THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEATLES!  Their first full US concert 47 years (and one week) ago in the nation's capital, performed in the round.  Part 1 includes an introduction plus "Roll Over Beethoven," "From Me To You," and "I Saw Her Standing There."  Part 2 includes "This Boy," "All My Loving," "I Wanna Be Your Man," "Please Please Me," and "Till There Was You"  and part of "She Loves You."  Part 3 finishes that song, and concludes with "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "Twist And Shout" and "Long Tall Sally."

SUPERCHUNK stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

THE SMITH WESTERNS get a twofer on World Cafe: Next.

WAVVES drop "TV Luv Song" in advance of... something.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Peter Bjorn and John, Adele, Fleet Foxes and more in the latest installment of the long-running series.

ISOBEL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN: I somehow missed their set for Sound Opinions earlier this month, but it's still good now.

RODNEY CROWELL talks to Fresh Air and plays songs related to his memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks.

MADNESS: "One... Step... Beyond." 

THE DECEMBERISTS: Chris Funk talks to Crave about  the new album, his side projects and his perspectives on the musical format wars, among other topics. (Thx, LHB.)

DEAN WAREHAM talks to Ireland's Independent about life as an indie pop legend, Galaxie 500's bitter break-up and its afterlife. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

YO LA TENGO: When the "wheel of fortune" turned against them.

BOOKER T. JONES has a star-studded album coming.

THE DUM DUM GIRLS: Working through tragedy, moving beyond lo-fi.

DEATH OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY? The trend is awful, but sales are currently higher than in the 1980s.

CUTOUT BIN: From Ray Charles to Jane's Addiction, from John Lennon to New Order, from Sonic Youth to Joan Jett, plus Jimi Hendrix, CCR, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, the Beastie Boys and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include I Am Number Four, which is currently scoring 27 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Unknown, which is scoring 45 percent; and Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, which was not screened for critics.

HOW THE KARDASHIANS made 65 million dollars last year. P.T. Barnum was unavailable for comment.

MICHAEL JACKSON, otoh, has raked in 310 million since he died.

AMANDA SEYFRIED & RYAN PHILLIPPE have called an end to their three-month romance.

ROD STEWART and his wife, Penny Lancaster Stewart, welcomed their second son.

WONDER WOMAN will be played by Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights, Lone Star) in the pilot for NBC.

JAMES FRANCO is profiled by the New York Observer.

MILA KUNIS intends to play a wicked witch opposite James Franco in Sam Raimi's Oz, The Great and Powerful, the prequel to the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz.

DIANE KRUGER is profiled by GQ, and that's some profile.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK interviews FRANCOIS TRUFFAUT in glorious MP3 format.

LEN LESSER, 88, a veteran character actor best known for his recurring role in the 1990s as Uncle Leo on the hit NBC-TV comedy "Seinfeld," died Wednesday in Burbank, publicist Laura Stegman said. He had pneumonia and cancer.

IRAN has asked Egypt for permission to send two warships through the Suez Canal, officials have confirmed, after a day of conflicting reports.

BAHRAIN: In what longtime observers said was turning into an unusually severe crackdown, the Bahraini national security council met and declared a state of emergency.

EGYPT: For the first time since he was banned from leading weekly friday prayers in Egypt 30 years ago, prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi will lead thousands in the weekly prayers from Cairo's Tahrir Square today.  He's a real sweetheart.

IRAQI officials likely will request thousands of US troops remain in that country into next year to provide security and train indigenous forces, a senior US lawmaker said Thursday.

NOODLE the CAT's first canned food makes her a little nuts. Or maybe it's her owner.  But it's the second cat that really makes this work.

A SWAN is stalking shoppers in Wareham, Mass.

A POT-BELLIED PIG was detained by police in Lincoln, NE.

MAN'S WORST FRIEND in an East Oregon traffic stop.

WHEN DEER INTRUDES: "It looks like a murder scene."

CAT vs DALEK: The obligatory sequel to Dog vs Dalek.

THE WESTMINSTER DOG SHOW: Pics of Top Dogs.