Those guys are a lot different from Megadeth. We like to know what songs we're going to do. They play pretty loose from the hip - which is cool.
"I was trying to figure out, 'Do I learn the demo versions of the [Metallica] songs or the 'Kill 'Em All' versions of the songs?' Well, I found out it was the 'Kill 'Em All' versions. OK, 'Do I learn my solos from the demos, or Kirk's [Hammett] solos? What solos should I play?' Then, when I got there, Kirk said, 'You know, why don't you play all the solos?' And I was like, 'Oooh!' [laughs] I had to quickly go through my bag of tricks. In the end, I got up on stage, and everything came together. I was making it much too difficult for myself.
"It was fun, I had a good time, everybody smiled a lot. Gave out a bunch of high-five knuckles and hugs. Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer] kissed me a couple of times...[laughs]
"It's neat that people are able to see what this whole thing is about.
"The media made this so ugly for so long.
"We all still really care about each other.
"Everything has come full circle. It's 30 years later, and here we are. It's really weird, the whole mythology to this."
Mustaine, who was one of the original members of Metallica, was fired from the band by drummer Lars Ulrich in 1983. He was replaced by Kirk Hammett and went on to form Megadeth and achieve worldwide success on his own.
In an interview with Revolver magazine conducted earlier this year, Mustaine was asked what he remembers about writing music with Metallica while he was in the group. "I had always called us, as a group, the 'Four Horsemen'," he said. "Before I was in Metallica, I really loved this band called Montrose, and their guitarist was Ronnie Montrose. He went on to form a band called Gamma. One of their records [1980's 'Gamma 2'] had a shark fin cutting through the grass, which I thought was so awesome. Anyway, he had a song on there called 'Four Horsemen' that I did with my band Panic, which I was with before Metallica. So when I joined Metallica, I had the song 'Mechanix', which I wrote, and 'Four Horsemen' was a suggestion of mine to do 'cause we were doing cover songs. So that had planted the seed with James [Hetfield, Metallica frontman]. And one day when we were coming to rehearsal, Lars had just said something about slowing down my song, 'Mechanix'. I had just gotten to the studio with Cliff [Burton, Metallica bassist], and we had been listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, and I was being a jerk, so I played 'Sweet Home Alabama' instead of 'Mechanix', and that’s basically the middle part of what would become Metallica’s 'The Four Horsemen'."
Regarding what his favorite Metallica song is, Mustaine said, "I had to do a lot of coming to terms with myself in order to listen to Metallica. Before, whenever I heard them, it triggered me in my mind to get up on my soapbox and spit out complaints of what had happened to me. And then once I finally realized, 'Dave, you're lucky, you're blessed, you're in a great band, you're in another great band.' I finally just said, 'You're missing it.'
"And I remember hearing this song when I was talking to Lars once and telling him this is my favorite song off the 'Black Record'. And he goes, 'Really? F--k, man.' It was 'The Unforgiven'. I liked it because I thought this was really the first time I've ever really heard James [Hetfield] sing. He had sung before, and he was a great singer. But that was the first time I ever heard him really, really sing."

Couple That Performed 'Master Of Puppets' At Their Wedding Jam With Metallica

According to Blabbermouth.net, the couple that became an Internet sensation after a video surfaced of them performing a cover version of Metallica's "Master Of Puppets" at their wedding reception got a chance to play with the members of Metallica themselves this past Saturday, December 10 at the fourth and final intimate show at the Fillmore in San Francisco as part of the week-long celebration of the band's 30th anniversary for fan club members only.

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Annette Ortiz-Diaz (a former drummer for Fatal Posporos and Half Past-Two and the current bass player for Random Ninjas) and her husband Dennis - who had a Metallica tribute band (made up of Asians) called Trapped Under Rice - joined Metallica on stage to perform the song "Blackened" during the portion of Saturday's concert where fan-club winners were invited on stage to jam with the band.
While taking part in the show, Dennis was able to wear his phone/camera around his neck and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich took Annette's camera and handed it to a roadie to shoot from backstage. The resulting footage can now be seen below.
Annette Ortiz and Dennis Diaz were married on April 10, 2010 in El Segundo, California. Photos of the reception can be found at this location.

Trent Reznor Nominated For Golden Globe

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have been given a Golden Globe nomination for their soundtrack to "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".
They have a chance of winning the gong for Best Original Score for the second time if they can beat competition by Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" and the score for "War Horse" by John Williams. Reznor and Ross previously won the same award for their musical contribution to "The Social Network".

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Reznor's new soundtrack features an electronic Led Zeppelin cover with Yeah Yeah Yeah's Karen O on vocals, though she later admitted that she had never listened to the classic rock band before.
The album is available as a three-CD digipack or deluxe vinyl package, limited to 3,000 copies. If you prefer, you can get a 35 minute sampler for free from Reznor's Null Corporation label.
Chris Cornell has also been nominated for a Golden Globe for his solo song "The Keeper" from "Machine Gun Preacher".
Meanwhile, Reznor plans to release the debut album from his side project How To Destroy Angels in early 2012.
"[We are] finishing our full-length record, which has fully matured our sound into something that is very unique. I can’t wait for that record to come out, actually probably [in the] first quarter of next year," he told Rolling Stone.
"It felt very close to other projects I’ve been involved in or direct influences, let’s say. [This] sounds like How To Destroy Angels now, instead of sounding like other stuff, so I’m proud of that and I’m excited to unleash it into the wild here."
What does his success away from Nine Inch Nails mean for his original band?
"Really, why I stopped Nine Inch Nails as a live entity was because it started to feel like I've done it, I've done it, and I've done it again. I started to feel like I needed reinvention and I needed to force myself into that," he said.
"How To Destroy Angels has been an interesting creative outlet. I think when people hear what we’ve been up to, it will be very validating on my part."

Courtney Love To Be Evicted

Courtney Love will be evicted from her New York home, because her landlord says the house is wrecked and she owes $50,000 in rent after only 10 months.
It helps explain why the Hole singer has been ranting about Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic earning more than she does from Nirvana royalties. She even offered Nirvana songs to Simon Cowell to use on "X Factor". News of her eviction may help explain her seemingly desperate manoeuvres.

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Landlord Donna Lyon accuses Love of decorating the property without consent and missing rent payments. As a result there will be a court hearing on December 21, according to NME.
"[The house] was decorated by the previous owner, interior designer Steven Gambrel. One of the requirements of the lease is that nothing should be done to the interiors," explained Lyon. "I came to New York to see it and I was horrified by what she had done. The walls that had been hand-painted and glazed were ruined, covered in damask wallpaper and ice-blue paint."
Lyon claims that Love's handywork was "tantamount to destroying a work of art".
It is not the first time Love has been in trouble for owing money. In October, a judge ordered Love to pay £60, 000 to a jeweller after she failed to return items she borrowed for a charity event.

Did Dream Theater Steal From Christian Rock Band?

A fan has highlighted similarities between a Dream Theater song and a Christian rock band - and former drummer Mike Portnoy agrees.
The opening song on Dream Theater's latest album "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" apparently sounds remarkably similar to a song by the band Red. The fan posted their observation on Dream Theater's forums, where other fans appear to be disappointed with the similarities.

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Mike Portnoy decided to join with the discussion, taking an obvious jab at his former band mates: "Check out the first song on [John Petrucci's] fave album of the year... WOW, the arrangement and orchestration sounds awfully familiar! Surely it must be an intentional 'nugget' for the fans... It couldn't possibly be blatant formula plagiarism, now could it... ? I just have to laugh... [sic]"
When some fans took a dislike to Portnoy's tactless contribution to the discussion, he replied again: "Hey... I'm not trying to start a war... And I am indeed totally in a happy place in my life and career... I'm just merely making an observation and posting openly on my own forum like I always have and always will... If anybody ELSE wants to blow this up, it's their choice and doing... Not mine! [sic]"
It is not the first time Dream Theater have been accused of plagiarism. This year, some fans noted the similarities between their newest album and their 1992 release "Images And Words", suggesting they had even copied themselves in a bid to release new music.
John Petrucci later told Ultimate Guitar that he appreciates fans analyzing their music, but the similarities were down to the band having such a definitive style of their own.
"We really like music," Petrucci said. "We have a certain thing that we try to accomplish musically, a certain sound that makes us who we are. The core elements of Dream Theater, of who we are and how we make music. Those are elements that are identifiable. That's what gives the band its sound, and keeps the band having an identity."
Listen to the two songs here. Do you think they sound similar? Share your opinion in the comments.