Backstage Pass

So Live Nation is having another one of their one-day clearance sales on Tuesday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., with tickets to a bunch of Nikon at Jones Beach Theater shows getting marked down to $10 apiece.

On their list of temporary markdowns:

Poison with Dokken, Sebastian Bach (July 30)
Maroon 5/Counting Crows with Sara Bareilles (Aug. 1)
Stone Temple Pilots with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (Aug. 6)
Judas Priest/Heaven and Hell with Motorhead, Testament (Aug. 10)
Boston/REO Speedwagon (Aug. 12)
Regeneration 80's Festival:  Belinda Carlise, Human League, Flock of Seagulls, ABC (Aug. 22)

Also on their list is the Mayhem Festival at Nassau Coliseum with Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon and others (Aug. 6).

PHOTO: Counting Crows by Danny Clinch for Geffen Records.

Supporting the excellent "Detours," her best album since her breakthrough "Tuesday Night Music Club," Sheryl Crow is set for Nikon at Jones Beach Theater on Monday and Live Nation is offering a ticket deal tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the show, selling seats for $10. That's quite the deal for a great package tour that also includes James Blunt and Toots and The Maytals.

Crow told me recently that she knows there's a lot of competition for the summer touring dollar this year. "I feel like the airlines," she said. "I know there's a lot of choices out there and I'm very thankful that they chose to come see me."

She also knows she's not getting the same radio support she has in the past because of some of the album's more political songs. "People know the truth and they don’t want to face it and there’s a lot of fear about it. ‘Out of Our Heads’ is the song that we get the biggest reaction from all night almost and it’s a new song. I know it’s the emotion of it and people are experiencing that, but radio’s really afraid of it and that’s just where we’re at right now, which is fine with me. That, in and of itself, is a statement. But the song’s not ever going to go away and it will remain pertinent and it will have its moment and it’ll find its way because that’s what art does. But that’s a testament too to where we are, that there’s a fear and facing the reality that we have gone to sleep." (She has plenty more to say in our Fanfare interview on Sunday.)

PHOTO: Sheryl Crow for A&M

The Police reunion's final show has been set for Aug. 7 at Madison Square Garden, two nights after the band's show at Nikon at Jones Beach Theater. Yeah, a lot of people who bought tickets for that show are bummed out about it once being the end, but isn't any more. But look at it this way, it's the final regular concert from the band.

The show at the Garden will be a benefit for public television -- billed as the biggest fundraiser in the history of public television. Tickets will be available starting June 14 to those who donate to WNET and WLIW21 through the station's websites and through Ticketmaster. A pair of tickets will be given as "thank-you gifts" to those who donate at the $750, $500, $350, $150 levels. VIP tickets are available for $5,000, which includes access to sound check and a gift, and prime seating tickets are available for $2,000.

After spending a few months holed up in Brookville with Jennifer Lopez and their newborn twins Max and Emme, Marc Anthony has thrown himself back into his work.
    He is currently working on three new albums, including a tropical album, a Spanish-language album of ballads an English-language one that includes collaborations with Billy Joel and Babyface, which Anthony hopes will all be released at the end of the year, according to Billboard.com. And he has set his first post-twins tour, his fourth annual Juntos en Concierto tour –  this time out with Alejandro Fernandez and Aventura – which hits Madison Square Garden on Aug. 21. Tickets for the show – $49.50 to $139.50 – go on sale tomorrow (Friday) at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster, 631-888-9000.
    The tour, which kicks off July 26 in Los Angeles, will once again serve as a fundraiser for the ING Run for Something Better program, which fights childhood obesity. “Through my music, I want to make a difference in the lives of young people across the country,” Anthony said in a statement. “One way is by addressing the critical need to help reduce childhood obesity among Latino children.”

PHOTO: Marc Anthony for Columbia Records