Can you think of a better way to end a sun-and-fun filled weekend at the shore than with a great rock concert? If you’re spending Sunday heading north on the Garden State Parkway you’ll want to get off at Exit 102. Asbury Park’s legendary Stone Pony hosts a terrific triple bill on Sunday evening featuring three amazing rock bands: the American Babies, Apollo Sunshine and Gov’t Mule.

Ace Cowboy-favorites the American Babies kick things off at 4pm inside of the nightclub. Tom Hamilton’s once-side project has blossomed into a powerful unit that consistently delivers top-notch performances. Of course that’s not surprising considering the skills of drummer Joe Russo, guitarist Scott Metzger and Tom’s Brother bassist Jim Hamilton. Check out American Babies set and you won’t be disappointed you left the beach early.

Once the American Babies finish up around 5pm, the gates to the outdoor Summer Stage open up for the final two bands of the evening. Boston’s Apollo Sunshine are a gritty psychedelic-rock trio who visably put their blood, sweat and tears into every note they play. These guys have written a slew of anthemic tunes that channel Cream and the Beatles. AS hasn’t played around here too often, so don’t biff their set which begins outside at 5:30pm.

The headliners of Sunday night’s festivities are no strangers to Asbury Park. Gov’t Mule first played “The House That Bruce and Johnny Built” on April 6, 1996 as a power trio with the late Allen Woody. These days the Mule functions as a quartet that’s capable of switching genres and styles within the same song. Thanks to the rapidly expanding catalog of covers and originals that Warren and the boys play on a regular basis we’re long past the days of Mule playing Soulshine every night. Gov’t Mule hits the outdoor Summer Stage at 6:45pm.

For those of you who like their Sunday shows to end early, you’ll be happy to know the curfew is 10pm. The best part of this whole deal is that tickets are only $33. That’s cheaper than a reading from a fortune teller on the boardwalk.

• American Babies - Rocker (Live)
• Apollo Sunshine - Flip (Live)
• Gov’t Mule - Thorazine Shuffle (Live)
• Previously on HT: Bringing Up Babies - Hamilton’s Best Crew, Listen To This Shit - Apollo Sunshine’s 666 and HT Giveaway - Warren Haynes DVD

The 8th Freaks Ball — El Ocho Loco — is coming. There’s no sense waiting around for Zeppelin to get back together, so get involved with the real deal in Brooklyn next week to see what all this Russo/Metzger/Benevento fluffing is all about.

Apollo Sunshine at Freaks Ball VII

The details:
Freaks Ball VIII
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Southpaw
Brooklyn, USA

Featuring:
Bustle In Your Hedgerow
Mocean Worker
American Babies
plus a whole lotta freaked-out fun!

Doors at 8, music at 8:30 until you run out of gas. Tickets available now.

As an added bonus, Hidden Track is giving away 2 free tickets to the commenter who can best describe in 10 words or less what being Freaky means to you (Jevon Kearse and Najeh Davenport not eligible for this promotion). Contest ends Sunday at midnight. Check out some pics from last year.

Each year the taste makers of a Yahoo! group named NYC-Freaks come together to throw a party featuring some of their favorite “just about to break” bands. Freaks Ball VIII continues the trend on February 9 at Brooklyn’s Southpaw with a lineup featuring Bustle In Your Hedgerow, American Babies and a mystery band currently labeled The Bearded Ones.

Bustle members and Babies’ Scott Metzger and Sir Joe Russo will both be making their sixth consecutive Freaks Ball appearance, leading us to question whether anyone in the history of rock has been in more up-and-coming bands than those two. We’re still holding onto our Metzger rookie cards, just in case Go Home Hippie finally achieves Soulja Boy status.

Let’s see what else happened while you unwrapped gifts or ate Moo Shu Pork:

• Wired looks for Live Music Webcasting to start making sense in 2008
• Rush’s Neil Peart wins a Drummer of the Year awards for a change
• Jay-Z stepped down from his post of President at Def Jam
• The Lemonheads squeeze out a tasty show in Boston
• Screw Guitar Hero, try your hand at Heroin Hero
• James Brown’s family continues to fight over his estate a year after his death
• Uncle Neddy fills us in on the remaining shows of (the rest of) the year

Finally, we’d like to congratulate David Pirkle, Butch Weiss and Dean for winning our JamCam Episode 14: Wanee 2007 giveaway. It looks like Boxing Day picked up where Christmas left off for that lot.

You walk into the Paul Robeson Theater, a former church tucked away in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene, and the first thing that springs to mind is the timeless middle-school assembly. Should we say no to drugs, or to crime, or is someone about to raise a little more awareness about The AIDS? Are the 8th grade elections coming up? Four-day school weeks, motherfucker, promise me!

So you take your seat next to a lovely blonde and wait for the band that’s scheduled to play this hidden gem. They come out, they begin to tune, and instantly your drawn to the awesome acoustics of the small auditorium. The music bounces off the walls and the band immediately sounds the best they’ve ever been. Then it hits you: This may be the coolest venue you’ve never heard of, and you want everyone you’ve ever fancied to play on that stage…post-haste.

American Babies took that stage at 10:30 last night, part of the Paul Robeson Concert Series that’s begun to bring more rock acts to this underutilized venue. I’ve seen the Babies — Tom Hamilton and Scott Metzger on guitar, Jim Hamilton on bass and Sir Joe Russo at the kit — more times this year than any other band, and last night may have been their finest show of 2007. Read on…

A mix of young bands and old favorites greeted our intrepid field reporter on Day Three of Bonnaroo. The oppressive heat and the aggressive rock must be difficult to endure for another two days, but sure enough, everyone we’ve been talking to down there is still at full tilt, all systems go. I’m exhausted just typing this post. Better men.

TJ has weighed in on the Day Three festivities, and his text follows below. Remember to check back tomorrow for TJ’s Day Four Overview and eventual wrap-up…

I opened my day Saturday with The American Babies. I don’t know Brothers Past, but I like the work of Scott Metzger on guitar and Joe Russo on drums a lot, so I wanted to check this out. The Babies played a really upbeat early set with a number of songs that really stood out as being assembled with care. It’s apparent that these guys put a lot into the music they’ve created together, which is surprising considering they’re a fairly new invention. They have a new album out that I think I might check out.

I started thinking after the show how it seemed back in the old days, pop artists would use a side project to explore new, often improvisational or out-of-character material. Today, it seems, some of the luminaries of the “jam” scene are finding outlets where they can create real songs without the expectations of extended solos and multiple tempo changes. And I think that’s cool.

We’ve been conditioned for 15 years to reject radio-friendly music out of hand for being too commercial or popular. Bands like the American Babies (and I can’t tell you if they’re a side project or not; I guess time will decide that) might really help us all re-evaluate how we classify and consider both the music we listen to and the music we don’t.

Read on after the jump for much more from Day Three at Bonnaroo, including the pictured Hot Tuna, The Police, Ben Harper & John Paul Jones, Galactic and others — oh, and we’ve got some videos from the festival as well…

We’re switching up two of our regular departments this week to better accomodate last-minute readers heading off to Bonnaroo. So Grousing The Aisles will be seen tomorrow, and today we present this special Wednesday edition of The B List, as we continue with our nonstop coverage of this weekend’s festival.

Our coverage kicked off yesterday with HT Bonnaroo Reporter and Shakedown Mayor TJ’s thoughts on the biggest conflicts of the festival. We follow that up today by listing 10 bands that fly under the radar — you may not have these bands circled on your printed calendar just yet, but we think you should:

American Babies (Saturday 12 pm, Sonic Stage)

I caught this semi-supergroup’s warm-up gig at the Knitting Factory on Monday night, and it’s clear these guys are ready to make the leap. Brothers Past guitarist Tom Hamilton has put together a ridiculous backing troika — brother Jim on bass, Scott Metzger on guitar and Sir Joe Russo on drums — for his incredible songbook. American Babies features killer musicianship, fantastic vocal harmonies, great lyrics and tight chemistry — now, as my friend Mike says, all they need is fans. I’m pretty sure these guys are the only band playing in this time slot, so you’ve got no excuses not to head to the Sonic Stage and get blown away by a band you didn’t know was there. You’ll be singing Invite Your Friends for weeks. –AC

Apollo Sunshine (Thursday 10:15 pm, Other Tent; Friday 1:30 pm, Sonic)

You’ll excuse us for pimping one of our favorite bands yet again, but Apollo Sunshine will be “flying under the radar” until they start playing theaters and arenas. The band’s music mixes terrific songwriting with incredible harmonies, and most importantly, the ridiculous chops of each member of the band. An Apollo Sunshine set hits upon many different emotions and genres, leaving spectators drained of energy by the end of the show. This summer marks a hiatus of sorts for the boys; they plan to head into the studio soon after Bonnaroo. If you are looking for a unique musical experience, look no further than Apollo Sunshine. Listen to this Bach from 4/22/07 and hear for yourself. –SB

Read on for eight more must-see, under-the-radar bands playing Bonnaroo…

Want free tickets and press access to any show you want this summer? Do you like to write about and take pictures at concerts? If you answered yes to those questions, check out Billboard’s Mobile Beat contest.

Billboard is teaming up with LG to offer the winners press passes to any concert they want and a heady camera phone. In exchange they promise to post their photos and a brief review of each performance they attend. Two winners will be picked from every major metropolitan area. Simply create a photo montage of your own photos and write a 100-word essay on why you want to be a Billboard blogger. Check out the Mobile Beat web site for more information or to enter the contest.

We hope someone from our audience wins — we don’t want bunch of emo kids filing dour rants on why Dashboard Confessional has sold out.

We got plenty of links this week, so let’s get down to business:

• Prince to play a seven week residency in Los Angeles?!?!
• The Smashing Pumpkins returned to the stage last night with new band members and a varied setlist
• The American Babies are featured on Cold Turkey 611
• The lineup for the Monolith Festival at Red Rocks is out
• Ray White will be Zappa Plays Zappa’s special guest this summer
• Where did this amazing footage of Bjork’s entire Coachella set come from? [via Large Hearted Boy]
• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Squeeze - Part One
• Lefsetz Letter takes on the $3,000 concert series
• Two great David Lee Roth-era Van Halen Bootlegs from The Roadhouse
• Burning Oak profiles Friday’s Summer Camp festival performers
• Sirius is launching a Grateful Dead channel — the Dead also continue to kick down serious jams through the Taper’s Section
• Leftover Salmon’s 2007 lineup includes Jeff Sipe
• Richard Thompson is touring the country this summer
• Watch the first episode of Flight of the Conchords, a Tenacious D-esque new comedy that debuts in June on HBO
• Velvet Revolver is teaming up with Alice In Chains for a August - October tour
• Stewart Copeland wants the Police to change up their setlist
• Michael Franti found out how the inmates at San Quentin prison were feelin’
• The confirmed schedule for Central Park SummerStage is out
• Syd Barrett had quite a bit of loot stashed before his death

As always, please let us know if we missed anything below….

Tom Hamilton’s putting his energies into the wrong band. Brothers Past is good at what they do, and I’m sure it’s more lucrative. But I can’t say that BP’s music has ever ensnared me quite like his American Babies side project did at the Knitting Factory last night. Given a proper upbringing, the Babies can grow into Monsters.

Hamilton’s slimmed-down version of American Babies — a powerful quartet featuring brother Jim Hamilton on bass, Sir Joe Russo on drums and Scott Metzger on guitar — expertly showcases his incredible songbook. I don’t mean to trip on over-enthusiasm here, but this show for me catapulted Hamilton onto the list of great young songwriters. His originals strike the perfect lyrical and musical balance between wide commercial appeal and misunderstood critical acclaim.

Capitalistic endeavors will likely lead him to pursue success for his more well-known band, but watching this semi-supergroup made me wish he’d put the Brothers in the Past and concentrate on bringing up the Babies.

• Read on for the rest of the review and more photos of the show
• And click here to check out American Babies on MySpace