NOISE

Besides the "Stone" in their names and the fact that they're sharing a bill on Saturday, headliners the Rolling Stones and openers Queens of the Stone Age are connected in several ways. A look at the varying degrees of separation.

1. QOTSA frontman Josh Homme has a daughter with Distillers' vocalist Brody Dalle, who was married to Tim Armstrong of Rancid, whose 2003 album Indestructible included the song "Travis Bickle," which was the name of a character in Taxi Driver played by Robert DeNiro, who starred in Casino, which featured the Rolling Stones songs "Can't You Hear Me Knocking," "Sweet Virginia," "Gimme Shelter," "Heart of Stone" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

2. Mick Jagger was married to Jerry Hall, who appeared in Batman with Michael Keaton, who had an uncredited role in Out of Sight with Jennifer Lopez, who starred in The Cell with Vincent D'Onofrio, who acted in The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, which featured five soundtrack contributions from Homme.

3. QOTSA's lineup has at times included Dave Grohl, who drummed in Nirvana, whose Unplugged appearance featured a cover of "The Man Who Sold the World" by David Bowie, who recorded a duet version of Martha & The Vandellas' "Dancing in the Streets" in 1985 with Jagger.

4. The Rolling Stones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 along with Phil Spector, who produced 1980 album End of the Century for the Ramones, who shared numerous CBGB's bills with Blondie, whose hit "Dreaming" was covered by the Smashing Pumpkins, whose second bassist was Melissa Auf Der Maur, whose solo debut was produced by Chris Goss, sometime producer for QOTSA.

5. Ex-QOTSA member Mark Lanegan fronted Screaming Trees, whose song "Nearly Lost You" found its way onto the Singles soundtrack alongside "May This Be Love" by Jimi Hendrix, whose portrait has been painted by Rolling Stones' guitarist Ron Wood.

When: March 4, 8 p.m.
Where: MGM Grand Garden Arena
Price: $131.25-$472.50
Info: 891-7777

"Last night, my musical jihad grew even more hair on its scrotum, because I got to jam onstage, no band, just a couple of Les Pauls and a kid named Joe Bonamassa, a white kid from New York. It was just us onstage, and this little white prick, and this older white prick, continued to pretend we weren't, in fact, white at all. This kid deserves to be in the same class with Stevie Ray Fucking Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck. It was really inspiring. So this kid and I had maybe 40 minutes of exchanges of notes that don't exist, guitar sounds that are brand new, and soul and emotion that can only go back into the glow of the B.B./Albert/Freddy King world."

TV On the Radio


No title

Sometimes music leaks onto the Web long before its commercial release. The Anonymous Downloader gives us a sneak preview: This one doesn't have a confirmed title (Return to Cookie Mountain has popped up online) or release date (sometime in May?), and this version is even rumored to be unmastered.

Well, here's hoping Brooklyn's indie-rock maestros don't fuss with the project too much, because it sounds pretty damn perfect as-is: arty but addictive musically, topped by Tunde Adebimpe's best Peter-Gabriel-with-soul vocal trip yet. One minute TVOTR sounds fuzzy and fast-moving; the next you'd swear Prince had joined them in the studio. And is that David Bowie guesting on "Province"? Seriously, it might be. Can you say "album of the year"?

Dream Theater


Octavarium (3 stars)

On their eighth album, prog-metal kingpins Dream Theater continue to do pretty much what they've always done, writing complex, layered music that's less about songs than grand, epic suites. Thus the 24-minute title track, although there are also two tracks that clock in around five minutes, making them hallmarks of brevity.

Thousand Foot Krutch


The Art of Breaking (1.5 stars)

Don't be frightened by this Toronto band's subtle Christian message. To detect it, you'd need to listen intently, which isn't recommended unless you're searching for an amalgam of the most unoriginal facets of nu-metal and mainstream rock.