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Bye-Bye Edge P-Roach highlighted the last live-music night at Palo Alto's venerable club By Sarah Quelland THE EDGE WENT OUT in style last Thursday (April 27) with a sold-out performance by Papa Roach. The wall-to-wall crowd was filled with familiar faces from the South Bay's tightly knit music scene as people turned out to give P-Roach their best wishes and to have one last hurrah at the club that's been a staple for live music for 11 years. It was a fitting but bittersweet goodbye. Taproot, which served as main support for P-Roach (along with locals Salmon and dredg), is currently touring with the band. A good industry buzz accompanies this fourpiece from Ann Arbor, Mich., mostly because Taproot was reportedly the reason for System of a Down's dismissal from last year's Family Values tour. Apparently, there was some bad blood between Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst and the System-formed label, Velvet Hammer/Atlantic Records, to which Taproot ultimately signed even after Durst expressed interest in signing the band himself. Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager, Sharon, sent their 14-year-old son, Jack, to check out the band, and his approval won Taproot a spot on this year's OzzFest (along with Ozzy, Pantera, Godsmack, Static-X, Incubus, Methods of Mayhem, P.O.D., Queens of the Stone Age, Ministry, Kittie, Primer 55, Pitchshifter, Disturbed, Crazy Town, the Deadlights, Slaves on Dope, Pump Jack and Shuvel), which lands at Shoreline Amphitheatre Aug. 26. Still, judging by Taproot's performance at the Edge, I don't see what all the hype is about. While the band puts on a charged-up live show, its vocals appear to be forced into the songs. The band describes its sound as transcendent and thought-provoking and compares itself to both Tool and Live, but Thursday's performance was mostly confused and disjointed. Maybe you have to be a 14-year-old boy to appreciate it. Taproot's debut, gift, is due in stores June 27. Limp Bizkit, which has a new album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, due out in August, is embarking on a series of free concert dates with Cypress Hill and another to-be-announced band. The unusual event is sponsored by the controversial MP3-sharing-software site Napster. While most everyone in the music business, including Metallica and Dr. Dre, has taken opposing stances and filed lawsuits against the site, Limp Bizkit has come out in support and is using the media attention to its advantage. The tour is scheduled to come to San Francisco sometime this summer. Villa Montalvo's 45th annual Performing Arts series kicks into high gear Thursday (May 4) with Dan Hicks and the Acoustic Warriors. Concerts will be held throughout the year at the lavish estate's 300-seat Carriage House, the 1,150-seat Garden Theater, the 1,700-seat Mountain Winery and the 2,000-seat Front Lawn, as well as at the 3,000-seat Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos and the 800-seat Mission Church at Santa Clara University. Highlights of the diverse season include Clarence Gatemouth Brown (May 25), Ray Charles (June 7), Cowboy Junkies (June 9), Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (June 10), Emmylou Harris (June 16), Wynonna (June 17-18), Shawn Colvin (June 20), James Brown (June 21), Mary Chapin Carpenter (June 22-23), Natalie Merchant (June 23-24), Ellen Degeneres (June 26), Chris Isaak (June 26-28), Cheap Trick (June 30), Pat Benatar (July 9), Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie (July 9), Lyle Lovett (July 14-15), Diana Krall (July 28 and Aug. 2), Brian Setzer Orchestra (Aug. 9), Natalie Cole (Aug. 12), Dwight Yoakam (Aug. 13), the Doobie Brothers (Aug. 23-25), Clint Black (Sept. 8), John Lee Hooker, Etta James and Charlie Musselwhite (Sept. 10) and Huey Lewis & the News (Sept. 14-17). Tickets are available through the Montalvo box office at 408.961.5858. PLAN AHEAD: Armored Saint, May 4 at the Cactus Club; El Vez, May 4 at Fuel; James Intveld, May 5 at Fuel; Rollins Band, May 6 at Maritime Hall in San Francisco; Queens of the Stone Age and Eleven, May 9 at the Usual; Violent Femmes, May 9 at the Warfield in San Francisco; the Red Elvises, May 13 at the Cactus Club; Danzig, SFU and Disturbed, May 13 at the Warfield; The The, May 16 at the Fillmore in San Francisco; Secret Chiefs 3 (a Mr. Bungle side project), May 19 at Palookaville in Santa Cruz; Strung Out, May 21 at Palookaville; Motorhead and Nashville Pussy, May 25 at Maritime Hall; Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle, June 7 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco; Creed and Sevendust, June 15 at the SJSU Event Center; Summer Sanitorium Tour, July 14 at 3Com Park in San Francisco. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]