NOISE

This is your first time touring with your father's former bandmate Bunny Wailer. What will it mean to you to share a stage with him?

That's very special for me knowing Bunny is someone from way back and knows the roots and the history of the music. He's a legend and he's family for us. He can tell us a lot of the history that we haven't heard before.

You performed in Israel on July 27. Did you consider canceling?

We felt comfortable. We felt like we went there for a divine purpose, so we had divine protection. It was cool. Things were going on, but we didn't have a problem. We made it through and we delivered the message we had, and them love what we do. A lot of bands had cancelled coming to Israel, and we were one of the only bands that made it there, so they appreciated that.

Your new CD [Love Is My Religion] is being sold exclusively at Target. Why did you opt for that arrangement and are you concerned that limiting availability could limit your audience?

Target gave me the better freedom and the better rights than anybody else was willing to offer. And they were gonna sell it at a fair price. When CDs are, a lot of times, $14, even $15, they're selling the CD for $10, and I dig that. I dig that people can afford my music instead of trying to make so much profit. It's only their exclusive until early next year, and then we're gonna redistribute it to everybody. So you better get it while the value is good.

The first batch of artists has been unveiled for the second annual Vegoose festival—coming around Halloween—and rumors of a Phish reunion, a Dead sighting or a Roger Waters Dark Side of the Moon enactment proved unfounded. Still, headliners Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Widespread Panic are sure to draw plenty of music heads to Sam Boyd Stadium and its adjacent fields October 28-29. Here's a rundown of the other 23 confirmed acts, grouped by corresponding Halloween costume:

Ghosts and Goblins Not the most provocative or unexpected, sure, but every party needs a few staples: The Black Crowes, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Galactic, Jurassic 5, G. Love & Special Sauce, Yonder Mountain String Band, Gomez, The Zutons.

Pirates New twists on old themes (now that Johnny Depp made swashbuckling cool again): The Rhythm Devils, featuring Grateful Dead drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart, Phish bassist Mike Gordon and guitarist Steve Kimock; Keller Williams Incident, featuring Keller Williams backed by The String Cheese Incident.

Nigel Tufnels Inspired choices, which could make Vegoose '06 a fest to remember: The Killers (given the local heroes' October album-release date), The Mars Volta, The Raconteurs, Medeski, Martin & Wood, The Roots, Built to Spill, Jim James (of My Morning Jacket), Band of Horses.

Bob Sagets We weren't expecting to see him here, or these acts either: Fiona Apple, Praxis, Dr. Octagon (aka Kool Keith), Jamie Lidell, Guster.

And don't fret if you don't see your outfit of choice. Beck, The Arcade Fire, Talib Kweli, Umphrey's McGee and Sleater-Kinney were all late additions to last year's roster, and Vegoose's late-night lineup—stretching from October 27 through the 31st—also has yet to be revealed.

We pay tribute to the Love frontman, who died August 3 at age 61:

1. "Alone Again Or" (Forever Changes, 1967)

Okay, so Lee didn't write it, but the opening cut on Forever Changes seems the appropriate lead-in to any Love mixtape or playlist.

2. "She Comes in Colors" (Da Capo, 1967)

Who says '60 psychedelia has to sound dated?

3. "Hey Joe" (Love, 1966)

When you're burned out on the Hendrix version, Love's won't disappoint.

4. "Seven & Seven Is" (Da Capo, 1967)

A proto-punk/garage rock nugget if ever there was one.

5. "A House Is Not a Motel" (Forever Changes, 1967)

"By the time that I'm through singing/The bells from the schools of walls will be ringing/More confusions, blood transfusions/The news today will be the movies for tomorrow."

Looking for a few new bands to love ... or 80? Get to know Adjacent to Nothing, Mandy Baby, The Tramlines and dozens of others at Amplify!!, a music conference that will draw acts from around the nation—including plenty from Las Vegas—to a quartet of Downtown stages for what organizer Tim Driver terms a "comp-fest," part competition, part festival. "I love fresh, breaking music. It's always been in my blood," says Production Avenue head Driver, who launched a differently formatted Amplify!! last year before retooling the event for 2006. "I've always had an interest in the space between the garage and the industry."

Participating bands can sit in on discussion panels on such topics as touring and major label A&R before performing showcase sets at either Celebrity, Beauty Bar or one of two Jillian's stages Wednesday and Thursday nights. Up to eight finalists will be selected to play again Friday night at Celebrity, where a winner will receive a grand prize including $5,000 in cash. So-Cal punk-rockers Guttermouth are slated to close out the festivities around 10 p.m.

"We received a great response from the industry last year," says Driver, who hopes to up Amplify!! to 10 stages in 2007. "With what's going on Downtown with all the music venues, it's a no-brainer to have it down there."

Corn, alone among crops, truly rocks pop culture. Sure, wheat claims more music cred—"amber waves of grain," whatever—and barley makes beer possible, while Alfalfa was the best Little Rascal. But give corn its pop-cultural due: Whether you need a field of dreams or screams, it's gotta be corn—I mean, Children of the Oats? Corn is stout and Midwestern, like the best rock; it resists digestion, like the best rock; and vermin feed off of it, growing up to grind out nu-metal noise, like ... Korn!

Celebrity Hand Job (August 11)