I guess I could have made the following post into several little blogs, but sometimes the “monster” blog is more my speed:

Weather-wise it’s been an up-and-down week in NYC. Cold, warm, cold, rainy. I want my sunshine, damn it! Don’t know why I’m talking about the weather, I guess I looked outside, saw dreariness, and needed to vent. Anyhow, let’s talk about the week that was…

(left: Built To Spill made a special announcement this week, see below.)

Started off my week by finally seeing Ironman. Not that the film needs any more favorable press, but I gotta say, it was $10 well spent. I’m almost embarrassed to say it, but the love story between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts almost choked me up. There–I said it.

There was a little release date swapping this week. Weezer has pushed up the release of the Red Album from June 24 to June 3, while The Futureheads have pushed back the release of their new album, from May 27 to June 3. Weezer will also have two cover songs on the UK version of the release, The Band’s “The Weight,” and Talk Talk’s “Life Is What You Make It.” Supposedly they will have four bonus songs on the deluxe version released here in the states.

In concert happenings this week, a Radiohead show in Bristow, Virginia caused some controversy when a storm flooded access roads to the Nissan Pavilion. Could you imagine having tickets to see the elusive Radiohead, and then not being able to get to the show cause the roads were closed? Argh. Not that it helped out any, but Thom Yorke dedicated “Fake Plastic Trees” to the people stuck in water. Maybe he should have played them “No Surprises” instead.

(above: Thom Yorke successfully navigating his way through water, something some Radiohead fans weren’t able to do this week.)

Built To Spill announced that they will be playing their Perfect From Now On album live in New York City on September 25 and 26. Our buddy Jenn Burland is pumped for this one–shooting out an e-mail as soon as she found out. Opening up on those nights? Dinosaur Jr. and Meat Puppets. Not a bad night of music, huh?

Hot Chip announced that they’ll be doing a North American tour this fall, which is good news for everyone who couldn’t get into their sold-out tour earlier this spring (me being one of those people).

The Offspring announced this week that they will be re-issuing deluxe versions of their albums, Ignition and Smash–the latter coming with a 24-page booklet. This will all happen on June 17, the same day their new album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, comes out.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Ozzfest, one of the last packaged-concert tours in the U.S. announced that it will just be staging a one-day festival this year, on August 9. Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne will headline the event, which will also include an all-star tribute to the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott. Help me out on this one, but is the Warped Tour the last standing packaged-concert-tour of the summer?

If you’re near Columbus, Ohio this weekend, you can catch Rock on the Range (Stone Temple Pilots, Kid Rock, Serj Tankian). If you miss this festival, fear not, it seems like there’s one every weekend this year. (I believe the official tally is over 80 major festivals in the U.S. this summer.)

Video pick of the week:
The Raconteurs, “Salute Your Solution”

Have yourselves a great weekend!