Man, Boyz II Men were rightit is hard to say goodbye. But say it we must. After two spectacular trailblazing years (shut up, we’re having a moment), Days of Our Nights must bid you all a fond farewell (look for DOON’s redebut in the June 18 issue). We will miss so muchthe cease-and- desist orders from Björk‘s management (and she was pregnant, dammit), the nasty voice mails from Jack White, the letters of love and encouragement from our readers (one of which poetically compared us to a delightful part of the female anatomy that rhymes with “punt,” and preceded it with an adjective that rhymes with, um, “retarded”). But most of all, we will miss the countless Monday mornings we spent at our desk churning out mean- spirited conjecture, wild allegations, and even, occasionally, confirmed facts for your reading pleasure. It has honestly been our favorite part of an already fairly awesome job, and we’ll miss it more than you know. In the meantime, we would like to extend a special thanks to our DOON all-star bread and butter: Ryan Adams, Jack and Meg, Courtney Love, Winona Ryderthis one’s for you, kids. . . . Oppressively muggy weather, half-naked fleshy people, and $8 beers: Ah, yes, the summer festival season has begun! We kicked it off with Sasquatch last Saturday at the Gorge Amphitheatre, and for all our mosquito- slapping, crowd-hating, price-whining bitch-on-wheelsiness, we quite enjoyed ourselves. The side stage featured such enjoyably diverse acts as My Morning Jacket, the Thermals, and Joseph Arthur, and the mainstage jumping-jacked all over the map with the souled-out locals Maktub, the always awesome Neko Case (oh, how we love “Deep Red Bells”), local-boys-made-good Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse (the latter excellent with new drummer), a thoroughly icky Liz Phair (is it just us, or should a

thirtysomething mom not be singing songs about “White Hot Cum”?), and the beloved-by-white-people- everywhere hip-hoppers Jurassic 5. But it all transcended itself with the joyful derangement of the Flaming Lips, whose already ridiculously fun show was, as usual, enhanced by the appearance of furry-animal-suited dancersin this case, several ecstatic employees of Sub Pop and both Chris and Nick of Death Cab, shaking their giraffe and bunny rabbit cabooses like there was no tomorrow. Coldplay‘s presence as headliners also brought out celebrity girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow (still dating singer Chris Martin), who stood next to DOON backstage long enough for us to determine that famous people do indeed smell better than the rest of us . . . . We’d hate to have our final column be all-star free, so here you go: It seems one Mr. Jack White had quite the ugly run-in with his label last week. Originally invited by Virgin to do a show at 35,000 feet on one of the company’s commercial jumbo jets, the Stripes enthusiastically agreed, thinking they’d make it into a crazy party, flying between Detroit and New York with clowns, jugglers, and Jack Black as master of ceremonies. Turns out, thoughaccording to Jack White himself, speaking on the band’s Web sitethat the cost of the flight would be in the $3 million to $5 million range, with fuel alone setting them back $500,000, and that would require some sponsorship; “sponsorship,” in turn, would be a kind euphemism for “shameless corporate whoring.” Overwhelmed by mounting technical difficulties and ballooning prices, the poor beleaguered Stripes eventually decided to back out of the event, only to find themselves already featured in a Virgin-made TV commercial and point-of-purchase ads for Virgin cell phones. Jack was understandably upset (or, as he puts it, “WHEN DID WE EVER SIGN A FUCKING CONTRACT WITH YOU PIGS?”), and

subsequently pleaded with his fans, “Maybe after reading this you’ll understand that when you see things on t.v. or the radio or in magazines with your favorite band, how much horrible corporate crap is involved behind the scenes. all of which i could care less about, i write songs, and i want to perform them for people, and that’s pretty much it, i didn’t get into music to be a corporate puppet, or to be a damn salesman so some CEO can buy another summer house.” You tell ’em, Jackie. . . Speaking of the White Stripes, we’ve heard it off and on for months, but the appearance of Nicole Kidman and former Tribe Called Quest leader Q-Tip together at a recent WS show in N.Y.C. confirms it: The actress and the rapper are officially the New Weird Couple. They’ve been spotted frequently at fancy restaurants, but going to rock shows (though surprisingly, considering her date, not hip-hop) seems to be Nicole’s new thingshe also left a crushed-out member of the Walkmen speechless when she showed up at the band’s recent London gig. . . . Following hot in the bootsteps of Kelly and Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam have left their label, Epic. It’s the end of an 11-year-plus relationship that began with the release of 10 in 1992 and continued through the controversial (at least from a corporate business point of view) “Ticketmaster is the devil, and we sure don’t want to make any videos” years that followed. According to a band spokesperson, PJ members are actually happy to be beholden to no one for a while and are in no rush to re-sign. In the meantime, they’ll put out a rarities album sometime in August and continue a national tour. . . . Buddyhead, our most favorite snarky Web site/gossip pit/record label, is set to release Gimme Skelter: A Buddyhead Compilation in September, featuring new, exclusive tracks from the likes of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mudhoney, and Le Tigre, plus

live cuts from Wire and Primal Scream and songs from Buddyhead label acts Icarus Line and Your Enemies Friends, plus an unreleased Weezer B-side from the Pinkerton era. For good measure, the album will also include spoken-word interludes by Iggy Pop (very nice) and rosy-cheeked MTV news puppet Gideon Yago (very bleh). . . . And that, DOONbuggies, is that. Thank you for reading (or lining your kitty litter box) with us these past two years. Have a great summer, stay rad, don’t change. You are 2 good 2 B 4-gotten.

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