Good to see another band picking up where Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam left off in the mid-1990s.

SCI challenges the ticket-giant on sales fees.

One Friday afternoon recently, about 50 fans and friends of the band String Cheese Incident took $20,000 in cash to the Greek Theater in Los Angeles to take a small stand against the system — in this case, Ticketmaster.

With money advanced by the band, each person had enough to buy eight tickets at $49.95 apiece for the group’s show in July. Once all tickets were in hand, almost 400 of them, they were carried back to String Cheese headquarters in Colorado and put on sale again through the group’s Web site — for $49.95.

“We’re scalping our own tickets at no service charge,” Mike Luba, one of the group’s managers, explained in an interview last week. “It’s ridiculous.”

We're putting together a full page of your Bend summer concert photos, but we need help.

In an effort to create the most baddest-assed Summer Concert Guide possible (on stands May 17) we're asking you to send us your favorite photographs. And we've bumped the submission deadline to Friday, May 11 at 10am.

This all we require of your pictures: 

-actually taken at a concert in Central Oregon (that includes 4Peaks, Sisters Folk Festival, LSA shows, etc.) The date is irrelevant. If you have a photo of you puking on your brother-in-law at a Springsteen show in Bend in '88, send it to us!

-high resolution This is self explanatory, right? If you're unsure, send it anyway. What the hell.

It's warm out there. And it's Monday. So we're going to cool off and mellow out at Deschutes' "Toast to Twilight & Hop in the Dark" party. It's also locals night at the downtown pub, so we can afford a pint or two. The summer ales couldn't have been released on a better day.

The special pouring starts at 4:30pm. We'll see y'all there.

You also might see a New York Times reporter at the downtown pub. First this story on April 20 and now this: An Economic Lifeline of Barley and Hops, a piece about how beer  saved Bend.

They love us beer swilling Oregonians.

What are you doing for the Cinco?

Hacienda

There's lots of fun shit going on this Saturday in celebration of Cinco de Mayo. We've started a short list for you, which can be found in this week's 'Our Picks' section. Of all the specials and clever spins on this day of Mexican heritage celebration (Cinco de Micros at Broken Top Bottle Shop, Kinko De Mayo at Bachelor, etc), the Festival de Banderas and Cinco! party at Les Schwab Amphitheater seems to be the biggest thing going—and we've got two sets of two tickets to give away (that's four tickets, total)!

***Here's what you should do: like us on FB and share the post. We'll then put your name in our editor's Minnesota Vikings hat and pick two winners by day's end. Winners will be notified via Facebook.***

Our cover design team here at the Source Weekly is top notch. Check out the Romney pinata they crafted to make this week's cover:

It's filled with lots of Swiss bank accounts, flip flops (get it?), and Cadillacs.

Also in this week's paper (on stands this afternoon!) you'll find our endorsements for the upcoming election, a Cinco de Mayo sipping guide and much, much more. Always MORE!

Calling all deadheads!

Mickey Hart, former drummer for the Grateful Dead, is playing at the Tower on May 7 and we have an extra copy of his new CD, Mysterium Tremendum to give away.

Hart's spacey/world-beat jams are easy on the ears and at least one of us here on the Source's editorial staff is psyched for the upcoming show.

So, put down the bong long enough to read how to win a copy of his new album that is sitting on my desk this very minute.

Being Dead fans, we have a favorite Dead-era. To win the CD you have to tell us what were the best years to see the Dead/when were they making the best music.

The footage from the Timbers game is particularly cool, as are all of the Portland-at-night shots.

By now you should know about our Source staff Urban Cowboy party at Maverick's this Friday. It's going to be radical. The forecast is calling for drunkeness. In fact, one staffer (who may have been inebriated at the time) claims there is "no one in this bike-happy town who can drink as much bourbon as me." Come on out and prove he/she wrong.

Anyway, if your curious how to excel at mechanical bull riding, here are some pointers from a professional. Seriously. Apparently there are professional mechanical bull riders. 

HA! He wears a glove to prevent blisters...Wuss.

Also, don't think we're endorsing this D-bag. He says that "for some reason" women are better at bull riding. No shit? Women are good at something? Thanks, redneck.

The Bend singer-songwriter's new album, The Polar Ends, drops today, and you can listen to one of the hits from the eight-song record at Tollefson's site.

The track "Whose Love," features a impressive horn performance by Brooklyn dance band, Rubblebucket and is now streaming on E.T.'s homepage. You can also stream it on Spotify, along with the rest of the songs on the album.

Also on Tollefson's site is a link to download the entire album. Check it out, or support the up and coming pop star by purchasing it from iTunes.

Here's the video from the track "Before You Go," the sixth song on The Polar Ends. Look for a write up on Tollefson's album, his second, in this week's issue.

Eli Sanders, associate editor at The Stranger, was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his 2011 story The Bravest Woman in Seattle.

Sanders' gripping narrative recounts the horrifying experience of a Seattle woman who survived an attack that left her partner dead.

If you haven't yet read the story, do so. You will immediately become gripped. Trust us. But be prepared for a graphic and emotional story of justice and lost love.

The award marks the first Pulitzer awarded to an alt-weekly writer since Jonathan Gold, then a food critic for the L.A. Weekly, won one in 2007.

Congrats Eli!