Falling in Reverse Frontman Goes from Jail to Warped Main Stage

Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse performs at the Vans Warped Tour 2012 kickoff party and press conference at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

Most any young band would jump at the opportunity to play a major tour like Warped, a well-established summer package with a devoted fan base and a history of artists including Bad Religion, No Doubt, Sublime, Blink-182 and Pennywise.

Yet playing the main stage this year may mean more to Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke than anyone can fathom. "My first actual playing [Warped] was 2006, and 2007 was the whole thing. It was in the midst of fighting a case of going to prison, so I [was] flying back to court and back to Warped tour to play. I ended up going to prison anyway," Radke tells Rolling Stone.

The former frontman of Escape the Fate, Radke spent two and a half years in prison. While living in Las Vegas he was present during an altercation in May of 2006 that ultimately led to the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Cook. While Radke didn't fire the gun, he was indicted on battery charges, sentenced to five years probation and sent to jail in 2008 for missing an appointment with his parole officer, a probation violation.

Between his court case, drugs and other issues, Radke admits he was a troublemaker during his early stints on Warped with Escape the Fate. But he was welcomed back last year by Warped founder and promoter Kevin Lyman, who let Radke know that was in the past. "He walked right up to me and he said, 'Congratulations on your first Warped tour,'" Radke recalls. "I said, 'Huh? What do you mean? I've done it before.' 'No, congratulations on your first Warped tour.'" In other words, here's your second chance.

Lyman views himself as a mentor for performers like Radke. "I don't judge what these kids are doing. I think I can guide them a little, help them miss some of the mistakes that maybe killed a few of my friends," he tells Rolling Stone.

For the faith Lyman and others have shown in him, Radke promises he's a new man on tour. "I stick to myself now on tours. I don't go out party, drink, smoke, do drugs. It's a dry bus. No one is allowed to bring drinks on the bus," he says. "That's when you really tend to get in trouble – you're in trouble 'cause you're wasted and you do something stupid. Preventing that, I can think clearly in situations that might be stressful and get me in trouble."

Lyman has been honored in the past by MusiCares for his help to the organization, which is dedicated, among other things, to musicians' sobriety. So Radke should have a good support system in place on Warped. And he's aware there are a lot of sober musicians out there these days. "I think sober is the new black. That's the cool thing now. I'm trying to make it the cool thing," he says. "I used to believe in getting wasted and going on stage. I thought that was cool because my idols did it. But I found out the hard way that is not the way to do it. It's better to have a voice without alcohol in my system from the night before. I want to try to lead by example. I'm not Mr. Goody-Good or anything, but I'm not stupid."

 The graduation to the main stage, where Falling In Reverse will play alongside the Used, Taking Back Sunday, All Time Low, Anti-Flag, Yellowcard and more, culminates a remarkable debut year for the band. Their first album, The Drug In Me Is You, debuted at number 19 on the charts, and they've toured extensively for the last year.

"The album took off, and we're selling out every venue we go to now," Radke says. After all he's been through, it's a comeback even he has a hard time believing. "I got out of prison a year ago. For this to happen – I just bought a new Escalade and a house, all in a year's time," he says. "This is everything I ever wanted, ever."

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Falling in Reverse Frontman Goes from Jail to Warped Main Stage

Ronnie Radke of Falling In Reverse performs at the Vans Warped Tour 2012 kickoff party and press conference at Club Nokia in Los Angeles.

Most any young band would jump at the opportunity to play a major tour like Warped, a well-established summer package with a devoted fan base and a history of artists including Bad Religion, No Doubt, Sublime, Blink-182 and Pennywise.

Yet playing the main stage this year may mean more to Falling In Reverse frontman Ronnie Radke than anyone can fathom. "My first actual playing [Warped] was 2006, and 2007 was the whole thing. It was in the midst of fighting a case of going to prison, so I [was] flying back to court and back to Warped tour to play. I ended up going to prison anyway," Radke tells Rolling Stone.

The former frontman of Escape the Fate, Radke spent two and a half years in prison. While living in Las Vegas he was present during an altercation in May of 2006 that ultimately led to the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Cook. While Radke didn't fire the gun, he was indicted on battery charges, sentenced to five years probation and sent to jail in 2008 for missing an appointment with his parole officer, a probation violation.

Between his court case, drugs and other issues, Radke admits he was a troublemaker during his early stints on Warped with Escape the Fate. But he was welcomed back last year by Warped founder and promoter Kevin Lyman, who let Radke know that was in the past. "He walked right up to me and he said, 'Congratulations on your first Warped tour,'" Radke recalls. "I said, 'Huh? What do you mean? I've done it before.' 'No, congratulations on your first Warped tour.'" In other words, here's your second chance.

Lyman views himself as a mentor for performers like Radke. "I don't judge what these kids are doing. I think I can guide them a little, help them miss some of the mistakes that maybe killed a few of my friends," he tells Rolling Stone.

For the faith Lyman and others have shown in him, Radke promises he's a new man on tour. "I stick to myself now on tours. I don't go out party, drink, smoke, do drugs. It's a dry bus. No one is allowed to bring drinks on the bus," he says. "That's when you really tend to get in trouble – you're in trouble 'cause you're wasted and you do something stupid. Preventing that, I can think clearly in situations that might be stressful and get me in trouble."

Lyman has been honored in the past by MusiCares for his help to the organization, which is dedicated, among other things, to musicians' sobriety. So Radke should have a good support system in place on Warped. And he's aware there are a lot of sober musicians out there these days. "I think sober is the new black. That's the cool thing now. I'm trying to make it the cool thing," he says. "I used to believe in getting wasted and going on stage. I thought that was cool because my idols did it. But I found out the hard way that is not the way to do it. It's better to have a voice without alcohol in my system from the night before. I want to try to lead by example. I'm not Mr. Goody-Good or anything, but I'm not stupid."

 The graduation to the main stage, where Falling In Reverse will play alongside the Used, Taking Back Sunday, All Time Low, Anti-Flag, Yellowcard and more, culminates a remarkable debut year for the band. Their first album, The Drug In Me Is You, debuted at number 19 on the charts, and they've toured extensively for the last year.

"The album took off, and we're selling out every venue we go to now," Radke says. After all he's been through, it's a comeback even he has a hard time believing. "I got out of prison a year ago. For this to happen – I just bought a new Escalade and a house, all in a year's time," he says. "This is everything I ever wanted, ever."

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Sugarland Singer Ordered to Testify in Stage Collapse Lawsuit

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland performs in Los Angeles.

Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles will have to testify next month in lawsuits filed over the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair last August, the Associated Press reports.

Marion, Indiana, Superior Court Judge Theodore Sosin ordered Nettles to give a deposition in April focusing on whether the band had declined to delay their concert in the face of dangerous weather warnings. The country duo was about to perform when winds reaching 60 to 70 miles per hour ripped through the area and caused the stage's collapse, killing seven people and injuring 58.

An executive with the Indiana State Fair Commission had testified in a January deposition that fair officials discussed delaying the start of the concert with Sugarland's representatives, but said the band resisted because of scheduling concerns.

Mid-America Sound Corp., the company that built the stage's roof and rigging, is facing lawsuits over the collapse. Lawyers for the company had requested that the band provide depositions starting next week, but on Friday Sosin approved a request by Sugarland's attorneys to delay the testimony. They are now required to submit by Tuesday dates between April 1st and April 15th that Nettles will be available to testify. Nettles' bandmate, Kristian Bush, will not be required to testify.

"Certainly there's a lot of fault to go around in this case," said Kenneth J. Allen, the attorney representing the victims of the stage collapse. "However, having said that, Ms. Nettles and Mr. Bush are at the top of the decision tree. They had the opportunity to postpone this and chose not to. We need to know why and whether there was a legitimate reason."

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Sugarland Singer Ordered to Testify in Stage Collapse Lawsuit

Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland performs in Los Angeles.

Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles will have to testify next month in lawsuits filed over the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair last August, the Associated Press reports.

Marion, Indiana, Superior Court Judge Theodore Sosin ordered Nettles to give a deposition in April focusing on whether the band had declined to delay their concert in the face of dangerous weather warnings. The country duo was about to perform when winds reaching 60 to 70 miles per hour ripped through the area and caused the stage's collapse, killing seven people and injuring 58.

An executive with the Indiana State Fair Commission had testified in a January deposition that fair officials discussed delaying the start of the concert with Sugarland's representatives, but said the band resisted because of scheduling concerns.

Mid-America Sound Corp., the company that built the stage's roof and rigging, is facing lawsuits over the collapse. Lawyers for the company had requested that the band provide depositions starting next week, but on Friday Sosin approved a request by Sugarland's attorneys to delay the testimony. They are now required to submit by Tuesday dates between April 1st and April 15th that Nettles will be available to testify. Nettles' bandmate, Kristian Bush, will not be required to testify.

"Certainly there's a lot of fault to go around in this case," said Kenneth J. Allen, the attorney representing the victims of the stage collapse. "However, having said that, Ms. Nettles and Mr. Bush are at the top of the decision tree. They had the opportunity to postpone this and chose not to. We need to know why and whether there was a legitimate reason."

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Mariah Carey Returns to Stage in NYC

Mariah Carey performs during Escape To Total Rewards at Gotham Hall in New York City. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment

Mariah Carey hid in front of 150 people, patting her face with a tissue, the spotlight turned off at her request. She said she was stalling for time, something "those who know her" would understand. She tossed the tissues aside; they fluttered in the air like her eyelashes, her long hair, her fingertips, her voice.

Mariah high-stepped back to the center of the stage, her black floor-length gown coming to life with every twist of her hips. "I didn't really know it was a big drama like that," she said, "like it was my first time coming to the stage since having them babies."

Everything about Carey's return to the stage last night screamed big and loud – the actual space, New York's Gotham Hall, with its gilded chandelier hanging beneath an ornately hand-crafted ceiling; the press releases; the burly man pushing himself above the crowd outside, opening and closing his otherwise-unused umbrella while leading a call-and-response of "Mariah! Carey!" It was a capital-e Extravaganza where Mariah's opening act was no smaller than Diddy; where she underwent not one but two consultations with her makeup team between songs. It was a half-hour set.

Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures

That set started off with some more recent hits – "Shake It Off," "Touch My Body," "Obsessed" – a light workout for a voice that could do much heavier lifting. Freed, the singer minced around, turning "Obsessed" into a melodramatic mini-opera with the help of her backup dancers. (Between spins and kicks, they played fans and paparazzi.) Five songs in, there was a clear shift from flirty and fun to steel-voiced and iron-lunged, as Carey sang to the rafters. "Always Be My Baby" and "We Belong Together" turned the volume knob to fortissimo, with the crowd singing just as loud. During "I'll Be There," a duet with Trey Lorenz, she whispered, "We miss you, Michael." A girl near the bar wiped her eyes.

Leaving the stage, Carey returned for "Hero," saying, "I thought they said I didn't have any time left, I thought I couldn't close with the song I always close with." The performance of her 1993 mega-hit was the saving grace of a very bloated, often slow-paced night.

Mariah was funny, unhinged as only Mariah can be, letting her sentences run on until they got tired. She play-fought with the lighting guys, with the sound techs, with the woman who came out to fix her shoes. During one particularly long break, as someone touched up her lips and someone else changed her jewelry, she said, "Pretend like the band is playing right now!" She mentioned that she'd almost brought her twins to the concert, but she didn't want to be late; besides, "Monroe takes a minute to warm up." Like mother, like daughter. (More serious, but no less joyful, she announced that husband Nick Cannon was somewhere in the room, though still recovering from his recent kidney failure.)

It was almost easy to forget that Diddy performed as well, hours earlier. Acting as hype man to his own material, he let the crowd finish most of the lyrics. (He also stood back for a medley of Rihanna, LMFAO and the Rapture, briefly turning New York's Midtown into Las Vegas – appropriate, for a night sponsored by Caesar's.) Sprinting through his hits, he careened into "I Need a Girl Pt. 2" after barely two bars of "Pt. 1." He shouted out Big Ang from "Mob Wives" and then went straight into a set honoring the Notorious B.I.G., dancing to "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," taking his glasses off for "I'll Be Missing U." Somehow, Diddy did not return to join Mariah for his remix of "Honey," a classic of the shiny-suit era.

Across the country, other concerts were taking place simultaneously, an all-out promotion for Caesar's Entertainment. Selections from each performance streamed online; hosts Melanie B. from the Spice Girls and E! host Giuliana Rancic provided transitions as if plugged into a wall. Between songs, Mariah complained about cameras, how nothing could escape the watchful eyes of The Internet: "I hate this filming . . . bleep. Nothing's live anymore." Possibly unbeknownst to her, online audiences weren't able to see anything after "It's Like That," her first song of the night. They'd sat through Gavin DeGraw in New Orleans, Sara Bareilles in Chicago, a highlight reel of Celine Dion and a particularly grating performance by Lil' Wayne in Los Angeles, whose band shifted from too soft to too loud, and back. In the middle of the night, Giuliana Rancic threw to Sara Bareilles with her arms crossed. "We could not be more excited," she said.

After Carey performed, the in-house video showed Cee Lo Green swishing around in pink pants for an L.A. audience. Mary J. Blige hit the New Orleans stage even later. Though the night continued, no one in New York stuck around.

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Mariah Carey Returns to Stage in NYC

Mariah Carey performs during Escape To Total Rewards at Gotham Hall in New York City. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Caesars Entertainment

Mariah Carey hid in front of 150 people, patting her face with a tissue, the spotlight turned off at her request. She said she was stalling for time, something "those who know her" would understand. She tossed the tissues aside; they fluttered in the air like her eyelashes, her long hair, her fingertips, her voice.

Mariah high-stepped back to the center of the stage, her black floor-length gown coming to life with every twist of her hips. "I didn't really know it was a big drama like that," she said, "like it was my first time coming to the stage since having them babies."

Everything about Carey's return to the stage last night screamed big and loud – the actual space, New York's Gotham Hall, with its gilded chandelier hanging beneath an ornately hand-crafted ceiling; the press releases; the burly man pushing himself above the crowd outside, opening and closing his otherwise-unused umbrella while leading a call-and-response of "Mariah! Carey!" It was a capital-e Extravaganza where Mariah's opening act was no smaller than Diddy; where she underwent not one but two consultations with her makeup team between songs. It was a half-hour set.

Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures

That set started off with some more recent hits – "Shake It Off," "Touch My Body," "Obsessed" – a light workout for a voice that could do much heavier lifting. Freed, the singer minced around, turning "Obsessed" into a melodramatic mini-opera with the help of her backup dancers. (Between spins and kicks, they played fans and paparazzi.) Five songs in, there was a clear shift from flirty and fun to steel-voiced and iron-lunged, as Carey sang to the rafters. "Always Be My Baby" and "We Belong Together" turned the volume knob to fortissimo, with the crowd singing just as loud. During "I'll Be There," a duet with Trey Lorenz, she whispered, "We miss you, Michael." A girl near the bar wiped her eyes.

Leaving the stage, Carey returned for "Hero," saying, "I thought they said I didn't have any time left, I thought I couldn't close with the song I always close with." The performance of her 1993 mega-hit was the saving grace of a very bloated, often slow-paced night.

Mariah was funny, unhinged as only Mariah can be, letting her sentences run on until they got tired. She play-fought with the lighting guys, with the sound techs, with the woman who came out to fix her shoes. During one particularly long break, as someone touched up her lips and someone else changed her jewelry, she said, "Pretend like the band is playing right now!" She mentioned that she'd almost brought her twins to the concert, but she didn't want to be late; besides, "Monroe takes a minute to warm up." Like mother, like daughter. (More serious, but no less joyful, she announced that husband Nick Cannon was somewhere in the room, though still recovering from his recent kidney failure.)

It was almost easy to forget that Diddy performed as well, hours earlier. Acting as hype man to his own material, he let the crowd finish most of the lyrics. (He also stood back for a medley of Rihanna, LMFAO and the Rapture, briefly turning New York's Midtown into Las Vegas – appropriate, for a night sponsored by Caesar's.) Sprinting through his hits, he careened into "I Need a Girl Pt. 2" after barely two bars of "Pt. 1." He shouted out Big Ang from "Mob Wives" and then went straight into a set honoring the Notorious B.I.G., dancing to "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems," taking his glasses off for "I'll Be Missing U." Somehow, Diddy did not return to join Mariah for his remix of "Honey," a classic of the shiny-suit era.

Across the country, other concerts were taking place simultaneously, an all-out promotion for Caesar's Entertainment. Selections from each performance streamed online; hosts Melanie B. from the Spice Girls and E! host Giuliana Rancic provided transitions as if plugged into a wall. Between songs, Mariah complained about cameras, how nothing could escape the watchful eyes of The Internet: "I hate this filming . . . bleep. Nothing's live anymore." Possibly unbeknownst to her, online audiences weren't able to see anything after "It's Like That," her first song of the night. They'd sat through Gavin DeGraw in New Orleans, Sara Bareilles in Chicago, a highlight reel of Celine Dion and a particularly grating performance by Lil' Wayne in Los Angeles, whose band shifted from too soft to too loud, and back. In the middle of the night, Giuliana Rancic threw to Sara Bareilles with her arms crossed. "We could not be more excited," she said.

After Carey performed, the in-house video showed Cee Lo Green swishing around in pink pants for an L.A. audience. Mary J. Blige hit the New Orleans stage even later. Though the night continued, no one in New York stuck around.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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DMX Comes Correct in Stage Return

DMX performs at S.O.B.'s in New York City.

Near the end of DMX's set last night at S.O.B.'s in New York, the returning rapper talked about the power of his craft. "I could fight off the Devil with the spoken word," he professed. Out of the spotlight for some time, he's had his share of demons to deal with - but throughout the night, X made it clear that his penchant for words is still his saving grace.

As fans piled into S.O.B.'s, tensions were palpable. A female DJ spun a scattered mix of bombastic rap and pop-rock between three nu-metal bands. The audience was as polite as a New York rap crowd can be, but by the second hour of shrieking and shredding, "D-M-X!" chants filled the sold-out hall.

Some ticketholders questioned whether the enigmatic rapper would show at all. Over the past decade, X has become as notorious for his bizarre, inebriated performances as he once was for his blistering lyricism and hulking movie roles. But the Dog soon found his way home, delivering a raucous, compelling, near-flawless performance that at once emphasized how much hip-hop has changed without him and how much he's grown for it.

Random Notes:  Hottest Rock Pictures

DMX wasted no time running through his back catalog of hits, opening with mid-career gems "We Right Here" and "Who We Be." The frenzied audience barked rhymes back at the rapper without missing a word, and a fever pitch ensued when longtime collaborator Swizz Beatz joined the stage to perform their signature "Ruff Ryders Anthem." Swizz hyped X through legendary club bangers "Get It on the Floor" and "Get At Me Dog," before the two joined in deep embrace.

"Ain't nothing like being on stage with people that love you, people that understand you," DMX professed as Swizz took a seat on stage. Although their professional paths clearly forked long ago – Swizz was fresh from a Korean press conference, draped in his own Basquiat-inspired Reebok apparel – their chemistry felt as potent as ever.

Much of DMX's material, always ripe with autobiography, has become more poignant with age. "Stop Being Greedy," from his 1998 debut It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, found new relevance in today's political climate. "Y'all been eating long enough now, stop being greedy/ Let's keep it real partner, give to the needy," he rhymed, nodding to Occupiers across the nation. X appeared to have crystallized from the turn of the century, and the sea of stationary camera phones flanking him seemed almost out of place.

Mainstream hip-hop today feels much like it did when DMX first arrived at the dusk of Diddy's Bad Boy era: decadence and excess are the ideology, laid over a palatable melding of dance beats and R&B progressions. It's hard to imagine that X's narratives of struggle, poverty and conflict were once fodder for platinum albums and pop stardom. The irony wasn't lost on him: "Why do rappers nowadays just talk about everything they already got?" he asked rhetorically. "You got Patron in your cup? Good for you! But if you keep putting it in my face, I'm gon' take it from you."

The comments rang heavy after an interview that morning on New York's Power 105.1, during which he dismissed Rick Ross as a one-dimensional lyricist and scoffed at Drake. When one fan instigated from the crowd, DMX smirked. "Is [Drake] here? Nah? Well, there's no use talking behind his back then."

Despite such detours, the overall atmosphere was jubilant and celebratory. He cracked jokes, flirted with female admirers (in his own special way: "Sometimes you just gotta pull your dick out like 'Yeah, yeah, what you think of this?'"), and even passed around a bottle of Hennessy to the first few rows, insisting they all "sip, then pass." He took a few swigs himself, but the fit, sharp-witted DMX on display seemed a far cry from the substance-addled man that made headlines in recent years. He appeared very sober, and very happy.

DMX seemed eager to begin a new chapter of his life and career. He tested out some new material from  Undisputed, his album tentatively due in the spring, including the Biggie-sampling thumper "Time to Get Paid" and the previously released "I Don't Dance." The response was lukewarm at best, but the crowd remained on his side as he launched into "Party Up," the biggest hit of his career and the most rambunctious moment of the night.

"There's nothing better than this, man," he sighed, before dimming the lights to perform the deeply introspective "Slippin'." For the first time in ages, New York City believed him.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Read more »

DMX Comes Correct in Stage Return

DMX performs at S.O.B.'s in New York City.

Near the end of DMX's set last night at S.O.B.'s in New York, the returning rapper talked about the power of his craft. "I could fight off the Devil with the spoken word," he professed. Out of the spotlight for some time, he's had his share of demons to deal with - but throughout the night, X made it clear that his penchant for words is still his saving grace.

As fans piled into S.O.B.'s, tensions were palpable. A female DJ spun a scattered mix of bombastic rap and pop-rock between three nu-metal bands. The audience was as polite as a New York rap crowd can be, but by the second hour of shrieking and shredding, "D-M-X!" chants filled the sold-out hall.

Some ticketholders questioned whether the enigmatic rapper would show at all. Over the past decade, X has become as notorious for his bizarre, inebriated performances as he once was for his blistering lyricism and hulking movie roles. But the Dog soon found his way home, delivering a raucous, compelling, near-flawless performance that at once emphasized how much hip-hop has changed without him and how much he's grown for it.

Random Notes:  Hottest Rock Pictures

DMX wasted no time running through his back catalog of hits, opening with mid-career gems "We Right Here" and "Who We Be." The frenzied audience barked rhymes back at the rapper without missing a word, and a fever pitch ensued when longtime collaborator Swizz Beatz joined the stage to perform their signature "Ruff Ryders Anthem." Swizz hyped X through legendary club bangers "Get It on the Floor" and "Get At Me Dog," before the two joined in deep embrace.

"Ain't nothing like being on stage with people that love you, people that understand you," DMX professed as Swizz took a seat on stage. Although their professional paths clearly forked long ago – Swizz was fresh from a Korean press conference, draped in his own Basquiat-inspired Reebok apparel – their chemistry felt as potent as ever.

Much of DMX's material, always ripe with autobiography, has become more poignant with age. "Stop Being Greedy," from his 1998 debut It's Dark and Hell Is Hot, found new relevance in today's political climate. "Y'all been eating long enough now, stop being greedy/ Let's keep it real partner, give to the needy," he rhymed, nodding to Occupiers across the nation. X appeared to have crystallized from the turn of the century, and the sea of stationary camera phones flanking him seemed almost out of place.

Mainstream hip-hop today feels much like it did when DMX first arrived at the dusk of Diddy's Bad Boy era: decadence and excess are the ideology, laid over a palatable melding of dance beats and R&B progressions. It's hard to imagine that X's narratives of struggle, poverty and conflict were once fodder for platinum albums and pop stardom. The irony wasn't lost on him: "Why do rappers nowadays just talk about everything they already got?" he asked rhetorically. "You got Patron in your cup? Good for you! But if you keep putting it in my face, I'm gon' take it from you."

The comments rang heavy after an interview that morning on New York's Power 105.1, during which he dismissed Rick Ross as a one-dimensional lyricist and scoffed at Drake. When one fan instigated from the crowd, DMX smirked. "Is [Drake] here? Nah? Well, there's no use talking behind his back then."

Despite such detours, the overall atmosphere was jubilant and celebratory. He cracked jokes, flirted with female admirers (in his own special way: "Sometimes you just gotta pull your dick out like 'Yeah, yeah, what you think of this?'"), and even passed around a bottle of Hennessy to the first few rows, insisting they all "sip, then pass." He took a few swigs himself, but the fit, sharp-witted DMX on display seemed a far cry from the substance-addled man that made headlines in recent years. He appeared very sober, and very happy.

DMX seemed eager to begin a new chapter of his life and career. He tested out some new material from  Undisputed, his album tentatively due in the spring, including the Biggie-sampling thumper "Time to Get Paid" and the previously released "I Don't Dance." The response was lukewarm at best, but the crowd remained on his side as he launched into "Party Up," the biggest hit of his career and the most rambunctious moment of the night.

"There's nothing better than this, man," he sighed, before dimming the lights to perform the deeply introspective "Slippin'." For the first time in ages, New York City believed him.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Sugarland Lawyers Blame Fans for Stage Collapse Injuries

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of Sugarland perform during the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway.

Sugarland's attorneys have issued a statement blaming fans at their doomed Indiana State Fair show last summer for sustaining injuries during a stage collapse, claiming they failed to take steps to ensure their own safety. The statement is a response to a civil suit filed by survivors and families of the seven people who were killed in the collapse. The suit seeks unspecified damages from Sugarland as well as from the producers and stage-riggers of the show.

The country rock band's attorneys say that the powerful winds that caused the collapse on August 13th were an "act of God," and that fans voluntarily assumed risk of injury by attending the gig. "Some or all of the plaintiffs' claimed injuries resulted from their own fault," reads the statement, which was issued on Thursday.

The lawsuit statement differs greatly from the public response of Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles, who made a point of expressing her deep grief over the situation and wrote that she was "moved by the great heroism as I watched so many brave Indianapolis fans actually run toward the stage to try and help lift and rescue those injured."

The state of Indiana settled a class action lawsuit on behalf of the stage collapse victims in December.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Sugarland Lawyers Blame Fans for Stage Collapse Injuries

Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush of Sugarland perform during the Nobel Peace Prize concert in Oslo, Norway.

Sugarland's attorneys have issued a statement blaming fans at their doomed Indiana State Fair show last summer for sustaining injuries during a stage collapse, claiming they failed to take steps to ensure their own safety. The statement is a response to a civil suit filed by survivors and families of the seven people who were killed in the collapse. The suit seeks unspecified damages from Sugarland as well as from the producers and stage-riggers of the show.

The country rock band's attorneys say that the powerful winds that caused the collapse on August 13th were an "act of God," and that fans voluntarily assumed risk of injury by attending the gig. "Some or all of the plaintiffs' claimed injuries resulted from their own fault," reads the statement, which was issued on Thursday.

The lawsuit statement differs greatly from the public response of Sugarland singer Jennifer Nettles, who made a point of expressing her deep grief over the situation and wrote that she was "moved by the great heroism as I watched so many brave Indianapolis fans actually run toward the stage to try and help lift and rescue those injured."

The state of Indiana settled a class action lawsuit on behalf of the stage collapse victims in December.

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