KISS offers Sebastian Bach opening slot on farewel

KISS has apparently offered SEBASTIAN BACH the opening slot on the last leg of their Farewell Tour. Bach is currently starring in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway and will be through the end of October. Evidently, the KISS tour has been extended until the end of the year and unless he extends his contract. THE SOUND OF URCHIN is planning a 3-day mini-tour of New England before a huge homecoming show at the Wetlands in New York City. The dates are: THURSDAY, JULY 20: BOSTON AT THE LINWOOD!!! 69 Kilmarnock St, near Fenway Park - 617.267.8644 FRIDAY, JULY 21 BURLINGTON VERMONT AT THE HIGHER GROUND Opening for The Getaway People - 1 Main Street - 802.654.8888 SATURDAY, JULY 22 PORTLAND MAINE AT THE SKINNY Again opening for The Getaway People - 625 Congress St - 207.871.8983 MÖTLEY CRÜE will perform "Hell on High Heels" for JAY LENO on The Tonight Show on Thursday, July 20. The band canceled the previous night's show in New Orleans, and it will not be rescheduled. Tickets can be returned for a full refund. INJURY REPORT UPDATE: METALLICA guitarist JAMES HETFIELD returned to the stage Wednesday night after missing three shows of the band's Summer Sanitarium tour due to a back injury. Hetfield was forced to sit out the shows after suffering what the band's management called herniated and bulging discs in his back following a jet-ski accident on a lake outside of Atlanta. The frontman was back in the saddle for Wednesday night's show at Denver's Mile High Stadium, and he joined his bandmates for a two-hour plus set. While spokespeople for the band admitted that Hetfield didn't cover the stage with his usual speed and mobility in his return, they noted that he did not require the use of any of the stools that were placed onstage in the event that he needed to sit down. Hetfield will now travel with a physical therapist for the balance of the Summer Sanitarium tour. Here's an update on the KID ROCK Lawsuit From MTV: Kid Rock's former manager, Stephen Hutton, has filed a $4 million breach of contract suit against the Detroit rocker, claiming that he was unjustly fired after helping resuscitate Rock's previously dormant career. Hutton's lawyers filed the federal lawsuit on Monday, July 10, in the United States District Court in Manhattan. In the complaint, Hutton, who managed Kid Rock from 1994 until just a few weeks ago, alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment, and is asking for compensatory damages as well as a portion of Kid Rock's future earnings. Kid Rock's record label, Atlantic Records, offered no comment on the suit. However, Hutton's lawyers issued a statement on Wednesday claiming that prior to Hutton's involvement in Kid Rock's career, the singer (real name Bob Ritchie) was "an unknown, struggling artist" whose early albums had received only a "lukewarm response." "Even though Kid Rock had been dropped twice by other record labels and white hip-hop was non-existent at the time, I believed in Bob and what he was doing," Hutton told MTV News on Thursday. "It saddens me, after working so closely together for seven years, that I have to pursue legal action to get what I've earned." Hutton claims that he was a principal player in helping Ritchie ink a lucrative contract with Atlantic Records, a deal that led to Rock's multi-platinum major-label debut, 1998's "Devil Without A Cause." The manager also helped re-secure the rights to Kid Rock's earlier albums, songs and material from which are featured on Kid Rock's just-issued "The History Of Rock" LP, which is currently in the Top 10 of the "Billboard" album chart. The suit alleges that Hutton was entitled to 15 percent of Kid Rock's gross income under the terms of his management contract, and that Rock dismissed Hutton after Hutton failed to settle for a monetary amount less than what he was owed. POISON's BRET MICHAELS will participate in an audio-video interview and play "The Last Song" acoustically, at 5 PM CT at yahoo.com.