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News & Observer music critic David Menconi's random (and we do mean random) musings about all things related to music and culture of the "popular" variety.
Be sure to have a good one, folks -- and remember to be careful out there.
With a public memorial service for Michael Jackson set for Tuesday in Los Angeles, the accompanying remembrance service in Raleigh is back on.
"Yes, we are going forward with it," says co-organizer Bruce Lightner. Originally, Jackson's funeral was going to happen today at his Neverland complex in California. But that was canceled after county officials declined to issue the necessary permits. So local organizers also canceled the Raleigh event, which had been set for 2 p.m. today at Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek.
Now the local program is happening at the Raleigh Convention Center, starting at noon Tuesday with an hour of performances by the Martin Luther King All-Children's Choir and other groups. A video feed of the funeral services at Los Angeles' Staples Center will take center stage at 1 p.m., simulcast on video screens in the convention center.
Admission is $5 to cover expenses. Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. Monday at the Raleigh Convention Center box office, and also at the Progress Energy Center box office.
After four decades as a band, the members of Aerosmith aren't exactly young anymore. In fact, they've had to call off some dates on this summer's tour due to unspecified health issues. We'll see if the Raleigh show scheduled for Tuesday comes off. But Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton is just glad to be back on the road at all, after a bout of throat cancer in 2006.
"I had to go through a nightmare of treatment, but so far so good," Hamilton said in a recent interview. "I'm almost to the three-year point, so it's all good. I never had much appetite, and I do have to put more thought into that now. But when you're radiating that area, it's not like it's a part that only gets used once in a while. Your throat is always busy."
For more, see the interview in Friday's paper.
Nothing about Michael Jackson's death has been simple, including his funeral. There was going to be an extravaganza of a memorial service on Friday at the late singer's Neverland ranch in California, complete with a white horse-drawn carriage. Thousands and thousands of people were going to attend.
But the public funeral has been canceled, also forcing the cancelation of a Friday afternoon remembrance service at Raleigh's Walnut Creek. The Martin Luther King All-Children's Choir was to perform, along with a live feed of events in California on the venue's big screens.
"Our objective was to get a live feed of the funeral, but that's not gonna happen," said Raleigh organizer Bruce Lightner. "That was important, to connect with other cities across the country. So it did not make sense to move forward."
The word from Durham's High Strung Violins & Guitars, which will be happy to take whatever weird unused instruments you have off your hands:

Wanted: Your uncle Louie's zither, or great-grandpa Mac's bagpipes, or any old instruments you may have but not had the heart to get rid of.
The Instrument Petting Zoo was a big hit at the Eno Festival last year, especially the ukelyn and the phonofiddle. We're hoping to make it even better with many new additions.
If you are interested in making a donation, give us a call at 919/286-3801 or write to aaron@highstrungdurham.com
All donations will need to be in the shop by Thursday, July 2.
So maybe the shine has worn off your iPhone just a bit, and you're getting a little bored with merely talking on it or listening to it, or even using it to search for nearby sushi restaurants. Sounds like you need another silly function to waste lots of time with, yes? Well, you're in luck, because now there's the iMouth (and they promise songs for it are "coming soon"). What will those crazy kids think of next?
Celebrities aren't all that's passing into history lately; so are a number of venerable American institutions. Like Kodachrome film, which is being phased out after a run of nearly three-quarters of a century. But before turning our photography needs over to the digital realm, let's let Paul Simon bid a fond farewell.
(Thanks, Richard.)
Behold, the mysterious cover art for the forthcoming Avett Brothers album, "I and Love and You" -- a Scott Avett oil painting titled "Julianne in Vain":
Look for "I and Love and You" on Sept. 29. The Avetts don't have another Triangle show on the calendar yet, but surely that's just a matter of time.
This is something I actually posted about a few years ago, only to have the copyright meanies take it down. Now it's back and I'm linking to it again, because it still just floors me every time -- the Stones shilling for Rice Krispies, 46 long years ago.
(Thanks, Scott.)
It's a shame you can't be two places at once, which would've come in handy on Saturday night. That's when Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey were playing Cat's Cradle, but I was in Austin, Texas, for another reunion show by the Reivers. I've got no complaints, though, because it was pretty great, although it was less emotional than last year's reunion show (which marked their first performance since 1991). And it took place outdoors in the midst of an overpowering heat wave that felt more like the deepest dog days of August than June.
Still, there were warm feelings of fondness all the way around, from first song ("Warehouse Jam," an instrumental from the band's first single back in 1984) to last ("Ragamuffin Man," a Reivers signature since the late '80s). The vibe was very casual, a band playing for friends and family, which is basically what it was. And just for the occasion, they offered up a homage to the recently passed King of Pop, a cover of "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough."
At one point, I was missing my pal Peter Blackstock and wishing he'd been there -- he's one of the few people who is even more of a rabid Reivers fan than I am. Alas, he couldn't make it to Austin this time. But he called during the show, and I was able to let him listen a bit by cellphone. Even better, he was calling from that Holsapple/Stamey show at the Cradle.
It was the next best thing to being there, for both of us.
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