BEST CONTACT HIGH: NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY

It's Austin and it's Spoon.

British rockers Muse will make a special appearance at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, this Friday, March 19, playing the most intimate venue on their current arena tour.

When he's not commandeering the stage as the boisterous bassist for SoCal punks Blink-182, Tweeting wisdom to more than 1.6 million followers, or handling album production duties for bands like Motion City Soundtrack and New Found Glory, you'd think Mark Hoppus would turn down the music.

Not. Possible.

In July 2009, guitarist Ryan Ross and bassist Jon Walker exited Las Vegas' Panic! at the Disco due to "musical differences" -- and now, eight months later, we know exactly what they meant.

Forget the emotional, empowering ballads -- Sia Furler wants to dance, dammit. And she's finally doing just that with her upcoming release, We Are Born, out this spring.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I learned about him from Paul Westerberg when I was 16. I imagine a lot of people did. That's what it's all about -- discovering your heroes' heroes, connecting those dots and following the trails ever backwards and sideways, falling in love with things you didn't even know existed. But rarely has a signpost been as direct as the Replacements' 1987 love letter.

Fans of seminal indie bands Broken Social Scene and Metric can vote now to elect the winner of the Pepsi Refresh SXSW Challenge. Both bands have developed charitable ideas -- and the one that receives the most votes will be awarded a $100,000 grant from Pepsi to bring their idea to life.

It was a night of dichotomies from the start. In New York, where privacy is scarce, a "private" show like the hour-long set Rufus Wainwright played at the Rose Bar Monday night translates to a celeb-clogged affair. Indeed, Susan Sarandon perched nonchalantly at a small table across from Michael Kors, while Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson mingled nearby.

Iggy Pop joined rock's elite at a black-tie ceremony Wednesday night at New York City's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, and -- no surprise -- he did so without his shirt on.

Pop's Detroit-bred proto-punks the Stooges were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, along with the Hollies, Abba, Genesis, and reggae star Jimmy Cliff.

[Updated: 6:02 P.M.]

NEWS:

Metallica will play megashows in 10 cities in 2011 that will "blow your mind," band manager Peter Mensch tells Classic Rock Magazine. "It will be Metallica's equivalent of 'The Wall.'"

"We just really like to play music," MGMT singer/guitarist Andrew Vanwyngarden said Sunday night at New York City's Mercury Lounge, where his five-piece band unveiled their second album, Congratulations, with a secret gig. He wasn't kidding -- and it showed.

With a debut album recorded and tucked away for a June release, Young Veins -- the new band from former Panic! at the Disco members Ryan Ross and Jon Walker -- played its first show together on Saturday night at The Echo on Los Angeles' East Side.

Nashville, TN, rockers Kings of Leon had a banner 2009 -- they scored SPIN's Band of the Year award and won three Grammys, including Record of the Year for their hit "Use Somebody." So, how will the Followill boys celebrate? Simple: Road trip, bro.

Welcome to the weekly SPIN.com feature "Name That Band!" in which we get the inside stories behind the mysterious monikers of some of our favorite artists. (See past episodes of Name That Band! here.)

More than a week before its release date, Volume 2 -- the second album from actress Zooey Deschanel and singer-songwriter M.Ward's low-key pop outfit, She & Him -- is streaming in its entirety via NPR. Listen below!

This weekend's episode of Saturday Night Live was a rock fan's delight.