Hot Tickets

Vans Warped Tour with Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, New Found Glory, Bad Religion et. al. (June 25-Aug. 19)

WHY IT'S HOT For pop-punk fans, the Warped Tour is the ultimate in one-stop-shopping. The young-'uns will go nuts for MTV-approved Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, while more discerning rock fans can check out such quirky indie fare as the emo-prog act Coheed and Cambria or Swedish socialist punkers The (International) Noise Conspiracy. Plus, there'll be skateboarding ramps and stuff.
BURNING QUESTION Will concertgoers be able to differentiate between soundalikes Simple Plan and New Found Glory?
TICKET INFO AOL Box Office

Ozzfest with Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Slayer, and Slipknot (July 10 - Sept. 4)

WHY IT'S HOT To paraphrase Spinal Tap, how much heavier could this tour be? And the answer is none -- none more heavy. With the combination of Judas Priest's classic metal, Slayer's thrash metal, and Slipknot's scare-the-heck-out-of-us masked metal, we'd hate to be the EMTs on call for mosh-pit casualties.
BURNING QUESTION Can Ozzy (still recovering from a December spinal injury) really sing ''Crazy Train'' in a neck brace?
TICKET INFO AOL Box Office

Lollapalooza 2004 with Morrissey, Sonic Youth, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, et. al. (Dates TBA)

WHY IT'S HOT After ending its five-year hiatus last year, the premiere alt-rock festival of the '90s -- now expanded to two days per stop -- is still in a rebuilding mode. So pairing up vets like former Smiths moper Morrissey with relative newcomers such as Modest Mouse seems artistically valid, but commercially questionable. We're hoping they pull it off though.
BURNING QUESTION Can the festival survive without bigger names on the bill?
TICKET INFO AOL Box Office

Christina Aguilera/Chingy (May 13- July 3)

WHY IT'S HOT Judging from recent TV appearances, Aguilera is currently less interested in getting dirrty than in showing off her ''Beautiful'' singing chops. She promises her tour will be "raw, and different from anything I've done before'' -- and it should help that, unlike last summer, Justin Timberlake won't be there to steal the spotlight. Instead, the hit-making rapper Chingy (''Right Thurr'') will add the urban credibility X-tina has tirelessly pursued.
BURNING QUESTION Will Aguilera leave the smoke machines and tongue-kissing to her old pal Britney -- or does her use of the word ''raw'' mean we can expect to see some flesh?
TICKET INFO AOL Box Office