Blink-182 did not have to look far to find acts that wanted to join them on their reunion tour.  Bassist Mark Hoppus tells RollingStone.com, quote, "We started talking about bands to tour with and Weezer was actually one of the first ones that came up.  They wanted to do the tour, and so did Fall Out Boy, so it worked out perfectly."  Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz says that Blink-182 was always one of the bands they wanted to meet, and getting to play with them is just a bonus.  The bassist adds, quote, "It's been a great stretch of headlining tours the last few years, but there's something interesting about opening up for bands when you have to rope the audience in."  Dates and venues have yet to be revealed for the tour, but Fall Out Boy will serve as the support act for two-thirds of the trek, while Weezer is the primary support for the other third.
Depeche Mode will remain out of action into next week.  The band has added four more cancellations while singer Dave Gahan recovers from a severe bout of gastroenteritis.  On Tuesday, Gahan was rushed to a hospital in Athens, Greece just hours before the band was supposed to take the stage. The vocalist is now undergoing further tests.  The group hopes to reschedule the affected performances in Bucharest, Sofia, Belgrade, and Zagreb at a later time.  The band is slated to return to the stage May 23rd in Warsaw, Poland.  The North American leg of Depeche Mode's tour will begin July 24th in Toronto.

Mike Shinoda is putting his stamp on another shoe.  The Linkin Park emcee has re-teamed with DC Shoes for the new "Xander," the third product from the DC Remix Series.  Shinoda says after getting such an incredible response to last year's shoe, he wanted to make a "summer version" that would be exciting.  Mike says, quote, "It's new with lighter colors and patterns, but retains the comfort and durability of the last shoe.  I wanted them to be worn every day yet still look and feel great, so I tested them personally."  Shinoda adds, quote, "I wore them while on tour, in countries all around the world and they performed great."  Proceeds from the Xander will go to the Michael K. Shinoda Endowed Scholarship, helping students at the Art Center College of Design in California.

R.E.M. members Peter Buck and Mike Mills are getting an early jump on the band's next album.  The pair is heading to Portland, Oregon to work with Decemberists producer Tucker Martine.  Pitchfork.com reports that the two are recording demos of 14 tracks that may or may not be on their next release.  Producer Jacknife Lee, who helmed their "Accelerate" album, has also made the trip as he will produce the band's upcoming effort as well.  Buck says, quote, "Mike and I write all the time, and I had a bunch of songs we were going over during soundcheck on the last tour.  I just didn't want to forget mine.  Mike had some stuff he wanted to do too."  Buck says singer Michael Stipe hasn't heard any of the material yet and this is their way of getting him excited about the next effort.

Paramore is working through their issues and luckily they have music to help them out.  Singer Hayley Williams tells Spin.com that continued interpersonal issues within the group popped up again while trying to record for the "Twilight" soundtrack, and that led to an idea that sparked their new album.  The vocalist explains, quote, "This record is about our band.  It's about the things we've gone through and the times we've hurt each other.  It's like a diary or log of everything we've dealt with to keep this band going."  Hayley states that the songs, quote, "opened up conversations and sort of mended things because we were able to talk."  Hayley says one track, "Ignorance," deals with how she feels judged and singled out.  Another song, "Playing God," talks about a self-absorbed viewpoint, and Williams says it's her reminder to not be hypocritical. 

Pearl Jam's Mike McCready continues to find ways to support those who suffer from bowel diseases.  The guitarist recently lobbied Washington state legislators to pass a bill that would allow those suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases to use employee restrooms.  Washington governor Chris Gregoir signed off on the bill earlier this week.  "The Seattle Times" reports that patrons must show businesses a letter from a doctor or nurse or an identification card in order to gain access to employee restrooms.  McCready suffers from Crohn's disease.

Earlier this week it was reported that Jeff Ament was robbed on April 27th.  The incident occurred outside of an Atlanta recording studio.  Ament lost three-thousand-dollars in cash and four-thousand-32-dollars worth of goods.  He also had to be treated for a laceration on his head.  No arrests have been made.

The Yellow Bird Project is planning its latest philanthropic venture, "The Indie Rock Coloring Book."  Artist and designer Andy J. Miller helped create a number of coloring and activity pages inspired some of today's top indie rock acts.  Rilo Kiley, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Devendra Banhart, Bon Iver, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The New Pornographers, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird, MGMT, The Magic Numbers, and Broken Social Scene are among the acts represented in the book.  Rilo Kiley bassist Pierre de Reeder says in the book's forward, quote, "We, Rilo Kiley, were honored to be asked to be part of this project.  This wonderful coloring book...is a great example of how you can turn your love for music and art into something that can really help." 

All royalties from sales of the book will go to the Yellow Bird Project's future philanthropic and creative efforts.  "The Indie Rock Coloring Book" is scheduled to arrive in September.

Wilco's new disc, "Wilco (The Album)," is streaming online ahead of its June 30th release.  Why so early?  Because the album had already leaked online.  The band sent a message to their e-mail list with a suggestion for fans.  They state, quote, "We have our usual guilt abatement plan for downloaders.  If you have downloaded the record, we suggest you make a donation to one of the band's favorite charities, the Inspiration Corporation, an organization we've supported in the past and who are doing great work in the city of Chicago."  The album stream can be found at wilcoworld.net.

White Lies will not be coming up with anything new anytime soon.  The band is just breaking in America after finding initial success overseas, and singer Harry McVeigh tells The BBC that even though their music has been out for a while in England, there is nothing new imminent.  He explains that when he and bassist Charles Cave, quote, "start writing the very basics of a song we need to be in the comfort of my home.  Unfortunately we are very very busy touring a lot this year.  We're not a band who can write on the road.  In early 2010 I think we'll try and get back into my house and sit at my keyboard and write some new stuff."  The group is finding early success stateside with the title track from their "To Lose My Life" album.