Rock Band

Viacom Inc., the owner of Paramount Pictures, MTV and Comedy Central, on Thursday posted a 65 percent drop in net income for the latest quarter, as it took a charge related to the "Rock Band" series of video games. Revenue was below analyst estimates, sending its stock down. Viacom earned $212 million, or 38 cents per share, in the October-December quarter, down from $610 million, or $1 per share, a year ago. The New York-based company took a charge of $379 million to cover an arbitration award won by the original shareholders of Harmonix Music Systems Inc., which created...

The cautionary tale of the rock band led astray by the allure of pop stardom is a hoary one, but it's rare to see such a glaring example. For Gossip, success came from the shores of the UK, where the Washington trio, and vocalist Beth Ditto in particular, have become a staple of the rock press. There's little evidence of the band's prior garage-soul identity on this slick production of danceable beats, save for Ditto's rightfully mythologized vocals. Guitarist Nathan Howdeshell, whose spiked darts of riffing gave their early work such energy, seems to have barely plugged in his amp here.

LOS ANGELES — Michael Davis, the bassist of influential late-1960s rock band MC5, has died of liver failure, his wife said Saturday. He was 68. Mr. Davis died at Enloe Medical Center in Chico Friday afternoon after a monthlong hospitalization for liver disease, said Angela Davis. Born on June 5, 1943, the bassist gained attention in the revolutionary Detroit band MC5 and later played in a version of the group called DKT-MC5 with former MC5 members Wayne Kramer on guitar and Dennis Thompson on drums.

Most nights, Congress Street, in the arts district here, is a ridiculous feast of merriment. A free-form food court of food and drink, the neighborhood is a mess of sports bars and dive bars and cocktail bars; of pizza by the slice, Thai street food by the skewer, Southern-style barbecue, Quebecois poutine, and rich ramen all the way until last call. And then there's the music. With full calendars at a dozen different venues, one night it's Snoop Dogg at the State Theater, or Thurston Moore at Space Gallery, or some local hair metal band at Geno's Rock Club.

LOS ANGELES - Jani Lane, the former lead singer of the metal rock band Warrant, died Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 47. Officer Sara Faden, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman, said Mr. Lane's body was found in a Woodland Hills hotel. She had no immediate information on the cause or circumstances of his death. With his long blond hair and tight leather outfits, Mr. Lane embodied the excess of 1980s "hair metal" rock bands. He joined Warrant in 1984 and wrote such hits as "Heaven," "Down Boys," and "Cherry Pie. " He had an on-and-off relationship with the band,...

Most nights, Congress Street, in the arts district here, is a ridiculous feast of merriment. A free-form food court of food and drink, the neighborhood is a mess of sports bars and dive bars and cocktail bars; of pizza by the slice, Thai street food by the skewer, Southern-style barbecue, Quebecois poutine, and rich ramen all the way until last call. And then there's the music. With full calendars at a dozen different venues, one night it's Snoop Dogg at the State Theater, or Thurston Moore at Space Gallery, or some local hair metal band at Geno's Rock Club.

Hours before the rock band Coheed and Cambria was scheduled to perform at the Comcast Center in Mansfield yesterday, police arrested bass player Michael Todd and charged him with robbing a nearby pharmacy of painkillers. The Attleboro Police Department said in a prepared statement that officers responded to a Walgreens Pharmacy about 1 p.m. Sunday after Todd, 30, of Anaheim, Calif., allegedly demanded Oxycontin and threatened pharmacists with a fake bomb. He absconded with six bottles of pain pills, police said.

The guy who gave us "Cold Gin" now wants to give us craft beer. Gene Simmons, the long-tongued rocker who plays bass and sort of sings in the rock band Kiss, is opening a rock-themed restaurant in the Los Angeles area that will replicate the atmosphere of a rock concert and place a big emphasis on craft beer. (And here I thought the two were mutually exclusive.) Rock & Brews  is slated to open April 3 in El Segundo, Calif. An announcement from the restaurant says it "serves rock musicians' favorite foods and highlights an ever-changing,...

WHEN THE ISABELLA Stewart Gardner Museum's new wing opens, it will host the first US museum solo show of the work of Victoria Morton - and perhaps that's only fitting. Morton, a Glasgow-based painter best known for heavily textured three-dimensional images, was an artist-in-residence at the Gardner in 2009 and part of 2010. "I don't think there's anyone out there who works with 3-D quite like she does," says Pieranna Cavalchini, the Gardner's curator of contemporary art. "The fact that she incorporates it into her already multitextured paintings...

The cautionary tale of the rock band led astray by the allure of pop stardom is a hoary one, but it's rare to see such a glaring example. For Gossip, success came from the shores of the UK, where the Washington trio, and vocalist Beth Ditto in particular, have become a staple of the rock press. There's little evidence of the band's prior garage-soul identity on this slick production of danceable beats, save for Ditto's rightfully mythologized vocals. Guitarist Nathan Howdeshell, whose spiked darts of riffing gave their early work such energy, seems to have barely plugged in his amp here.

Backstage with the rock band Train before a performance at San Francisco's hallowed Great American Music Hall may not be quite what you expect from a Grammy-winning, multiplatinum group. What's missing from the dressing room — groupies, bling and that we're-about-to-trash-this-place vibe. What you get instead — a small table set with a few glasses and a bottle of the band's Save Me San Francisco wine which they are making in concert with ACME Wine Movers, a newly formed division of The Wine Group.

A saxophone player who toured with The Killers has been found dead in Las Vegas in an apparent suicide. The Clark County coroner's office confirmed Thursday that 33-year-old Thomas Christian Marth was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound to the head on Monday. He was found in the backyard, though it's unclear whose. A tweet from the band's official Twitter account earlier this week announced Marth's passing, saying the band's prayers are with his family and that "there's a light missing in Las Vegas tonight.

Movie fans have chosen real violence over the slapstick variety as "The Hunger Games" held off "The Three Stooges" to remain the No. 1 weekend movie. "The Hunger Games," the blockbuster about teens competing in a televised fight to the death, stayed on top for a fourth-straight weekend with $21.5 million. Peter and Bobby Farrelly's slapstick update "The Three Stooges" starring Chris Diamantopoulos, Sean Hayes, and Will Sasso, opened in second-place with $17.1 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

When not touring with her partner in harmony, Emily Saliers, in the Indigo Girls, Amy Ray releases righteously punk-inflected solo albums. Ray will play tracks from her latest effort "Lung of Love" on Wednesday at Brighton Music Hall. She checked in from a tour stop via e-mail to tell us the five best things about touring as a solo Girl. 1. "I am a tireless collaborator and I love my band, which is currently all three members from the iconic punk band, the Butchies — Kaia Wilson, Melissa York, and Alison Martlew — plus Jenn Stone, who was last seen playing keys for Ke$ha.

Cambridge-based Harmonix Music Systems on Tuesday unveiled a new video game in its Rock Band series that eliminates the need for simulated musical instruments. The game, Rock Band Blitz, is designed for Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 consoles, and will go on sale this summer. A price for the game was not disclosed. Harmonix invented the popular games Guitar Hero and Rock Band, which let users pretend to be rock stars by operating simulated guitars and drum kits.

WHO  Alice Ripley   WHAT  Ripley's performance as the bipolar Diana Goodman in "Next to Normal" earned her the 2009 Tony Award for best actress in a musical. She has originated numerous roles on Broadway, including conjoined twin Violet Hilton in "Side Show," for which she received a Tony nomination in 1998. Ripley will be honored on Tuesday at a SpeakEasy Stage Company gala along with actress Paula Plum.   WHERE  Renaissance Boston Waterfront Hotel. Tickets are $175; lounge seats for the entertainment portion of the...

Local indie pop crooner Kelly James (above) previewed his new album, "Break Free," with a performance at the W Hotel last week. James had opened for rock band O.A.R. at the Bank of America Pavilion the night before.

The annual Summer Concert Series on the Lynnfield Common is scheduled to begin July 6 with the rock band Evolution, which features local musicians. The popular concerts are held on Wednesday evenings from 6 to 8 through July. In case of rain, the concert will be held the following evening. The series is sponsored by the Lynnfield Public Library. All concerts are free, but donations are welcomed. — David Rattigan

I t all started with Benny Goodman. Growing up in a "loud and obnoxious" musical household - all six of her older siblings played instruments - Jennifer Dashnaw started out wanting to play drums. But then she saw a TV special featuring Goodman with his clarinet, and soon enough she was wailing away on the reed instrument. Today, the 42-year-old master sergeant is a full-time clarinetist, playing hundreds of concerts, parades, and ceremonies each year with the US Air Force Band of Liberty, based at Hanscom Air Force Base.

The guy who gave us "Cold Gin" now wants to give us craft beer. Gene Simmons, the long-tongued rocker who plays bass and sort of sings in the rock band Kiss, is opening a rock-themed restaurant in the Los Angeles area that will replicate the atmosphere of a rock concert and place a big emphasis on craft beer. (And here I thought the two were mutually exclusive.) Rock & Brews  is slated to open April 3 in El Segundo, Calif. An announcement from the restaurant says it "serves rock musicians' favorite foods and highlights an ever-changing, award-winning craft beer selection...