Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark traveled forward in time from the 1980s to September 30, 2011 to deliver a truly warm-hearted, high-energy and wonderfully nostalgic pop show. AND they even made the cold-hearted goth BackstageRider dance. Check out the full gallery of photos, the review and the setlist.

Duran Duran kicked off their North American tour near Seattle in Everett, WA, at the ComCast Arena on September 23. I was there. Of course, where else would I be? But did it live up to the hype in my tiny brain? Check the (point n’ shoot) pics and read the words.

Track by track breakdown of the new Duran Duran album “All You Need Is Now”, released today on iTunes. I also digress heavily and talk about Simon Le Bon and John Taylor on Twitter, and wrote this whole thing while high on painkillers and hunched over. Only for Duran Duran, man. Only for Duran Duran.

Here’s what happens when happy electropop up-and-comers Passion Pit forget the lyrics to their own song…and still put on a great little show in Vancouver. Complete with a big-arse photo gallery, verbs AND nouns.

You roll the dice, you takes your chances. In this case, the Backstage Rider rolled snake eyes and had to be somewheres else (Dean Wareham) the night that (The Killers’) Brandon Flowers and (Travis’) Fran Healy came to town on November 15. So she dispatched her Wing Man Peter Leung to collect photographic proof just for you.

In which you’ll find a gallery, some idioms and a set list from the October 29 reunion show at Venue in Vancouver featuring the original members of The Grapes of Wrath.

Night Work. Ian McKellen. His love for Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Rentboy.com. Jake Shears dishes the disco dirt in this exclusive interview and photo sesh for BackstageRider on the eve of the Scissor Sisters’ final show of its tour.

Stunning live shots of the Scissor Sisters’ end of tour gig at Malkin Bowl in Vancouver by lensman extraordinaire Kris Krüg. Plus a few breathless and still-wet words from yours truly. They are a study in awesome.

Once and a while, the Backstage Rider likes to throw in a wild card to see if you’re all paying attention. Crowded House are good, okay? Here’s an interview with Neil Finn about their new album Intriguer. Plus lots of nostalgia, BSR-stylee.