Scott Bernstein

When the one month ’til Earth Day mark passed without a lineup announcement, we were starting to wonder if in fact the Green Apple Festival was really happening this year. Well we finally have a lineup announcement, and the news is better for some cities than it is for others.

Things look good on 4/20 in D.C. where The Roots (and friends), Gov’t Mule, Umphrey’s McGee and Toots head up the killer National Mall lineup. Yet NYCers draw the short end of the stick this time where Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Big Head Todd & The Monsters and Vusi Mahlasela will perform at Central Park.

Meanwhile Denver (The Nevilles, Rose Hill Drive and The Duo), San Francisco (Mickey Hart, YMSB and Brett Dennen), and Los Angeles (Ziggy Marley, Taj Mahal, Juliette and the Licks) all score fantastic lineups, while Miami gets a boy band (Menudo) and Mr. Wendell (Arrested Development).

But it’s not only about the music, it’s about the environment. The Green Apple Festival has quickly become the America’s Largest Earth Day Celebration, and has expanded to eight cities this year. Did we mention the best part of the Earth Day events on 4/20? They are all absolutely free.

Read on for a full list of performers, cities and more…

Marco Benevento played with some of the best musicians in the scene during a January residency at Sullivan. For Marco’s next NYC gig at Rockwood Music Hall on April 3,

When the Beatles put their first road crew together, they enlisted childhood friend Neil Aspinall for the role of Road Manager. Aspinall stayed with the band through thick and thin,

We envy Taylor Hawkins. Not only does the guy have a cushy job as the Foo Fighters’ drummer, but he’s gotten to live out his childhood dreams. Hawkins spent the majority of his time growing up in Fort Worth, Texas listening to Queen and Rush records. A few years back Taylor got to play with Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May, and Saturday night he jammed with Rush’s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson at a Foo Fighters gig in Toronto. That’s one lucky dude.

Geddy and Alex joined the Foo Fighters an hour into their set just as Taylor Hawkins started his drum solo. The trio improv’d for a bit before busting out a killer YYZ that showed off Hawkins’ prowess on the kit. Check out the crowd’s reaction on this decent video of the YYZ.

Here’s a look at what else went down this weekend:

• You can watch the Black Crowes’ recent Unplugged taping on VH1.com
• Ultimate Guitar unveils the first inductees to the Groupie Hall of Fame
• Jimmy DeRo finds out why Ticketmaster isn’t so necessary of an evil
• R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe talks to Billboard about the making of Accelerate
• It’s time for yet another classic rock lyrics quiz [via Here Comes TFlood]
• Girl Talk’s Greg Gillis discusses the “leak” of the Night Ripper follow-up
• Joshua Redman delivers on the promise he showed as a young phenom
• Find out why Bob Marley’s heirs are jamming the Weinstein Brothers
• Miss Cellania finds photos of nearly every Abbey Road parody ever made

We loved the lo-fi feel of the Black Kids demos that made the rounds a few months ago, so we were a little worried that the band would overproduce their Almost Gold debut. Well perhaps we should spend less time worrying and more time writing, because the re-recorded version of I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You sounds pretty fuckin’ good.

Read on after the jump for the deliciously bizarre video for the single…

When James Dolan and his MSG henchmen took over the Beacon Theatre, we thought they would be closing the venue for nearly a year to perform a restoration. Well apparently

Friday [all times Eastern]: Classic Cribs looks at the houses of Gene Simmons, Ted Nugent and a whole slew of hard rockers [VH-1 Classic 8:00 PM] The Black Crowes bring

“Wow, Barack! The nigga’s name is Barack. Barack? Nigga named Barack Obama. What the fuck, man?! Is he serious? That ain’t his fuckin’ name. Ima tell this nigga when I

There’s nothing we love more than opening our inbox to find an email message announcing a new edition of Live Phish. They don’t call this day Good Friday for nothin’. This time we get the first official release from the Europe ’98 tour, namely the show from July 6, 1998 at the Lucerna Theater in Prague.

And you don’t even have to wait much longer to download the show, as the professionally-mastered MP3s and FLACs will be available at Livephish.com on Tuesday. Those who prefer their music in physical form can order the CD package at Dry Goods. Read on after the jump for the full press release, but first check out the phenomenal Ghost from the new release:

• DOWNLOAD THE GHOST FROM THE LIVE OFFICAL RELEASE OF 7/6/98

If you saw Peter Bogdanovich’s brilliant documentary on Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers odds are you remember the 20 minutes he spent talking about Mudcrutch. Mudcrutch was Petty’s first band,

Over the past few days we’ve heard whispers that Pearl Jam would tour the East Coast in June, and today we finally got our dates. Eddie and the boys head out on June 11 for ten shows of their own, as well as a headlining gig at Bonnaroo. Kings of Leon and Ted Leo and the Pharmacists will split the opening duties. Tickets go on sale this Monday for Ten Club members, with public on-sales to follow shortly thereafter. Read on after the jump for the full list of dates.