FESTIVAL FEVER

Couldn't make it to the Coachella festival this weekend in California? Are you doubtful for Tennessee’s Bonnaroo fest in June?

Fear not, Jersey-based music fan: Much closer to home, and featuring some of the same stars as Coachella and Bonnaroo, is another big-time event: the Virgin Festival, taking place Aug. 4 and 5 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

Artists recently added to Baltimore's second-ever Virgin Festival include Modest Mouse (above), Cheap Trick, Amy Winehouse, Chris Cornell and TV on the Radio. The Virgin lineup also features The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, Wu Tang Clan and Fountains of Wayne.

Tickets go on sale May 5. That also happens to be the opening of the two-day Bamboozle festival at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford.

The Jersey Shore's own Status Green is on the Bamboozle '07 bill, as well as fellow Garden State-bred bands My Chemical Romance and New Atlantic. Other acts include Taking Back Sunday, Boys Like Girls, Linkin Park and Cute Is What We Aim For.

PICTURE THIS

Like other recent South by Southwest keynote speakers, Pete Townshend had something to plug during his appearance last month at the annual music conference/festival in Austin, Texas.

He referred to his venture then as the Method, and today (April 25) in London, he officially launched it as the Lifehouse Method.

In a nutshell, the project's Internet-based software creates music, allowing a user to "sit" for a musical portrait as if being painted. During the process, a sitter will be asked to provide a sound, a voice sample, an image and a rhythm. Once a portrait is complete, it can be downloaded.

A team of composers, which will include Townshend, occasionally will listen to these portraits and, according to the Lifehouse Method site, "select a few for further development/elaboration."

Registration begins Tuesday (May 1); members can sit for up to three free "portraits" until July 31.

BIG BUCKS RAISED IN THE BIG CITY

The Edge's 1975 Gibson Les Paul was sold for $240,000 on Saturday (April 21) as part of Music Rising's Icons of Music auction held in New York.

A guitar once owned by Jimi Hendrix netted $410,000. In total, the auction of instruments and music memorabilia raised $2.5 million.

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

Avril Lavigne, a trailblazer?

Well, not when it comes to her music. But according to Billboard, Lavigne will become the first music act to have an official artist page on Stardoll.com, featuring tour dates, promo photos, streaming songs and more.

Stardoll.com is, in its own words, a "paper doll dress-up community." Membership is free, and most of its users are girls and boys ages 7 to 17. The site is closing in on 7 million unique visitors each month worldwide.

Lavigne's artist page also will have her albums for sale, plus other merchandise. Given Stardoll.com's traffic, the site's target audience and the wealth of disposable income that's spent by tweens and teens, she's poised to expand her audience and increase her bank account.

And should both happen, other artists -- no matter how juvenile the Stardoll.com affiliation appears on paper -- certainly will follow her path.

INSTRUMENTAL EFFORT

Since Hurricane Katrina, such New Orleans natives as Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr. and Terence Blanchard have, in one way or another, reminded the American public what the Big Easy has meant to this country's culture and music.

So has Ireland-raised guitarist Dave Evans, better known as The Edge (above). A key mission of his Music Rising campaign, which he co-founded in November 2005 with producer Bob Ezrin and Gibson guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, is to replace musical instruments that were lost or destroyed in the Gulf Coast area by Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

On Saturday (April 21), Music Rising's Icons of Music Auction begins at New York's Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Among the roughly 200 pieces of equipment and memorabilia up for bid will be something from The Edge's own collection -- his trusty 1975 Gibson Les Paul, which the U2 guitarist has used both in the studio and on the road throughout the band's career.

If that doesn't show a commitment to a cause, then nothing does.

A little aside about commitment: Other than Austin, Texas, no other American city lives and breathes music as much as New Orleans. And with very few exceptions, just about every genre or era of music can be traced back or connected to New Orleans.

Bids for the Icons of Music Auction can be made online via www.juliensauctions.com.

THE END LEADS TO A NEW BEGINNING

Despite the support of votefortheworst.com and Howard Stern, the vocally challenged Sanjaya Malakar was finally voted off American Idol.

Were those tears of sadness, relief or amazement that he shed on Wednesday night's show? Only he knows.

He also knows what the immediate future holds. The teen from Washington state will make an appearance next week on Live With Regis and Kelly, and because he was among the Top 10 finalists this season, he will be part of the upcoming Idol concert tour.

Malakar told The Associated Press that he's open to endorsements. He also has his eye on the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

"I just want the full entertainment business and career, I guess," he said.

Granted, his singing wasn't as bad as the infamous William "She Bangs" Hung from a few seasons ago, but Malakar's newfound fame and opportunities are just as unwarranted and insulting as what Hung experienced.

He's a prime candidate to end up on a future season of Surreal Life. But despite being voted off Idol, Malakar's bizarre and undeserved career as an entertainer is in pretty good shape.

THE COST OF FREE

OK, Ozzfest fans: Did you really think the playing field was going to be even when it came to obtaining free tickets for this year's festival?

Billboard has reported that the initial pressing of Ozzy Osbourne's Black Rain, his first new studio album in six years, will come with a special code that can used to redeem two Ozzfest tickets via a special Web site, starting June 8.

That means those with the code have a shot at obtaining tickets four days prior to the general public.

Hey, two Ozzfest tickets for $12 -- give or take a few bucks, depending on what stores will be charging for the new Osbourne CD -- is still a bargain. But this arrangement isn't that much different from those ridiculous surcharges and processing fees that are tacked onto most concert ticket purchases. Even free comes with a price sometimes.

BEST FOOT FORWARD

Time apparently has healed whatever wounds drummer Pete Best may have suffered when he was canned from The Beatles by the band's manager, Brian Epstein.

He and Paul McCartney have not spoken in more than four decades, but Best would like to see their silence come to an end.

"We're not getting any younger," the 65-year-old Best said in a story that ran Saturday (April 7) in London's Daily Mail. "We know what we've done, and we're not going to think any worse of each other if we had a chat now."

Best, reportedly fired from the band in August 1962 for no specific reason, should not have been the one to extend an olive branch. And as the lone survivor from Best's days with The Beatles, McCartney is the only one who can accept it and finally put the past to rest.

Nobody's expecting them to regroup and make an album together. An ice-breaking conversation, however, could turn out to be as sweet as any music they've ever made.

ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTISTS WILL BE EVERYWHERE

Here's something that just might top the hilarity of the early season episodes of American Idol: Preliminary rounds in an Elvis Presley tribute competition.

In the months ahead, cities around the world will be holding preliminary rounds in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Elvis Presley Enterprises announced today (April 6) that the contest now includes more than 20 locations, among them Lake George, N.Y; Queensland, Australia; and Blackpool, England.

A man named Rich Vickers won the preliminary round held last month in Arnold, Mo. And wouldn't you know it -- he dresses just like the jewel-encrusted, jumpsuit-wearing version of Presley, not the stylish, sexy Elvis.

If anyone is able to pull off that early look, as well as sound and move like the King, then that person should be the winner.

MUSIC NEEDED FOR BRATZ

Geffen Records is in need of music to be used in the live-action movie Bratz (due in theaters Aug. 10) and its accompanying soundtrack (scheduled for a July 31 release).

Talent scouts at the label will be reviewing submissions through May 15. Interested musicians can go to www.bratzsoundtrack.com for more information.

WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

Not every production job can be an album by Bonnie Raitt, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan or Willie Nelson.

Don Was has been in the studio with those artists, but sprinkled throughout his long and mostly impressive resume as a producer are a few head-scratching choices.

One of them is Poison. Hey, a producer has to do what a producer has to do in terms of landing studio work, but publicly exaggerating the skills of a low-level metal band and serving as a shill should not be part of the gig.

Poison'd, an all-covers album due June 5, features nine songs produced by Was. Here's what he had to say about Poison in a press release that was issued today (April 3) via EMI America/Capitol:

"Poison is one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands in the world and, after 20 years, they can slam better than ever."

Wait, there's more:

"They're powerful musicians and very cool guys," Was added. "We had a lot of fun making this album, and I think you can hear it in the grooves -- it's got the jive and is truly alive! I urge everyone to listen to it!"

Sounds like Was is the one who has the jive, and he should know by now that choosing one's words is just as important as choosing projects.