Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe GRAMMY PARTIES ON TAP Top recording artists will vie for face time in the Big Apple this week as pre-Grammy parties take over the city. Advertisement The merriment begins Thursday with the Rock the Vote party at Armani Exchange on 20th Street. Orlando Bloom, Bridget Moynahan, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Jake Gyllenhaal and Asia Argento already have RSVP'd, reports the New York Post. Arista Records honcho L.A. Reid is throwing a "Charlie's Angels" party Friday for Pink, nominated for multiple awards, at Show. Aretha Franklin, India.Arie, the Foo Fighters, Mya, the Flaming Lips, Usher, Outkast and Avril Lavigne all are expected to attend, reports the Post's Page Six column. The Musicares Person of the Year Dinner also takes place Friday at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, featuring a tribute concert to this year's honoree, Bono. Clive Davis will host his bash Saturday night at the Regent Wall Street. After the awards show Sunday BMG's party will rock Gotham Hall on Sixth Avenue. Universal's post-Grammy party will feature Nelly and 'N Sync at Capitale. Advertisement FREE AC/DC AC/DC will perform a free show for its fans at New York's Roseland Ballroom March 11, the band's only U.S. performance in 2003. Tickets will be distributed to radio, retail and online contest winners from around the world. The only way to win a ticket to this performance is through select radio and retail outlets and at acdcrocks.com. AC/DC will perform songs from their entire catalogue, which is being re-issued, re-packaged and re-mastered by Epic Records. The first six titles, "Back in Black," "Live" (single disc), "Highway to Hell," "High Voltage," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Live" (two-CD collector's edition), come out this week. In recognition of its achievements, the band will be inducted into and also perform at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony March 10. UNITED NATIONS OF ROCK TO INVADE TEXAS A record 157 international acts have been invited to South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival 2003. Two international panels are planned and more internationals have been invited to participate in general interest panels such as Accounting and Indie PR. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Brazil all have substantial representation this year, and bands from China, Peru, Slovenia, Italy and more also will appear. Advertisement Finland is making a splash with the backing of the newly formed Music Export Finland office. A handful of the top Finnish bands will perform at SXSW 2003, including the death metal act Children of Bodom (Spinefarm Records), which dominated the Finnish Top 40 at No. 1 for three weeks with its latest album "Hate Crew Deathroll"; Koneveljet (Exogenic Records), whose sound is described as "techno-jazz ranging from trance to big beat"; and RinneRadio (Rockadillo Records), also representing the burgeoning Finnish electronic music scene. SXSW 2003 takes place Wednesday, March 12, through Sunday, March 16, 2003, in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit sxsw.com. MICHAEL JACKSON REDUX Thursday night Michael Jackson is supposed to tell "his" side of his increasingly baroque story on a Fox network special. It is difficult to imagine why the gloved one would choose to trust the Rupert Murdoch-owned network to tell his story when Murdoch's newspapers in London and New York delight in freakish stories about the celebrity they nicknamed "Wacko Jacko." Fox will be the venue, however, for the two-hour program entitled "Michael Jackson Take 2: The interview they wouldn't show you." The show features footage shot at same time British documentarian Martin Brashir filmed the notorious ABC special, which included the draw-dropping admission from Jackson that he had slept with his young boy pals. Advertisement BEASTIE BOYS FOR TIBET The Beastie Boys are set to announce particulars of the 2002 Tibetan Freedom Concert later this week. The band's Web site will carry the news. The show is scheduled for Japan in April.
