“Space Cowboy” Steve Miller on Saturday made a smooth landing at Chateau Ste. Michelle, parking his rock ‘n’ roll mother ship amid a field of high-spirited fans.

Miller, who has lost two band members to cancer (James “Curley” Cooke in May and harmonica virtuoso Norton Buffalo in October 2009), dedicated a song to Buffalo, saying, “I know you’re up there in the big room.” “Let Your Hair Down,” Miller’s latest album, features the last songs recorded by Buffalo, Miller’s “partner in harmony” for more than 30 years.

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Effervescence is Colbie Caillat’s trademark. Ever since the stratospheric debut of her 2007 single, “Bubbly,” the twenty-something, Malibu, Calif., beach girl has identified herself with sunny vibes and romantic optimism.

While it may be easy to dismiss her as a girly-girly lightweight, Caillat (who unsuccessfully auditioned for “American Idol” before finding fame on her own) is a master of tuneful, upbeat pop songs that stick in the head like high school memories.

Longtime fans will love her newly released third album… (more)

It isn’t hard to imagine U2 as the first band to play outer space.

Not after seeing the Irish supergroup’s rocket-powered concert Saturday night, June 4, at Seattle’s Qwest Field. They’ve conquered the world, so why not the moon and stars? They’ve certainly earned enough money from the 360 Degree Tour – the highest-grossing in concert history — to launch an extraterrestrial concert, maybe even a rock-star rapture.

The world’s top touring band could have blasted off just on the fumes it emitted during a more than two-hour set in front of more than 60,000 rabid fans, many of whom waited a year to see the group after it canceled a June 2010 show at Qwest after Bono had injured his back.

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The Nirvana exhibit isn’t flashy, which is a good thing. It feels very personal, reflecting the journey the band made from obscurity in Aberdeen, Wash., to the international stage.

“I really wanted this (exhibit) to be the story of the band Nirvana, not necessarily Kurt Cobain’s story, which gets told all the time,” exhibit curator Jacob McMurray McMurray of the Experience Music Project|Science Fiction Museum said during my private tour of the space before it opened April 16.

“Even though Kurt is a major part of the story, I wanted (the exhibit) to be about the band, but within the context of what was going on in the Northwest. And really what was going on in the U.S. from the early ’80s on.”

Near the entrance to the exhibit is the Mosrite Gospel guitar on which Cobain wrote the songs featured on Nirvana’s explosive major-label 1991 debut album, “Nevermind.” Another guitar, a Univox Hi-Flyer that Cobain demolished on stage in 1988, carries the handwritten slogan, “WASP — We are scary posers,” reflecting Cobain’s irreverent sense of humor.

Among Cobain’s original art pieces is a never-before-exhibited high school painting of two aging, Reagan-era punks dubbed “Punk American Gothic.” (more)

In support of his upcoming solo album, “Ukulele Songs,” Eddie Vedder will launch a short U.S. solo tour in June and July.

Vedder’s tour kicks off June 15 at Performing Arts Center in Providence, R.I., and closes July 15 at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall.

Joining Vedder on the road is musical guest Glen Hansard (The Swell Season, The Frames). Tickets for all shows go on sale April 1.

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Playing the final set of the night as a “wild card” band, Seattle baroque pop group Tomten won the tenth annual Sound Off! competition for underage bands Saturday at the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum.

Voted into the wild-card spot by EMP’s Youth Advisory Board, Tomten stepped to the front of a very talented pack of Northwest bands to claim the top prize. Northern Departure came in second, Fit for Hounds third and The Oh Wells (from Surrey, B.C.) fourth.

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Singer-songwriter Peter Himmelman received his first round of applause on the day he was born.

His mother had chosen to have a natural childbirth without anesthesia, and when her son emerged from the womb, a group of medical students watching the delivery applauded his arrival.

“It’s weird,” Himmelman said in a phone call from his home in Santa Monica, Calif. “You could say I was born to be on stage.”

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Seattle’s Fleet Foxes, which wowed us with its ethereal, self-titled debut album in 2008, will release its second album, “Helplessness Blues,” May 3 on the Sub Pop/Bella Union label.

The release of the 12-song album coincides with the band’s first North American tour since 2009. European dates will follow.

Full blog post here

On its 20th anniversary live album, Pearl Jam is careful to avoid the greatest-hits trap that can fossilize a band’s career, no matter how great the material.

“Live on Ten Legs,” a seamless, 18-track collection of live tracks that sounds as though it was recorded at a single concert, is perfect for the devoted fan and CD hoarder who can’t get enough of the mighty Seattle band’s raucous yet reflective brand of rock ‘n’ roll.

Read the full review.

The immensely popular Bob Rivers Show will return to the Seattle morning airwaves on Oldies 95.7 FM, beginning April 1, according to Clear Channel Radio Seattle.

“I’m ecstatic at the opportunity help make the legendary KJR Oldies 95.7 FM number one in Seattle and to be a part of Clear Channel Seattle’s local and digital future,” Rivers said in a statement.

“There are very few morning shows that would be considered legendary in their market, and certainly Bob Rivers is one of them,” said Jon Zellner, senior vice president of programming at Clear Channel Radio.

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