Maybe I've just been spending too much time in the Phoenix newsroom, but it was hard to sit inside the Garden on Monday night and not let my mind wander to those holed up around the corner in Dewey Square. And no, not just because of JAY-Z's recent bout of exploitation in the name of the Roc. Or because of KANYE WEST's recent bout of solidarity (read: opportunity to flash his fronts) on Wall Street.

During the last week of June, a fan of the band Damone noticed an unusual number of comments showing up on a video she'd posted to YouTube. Damone themselves saw a sudden spike in the iTunes sales of "You're The One," a song from their 2006 album Out Here All Night. Something was up: the group has been essentially broken up ever since its singer, Noelle LeBlanc, took a leave of absence to become a park ranger -- although the rest of the group, using some material they'd recorded before she left, went ahead and released a new album called Roll The Dice

Maybe they really dug our slideshow from the first time Britney brought her Circus to town -- you remember, the one with her dancing in the lion cage? -- or maybe they just know how much we love that biotch. Whatever the reason, we've now got a pair of Britney tickets to give away, before you can even buy 'em.

When we heard PINK was spending half her new tour singing upside down while hanging from a trapeze, we ran right over to Britney's house to make sure she hadn't exploded with envy. (Too late: Federline was in the living room, Swiffering up the remains of his ex-wife's ego.) Now that American Idol's over, the Funhouse Tour is pretty much all we're going to be thinking about for the next six months.

GREEN DAY had previously announced their summer tour itinerary, which showed that they'd be in Boston for July 20. Today the the band confirmed they'll be playing TD Banknorth Garden, and that tickets will go onsale May 16 -- the day after Reprise drops the band's new rock opera 21st Century Breakdown.In the off chance you haven't pointed your browser at an MTV-owned web site recently, there's a single from this opus which is apparently in heavy rotation everywhere:

In case you missed it, the World's 52nd Most Unsexy Man played the Garden last night. On the setlist? A fake-impromptu cover of the first-album ZZ Top classic "I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide," as showcased above. Carina Mastrocola shot the shit out of it for us, and her photos are better than repeated viewings of Bosscocked

All photos: Carina Mastrocola

Britney Spears + Pussycat Dolls | TD Banknorth Garden | March 16, 2009

Many more photos from last night's BRITNEY SPEARS blowout at the Garden after the jump, along with the best of the night's YouTube clips. 

If you'd asked us back in 1989, the year Metallica lost the first-ever metal Grammy to Jethro Tull -- we're not sure which we would've identified as the more unlikely event 20 years hence: a black president or Metallica getting into the rock n roll hall of fame.

Then again, if you told us that in the future, Metallica would be photographed wearing mandals while shopping at Armani, we'd have laughed and said something dismissive.