There were two keeper lines from U2’s sit-down, all-talk and no-play promotional visit Tuesday to Metro:

    1) “Don’t touch my mike,” was host Shirley Manson’s mantra throughout the one-hour live broadcast. Manson, the former Garbage lead singer-turned-radio host, had personality to burn as she orchestrated questions from an enthused but hardly frantic crowd of invited guests.

    2) “It’s a shame that we’re here and we don’t have guitars,” said the Edge, the skull-capped guitarist.

    You can say that again. Instead of rocking the house, the Irish quartet lounged on leather couches and played DJ for the radio audience. The few hundred invitees inside the venerable rock club were nearly matched in number by the people waiting outside for the band to enter on a rain-soaked evening.

    While the radio audience heard the likes of the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” (chosen by drummer Larry Mullen) and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (one of Bono’s picks), the fans inside asked questions, only one of which could be termed indelicate, regarding the 2005 ticket fiasco that saw dues-paying fan club members edged out by scalpers for prime seats. “We’re convinced we have people in place who won’t let it happen again,” the Edge said. Bono apologized for the “debacle” and said the band’s stadium tour, which arrives in Solider Field on Sept. 12, is designed to ensure that more fans will have access to more tickets, with some of the best seats starting at $30.

Besides that we found out that Mullen is jealous of Arcade Fire for having written a song as good as “Rebellion (Lies),” and that Edge’s tip for any Irishman marrying an American woman is “learn a lot about sports.” Bono toasted Smashing Pumpkins by singing the praises of “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and gave a thumb’s up to Billy Corgan’s testimony in Congress earlier in the day advocating artist royalties for radio airplay: “I like the idea of musicians being in control of their own destiny.”

    It was over in an hour but it seemed like longer. Yes, U2 has a new album out. Yes, they’re touring. And, yes, they should’ve brought their guitars.

    greg@gregkot.com

U2's DJ picks:

Larry Mullen: Ramones "I Wanna Be Sedated" ("We wouldn't be around without the Ramones"); Arcade Fire's "Rebellion (Lies)" ("It gave me incredible hope ... and made me extremely jealous").

The Edge: Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl" ("the first Irish rock 'n' roll star"); the Waterboys' "The Whole of the Moon" ("Three shows changed my life: The Clash in 1978, Bruce Springsteen, and the Waterboys").

Adam Clayton: Airborne Toxic Event's "Sometime Around Midnight" ("I don't like listening to that old stuff"); the Klaxons' "Golden Skans" (the bass lines "gave me inspiration and energy").

Bono: Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" ("Rage is at the heart of every great rock 'n' roll band"); Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" ("It's about King David, the first blues man").

    Two faltering music-business giants butted heads Tuesday in a U.S. House hearing over artist compensation for terrestrial radio airplay. And right in the middle of it was Billy Corgan, the Smashing Pumpkins singer making a rare public appearance in his rock-star-goes-to-Washington suit and tie.

    Under questioning by the House Committee on the Judiciary on Capitol Hill, Corgan spoke out in favor of a bill that would require broadcasters to compensate performers for radio airplay of their songs. Currently, U.S. law stipulates that only publishers (who represent songwriters) must be paid royalties for airplay, unlike most industrialized nations, which require that artists also be compensated when their performances are broadcast.

        The radio industry argues that the 80-year-old practice exists because artists benefit when their music is exposed to the public by radio airplay, which in turn boosts sales of recorded music. But sales of recorded music have declined more than 30 percent in recent years, and artists and record labels are turning to every available revenue stream to compensate for the shortfall.

        Record companies are being “taken … by broadcasters who use our music to build their business,” testified Mitch Bainwol, chairman of the Recording Industry Association of America.

        In years past, record labels paid hundreds of millions of dollars in various forms of payola to play records, so eager were they for airplay. What changed? Among other things, the power of commercial radio has diminished in recent years as a vehicle for exposing new music while various Internet outlets, both sanctioned and unsanctioned, have gained traction with consumers. Yet commercial radio brings in an estimated $16 billion in annual advertising revenue, an inviting target for labels and artists who have seen their income plummet from sales of recorded music.

        Corgan expressed no great love for traditional record companies; his band is currently working without a label. But he said that artists deserve the opportunity to determine how their music will be used and to be compensated for it as they create new business models for themselves.

        “From my perspective, this issue is one of fundamental fairness,” he tesitifed. “These particular performances must have value to the stations or they wouldn't be playing them.”

    Broadcasters asserted that they are already being hammered by the declining economic, and that further pressure from labels and artists to pay royalties would put many out of business, or force them to stop playing music.

    “This bill creates financial disincentives to play music … and significant unintended consequences,” said Steve Newberry of the National Association of Broadcasters. He said radio stations will be even less inclined to play unproven artists and that many listeners will be deprived of local stations that go out of business because they can’t afford to pay royalties.

    Committee members broached the idea of an independent study to determine the economic impact of the legislation, and urged the two sides to negotiate a compromise rather than let Congress impose one.

    “I don’t want to see small minority broadcasters out of business,” said Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.). “They’re good for the community. Otherwise we’re at the mercy of the conglomerates. I’m hopeful you guys can work it out.”

        Bainwol said the record industry would be open to a deal with the broadcasters on royalty rates, but radio lobbyist Newberry flatly declined.

    To which Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.) jokingly remarked: “OK, slit your throat, but don’t do it here.”

    greg@gregkot.com 

    U2 will be in the house Tuesday at Metro, the landmark Clark Street rock club, but promoters say the Irish quartet won’t be bringing their instruments and they won’t be swinging open the doors  to the  public.

    They’ll be doing an hour-long interview with Garbage singer-turned-radio host Shirley Manson, to be broadcast on radio stations nationwide. The audience will consist of a few hundred radio-station contest winners and other invited guests. Security is tight, so promoters are advising anyone without a ticket not to show up at the club.

    The event is designed to promote U2’s latest album, “No Line on the Horizon,” and upcoming tour, which will launch its U.S. leg Sept. 12 at Soldier Field. No ticket sale date has been set for the tour.

    greg@gregkot.com

    Brigid Murphy has been doing the indefinable for 21 years. Her “Milly’s Orchid Show” has become a beloved Chicago institution even if no one can say precisely what it is. Think of it as a glam-cowgirl variety show. Hosted by Murphy in her guise as Milly May Smithy -- she of the long eyelashes, gaudy outfits and preposterous hairdos -- it melds jokes, songs, rodeo hi-jinks, magic acts, jugglers, story-tellers and various crackpots into a feast for lovers of the unconventional. Call it catnip for the easily bored. The show helped launch or nurture the careers of Blue Man Group and David Sedaris, and heavy duty masters of monologue such as Eric Bogosian and David Cale have made guest appearances.

    Now, Murphy is gearing up for perhaps her greatest challenge: "Milly's (Almost) All Kids Revue," a Sunday matinee at the Old Town School of Folk Music.

    “It’ll be a tough audience,” Murphy says with a laugh. “It’s going to be weird doing it at 3 in the afternoon. That could be the biggest adjustment. How much makeup will I need at that hour? And how sparkly can I get? How big a wig can I wear so as not to scare anyone off?”

    Murphy, who has also worked in film, dance and design and played saxophone in Poi Dog Pondering, will no doubt adjust. Each Orchid show has been one-of-a-kind since it started in 1987 at Lounge Ax and grew into a cult phenomenon big enough to bring capacity crowds to Park West.

    She dialed down the frequency of the shows in recent years to concentrate on her teaching career and motherhood.

    But when she and her husband, Marc Grapey, adopted their daughter Lola in 2007, it opened a whole new world of social contacts and show-biz possibilities for Murphy’s ever-active imagination.

    “As a kid, I remember going to ‘Hair’ with my mom, and her covering my eyes during certain scenes,” Murphy says. “It’s a case of thinking that there needs to be more stuff out there like Pixar [movies], where both kids and parents are entertained. Then I did a show in Michigan in a park with a lot of families, and when I rode in on a chicken, I might as well have been Madonna. It was a place where parents could hang out and eat and the kids could run around and dance to the music. Now that we have a kid, I am so appreciative of being able to attend kid-friendly events where I know Lola is going to be happy and we can have a good time, too.”

    The new show will feature a number of young entertainers in a snappy 75-minute presentation that will allow for very little down time. “Nothing lasts more than 10 minutes and I didn’t book anything you have to be really quiet for,” Murphy says.

        Murphy scouts fresh talent for every show, and brings in new faces to complement old favorites. This time she has a child-prodigy pianist dueting with a veteran opera singer, a childrens choir, an all-kids band, a lariat twirler, a circus dog, magic, interpretative dancing and whatever else happens in the moment.

    “Chaos is good,” Murphy says. “I’m counting on improvising. I’m sure I’ll learn something. There is a void I can’t know until I step into it. It’s like before Lola came. A baby? What is that? There’s no way of knowing how it’s going to change your life until it happens, no matter how much we peek over the edge. This show will be like that.”

    greg@gregkot.com

Milly’s (Almost) All Kids Revue: 3 p.m. Sunday at Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N Lincoln Ave., $25, $23 and $21; 773-728-6000.

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U2 is set to announce a Sept. 12 date at Soldier Field in Chicago to open the U.S. leg of its world tour.

“That will be announced Monday,” a spokesman for U2’s Principal Management in Dublin said Friday, confirming a report in Billboard. Tickets will range from $30 to $250, according to the report, and will go on sale later this month.

Following a run of five straight nights on “The Late Show with David Letterman” in New York,  the Irish quartet moves to Chicago next Tuesday for a radio promotion event to hype the tour and its latest album, “No Line on the Horizon,” expected to debut at No.1 on the Billboard chart that day. Does anybody self-promote better than U2? The band won’t be performing next week when it drops into town, but don’t be surprised if you bump into Bono on Clark Street.

Details of the tour as reported by Billboard say it will be an in-the-round affair, with the audience surrounding the band and a cylindrical video screen. U2 will play European stadiums through the summer starting June 30 in Barcelona, then arrive in Chicago for a North American tour that will continue through Oct. 28.

greg@gregkot.com

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    Depeche Mode, the Beastie Boys and a reunited Jane’s Addiction are expected to headline the fifth annual Lollapalooza Aug. 7-9 in Grant Park.   

    Though promoters would not confirm the information Friday, multiple sources inside the industry said the three headliners are a lock for the festival. Three more arena-level headliners are expected to be included when the complete lineup is announced next month.

    Depeche Mode is releasing its 12th album, “Sounds of the Universe,” on April 21. Though it has been a staple of alternative music since the early ‘80s, the British synth-pop band has not previously played Lollapalooza, which ran as a touring festival from 1991 through ’97 in its first incarnation.

    The Beastie Boys are also working on a studio album, tentatively titled “Tadlock’s Glasses,” for release this year. The New York hip-hop trio last played Lollapalooza in 1994. Their previous studio album, “The Mix-Up,” was an all-instrumental collection released in 2007.

    The original Jane’s lineup of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and Eric Avery headlined the first Lollapalooza tour in 1991, only to break up soon after. There have been sporadic reunions since, but none included all four original members until some one-off gigs last year. A national tour was announced a few days ago, but a Chicago date was conspicuously absent.

        greg@gregkot.com

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    The Fleetwood Mac set list Thursday at the packed Allstate Arena was straight out of the ‘70s, but Lindsey Buckingham was very much in the present tense on the quartet’s latest reunion tour.

    The leather-jacketed guitarist played like his graying hair was on fire most of the night, throwing himself into the songs with a gusto that frequently erupted into manic howls and fleet-fingered, shrapnel-tossing solos. Buckingham pulled the 23 creaky songs out of the long-lost “Rumours” era and into the now, with enthusiastic assistance from drummer Mick Fleetwood.

    With the stalwart bassist John McVie at his side, Fleetwood looked like he had just popped out of a Dickens novel, a towering, pony-tailed Fagin in knickers. For all the mugging and preening, he pounded the drums with maniacal glee, blending bluesy firepower with orchestral flair. The inventively propulsive drum parts on songs such as “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way” and “World Turning” colored the arrangements with authority, and matched Buckingham’s passion.

    Stevie Nicks was the only member of this revived version of the band’s classic ‘70s lineup (minus singer-songwriter Christine McVie, who retired from the business years ago) who wasn’t quite up to speed as the show began. Her voice has not only deepened, it has lost much of its flexibility, and her performances of “Gypsy” and “Rhiannon” fell flat. She re-accessorized continually with boots, dresses, shawls, scarves, tambourines and even a top hat as the show progressed over two-plus hours. Halfway through the set, she finally shook off the doldrums and audibly rose to the occasion on “Landslide,” accompanied only by Buckingham’s guitar.

    “I’m getting older, too,” Nicks sang with soaring, if melancholy conviction. By the time she trotted out her solo hit “Stand Back,” she felt frisky enough to revive one of her trademark twirls.

        But it all would’ve been little more than a quaint rehash of a bunch of golden oldies were it not for Buckingham. He started strong, pushing his voice hard on “Monday Morning,” and by the end of the set was finger-picking shrieking, gale-force solos from his instrument, reanimating Peter Green’s early Mac classic “Oh Well” and investing “I’m So Afraid” with scarifying intensity. Wired and still wiry, Buckingham looked like he could’ve raved all night with this rhythm section at his back.

        greg@gregkot.com

        Set list for Thursday at Allstate Arena:

1. Monday Morning
2. The Chain
3. Dreams
4. I Know I’m Not Wrong
5. Gypsy
6. Go Insane
7. Rhiannon
8. Second Hand News
9. Tusk
10. Sara
11. Big Love
12. Landslide
13. Never Going Back Again
14. Storms
15. Say That You Love Me
16. Gold Dust Woman
17. Oh Well
18. I’m So Afraid
19. Stand Back
20. Go Your Own Way

Encore
21. World Turning
22. Don’t Stop

Second encore
23. Silver Springs

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    The reunited Jesus Lizard will play its first hometown show in 11 years July 17 at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Union Park, promoters will announce Friday.

    The noise-rock quartet broke up in 1999, but the original lineup of David Yow, Duane Denison, David Wm. Sims, and Mac McNeilly has announced plans to play a handful of shows this year while their label, Touch & Go, reissues much of their back catalogue.

    The Jesus Lizard will be part of an opening-night festival lineup that also includes Built to Spill, Tortoise and Yo La Tengo. Each of the bands will play a set handpicked by fans. Anyone who buys a ticket starting March 13 will receive an email providing a link to a web page where they can vote on which songs they’d like to hear each band perform. Voting will end June 12.

    Other bands and artists confirmed for the festival include the National, Pharoahe Monch and the Pains of Being Pure at Heart on July 18 and Grizzly Bear, the Walkmen and Vivian Girls on July 19.

    Additional bands for the fourth annual festival will be announced later.

    greg@gregkot.com

Dan Auerbach: The bewhiskered, guitar-playing half of the Black Keys ventures out (but not too far out) from the duo’s raunchy blues template on his recent solo album, “Keep It Hid” (Nonesuch). Keys fans won’t have to take a leap of faith to enjoy this material; it’s more testament to how prolific Auerbach is as a songwriter than an attempt to distance himself from his group’s sound, Friday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $20; etix.com.

… And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Back in indie world after a couple of major-label releases, this ambitious Texas outfit returns with a new album on its own Richter Scale label, “The Century of Self.” It’s epic in scope, with orchestrated crescendos that rival the best arena rock, yet rooted in the frantic immediacy of their  gutter-snipe punk beginnings. Art-punk at its finest, Friday at Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie, $15;  ticketweb.com.

greg@gregkot.com

      Kelly Clarkson had a bit of fun at her own expense in a recent posting on her blog. Critiquing her computer-enhanced image on the cover of her new album, “All I Ever Wanted” (RCA), she wrote, “it’s very colorful and they have definitely photo-shopped the crap out of me but i don’t care haha! whoever she is, she looks great.”

        Now that’s the kind of pop star anyone could root for. She garnered even more go-get-‘em applause in 2007 when the former “American Idol” winner rebelled against her record label boss, Clive Davis, and made a more personal album, “My December,” against King Clive’s express wishes. Sales tanked, but Clarkson at least strongly suggested that she had a personality far more interesting and contradictory than the mainstream assembly line would allow.

    That personality, however, has been checked at the door for “All I Ever Wanted,” out Tuesday. The album is a determined effort to put Clarkson back into everyone’s iPod. It appears already to have succeeded spectacularly: the first single – “My Life Would Suck Without You” – has leaped into the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart and sold more than 290,000 downloads in a week. But that success has not come without cost.

    Of all the “Idol”-manufactured singers, Clarkson has emerged as among the most genuine. She’s got a robust voice and a winning personality, a former Texas waitress who projects an anti-diva sincerity. When last seen, on a theater tour in 2007, Clarkson divided her show into three parts: gothic break-up songs, sleek pop tunes, and stripped-down acoustic ballads. The latter were a revelation. When tackling substantive songs such as Patty Griffin’s “Up to the Mountain” or stripping away the gloss on a voice-and-piano version of “Because of You,” Clarkson sounded like she had more depth than her “Idol” pedigree suggested.

    On “All I Ever Wanted,” however, Clarkson is back to the business of making Clive Davis-approved music. The first clue is the predictable production choices. In the pop arena, for-hire songwriters and producers rule, and the biggest hit-makers tend to get recycled until they collapse from over-exposure.

        Clarkson relies primarily on Howard Benson, producer of modern-rock hits by Papa Roach and Daughtry, and soft-rock guru Ryan Tedder, the One Republic singer-songwriter-producer. She also employs Katy “I Kissed a Girl” Perry and new “American Idol” judge Kara DioGuardi to write songs, and reunites with Max Martin and Dr. Luke, who wrote her 2004 hit “Since U Been Gone.”

        There’s not a single unknown, not a single surprise among this group of established industry pros, and the results are predictably in line with the sounds that have ruled commercial radio the last five years.

        Most of the songs are designed to show off her big voice, and raise the roof with cathartic tears or fists. There’s a throwback to the ‘80s hair-metal era (“Whyyawannabringmedown”), a bunch of extravagant ballads (“Cry,” “Already Gone,” “Impossible,” “Save You”), thumping disco (“If I Can’t Have You”), an arena shouter (“Long Shot”) and even a song that rips off the bass line from Spoon’s moody “I Turn My Camera On” before ruining it with a whiny chorus (“All I Ever Wanted”).

        In this procession of formulas, there’s not a lot of nuance, but pop radio is a diva-eat-diva world these days, and may the biggest chorus win. It’s a hollow buzz, in part because the songs and lyrics are so formulaic, the sounds compressed to make everything sound unnaturally loud.

    Subtlety may be greatly undervalued in today’s quick-fix mainstream market, but it’s an essential ingredient in allowing songs to breathe and personalities to emerge. The shame of it is, Clarkson seems to have a personality worth exploring.

     Yet “All I Ever Wanted” insists on shouting at the listener from start to finish. It allows no room for the down-to-earth voice that Clarkson brings to her blog entries, the plainspoken charm she evinces in her concerts. She deserves better.

            greg@gregkot.com

Rating: 2 stars