ROAD TRIP IDEA...CHECK OUT THE GAGE
OK, I'm not trying to be the Texas Country Reporter or anything but summer's here. So before I get to the usual music news, I wanted to give you an idea for a short road trip. The Gage Hotel in Marathon is one of the coolest places that's right in our backyard. It's an old hotel that's been refurbished and enlarged. It's just up the road from Alpine where you can see live bands like Omar and the Howlers at the Railroad Blues bar. You're also at the front door of Big Bend National Park. The downside is you have to reserve in advance because they do get booked up, especially around holidays. The food is great but a little pricey. Remember though, with this short road trip, compared to going to Dallas or Austin, you're saving money on gas alone. Just one thing: take stuff to do...cards, books, laptop, whatever. They have a pool, gym and spa but that's about it. This is a place to get away from it all. No TVs in the rooms but there is one in the bar, so if you're worried about missing NBA or baseball, you can have a drink and get your sports fix there. Cell service is a little spotty too. I haven't been there in a year or so but at that time, the Internet Cafe down the street offered the only web access to visitors in Marathon. See The Gage online here.


GOO GOO DOLLS ANNOUNCE DATES
The Goo Goo Dolls hit the road this summer to support their latest album Let Love In. Counting Crows will be opening on selected shows, including the Texas dates here:

Thu 09/07/06 The Woodlands, TX C.W. Mitchell Pavillion
Fri 09/08/06 Selma, TX Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre
Sat 09/09/06 Dallas, TX Smirnoff Music Centre


M-C-R CHANGE THEIR SCENE
My Chemical Romance have been in Los Angeles working on their upcoming album for the past few months, but the guys will take a break to get back in the ?scene.? The band will play Street Scene in San Diego on August 5th. No word as to when their next album will be released, but they are working with longtime Green Day producer Rob Cavallo.


GUNS AND SHAKIRA TO ROCK IN RIO ON AOL
Can?t make it to Portugal this weekend? Well, this year for the first time, one of the world?s largest music events ? Rock in Rio ? will air live on AOL Music. The five-day festival featuring Guns N? Roses and Shakira is taking place in Lisbon, Portugal today and tomorrow, as well as June 2nd through the 4th. This year?s Rock in Rio Festival will also feature performances on multiple stages by Jamiroquai, The Darkness and more. Check AOLMusic.com for more details. The webcast begins tomorrow (Saturday, May 27) at 7:15pm.


MORNINGWOOD MAKE YOU TORE OFF YOUR CLOTHES
Morningwood have a strange influence on their fans. Their music tends to encourage people to remove their clothes, so their latest tour is aptly titled the Tore Off Your Clothes Tour. The trek will kick off on June 13th in Fort. Lauderdale, Florida. Los Angeles rock outfit Rock Kills Kid will open for part of the tour. Chantel and the gang will also play David Letterman on June 21st.


ROB ZOMBIE TO HOST SHOW ON TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES
Rob Zombie will host a new weekly program on cable channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM), according to a press release. Titled TCM Underground, the weekly late-night showcase will debut in October with Zombie selecting and introducing a variety of cult, horror and off-the-wall movies. He explained the show's concept to LAUNCH. "It's a cult classic show that I would host and then have guests on to talk about the movies -- people that were in the movies, you know. Showing, you know, things like Satan's Sadists and Faster Pussycat (Kill! Kill!) or Rock And Roll High School or whatever."

• TCM general manager Tom Karsch said that the show "will serve as home to some of the truly visionary cult films that have been made over the past century...We are proud to have a talent like Rob Zombie hosting this showcase."
• Among the movies already slated to air on the program are horror legend George A. Romero's The Crazies, Francis Coppola's directorial debut, Dementia 13, and Bride Of The Monster from the man considered the worst director ever, Ed Wood.
• Zombie has recruited Oscar-nominated actor Paul Giamatti to voice the villain in his next film, an animated feature called The Haunted World of El Superbeasto. The movie is based on a character created by Zombie for his Spookshow International series of horror comics.
• Zombie hits the road this summer for the American Witch Across America Tour. The tour kicks off in Texas with these dates:

Fri 06/30/06 El Paso, TX El Paso County Coliseum
Sat 07/01/06 Lubbock, TX LoneStar Amphitheatre
Sun 07/02/06 Wichita Falls, TX Kay Yeager Coliseum
Wed 07/05/06 McAllen, TX La Villa Real Special Events Center

A.F.I. OFFERING BONUS TRACKS AT iTUNES STORE
A.F.I. will make two bonus tracks exclusively available to fans who pre-order the band's new album, Decemberunderground, through the iTunes online music store. According to punkbands.com, the first song is called "On The Arrow" and may also be included as a secret track on the CD version of the album. The second tune, a cover of Morrissey's "Jack The Ripper," is exclusive to iTunes pre-orders.

• Decemberunderground comes out on June 6th, and will arrive in stores with four different covers to choose from.
• The group will also perform "Miss Murder" at the MTV Movie Awards, which will air on June 8th at 8 p.m. on MTV.

MORE ROCK NEWS UPDATED DAILY...
On the 95X website here.

NEW TO THEATERS MAY 26
There's only one new wide release in theaters this weekend.

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, and Mystique are all back in action in X-Men: The Last Stand, the third big screen installment of the comic book franchise. In this edition, the mutants get into it over a new cure that would make them "normal" and lose their superpowers. Do they want to blend into society and be like everybody else? Or should they be proud their differences? New characters Angel, Beast, Multiple Man, and Beast weigh in on the subject as well as returning X-Men Magneto, Phoenix, Cyclops, Pyro, and Professor Xavier. Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry star.

LATE NIGHT TALK SHOWS for FRIDAY, MAY 25
DAVID LETTERMAN (CBS) - Bill Maher, Rita Wilson
JAY LENO (NBC) - Dana Carvey, 8-year-old dental expert Nicholas Hearon, T.I.
LATE LATE SHOW (CBS) - Jenny McCarthy, Gomez, Jim Short
CONAN O'BRIEN (NBC) - Halle Berry, Peeping Tom
CARSON DALY (NBC) - Chelsea Handler, Harland Williams, Jordan Rubin, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden
JIMMY KIMMEL (ABC) - Dane Cook, Brett Ratner, Tyler Snyder (caught Barry Bonds' 714th home run)

SATURDAY, MAY 27
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - Host Catherine Zeta-Jones; musical guest Franz Ferdinand