The will. The kids. The parasitic father. The funeral plans. The London concerts refunds. The Beatles catalog. The unreleased vault of songs.  It’s exhausting thinking about the fallout from Michael Jackson’s death and more draining to realize we’re going to hear about these things for a very long time.

The Decemberists did it at The National a couple of weeks ago.  Aerosmith ripped through it last weekend at Nissan Pavilion and will repeat the stunt July 5 at Virginia Beach Amphitheater.  Even Van Morrison and Motley Crue are jumping on the trend.  You want a little something different at your concerts this summer? You’re getting it from these bands—and a few more—who are incorporating the performance of an entire album, start to finish, into their live sets.

Though it will take me awhile to forgive ABC for canceling “Samantha Who?“ (Really? You ax an adorable Christina Applegate sitcom but last night brought back something called “I Survived a Japanese Game Show”?), I do give the network credit for burning off the remaining handful of episodes.

Take a look at the upcoming concert lineups at Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater, Nissan Pavilion in Manassas, the Verizon Center in Washington and, on a smaller scale, The National.  Now do some simple even-a-journalist-can-handle-it math.  Combined, there are about 50 shows—give or take a couple, since I didn’t cross-reference every concert playing both Virginia Beach and Nissan. And numbers aren’t my thing.

The numbers, like the artist, are a complete contradiction.  First week sales for Eminem’s “Relapse” album—his first in five years—topped 600,000, making it the biggest seller of 2009 so far.  But commercial radio is treating current single “We Made You” as if it’s coated with Chris Brown repellant.

If I had to make a dopey mistake, at least it turned out to be an amusing one.  In Friday’s ZZ Top concert review, I inadvertently referred to the band’s song “Tube Snake Boogie” as “Tube STEAK Boogie.“  Thanks to all of you who called and wrote to inform me of the error, which actually was just a typo, since I checked the name of the song not once but twice before typing it.

In 15 years, three bratty punks from California have transformed from writing slacker anthems, such as “Longview,“ to crafting some of the most lyrically insightful and musically bold albums of the decade.  The evolution of Green Day began with 2004’s “American Idiot,“ a rock opera that spared no targets with its political invectives. It’s a robust album that combined the band’s signature three-chord slashing with the first glimpses of Billie Joe Armstrong’s growth as a melodic writer on the pensive “Wake Me Up When September Ends” and “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.“

Two years of dues-paying. Two years of meeting the right people. Two years of training his voice and honing his songwriting skills.  They all equate to Elliott Yamin’s second album soaring at a completely different level than his self-titled 2007 debut.

Rarely do I hear from readers with a complaint about an artist.  Complaints about venues. Complaints about reviews. Complaints about sound. Yes, yes and yes.  Bu the day after Sunday’s Jennifer Hudson-Robin Thicke show at the Landmark Theater, my voice mail and e-mail were flooded with queries from concertgoers all wondering the same thing: Why didn’t Hudson perform an encore, and why didn’t she sing the song that helped win her an Oscar, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,“ as she’s done on other recent tour stops?

While rumors about the owners of The National taking over the dormant Toad’s Place space are nothing more than premature speculation—yes, they had a meeting with the landlord; no,  they aren’t signing an occupancy license anytime soon—there is something very real taking place at The Nat this month: the recording of a possible PBS series.

Brown to off-on local shows to price changes at iTunes   It has been one of those ping-ponging weeks in entertainment.  First, Chris Brown softly uttered a “not guilty’ plea in a Los Angeles court Monday. No surprise there. It’s tough to chase a plea bargain—which Brown’s lawyers have been trying to hammer out —if you admit your guilt to a judge.

As the minutes for the impending train wreck of a show from the Osbournes approached Tuesday night, I had an “American Idol” realization.  I really don’t care about any of these people.  “Idol” was down to its final two contestants of the night.  Ryan Seacrest excitedly announced that flamboyant Adam Lambert, the only guy in the show’s history to successfully mimic Justin Hawkins of The Darkness, was up next.

Iexpected the sadness that overwhelmed me as I wandered through the Virgin Megastore in Times Square a couple of weeks ago.  But I didn’t expect the anger.  The landmark record store situated in the center of all that is supremely garish in Manhattan had been my one mandatory stop no matter where in the city I was staying.

Phish at Hampton Coliseum this weekend       Tomorrow is an epic day for Phish fans.  For three nights, the band that broke their hearts four years ago after performing a final pair of summer shows in Coventry, Vt., will be back.  Reunited.  Playing at their favorite venue, the Hampton Coliseum,  which they lovingly refer to as the “Mothership.“ It also was used as the location for Phish’s 1998 live album, the brilliantly titled “Hampton Comes Alive.“

On Sunday night when you’re watching the Oscars, do me a favor and leave the room when it’s time for Best Original Song.