We Are Scientists are gearing up for North American tour. The jaunt, in support of their second album ‘Brain Thrust Mastery‘, will kick off at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles on July 1 and will include dates in Pomona, Seattle, Toronto, New York and Chicago before wrapping up in Newport, KY on August 10.

A huge collection of music memorabilia once belonging to artists such as Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Madonna is set to be auctioned off later this month in New York. The special auction will be to support Music Rising, a charity co-founded by U2 guitarist The Edge, which will raise money for the Central Gulf region of the US after immense damage caused by hurricanes. Items set to be auctioned off as part of the ‘Icons Of Music‘ auction, include hats once worn by Elvis Presley and Bono, Jimi Hendrix’ personal guitar straps and a wooden spoon signed by John and Yoko Ono. The auction will take place at the Hard Rock Café in Times Square, New York on May 31. Bidders may also go to Juliens Auctions for alternative bidding options.

There has been much talk about the three band songs from Be Your Own Pet’s new album that were removed from the U.S. release. The tracks, ‘Blow Yr Mind’, ‘Black Hole’ and ‘Becky’, were included on the oversees release of ‘Get Awkward‘ however the band’s record label Universal deemed the lyrical content of the tracks as too violent and removed them from the US version of the album. However, U.S. fans will now get the chance to hear the songs when XL recordings releases them on a mini-EP entitled ‘Get Damaged’ on June 3 digitally and June 23 physically.

To celebrate their 20th anniversary the Smashing Pumpkins have announced a set of special shows. On a post on the bands site, the group said: “To celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary, Smashing Pumpkins will be playing select US cities in August and September of 2008.

“No dates or cities have been announced but expect the band to revisit a few specific places that were missed during the last US tour.”

Smashing Pumpkins reunited in 2006.

The Hydro Connect festival has added to the line-up. The three-day festival, which takes place near Argyll, Scotland on August 29-31, will now include performances by Black Lips, Stephen Malkmus And The Jicks, and Joan As Police Woman. The added artist join the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Kasabian and Bloc Party who are all set to take part in the festival this year.

Sea Wolf kicked off their North American tour last night with a performance at The Bluebird in St. Louis, MO. They will continue their tour tonight with a show in Nashville, TN followed by performances in several major cities including New York, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego where they will bring things to a close on June 20.

The Jealous Girlfriends are opening for the band on all dates.

The Kills and Spiritualized have been added to this year’s Osheaga Music Festival. The third annual Montreal festival, which will be headlined by The Killers and Jack Johnson, is set to take place Sunday and Monday, August 3rd and 4th. Other acts on the bill include Cat Power, The Go! Team, Louis XIV, MGMT, and Iggy and the Stooges.

Details of the forthcoming free Coldplay show in Barcelona have been revealed. The Spanish city, in which the band recorded part of their forthcoming new album, ‘Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends‘, will see the band play a free gig on June 17 at the Espacio Movistar venue.  Details of how to apply for tickets are available on Coldplay.com. The band is also set to play a free show at London’s Brixton Academy on June 16 and New York’s Madison Square Garden on June 23.

‘Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends‘ is set to hit the shops on June 12 in the UK and June 17 in the US.

Death Cab For Cutie are celebrating their first ever number one album. The band has scored the Number One album on the Billboard chart with the release of ‘Narrow Stairs’. The record, which was the follow-up to 2005’s ‘Plans‘, sold over 144,000 copies in its first week of release. Death Cab For Cutie are currently in the midst of a North American tour in support of ‘Narrow Stairs‘.

The Black Lips who are set to open for The Raconteurs on several North American dates, have announced a show of their own in Brooklyn, NY. The show will take place on June 5 at The Ridgewood Temple in Bushwick and will be an all-ages show with the cover cost of only $10. Previously the band announced another headlining show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ on June 2.

Gnarls Barkley is set to play a secret show at the Fillmore at Irving Plaza on June 8th as part of the MySpace secret show series which has seen 150th such ’secret’ performances by several major artists. Battles has also been confirmed as the opening act for Gnarls Barkley’s show. Gnarls Barkley are currently supporting the release of their album ‘The Odd Couple’ which they released in March.

The initial line-up for this year’s Treasure Island festival in San Francisco has been revealed. Among the artist on the bill for the annual festival are the Raconteurs, Vampire Weekend, Tokyo Police Club and The Kills. The festival, which will take place September 20 and 21 on California’s historic San Francisco Island, will also feature carnival rides and live art installation. Also on the bill for the event are Tegan and Sara, The Dodos, Foals and Fleet Foxes, with more bands expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for the festival will go on sale May 3 at 10am PST. For more information visit Treasureislandfestival.com.

Pete Doherty is a man among men. The singer recently refunded the ticket price for a fan that was denied into Doherty’s solo performance in Scotland on on Wednesday May 21st. Wesley Shearer was denied entry into the venue by security because he had been drinking, fortunately for Shearer, Doherty happened to pull up in a cab near by. Speaking to the Razz, he said: “I saw a cab pull up at the stage door and realized it was Pete arriving for the gig. I shouted his name and he looked round so I told him I couldn’t get into the gig. He shook my hand and when I opened it there was a £20 note in it. It made my night.”

Amy Winehouse will play at this years Glastonbury festival, organizer have confirmed. The singer, which has been the subject of several media reports recently, is set to play a slot on the Pyramid Stage on June 28 which will be directly before Jay-Z’s headlining slot. Speaking to the BBC Newsbeat, festival organizer Emily Eavis said she has complete confidence in Winehouse and knows she will “come and deliver.”

“This is one of the biggest sets of the summer, supporting the most anticipated artist at Glastonbury in the past 38 years.”

“I don’t know how much [speculation about her reliability] is hot air from the press and how much is reality but she is pretty reliable actually. It’s her personal life and no-one really knows the extent of what she’s up to and I don’t think it should be public knowledge.

“We all know she’s a brilliant performer and I think that’s what we should be focusing on.”

The tracklisting for the forthcoming Sonic Youth Starbucks compilation has been revealed. “Hits Are for Squares” which is due out June 10 exclusively in Starbucks stores in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., as well as online, will include the exclusive Sonic Youth track “Slow Revolution“. The limited addition CD will also include Sonic Youth tracks handpicked by such greats as Radiohead, Chloe Sevigny, Dave Eggers, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Beck, Flea, David Cross as well as other famous Sonic Youth fans.

Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and the Flaming Lips are among the artists set to perform in honor of the Who as part of the third annual VH1 Rock Honors. The event will take place on July 12 at L.A.’s Pauley Pavilion and will also include performances by the remaining members of the Who. The press release:

This year’s event will deliver a night of high-voltage tribute performances by the three bands all leading up to the spectacular grand finale performance by The Who as they rock the stage. Additional performers, presenters and special guests will be announced as they are confirmed. As a result of The Who’s revolutionary and era-defining influence on rock music, this will be the first “VH1 Rock Honors” that salutes just one band.

CSS are set to kick off their 2008 tour this Saturday (May 24) with a slot at Gatecrashers Summer Soundsystem festival in Northampton, UK. Their tour, filled with festival slots from the UK to the US, will also include a few non-festival performances including the Troc in Philly with The Go! Team and Matt & Kim on August 7th and the House of Blues in Atlantic City again with Matt & Kim on August 10th. Recently bass player Ira Trevisan departed from the group for personnel reasons and was replaced by CSS drummer Adriano who will be replaced with a session drummer.

Guns N Roses guitarist Slash has been added to the list of performers set for this years first-annual Sunset Strip Music Festival. The three-day event which we previously wrote about, is set to take place June 26-28 at legendary Los Angeles venues including the Roxy, Whisky A-Go-Go, House of Blues, Viper Room, Key Club and the Cat Club along the Strip. Also recently added to the lineup are Everclear, Soul Asylum and Camper Van Beethoven. The new additions join previously announced performers including Hot Hot Heat, Juliette Lewis & The Licks, Louis XIV, The 88, Godhead and B Real of Cypress Hill, the latter of whom will be joined by Slash.  Additional artists are expected to be announced within the next few weeks.

For tickets and additional information, visit SunsetStripMusicFestival.com.

Poor tickets sales weren’t to blame for the recent cancellation of the Wax:On Live festival, instead the economy is at fault. It seems the current economic downturn and credit crunch forced organizers of the festival, which was set to take place May 31 in Leeds, to drop their plans and cancel the event. A statement on Waxonlive.com explained: “The festival fell victim not to poor ticket sales or lack of support and dedication, but to the credit crunch that has the UK in the grip of an economic stranglehold.

As one tour ends another begins and as Xiu Xiu bring their European tour to a close on May 24 they are already gearing up for a US tour only a couple months later. The U.S. tour, which will see the band joined by Carla Bozulich’s Evangelista, Prurient, and Common Eider, King Eider, the new project from former Deerhoof member Rob Fisk, will kick off on August 14 in Los Angeles. Other dates on the extensive US tour will include stops in San Diego, Austin, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco.