Seven hours with with the King of Lo-Fi. What to do? Start with soundcheck, detour to a homemade dinner and the kindness of strangers, end up backstage with a scaredy cat poster, drink beer, rock out, then laugh a lot. Here’s a photo gallery of the first day of summer, BackstageRider-style. There’s even rockhands.

Duran Duran’s bassist, John Taylor, turns 50 years old today. When I imagined this day, I also imagined I’d be flying around with jetpacks. Here’s a REWIND to 1995, a revealing cassette-taped interview with John Taylor in which JT discusses getting fucked up, being pissed off, lacking in humility, how the band have changed and the disaster covers album “Thank You.”

FROM THE VAULTS: Another random diary entry from the BSR, in which our heroine finds herself hanging out with one of her fave bands from Cincinnati, Afghan Whigs, while they watched porn and chuffed up lines. “Now, THIS is the rock n’ roll life,” she thought. “Holy crap, it’s pretty sad.”

NXNE has grown like Galactus over the years, and might soon be ready to eat a small planet or two. And in our so-far short lifetime, Backstage Rider has been all about bringing you the rock (and punk and alt-folk and dance and stuff). Here we combine bands we’ve covered, with bands that are playing this week at NXNE. See what we did there? Clever, no?

HEY YOU! You could WIN A COPY OF SMILE SMILE’S LATEST CD “TRUTH ON TAPE”. Also: read on about this Texas twosome and find out why The Swell Season aren’t the only folkies who can date and break up and still make good music. Make with the click-through action.

MUSIC IS POWER! And we’ve got a nice little Bonnaroo playlist to help you get through the fact that this weekend you’re probably doing laundry. We’ve got music from Kings of Leon, Phoenix, Temper Trap, The Dead Weather, Crystal Method, Nas and Damian Marley, and, as they say, “more.”

Few two-pieces make as much wonderful noise as Becky Black and Maya Miller from The Pack a.d. Bask in their rocktacular glow with a gallery from June 4, with ADDED ROCKHANDS.

Massive Attack live and blindingly good at Vancouver’s Malkin Bowl, May 29th. Behold this gallery with light show bonanza. The Backstage Rider celebrated her birthday remembering time she had a chance to meet Massive Attack, but couldn’t think up a good enough opening salvo, so walked on by. Nevermind, they were still fugging awesome. Even in the rain.

Backstage Rider checks out San Fran indie band GIRLS before the rest of the world gets to see them on the the festival circuit. What was it like? WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO CHRISTOPHER OWENS’ HAIR? The music? Yeah, pretty. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m off to slow dance with a guy with a crew cut at the sock hop. Hope he likes my poodle skirt…and my flask of whiskey, garter, and new anchor tattoo.