James, the British pop band, will be touring the U.S. again for the first time in two years. Each night the band is planing to feature different set lists.

Singer Tim Booth, speaking form his California home said, expect the unexpected. We will play some of our old stuff, however there will be plenty of new stuff also. Every night we will change the set out. We like keeping things unpredictable and fresh. We have a huge pool of songs every night to choose from.

The new stuff Booth is referring to are songs from “The Morning After the Night Before,” their two CD collection. The set started out as two separate mini albums. The release of “The Night Before” occurred in April in the UK. “The Morning After” will be released this September to stores. On “The Night Before” the strangely uplifting songs of James that deal with mental illness, disaffection and insecurity are featured. “The Morning After” has a more low key feel to it, with dark, sad lyrics.

Further, a band led by Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of Grateful Dead, have another road stint lined up.

The band this time will be playing a series of shows in November in the Midwest before wrapping up with two gigs at Madison Square Garden in New York. Further is comprised of Jeff Chementi of RatDog on keyboards, John Kadlecic from Dark Star Orchestra on guitar, Joe Russo of the Benevento-Russo Duo on drums and backup singers Jeff Pehrson of Box Set and Sunshine Becker of SoVoSo.

Although officially Fox is saying “no comment,” an inside music source has confirmed that the flamboyant singer from Aerosmith late last week finalized negotiations and officially is signed to be one of the judges on “American Idol’s” 10th season. Wow now there is someone whose makeup is wackier than Paula Abdul’s.

Then there’s the other glitzy woman rumored for a judge’s position.

The diva demands of Jennifer Lopez haven’t put her totally from the running for a spot on the judge’s panel. However, supposedly she is asking more than $20 million in addition to her own styling, makeup and hair team as well as a dressing room compound. This doesn’t exactly align with what Fox was thinking. Particularly since thy are still talking with other big celebrity names.

X Japan, the Japanese rock icons who have sold the 55,000 seat venue Tokyo Dome out a record setting 18 times, will be taking their act to the road for a North American outing.

The band has sold over 30 million DVDs and albums in Japan. They will be making their US debut on August 8 at Lollapalooza’s main stage.

The sound of the group ranges over the map, from speed metal to dramatic ballads, often during the same song.

Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer will be touring the US this fall for a month’s worth of arena shows for the Jagermeister Music Tour’s 17th edition.

The three metal bands, who performed together for the first time during the “Clash of the Titans Tour” of 1991, will be kicking off their fall trek with a show in Dallas on September 24. Twenty shows have been confirmed for the month long trek, including visits to New Orleans on September 28, Orlando on October 2, Salt Lake City on October 19, and in Las Vegas Vegas on October 20. The tour will wrap up with a show in Universal City, CA on October 21.

According to the website for the event, ticket prices start at $10 and will be available during the coming weeks from Ticketmaster. Fans, in the meantime, can register for a chance at winning backstage passes and VIP tickets at the tour website.

This fall Aimee Mann, along will her band, will be touring across the US as she treats fans to new songs she wrote for her forthcoming musical debut.

The outing will be kicked off by Mann, along with Jamie Edwards and Paul Bryan, with a run of three nights in Minneapolis from September 13-15. The tour’s roster includes another 12 cities, including two nights in Chicago on September 18-19, and three nights in San Francisco on October 7-9.

Tickets can be purchased for the fall tour from the website of Mann’s.

Mann will be performing songs from her seven albums, in addition to new songs she wrote for her upcoming musical debut which is based on “The Forgotten Arm,” her 2005 collection.

In September Neil Young, the rock legend, will be heading for the Gulf Coast to perform four benefit shows which aim at helping fight hunger. The region is still trying to recover from the recent tragic oil spill.

Tyson Foods, in conjunction with these concerts, will be donating 100,000 pounds worth of chicken products for the area’s needy. Young is asking that concert attendees bring food items that are non-perishable to the shows. Bay Area Food Bank will be distributing donated items to communities that have been hard hit in Mississippi, Florida and Alabama.

Neil Young limited edition shirts are being made available at Gulf Coast shows exclusively. All the proceeds will go towards relief efforts.

Paul O’Neill and the rest of the New York-based prog-rock symphonic metal musicians Trans-Siberian Orchestra will be going against the cold months of November and December for a never-before-seen TSO tour scheme this winter. The band will be performing in two different cities in one date. To do that, they decided to split into two smaller TSO groups and perform in more cities despite the intense cold weather ahead. The tour will have two kick-off points then, one in Council Bluffs, IA and another in Youngstown, OH on November 3.

This year’s lineup for the benefit show Farm Aid, which will include mainstays Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson, recently got much bigger.

Organizers announced today that Band of Horses, Jeff Tweedy, Jason Mraz, Norah Jones and Kenny Chesney have been added for this year’s concert. The 35th anniversary show for the benefit is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, WI at Miller Park on October 2.

On Saturday August 14 tickets will be going on sale at tickets.com. Advanced tickets can be ordered by Farm Aid members. More information is posted on Farm Aid’s website.

The Allman Brothers missed a rare gig alongside Eric Clapton in June’s Crossroads Guitar Festival due to band vocalist and organist Gregg Allman’s liver transplant operation which took place also on the same month. Allman had a history of Hepatitis C which necessitated the operation.