NOISE

There can be only one group.

Click here to see which one reigns supreme over the pop realm!

—Was boyfriends with Michael Alig, club-kid turned killer

—Sat in an adult-sized highchair and mock-cried while interviewed by Mixer magazine

—Got into a bottle- and lamp-throwing fight with DJ Stuart and was dragged out of Rokbar with his pants around his ankles.

Where: Ice, 200 E. Harmon Ave.


When: 1 a.m., August 28


Price: $20, local women free, local men $10


Info: 699-5528

In Vegas, we're used to nostalgia acts that resemble classic groups in name only. It's a given that if you go see Starship, Herman's Hermits or the Bangles in the next few months, you won't be getting the band's entire original lineup. At best, you'll see two or three original members, and if you're lucky, they'll be the ones who made the band's music worthwhile in the first place. But others are not so forgiving, so former Doors members Robby Krieger and Ray Manzarek, who've been touring recently with singer Ian Astbury of the Cult as the Doors of the 21st Century, have been ordered by a judge to stop using the word "Doors" in their name, thanks to a lawsuit brought by former Doors drummer John Densmore. Since you can't keep a good cynical cash-in down, the trio will continue to play old Doors tunes on tour, but will now be known as Riders on the Storm. They make their first appearance under the new name in Vegas, appropriately enough.

The Start Time: Even for a city that never sleeps, a 1 a.m. concert is late. Still, the place is packed, a mix of frat-house energy and block-party liveliness.

The Observation: Years after he despaired over hip-hop's devolution into commercialism and a sex-money-murder aesthetic, Common is again love struck, zooming through the hits of contemporaries such as Kanye West and "taking it back" via tunes from hip-hop vets like Pharcyde and A Tribe Called Quest.

Line of the Night No. 1: "I wonder if these rap niggas realize they wack/ And they the reason that my people say they tired of rap."

Line of the Night No. 2: "So many raps about rims/ Surprised niggas ain't become tires."

Just Plain Yuck: One bouncy, hyperactive fan—I'll call him Smoky McJumpy—tossed his Chicago Bears jersey to Common. Which wouldn't have been so bad if he hadn't been sweating puddles and smoking a particularly pungent joint.

Brandi Carlile


Brandi Carlile (3 stars)

The debut from singer-songwriter Carlile is a laid-back collection of acoustic pop, with some of the languid qualities of artists like Jack Johnson and Jason Mraz, but with a greater sense of purpose and tighter songwriting. Songs like "Happy" and "Fall Apart Again" are catchy enough to be radio-friendly, but quirky enough to appeal to fans of the likes of Jeff Buckley.