• New Guns N’ Roses to Debut on Rock Band 2
• The Who Deliver Big at Rock Honors Show
• Vedder Gushes About the Who at Rock Honors

Top stories from the last three days:

• What’s Next For The Who?
• Wayne Coyne Talks Who Rock Honors Details
• Beatles News: iPod, Big Ticket Auction
• The Vaselines Play First Ever U.S. Show
• The Who Plot Fall Tour
• Wentz Talks New Fall Out Boy Album
• Joe Cocker to Play Israel Peace Fest
• “Guitar Hero” Makers Want to Challenge iTunes

Scroll down for full news stories, commentary and much more in Rock Daily.

Eddie Vedder can still recall the exact date of his first Who concert: June 18, 1980, at the San Diego Sports Arena. By then, Kenney Jones was drumming in the band, and he “was on fire,” Vedder remembers. “These guys changed my whole world. It’s a big part of why I get to do what I do.”

Vedder and Pearl Jam got a chance to repay that favor on Saturday at the VH1 Honors tribute concert to the Who at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, reaching across the generations to perform two songs from the Who’s 1973 concept album Quadrophenia. Following sets by the Foo Fighters (who covered “Young Man Blues” and “Bargain”), Flaming Lips (who performed a Tommy medley that included “Pinball Wizard” and “Sparks” and Wayne Coyne’s signature bubble) as well as from Incubus (”I Can See for Miles” and “I Can’t Explain”) and Tenacious D (”Squeeze Box”), Sean Penn introduced Pearl Jam, who erupted with “The Real Me” and a soaring, emotional reading of “Love, Reign O’er Me,” as a string section swelled with Vedder’s Daltrey-like wail. (more…)

Everything about the Who has always been extra-large: sounds, ideas, personality, explosions. Paying tribute to all that isn’t easy, but the VH1 Rock Honors: The Who concert on Saturday in Los Angeles captured a bit of that legacy in a night of stirring Who songs performed by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Flaming Lips, Incubus, Tenacious D and the veteran band itself, delivering songs with all the power and intelligence fans have come to know.

On a stage painted the Union Jack colors of red, white and blue in UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion, the two-hour concert was split between a rousing show-closing performance by the Who and some painfully brief sets by the night’s younger generation of rockers. The concert (to be broadcast Thursday on VH1) began with a series of taped testimonials from rockers young and old, from Slash, Sting and the Clash’s Mick Jones to Coldplay and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, but then it was quickly on to the live music.

The Foo Fighters stirred up bluesy thrash on “Young Man Blues,” as a bearded Dave Grohl slashed at a blue electric guitar, and guitarist Chris Shiflet was dressed in a Mod suit and tie. (more…)

The New York Times reports that MTV is expected to announce today that a brand new Guns n’ Roses song will make it’s debut via Rock Band 2, the sequel to the hit video game that allows players to contribute their own guitar, bass, drums and vocals to hit rock songs. “Shackler’s Revenge,” a track mentioned in track listings for Chinese Democracy for a decade (though not included with the recently-leaked supposedly finished tracks), will get its world premiere via the game, also suggesting that an autumn release for Chinese Democracy is inevitable. Rock Band 2, developed by Harmonix and distributed by MTV Games, will also feature songs from Rush and AC/DC, and according to a track list leaked last week may also include songs from Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan.

• More Guns n’ Roses at Rock Daily

• This week, we gave Toronto prog gods Rush some long overdue love, first with an interview with the band, then with Rush’s complete album-by-album guide, and closed it all out by dedicating a Rock List in their honor. Now get off our backs, Rush fans.

• We geared up for the Who’s VH1 Rock Honors by talking to Roger Daltrey, who told us what Pearl Jam and the Flaming Lips had in store for the show tomorrow night. Daltrey also talked retirement, but that’s not stopping the band from going on tour this fall. Also, the Lips’ Wayne Coyne weighed in on the Who’s impact.

• Metallica spilled the beans on the many purchasing options for Death Magnetic come September. Not down with the digital option, the physical CD option or the limited edition version? Maybe a coffin box is right for you.

• Live Nation continued their march toward music industry domination by adding one of the most successful bands of the last couple years, Nickelback. The band still owes another two albums to their previous label, so let’s hope — for Live Nation’s sake — that the rest of America doesn’t realize all their songs sound the same by then.

Random Notes took a vacation last week, but it’s back with a vengeance today. Speaking of vengeance, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travis McCoy extracted some on a racist concert goer last week in St. Louis, which ended in his arrest and apologies all around. Joining McCoy was Amy Winehouse (who got back at a Budweiser box) and Gene Simmons (who took a stand against anybody who thought he didn’t know anything about prostutiion. Click below for this and the rest of the last two weeks’ biggest stories in photos.

• Random Notes: Madonna, Jonas Brothers, Kanye West and the Week in Rock

[Photo: Todd Owyoung for RollingStone.com]

Scottish indie-pop band the Vaselines formed in 1986 and existed just long enough to release a handful of much-loved cult EPs and a single album (and become Kurt Cobain’s self-proclaimed favorite band) before splitting. This week the Vaselines played their first-ever string of U.S. shows, and last night at Brooklyn’s beyond-sold-out Southpaw anyone who managed to score a spot caught an absolutely incredible set of the group’s punky folk-pop classics, including the two tunes everyone wanted to hear: “Molly’s Lips” and “Jesus Don’t Want Me For a Sunbeam,” which Nirvana famously covered on MTV Unplugged. But the highlights of the Vaselines’ set were some of the deeper cuts, including a sublime version of the haunting ballad “No Hope,” which features the killer lyric, “My life is such a bore/ I need to drink more.” (more…)

In honor of prog-rockers Rush, this weekend’s Rock List will focus on the finest trios in music history. Whether it’s the combo of guitar-drums-bass or three emcees and a microphone, tell us your favorite trifecta, and on Monday we’ll count the votes and reveal the readers’ list of Best Trios. Before you begin debating if Run DMC counts as a duo or trio in the comments, check out our picks:

• Rush
• Nirvana
• Beastie Boys
• Sleater-Kinney
• Cream

Earlier this week, Rock Daily delivered the sad news that due to dramatic sales dips, the multi-disc box set may be going the way of the dodo. But poster Kang is optimistic about the future of career-spanning collections, as he believes an inevitable release may save the format as we know it:

“I am calling it now….Hall and Oates the boxset is going to break industry records and save the boxset.”

Wayne Coyne’s life was changed back in Oklahoma City in the 1970s, when he attended his first Who concert as a teenager. The Flaming Lips leader can still talk excitedly about that night with his brothers, hearing the music erupt onstage, watching the band explode, worrying if the green lasers just might cut off his fingers.

By 1986, Coyne and the Flaming Lips were performing a raw medley of songs from Tommy. And as part of Saturday’s VH1 Honors tribute concert to the Who at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, the Lips will perform a typically mind-altering take on songs from the Who’s most famous rock opera. Coyne plans to emerge in his epic “space bubble” and begin the Lips’ set with the immortal words: “See me, feel me, touch me, heal me…”

The show, to be broadcast on VH1 on Thursday, July 17, will also include performances by the Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Incubus and Tenacious D (who will play “Squeeze Box”). But this won’t be the first encounter between the Who and the Flaming Lips. In recent years, Coyne and the Lips have occasionally stepped onstage with Pete Townshend at his series of intimate “In the Attic” club shows, performing Who songs and originals with the classic rock icon.

“Their music is really optimistic,” says Coyne. “There is a sense that they believe what they’re saying. When the music is going with it, we all believe it together. And that’s a cool thing.”

Did you get to choose what Who songs you would be doing?
Luckily, they wanted us to do a Tommy medley. We’re like, “Fuck, yeah!” We had done this Tommy medley in 1986. When we think of the Who doing those songs in the Live At Leeds era — doing the most intense freak-out shit — that was the period we like the most. We probably would have done anything they asked us, just because it’s cool to do and to meet Pete Townshend is great.

You did this same medley in 1986?
We were such bad musicians back then. (more…)

The Guitar Hero universe continues to expand as the popular music video game announced they will integrate Line 6 guitar tone technology into the next installment in the popular series, Guitar Hero: World Tour. The Line 6 technology will enable gamers to use amps, cabs and effects while playing the game’s new Music Studio feature, allowing players to compose, record, edit and share their own licks. Among the artist who utilize Line 6 equipment in real life are Radiohead, U2, Nine Inch Nails and Stone Temple Pilots. The Line 6 gear will be available for both the Playstation 3 and XBox 360. To read more about the World Tour, including instrument modifications and possible tracklisting, click here.

Joe Cocker has been recruited to headline a new summer festival in Israel. The three-day Gilboa Coexistence Festival, taking place August 26-28, will promote peace between the Jews and Arabs living in the Gilboa section of the Middle Eastern country. “Many acts will be original musical Arab-Jewish ensembles and bands created especially for the festival in never-before seen lineups,” concert booking agent Hillel Wachs told Billboard.com. 2BVibes, the company staging the festival, also organized last year’s Jerusalem Rocks fest, which featured Black Eyed Peas and Arrested Development. Joe Cocker seems the logical choice to headline Gilboa, because if there’s one thing Jews and Arabs can agree on, it’s that they have no idea what Joe Cocker is saying when he sings; thankfully, they’ll have access to the handy translation in the video above.

Today is a big day for fans of tiny gadgets that do big things, as Apple rolls out the new, speedier iPhone 3G. But perhaps the bigger news is the host of applications available in the new software update. The new toys include a bunch of games, news, sports and organizational tools, but the slate of music-related tools is pretty impressive. Most notable is the iPhone version of Pandora, the customizable Internet radio site that caters stations to your favorite bands. The Pandora app (available free via iTunes) lets users import their already-existing Pandora stations or create fresh ones for their phone. Though it’ll be a burden on our battery, Rock Daily is now excited it can take its Guns n’ Roses station with it wherever it goes.

The greatness doesn’t stop there. (more…)

Though the Beatles‘ music remains unavailable on iTunes, Bloomingdales may play host to the first official meeting of the Fab Four and Steve Jobs’ device. The department store has acquired the rights to Beatles images from Apple Records and will produce a series of T-shirts, jackets and accessories that bear images from posters and album artwork. But the big news is that they will also produce a limited-edition Beatles iPod stocked with every song in the band’s catalog. Only 100 will be made available, so consider it the ultimate rock & roll fetish item when the line launches this holiday season.

In other Beatles news, the iconic drum skin on the front cover of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band went to auction yesterday in London, fetching over $1 million. (more…)