'ROCK BAND: GREEN DAY' GETS RELEASE DATE, TRAILER

June 8th has been set as the release date for Rock Band: Green Day, the latest version of the music-based video game franchise. According to Joystiq.com, the game will feature 47 songs from the punk trio, including "Brain Stew," "Jaded," "Hitchin' A Ride," "American Idiot," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and others. The game will let players unlock collectible images and 40 minutes of "rare and unreleased" interview, outtake and performance footage as they progress.

This will be just the second single-act game in the Rock Band series, following the previously released Rock Band: The Beatles.

The game, which will be available for Xbox 360, PlayStation2 and Wii, will also allow players to export songs to the other Rock Band games for a $9.99 fee, including the upcoming Rock Band 3.

Rock Band's chief competitor, Guitar Hero, has published single-act games starring Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen.

BRET MICHAELS HINTS HE GETS FIRED EARLY ON 'CELEBRITY APPRENTICE'

Bret Michaels hinted that he'll be one of the first to hear Donald Trump's signature phrase when Celebrity Apprentice kicks off on Sunday (March 14th). When asked how it was possible that he doesn't know who wins the series, Michaels told us, "Well if you're not there you don't know. Let me just say this, if you want to see me on the show, tune in early."

He added that doing the show came with many challenges -- not the least of which was finding bandanas to match the show's professional attire. He admitted, "To find a tux, and a tux bandana, I mean, that's a hard gig."

AUDIO: BRET MICHAELS ON HIS CELEBRITY APPRENTICE FATE
AUDIO: BRET MICHAELS ON TUX BANDANA

FANS RIOT AT METALLICA GIG IN COLOMBIA

Violence and chaos broke out around Simon Bolivar Park in Bogota, Colombia on Wednesday night (March 10th) as hundreds of fans tried to crash Metallica's first concert in the South American country in 11 years. According to Colombia Reports, three people were stabbed, a policeman injured, and more than 50 people were arrested, while property was vandalized and destroyed.

A local radio report claimed that there were posts on Facebook before the show urging fans to crash the gig.

Heavy security blanketed the show itself, including 1,500 police officers, four tanks and several police trucks. Estimates of the paid crowd at the show varied between 20,000 and 70,000.

120 people were arrested when rioting broke out outside a Metallica concert in Santiago, Chile in January. Most of the arrests were made when hundreds of fans who did not have tickets attempted to force their way into the concert.

SLASH ON AXL ROSE: 'YOU HAVE TO . . . UNDERSTAND HIM AS A HUMAN BEING'

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash offered his thoughts on his ex-bandmate, Guns singer Axl Rose, during an interview on Thursday morning (March 11th) at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Ontario as part of Canadian Music Week. According to the Toronto Sun, Slash was more complimentary toward Rose that he's been in the past during the interview, despite Rose lashing out at Slash as recently as last year in several online chats and interviews.

Slash said about Rose, "You have to attempt to understand him as a human being and where he's coming from. I see things very black and white. That's just me. And that doesn't necessarily mean that that's right. And he sees things in a very colorful kind of way, and I can't really knock it, 'cause that's just him. So I try not to sit there and say derogatory things about his personality, because it's his personality that makes him so f***ing great, and just difficult to deal with."

Slash left Guns N' Roses in 1996 and told us a while back why he finally found it too difficult to work with Rose: "Something with Axl was very insecure and it just kept the band from sort of functioning properly. Although he was wanting to do things, I never to this day really understand exactly what he was getting at, and because it took so long to ever get anything done, I always attribute it to some sort of fear factor."

Slash also spoke in the interview about being sober for only three-and-a-half years despite having two sons aged five and seven. He said, "When Perla (Slash's wife) announced that she was pregnant, I was loaded on Oxycontin going to an Aerosmith gig, and I was out-of-my-mind high that night. And I was like, 'Okay, so now it's time to start taking care of this issue,' but I thought I could juggle it, which I did up until about three-and-a-half years ago."

He also spoke about the late Michael Jackson, for whom Slash laid down some guitar parts on the album Dangerous. Slash said, "When all that stuff happened in 2001 or whenever it was, he got all of those (accusations) and stuff, the one thing that Michael really wanted, and the one thing that made him happy, was he wanted everybody to like him. And so all of the sudden he was completely ostracized, pretty much by North America, for all these accusations (even) though he was acquitted, and it sort of just killed him."

Slash releases his self-titled solo album on April 6th.

AUDIO: SLASH ON AXL CAUSING GUNS N' ROSES DYSFUNCTION

BILLY CORGAN SAYS JOHN MAYER SHOULD KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has slammed John Mayer for his recent comments about his past relationship with Jessica Simpson, in which Mayer called Simpson "sexual napalm" among other things. In his new interview with Rolling Stone, Corgan -- who has been romantically linked with Simpson in recent months -- says, "I think for any person who has celebrity to sort of drop rocks at somebody else's feet like that -- there's things you should really just keep your mouths shut on. There's things that should just be left alone."

Corgan added that he thinks Mayer is trying to "destroy his (Mayer's) career," explaining, "Rather than take a year off or change his musical direction . . . some part of it is irritating his soul to the point where he's trying to blow it up." Corgan also said, "Certainly a talented guy, but . . . it's hard to watch someone literally burn their career to the ground -- speaking as somebody who's done it."

Corgan has admitted to having a "close" relationship with Simpson, but has declined to get more specific.

Mayer has faced a barrage of criticism for his comments about Simpson, African-American women and his other sexual hijinks, which were all made in an interview with Playboy.

FOO FIGHTERS BASSIST RECORDING WITH OLD BAND

Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel's former band, Sunny Day Real Estate, plans to record its first new album with its original lineup in 15 years, according to Billboard.com. The news was reported on Twitter by a Seattle radio DJ and confirmed as accurate, although no dates have been set for when the band will enter the studio or eventually release the record.

This version of Sunny Day Real Estate reunited last fall for their first live shows since 1994 and Mendel told us why he felt like it was time to play with the group again: "I've always loved those two Sunny Day records that I've played on, and I'm just really proud of them and I like the other musicians in the band. I like playing with them, I think they're very talented and fun and interesting guys. So I wanted to just get together and just kind of re-live the whole experience."

Sunny Day Real Estate also consists of Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner and William Goldsmith.

The original lineup made two records, 1994's Diary and a 1995 untitled effort commonly known as "the pink album," that have been described as hugely influential on the emo music scene of the last decade.

Mendel did not play on 1997's How It Feels To Be Something On or 2000's The Rising Tide because of his obligations to Foo Fighters. He did regroup with Enigk and Goldsmith in 2003 as The Fire Theft for one self-titled disc.

Sunny Day Real Estate will appear at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California on April 18th.

AUDIO: FOO FIGHTERS' NATE MENDEL ON PLAYING WITH OLD BAND

KINGS OF LEON GET THEIR OWN iPHONE APP GAME

Kings Of Leon has teamed with game maker Tapulous to create a new Tap Tap Revenge iPhone game app based around the band's music, according to Billboard.com. "Kings Of Leon Revenge" will feature playable versions of 10 of the band's biggest hits, including "Use Somebody," "Notion" and "Sex on Fire." The game will also allow fans to battle each other head to head via a Bluetooth-enabled "Battles Mode," while a premium edition will also come with a private Kings of Leon chatroom.

The game sells for $4.99 and is available from the iPhone and iPod Touch app store.

Kings Of Leon are currently on a break after touring for over a year behind their 2008 album, Only By The Night, which was the first effort from the group to sell more than a million copies in the U.S. The band also won three Grammy Awards last month.

The quartet's only scheduled 2010 concert appearance so far is a headlining slot at Tennessee's Bonnaroo Music Festival in June. The Kings are expected to start recording a new album sometime this year.

PARAMORE HEADLINING HONDA CIVIC TOUR

Paramore has been tapped to headline the 2010 Honda Civic Tour, which kicks off on July 23rd in Raleigh, North Carolina and is slated to visit 31 cities in the U.S. as well as one Canadian market. Complete dates and venues will be announced soon. Joining Paramore as direct support on the trek will be pop-rock act Tegan & Sara, with more opening acts yet to be confirmed.

A ticket pre-sale for members of Paramore's fan club will begin on March 22nd, with advance tickets also available on the 23rd through the tour website. General public tickets go on sale March 27th at 10:00 a.m.

Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams said in a statement, "We're so stoked to be a part of the 2010 Honda Civic tour. It's a big deal to have our name at the top of that bill. Not only does Honda bring great bands and their fans together every year to rock, but they're really carrying the banner and helping to make concerts environmentally friendly."

Honda is partnering again this year with the Reverb company to make the tour "green," using innovations at each site to reduce the trek's environmental impact and create awareness of environmental issues. A portion of every ticket purchased will be donated into an eco-fund designated for sustainability efforts.

As previous headliners have done, Paramore has customized and autographed its own one-of-a-kind Honda Civic Si Coupe, which will travel on the 2010 tour and be given away to one concert attendee at the end of the trek.

Paramore is touring behind its gold-certified third album, brand new eyes, and will kick off a spring U.S. trek on April 26th in Knoxville, Tennessee.

PEARL JAM UNVEILS SPRING U.S. TOUR

Pearl Jam has announced a short run of U.S. tour dates for May, shortly before heading off to Europe the following month. According to Billboard.com, the trek will begin on May 1st at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and wrap up on the 20th and 21st of that month with a two-night stand at New York's Madison Square Garden. Fan club ticket sales begin on March 15th at the band's website, with general ticket sales for the public starting on the 19th and 20th.

Guitarist Mike McCready explained in a teleconference with reporters a while back why he thinks the group remains one of rock's most consistent live acts: "The sure-fire thing is just a confidence in our band, and I know that we've done that before and we'll do it again, because we are a really good, tight live band. And a lot of that is non-spoken because we've played together for so long. It's an interesting thing. I don't know if there's a sure-fire way of doing it, but I think we hit it pretty well most times we do it."

Pearl Jam is touring behind its ninth studio album, Backspacer, which came out last September.

The band will be the musical guest on this weekend's (March 13th) edition of Saturday Night Live.

Newly announced Pearl Jam tour dates:
May 1 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz Festival
May 3 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center
May 4 - St. Louis, MO - Scottrade Center
May 6 - Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
May 7 - Noblesville, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center
May 9 - Cleveland, OH - Quicken Loans Arena
May 10 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
May 13 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
May 15 - Hartford, CT - XL Center
May 17 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
May 18 - TBA
May 20 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
May 21 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden

AUDIO: MIKE MCCREADY ON PEARL JAM'S CONSISTENCY AS A LIVE BAND

STROKES CONFIRM LOLLAPALOOZA APPEARANCE

Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas confirmed to the Chicago Tribune that the band will be part of the Lollapalooza lineup this summer. The Strokes are the first of the rumored headliners to confirm their appearance. Other acts slated to lead the three-day festival's lineup include Green Day, a reunited Soundgarden, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire and, according to a new report from Time Out Chicago, Phoenix.

The complete Lollapalooza lineup is expected to be unveiled in April.

Casablancas also confirmed that the Strokes' fourth album and first in more than four years will arrive in September. Casablancas said about the disc, "I've written a lot of melodies for it, but the other guys have also contributed a lot more . . . It's way more collaborative. So it'll have a different feel than our other albums."

The band is still working on the album in New York. It will follow up 2006's First Impressions Of Earth.