Heartbreakers

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell is teaming with L.A. singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson to spearhead the first Merry Minstrel Musical Circus holiday benefit show on Dec. 20 at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. They will be joined by Jackson Browne, Bob Weir, another member of the Heartbreakers (keyboardist Benmont Tench) and other guests still to be confirmed at the event, for which proceeds will benefit Little Kids Rock and the Tazzy Animal Rescue Fund. Wilson recently shared the stage with Browne at another benefit show for radio station KCSN-FM (88.5)

This Coachella edition gathers new music by lesser-known artists gigging this weekend's music festival as well as one epic reissue by a recently reunited group. If you haven't the desire, money or constitution to spend three days surrounded by so many humans under the desert sun, you can find comfort in the tracks (and watch the whole event live online). Kurt Vile, "Wakin on a Pretty Daze" (Matador). The Philadelphia singer and guitarist's new record is a guitar rock gem of the classic variety.

Heartbreakers come in both sexes ("To Avoid the Broken Heart, Simply Avoid the Heartbreaker," by Samantha Bonar, March 4). What would you call a woman who becomes, over the period of two months, increasingly intimate while the hapless "boyfriend" respects her wishes to "go slowly" and not press these intimate encounters to the point of going upstairs to her bedroom? And, once the happy couple finally do decide to head upstairs, what would you call a woman who takes her "boyfriend" to the brink of half-clothed excitement and says, "I'm sorry; I'm not ready yet," leaving the "boyfriend" to put on a happy face and reassure her that "he could wait as long as she needs to," only to, five days later, be dismissed, told, "I just don't feel the same here.

This edition of Essential Tracks gathers new music by lesser-known artists gigging next weekend's Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio -- as well as one epic reissue by a recently reunited group. If you haven't the desire, money or constitution to spend three days surrounded by so many humans under the desert sun, you can find comfort in the tracks (and watch the whole event live online). Those gearing up for the two-weekend festival have seven days to memorize these tracks. Kurt Vile, “Wakin on a Pretty Daze” (Matador)

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers "The Live Anthology" Reprise It's invigorating to see musical veterans make the most of new opportunities. Earlier this year Neil Young issued the "Archives, Vol. I," a massive box set that utilized Blu-ray technology to give fans comprehensive access to 10 discs' worth of Young's early material. Tom Petty, another classic rocker, has assembled an impressive collection of his live work with his band the Heartbreakers that's similar in spirit to Young's remarkable anthology if not quite as expansive.

What flies between an athlete or owner and his/her significant other/others, theoretically, is none of anybody's business. Derek Jeter break-ups are best limited to double-play situations near second base. "Dennis Rodman on the rebound" is an announcer's call, not life after Carmen Electra. After all, when it comes to sports, what's love got to do with it? Well, only everything if your ace pitcher can't throw a strike because he lost three houses in a divorce settlement.

If Petty is one of the most predictable artists around, he's also among the most reliable. On his new album (due in stores Tuesday), the 46-year-old singer-songwriter and his longtime band serve up taut, guitar-driven songs that are as instantly familiar, utterly unsurprising and easily satisfying as a good steak dinner. That's not to say that this music could or should be dismissed as a guilty pleasure.

In middle age, "damn the torpedoes" typically turns to "darn the torpedoes." Certain compromises become necessary--especially if the midlifer is a touring superstar baby boom rocker trying to balance the hot fires of fresh creativity with the nostalgic glow that a good part of his audience expects from a concert. Playing Friday in the first show of a two-night stand at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers made some compromises that were livable, if not entirely thrilling.

Critics couldn't decide whether it was a documentary or performance art, but most moviegoers seemed certain they didn't want to see it. Despite extensive press coverage of the movie allegedly chronicling actor Joaquin Phoenix's attempts to become a rapper, "I'm Still Here" opened to an unimpressive $98,000 at 20 theaters in 18 cities. That's an average of $4,900 per location, a soft number given that it was playing primarily at high-end theaters in big cities, such as the Landmark in West Los Angeles.

Tom Petty casually rolled back the sliding glass door at his rustic beach house in Malibu and stepped out onto the deck for a clear look at the waves crashing on the sand a dozen yards away. Surveying the picture-perfect blue sky and sparkling water to match, the 59-year-old rocker took in the view surrounding him and couldn't help noticing two young women sunbathing topless in front of the house next to his. The record business may be in disarray, but on days like this, it's still good to be a rock star — a job Petty has fulfilled admirably for more than 30 years now. A couple of decades earlier things might have transpired differently, but on this day, Petty simply cracked a wry smile at the scene next door and stepped back inside.

SAN ANTONIO - There was only one way Chris Paul and the Clippers were able to reconcile a tough, last-second 104-102 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night at AT&T Center. “We've got to let it go,” Paul said. But that was going to be especially difficult for Paul because he was involved in all the crucial plays down the stretch. Some he made, some he didn't. Conversely, Tim Duncan, who had a season-high 34 points plus 11 rebounds, seemed to make all the plays when the game hung in the balance.

This post has been updated. See note below for details. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers will undertake a spring-summer tour starting May 16 with nearly two dozen stops that will be anchored by extended residencies in Los Angeles and New York. Petty and his longtime bandmates will set down for a half-dozen nights at the 1,300-capacity Fonda Theatre in Hollywood from June 3 to June 11, following five nights at New York's 2,800-capacity Beacon Theatre May 20-26. Additionally, the band will play the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Ala., which runs May 17-19, the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival sometime from June 13-16 in Manchester, Tenn., and the Firefly Festival in Dover, Del. June 21-23.

If you're joining in on Lonely Hearts Clubs this Valentine's Day, the physical feelings of a broken heart may be familiar. "The idea that people experience pain after rejection may be more than just a metaphor," said Ethan Kross, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan who has studied the merger of physical and psychological manifestations after such loss. In his 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Kross found that the areas of the brain that are activated when someone experiences physical pain are the same areas that are affected by emotional loss or heartbreak.

Hope Rising (yes, her real name) says that the day she watched her husband pull out of their driveway for the last time, she collapsed, clutching her stomach in pain. That was, she says, in March 2012, a day before the couple's seventh wedding anniversary. Rising says she begged him not to go, and after he left, she couldn't get out of bed for days, though she rarely slept. "Usually I'd just lie in bed and stare at the wall or the ceiling," Rising, 47, said. "I was angry that he left, and then I'd think about what I could have done differently for him not to leave.

I'm not sure what's more weird, the idea that Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o fell in love with a woman who didn't exist or the soap opera sideshow that has developed around the saga of his fake dead girlfriend. We've moved from skepticism to voyeuristic obsession since the story broke last month. Katie Couric's television ratings soared when she booked Te'o and his family on her talk show last week. Dr. Phil milked interviews with Te'o's hoaxer for scads of publicity this week.

When: 6:30 p.m. Where: Staples Center On the air: Prime Ticket, Radio: 980: 1330, 710. Records: Clippers 32-13, Trail Blazers 22-21. Record vs. Trail Blazers (2012-13): 1-1. Update: In a rare twist, the Clippers will host the Trail Blazers in a back-to-back, home-and-home game after playing in Portland on Saturday night. Portland rookie point guard Damian Lillard, the leading candidate to be the NBA's rookie of the year, is having a solid season, averaging 18.3 points and 6.6 assists per game.

Bob Dylan and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers kick off their new U.S. tour June 9 at the San Diego Sports Arena, then move to the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa for a June 16 concert. Tickets for the Sports Arena show go on sale April 19, while Pacific Amphitheatre tickets will be available April 21. In a recent series of shows in Australia and Japan, Dylan was backed by Petty & the Heartbreakers on some numbers and also did a solo acoustic spot.

This Coachella edition gathers new music by lesser-known artists gigging this weekend's music festival as well as one epic reissue by a recently reunited group. If you haven't the desire, money or constitution to spend three days surrounded by so many humans under the desert sun, you can find comfort in the tracks (and watch the whole event live online). Kurt Vile, "Wakin on a Pretty Daze" (Matador). The Philadelphia singer and guitarist's new record is a guitar rock gem of the classic variety.

Unknown Pleasures Inside Joy Division Peter Hook It Books: 416 pp., $27.99 In the three decades since he committed suicide, singer Ian Curtis has become both a symbol and a caricature. Curtis' seemingly tortured life as a member of the English post-punk band Joy Division and early death in 1980 have been transformed into myth and Curtis into a modern-day Thomas Chatterton or Sylvia Plath. His life offers a perfect narrative for disaffected, sun-averse souls the world over: a young genius too pure to live.

Forget unleashing that inner SkinnyGirl: Bethenny Frankel is looking at revisiting  her inner single girl again, according to a statement issued Sunday. Frankel, a "Real Housewives of New York City" alum, has announced her separation from Jason Hoppy, her husband of nearly three years, saying it brought her "great sadness. " "This was an extremely difficult decision that as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family," Frankel said, according to People . "We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority.