By SCOTT MERVIS, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

THE SWELL SEASON

"Strict Joy" (Anti-)

3 1/2 stars

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the couple we fell for swiftly in the movie "Once," became real-life partners and then, sadly, split up since we last heard from them.

With a psychedelic Chevy bus as a backdrop, Wade Lawrence is trying to talk the shirt off a man's back.

It's not just any shirt. It's an original Woodstock T-shirt, and there were no T-shirts or any other merchandise sold at the legendary festival -- just another way the organizers lost money.

The Jonas Brothers are on the phone and getting a little testy about questions regarding the current tour's jump in ticket prices from $47.50 to $89.50.
Kevin, at 21 the oldest JoBro, is explaining a theater-in-the-round stage concept he helped design that makes the front rows stretch the whole length of the arena.

There were no awards given out for the performances during the Grammy telecast Sunday night, so we thought we would handle that.
Here goes:

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band haven't played a gig in five months.
And now the next one will be the most watched in their entire 36-year career, with nearly 100 million people, in this country alone, expected to tune in Sunday for the Super Bowl.

The inductees for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced next month, some four months after the release of the nominations, but Little Anthony isn't among those sitting around fretting over his chances.
In fact, in a recent interview, the singer couldn't even say who was nominated or how many would get in.

The inductees for the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will be announced next month, some four months after the release of the nominations, but Little Anthony isn't among those sitting around fretting over his chances.
In fact, in a recent interview, the singer couldn't even say who was nominated or how many would get in.

As the candidates make a last dash toward the White House, there's one question that is not ringing out across America: "Are you going to the Rock for McCain concert?"While the polls reveal a tight race with the voting public, Barack Obama has the liberal pop-music world in the tank.But that's hardly a break from tradition.

Back in the late '50s, when he was a teen-ager, Taj Mahal was torn between a career in music and a life on the farm.With his passion and intelligence, he would have been successful at either one, but his fans can be thankful that he chose the guitar over the plow.

For 20 years there was little synchronicity among the members of The Police, so when the band decided to launch a reunion tour in May 2007, no one expected it would carry on for two summers and nearly 150 shows.One might even conclude from the duration that they must be enjoying themselves.Stewart Copeland will tell you otherwise.