For this week’s B List, we’re honored to introduce our friend Stuart Hartstone. Stuart has worked many festivals with “oo” at the end of the title for Superfly Productions, and most recently he has helped promote concerts and manage artists under the Hartstone Productions banner (along side his brother Jarrett).

“I’ve never been a fan of Top 10 lists when it comes to music — to me, the premise is kind of silly. I’ve always believed that art was in the eye of the beholder, so who’s to say one person’s art is better than someone else’s? But I also generally tend to disagree with most Top 10 lists. I don’t know who writes these things, but with the exception of The B List’s recent Top 10 Side Projects, I often come away feeling like the author has his head firmly affixed up his ass.

Well, that didn’t stop me from taking this opportunity to put together a Top 10 list of my own. I was listening to the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers the other day, and Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’ came on. I’ve always loved that song, especially the intro. For lack of a better word, it’s just so badass. So it got me thinking: What other songs have similar badass intros like that one? You know, an intro that is just so good it makes you want to pump your fist in the air and yell ‘Yeah!’

So while I know some of you probably won’t agree with me on all of this — I’m still not 100% convinced I do — here without further ado is my Top 10 Badass Guitar Riff Song Intros. While you might not agree with all my choices, I think you will find that for the most part, the intros to these songs are pretty fuckin’ badass!”

Read on below for Stuart Hartstone’s guest edition of The B List…

While most music blogs are busy flickin’ the bean today to tawdry thoughts of Coachella (pre-sale today by the way), the hot-off-the-presses lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will likely fly under the radar.

Steely Dan, Van the Man, Dr. John, Allman Brothers Band, Norah Jones, ZZ Top, Bonnie Raiit, Ludacris, John Legend, Counting Crows, Rod Stewart (Faces reunion?!), New Edition, Allen Toussaint, George Benson, Jerry Lee Lewis and Harry Connick Jr. closing out the show? That’s just dyn-o-mite, and we haven’t even heard what’s in store for the night crew. Read on below for the full JazzFest lineup…

The reunion news just keeps flooding in to the Hidden Track corporate headquarters out here in sunny Mom’s Basement.

Rumors began flying a few months back that David Lee Roth would soon reunite with the Van Halen brothers. But we’d been there before: In 1996, David Lee Roth appeared at the MTV Music Awards with his former Van Halen band mates. Not surprisingly, it took approximately 10 minutes for Eddie Van Halen to remember he hates Roth’s guts, which delayed a reunion. Now the stage is set for another reunion that Billboard’s Ray Waddell is reporting is nearly a done deal. But will the band even make it through the press conference? Can’t say.

A deal is almost set for David Lee Roth to return to the Van Halen fold for a summer tour of amphitheaters, sources told Billboard.com They said a contract could be signed as early as Wednesday for tour promoter Live Nation to produce a 40-date trek, which would mark Roth’s first outing with the rock band in more than 20 years. Spokeswomen for Roth and the band said they were unable to provide any confirmation. –Billboard

The exclusive article goes on to discuss Eddie Van Halen’s ingenious plan to replace Michael Anthony with his 15-year-old spawn:

Guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s 15-year-old son Wolfgang has stepped in for original bassist Michael Anthony in the new incarnation of the group, which also features Eddie’s brother Alex Van Halen on drums.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies always provide some drama, but this February’s ceremony should reach new levels when Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar step to the microphone. We haven’t heard the end of this craziness, and odds are only 50/50 that a David Lee Roth-led Van Halen will ever play a show together. Stay tuned for more, because there will be plenty more from this mess…

If your memory serves you well…I was going to confiscate your lace.

That little number’s from Pittsburgh’s now-defunct Syria Mosque in November of the Year of Our Lord Nineteen-Hundred and Seventy. Oh, Danko.

Love God’s Way is a faith-based ministry that professes it’s goal is to spread God’s Love through teaching and healing. But I’ll confess, God touched me once, and that’s not the way I thought I’d be loved by Him. He “healed” like my Uncle Gary.

According to these likely repressed homosexters, “One of the most dangerous ways homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents should keep careful watch over their children’s listening habits, especially in this Internet Age of MP3 piracy.” Did you think he meant “MP3 piracy” or “butt piracy?”

Read on after the jump for a full list of gay bands for which you should watch your back…quite literally, say our kind-hearted brothers at Love God’s Way.

Welcome to another edition of Grousing The Aisles. It’s been a busy week, with many terrific shows being offered up on the familiar torrent sites. I struggled to decide which shows made the cut, but in the end I decided on a glimpse into the future of rock with Circle Sound, as well as a look back on classic shows by The Band, Steely Dan, Queen and Widespread Panic. Check it out…

Circle Sound 1/19/07 DAUD (FLAC):

North Mississippi Allstars guitarist Luther Dickinson and Black Crowe Rich Robinson debuted their latest side project at the Bowery Ballroom this past Friday. The new band played a few of Robinson’s originals, one Crowes song and a heady mix of classic rock covers. Patti Smith even got in on the fun, singing a song with the band — it’s not everyday the Queen of NYC christens a new project.

I saw the North Mississippi Allstars a few times in the early part of this century and left unimpressed. As a friend said to me, “If these are the Allstars, I’d hate to see what the other bands in North Mississippi sound like.” Recently I saw the NMAS play a blistering set opening for Umphrey’s McGee in Chicago, and I came away from that night with a whole new respect for Luther Dickinson as a performer.

After listening to Circle Sound’s debut set, I think I’ve actually become a Dickinson fan. Luther throws his heart and soul into this project, both vocally and on the guitar, adding a killer compliment to Robinson’s soaring leads and harmonies. I have a feeling this band is going to not only play more gigs, but might just be the outlet both guitarists need to keep innovating southern rock.

Queen, Steely Dan, The Band and Widespread Panic shows after the jump…

Is it just me or does it seem like every band is getting back together this year? Is reuniting all about the money, or do these guys actually miss the camaraderie of the road? Hopefully it’s at least a slight mix of both — I’d hate to see bands like The Police, James, and Rage Against The Machine come back just to play the hits. Outside of the Talking Heads, what band is left to fill Coachella’s lineup next year?

While you ponder that, check out this batch o’ links from around the web:

• Ten years after people started downloading music, the recording industry still doesn’t have a clear plan for going digital
• Neddy previews Freaks Ball VII, an evening in Brooklyn this weekend featuring Apollo Sunshine, The Dansettes, and Chris Harford and the Band of Changes (with Dean Ween having just been added to Harford’s BoC)
• The Pogues will be touring this March, including a stop at NYC’s Roseland Ballroom on St. Patrick’s Day
• Scarecrow Collection is Jamband’s New Groove of the Month
• CSNY will soon release both a live album and documentary of their 2006 Freedom of Speech tour
• The 20 greatest guitar solos ever…with videos
• David Fricke reviews the first concert of Rich Robinson and Luther Dickinson’s band, Circle Sound
• Devon Allman’s Honeytribe has been on tour with the Gregg Allman Band: Check out this review of their recent HOB-Chicago show
• Double J Jesse Jarnow has been quite prolific recently
• The Temple News published a feature on moe. and their fanbase
• Yet another ’80s band, Crowded House, is reuniting with a gig at Coachella and a world tour
• Beck will be releasing a deluxe 3-disc set of The Information
• The Grateful Dead shares a new batch of mp3s at the Taper’s Section
• Mike Greenhaus files a report from the Disco Biscuits’ studio
• Last week’s Nero reunion concerts are getting rave reviews
• JamBase asks Pete Townshend 12 questions

And we’d like to congratulate HT reader Baltimoe.ron for winning our Grateful Dead Live at The Cow Palace contest. He receives the three-disc set, along with a sharp set of steak knives and 72 virgins. Congrats, and burn us a copy.

This ain’t no party…this ain’t no disco…this ain’t no crap filler post…

I can’t get enough Talking Heads. And if you’re like me, you’ll enjoy this brand new-to-YouTube clip of Byrne & Co. rocking British television on The Old Grey Whistle Test in 1978. Take a look at Tina Weymouth laying it down and tell me Bisco’s Marc Brownstein didn’t steal his whole look and persona from her.

• Fuck the copyright shit — YouTube really is worth all that Google cash. I mean, where else can you randomly stumble upon a rare clip of Marvin Gaye and Tina Turner performing on television back in 1964? ‘Tube score is the new ground score. (Twelve years later Marvin treated an Amsterdam audience to this shining example of perfection.)
• I usually try to stay away from the easy stuff in this department, eschew from posting a bunch of Phish and Dead. But if you haven’t seen it, here’s a classic video of the popular rock band breaking down Max Creek’s Back Porch Boogie Blues at The Ranch on 5/20/87.
• When members of the Aquarium Rescue Unit aren’t bailing out the likes of Panic and Trey, they’re ripping it up all over these United States. Check out this cool JamCam Chronicles video of Col. Bruce Hampton & The Codetalkers with Jimmy Herring on Yield Not To Temptation. Sweetness.
• My buddy Hoobs recommended I check out this cool new cartoon called Frisky Dingo, and his recommendation is sound. Now I present you with this friendly prodding: The comedy is high, and the current charts can’t hold it. It’s off the charts: Part I and Part II of Episode 2.
• And lastly, our man Coach brought this clip to our attention — Celine Dion and some other chick (Trey Anastacia?) performing AC/DC’s You Shook Me All Night Long at a Divas concert in Las Vegas. For the record, I’d probably rather watch Celine get eaten by Montecore the Tiger than have to see this live. But you should watch it, ‘cuz it’s really not that bad.

And even though this one ain’t quite music related, it’s a prelude to my upcoming week-long trip to Jolly Ol’ England for five soccer matches in one week. This Sunday’s 2-1 Arsenal victory over Premiership leader Manchester United was nothing short of extraordinary, a match that would’ve made a fan out of the biggest soccer haters. This thing was so frenetic and action-packed that I figured I’d post the entire four minutes of highlights: You can watch the whole clip here, which I recommend quite strenuously. Enjoy it all, people. Take it all in.

There’s one absolute in music: When something’s free, it’s usually pretty good. Last night’s gratis performance at the Knitting Factory, however, would have been worth whatever price of admission management attached to the ticket. A little bit of Joe Russo and a lot of Scott Metzger goes a long way, especially with a full slate of ironic alt-country songs about drinking, fighting and fucking.

Armed with a brand new guitar, his octopus-like house band and a captive room full of musicians, bloggers and old standbys, Metzger set up shop in the Knit’s Old Office for a glorious evening of solo material and Danjaboots tracks. Their first show of the new year, the lowercase duo provided the same creative musical tomfoolery that which fans have grown accustomed since the band’s debut. Read on below for a full taste of the New York night, the intensity and the wholesome fun…

The Ronnie James Dio-led version of Black Sabbath has recorded an album and will embark on a world tour as Heaven and Hell. It’s a different type of H & H.

The newly named band today announced the first 12 dates of the tour: Ronnie, Tony, Vinny and Geezer will play 11 Canadian dates before heading to a real country to play Radio City Music Hall. Can you imagine what Radio City will look like when these guys are done playing? I’m envisioning shit-smeared seats on eBay.

Pollstar has further details on this reunion of sorts (yet another):

It looks a lot like a Black Sabbath reunion, but the band is called Heaven And Hell. Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice will tour together for the first time in 15 years under the new name. The trek kicks off with 11 Canadian shows, along with an exciting one-night-only performance New York’s Radio City Music Hall.

The 12 current dates start March 11 in Vancouver and end March 30 with the New York City show. The Heaven And Hell world tour will continue until the end of the year with shows in the U.S., Asia and Europe. New dates will be announced shortly. Megadeth will be on all dates, previewing new material from their upcoming release, United Abominations. The tour also marks the return of Down, featuring Phil Anselmo and Rex Brown of Pantera, as well as Pepper Keenan of Corrosion Of Conformity.

Heaven And Hell’s heavy metal icons are also scheduled to release a new anthology entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. The release date is set for April 3.

Megadeth, Down and Heaven & Hell — that’s gonna be a fucking nasty show.

Related Video: Ronnie James Dio sounds off about Heaven and Hell

We linked this morning to the New York Times’ review of the first performance of the two-night American Beauty Project. But we like to do things a bit differently than the Gray Lady, so we sent HT reporter Specs Toporczer down to the World Financial Center for a first-hand account of the latest Grateful Dead tribute.

Who schedules anything during the middle of the AFC championship game?

I had to put the Brady-Manning Bowl on pause to hit the second night of the American Beauty Project — a cover tribute to the Grateful Dead’s album of the same name — in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. The trip down to Battery Park City was extremely strange; the streets were empty, save for neglected women, Asian delivery boys and the handfuls of frozen old hippies scurrying across the West Side Highway. Everyone else was watching the NFL.

Read on for more of Specs’ review and a few photos snapped from the event…

Everyone’s favorite glorified cover band is back…for a few shows, at least.

Bustle In Your Hedgerow returns for a four-night engagement in late February and March, stopping in three states to fuck your face Led Zeppelin style. The rock quartet may only play together sporadically, but every time they hit the stage they’re ready to tear it up. As I said back in August, “It’s almost as if the four of them have been playing together nonstop since [their] debut. Talk about cohesiveness…I think this is the kind of overwhelming tightness to which pedophiles are attracted. That’s a horrible analogy, sure, but dead on.”

From The Duo’s website: “We have confirmed the return of the rock…Marco, Joe, Dave Dreiwitz and Scotty Metzger will once again reconvene to rock you. We are going to some familiar places to get things rolling, but we hope to visit some new territories as well in the future.” Here are the dates and theaters…

Feb. 28th – Fox Theatre – Boulder CO
Mar. 1st – Bluebird Theatre – Denver CO
Mar. 2nd – The Abbey Pub – Chicago IL
Mar. 17th – Mexicali Blues – Teaneck NJ

Stream/download some Bustle here: The band’s MySpace page; and July 31, 2005 at the Subterranean in Chicago 

I sure was getting used to all those three-day weekends. This weekend just flew by, so let’s get back into the workday groove with the following tasty stories:

• The Police Reunion Watch: Andy Summers made a rare appearance at the NAMM 2007 trade show to perform Message In A Bottle
• Rage Against The Machine gets in on the 2007 reunion trend with an announcement it will headline Coachella (full festival lineup here)
• Bowery Presents is proposing a new venue for Manhattan’s West Side
• iConcertCal is an awesome plugin for iTunes that displays a calendar of concerts from the artists in your music library
• Software that emulates Jimi Hendrix’s tone
• A review of Saturday’s American Beauty project concert from the New York Times (we’ll review last night’s show shortly)
• Widespread Panic has released the full details of their Spring Tour including a three night run in their home town of Athens
• IGN lists the top 10 songs about airplanes and top 25 metal albums (via largehearted boy)
• The Aquarium Drunkard has released the 22nd edition of its podcast series, featuring songs by DJ Shadow, The Clash, Dr. John and more
• Norah Jones is coming out with an album of self-penned songs on 1/30
• And our boy Neddy fills you in on shows in the NYC area this week

See any good shows this weekend? See any bad shows? Weigh in below…

Who says God is dead? The Canadian indie rock outfit followed up its recent announcement of five February dates at Manhattan’s Judson Memorial Church by playing a semi-secret show last night at St. Michel Church in Montreal.

Thanks to a miracle from the Lord and an invention by Al Gore, you can already download the new material-laced show. But if God comes home early from dinner with Karen and catches you having a rock ‘n roll party in His basement, He’ll ground you for two weeks. Motherfucker may even smite you for two more.

From the Arcade Fire file description: “This was an unannounced show that was for the band’s friends and those who got word of it a few hours before show time. It was in the basement of a famous Montreal church in the Mile End area where the band lives/hangs out. As “local” a show as you can get. Be aware that the sound quality on this recording isn’t like a regular concert. The show was in a fairly crowded basement on a small PA system. Still, it captures a lot of the band’s energy, has some great banter, and showcases most of their new material.” Amen.

1/20/07 Unkangfirmed Setlist

1. Intro
2. Black Mirror
3. Keep the Car Running
4. No Cars Go
5. Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
6. My Body is a Cage
7. Oceans of Noise >
8. Rebellion
9. Funny chatter
10. Intervention
11. Building Downtown?
12. The Well and the Lighthouse

Encores:
12. Haiti
13. Power Out

(I know there’s two “12″s. It’s not my typo, but far be it from me to correct.)

Download or stream 1/20/07: Arcade Fire at St. Michel
Previously on Hidden Track: Arcade Fire & Brimstone: Judson Dates in NYC
Related Video: Pitchfork posted an exclusive video of Intervention from Friday night’s show in the cafeteria of an Ottawa high school

Welcome to the end of another working week. As usual on Fridays we try to keep you entertained with the following links:

• Apple Computers and The Beatles’ Apple Corps may finally put their long standing differences aside and do some business together
• The Live Music Blog has a nice review and great pictures from U2′s tour closer with Pearl Jam in Hawaii
• The Friday Rant features a handy list of 2007 festival dates
• Umphrey’s McGee has added a bunch of tour dates in the northeast and midwest
• The next installment of the Neil Young concert archive series will be a 1971 concert from Toronto’s Massey Hall
• Nearly 50 years later the Big Bopper’s son investigates the day the music died
• Crosby, Stills, and Nash head back on the road this spring
• Double J, Jesse Jarnow has released the 11th edition of his Frow Show podcast
• Glide Magazine has a great feature on Toubab Krewe
• Langerado has added Galactic and The Spam Allstars to their lineup, and more importantly announced there will be shuttle service between the festival and the late night venues
• News about the new Wilco album
• Club D’Elf has announced some upcoming dates
• Ted Nugent caused trouble at the inauguration of Texas Governor Rick Perry
• Rock Music Daily has an mp3 of the Foo Fighters cover of Pink Floyd’s Have A Cigar
• Frank Zappa used to enjoy his Fridays just like the rest of us
• Ick Music provides the mp3s of the infamous Clash set at the US Festival

Have a great weekend and remember to get your entries in for the Live At The Cow Palace contest. As always please share any interesting links you may have with the rest of the class.