Post Pavilion

For the second time in four years, the Howard County Zoning Board rejected a Rouse Co. proposal to develop apartments next to Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion.At the same time, the board approved other nearby apartments and a proposal to annex a large parcel in east Columbia into new town zoning, giving the Rouse Co. the chance to develop more land later.Rouse executives were pleased that the bulk of their proposals were approved, and that they were given a chance to state their case for the Merriweather development.

For years, the Virgin Mobile FreeFest has been the biggest annual concert with the most consistently impressive lineup in Maryland. Sweetgreen's Sweetlife: A Music and Food Festival has been a recent challenger since it held its first concert four years ago. And with today's release of this year's lineup, the battle for best local festival just got closer. The Sweetlife Festival will return to Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavilion on May 11. The lineup was announced via the YouTube clip above.  On the main stage: Phoenix Passion Pit Kendrick Lamar The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Gary Clark Jr. Solange Lindsey Stirling On the Treehouse stage: Holy Ghost!

A building contract could be signed as early as this week for renovations at the Merriweather Post Pavilion that will expand bus parking areas and loading bays and upgrade an enclosed lounge area for artists and crew members, the facility's manager said.The 14,200-seat performance venue also will get a new covered area for setting up stage equipment, an addition that will make it easier and faster to change acts, said General Manager Jean Parker.The renovations come as the 30-year-old arena faces increasing competition from larger, more modern concert sites in the region.

We didn't see this coming: Virgin Mobile just announced they will release 1,000 extra FreeFest tickets on Friday. The $20 "Karma" tickets will only be available at the Merriweather Post Pavilion South box office and the 9:30 Club box office from noon to 6 p.m. (or until they run out) Friday. There will be a two-ticket limit. Proceeds will go toward the Re*Generation House, Virgin Mobile's new homeless youth shelter in Washington. This is a final push so the shelter "won't have to worry about funding for at least two years," according to spokeswoman Audrey Fix Schaefer.

* Emilia Braxton, 43, of Columbia, nurse in Howard County:It should, (otherwise) Merriweather Post will lose business. More people will go outside of Columbia to find their entertainment. Things are higher in this area, specifically Columbia. You find a lot of people go outside the area even to shop. Merriweather Post creates jobs. If they can't bring the good acts here, people will go outside.

A Howard County police officer and an auxiliary police officer are suing the driver of a bus for Jimmy Buffett over an accident that injured them after a concert at Merriweather Post Pavilion in August 1998.Officer Richard L. Rutledge and Auxiliary Officer Kurt T. Sturr were directing traffic after Buffett's concert as Kevin J. Cieslinski was driving away in a bus.The suit claims that Cieslinski ignored the officers and struck them as he was leaving the concert. Both officers claim they sustained serious injuries.

The second stage of the 1991 Tour Du Pont, the richest and most prestigious cycling event in the United States, will wind through the county Saturday, ending its 136-mile trek in downtown Columbia.Hailing from 20 countries, 126 racers -- including three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond of the United States -- will start the race in Newark, Del., pass through Lisbon at about 1:30 p.m. and cross the finish line near The Mall in Columbia at about 2:30 p.m."This leg will be one of the fastest on the tour," said Roger Young, a member of the 1972 and 1976 U.S. Olympic Cycling Team who visited Centennial Park on Monday to promote the 11-stage race and cyclingproducts made by Du Pont, the race's chief sponsor.

An update on the concert scene: newly announced shows and ticket availability. For ticket information and purchase, call Ticketmaster at 410-547-SEAT unless otherwise noted. Just announced Norah Jones performs at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia on Aug. 20. Tickets are on sale now. Still available Chris Smither at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis, June 4. 410-268-4545. Annual Capital Jazz Fest, featuring Jeffrey Osborne, Down to the Bone, David Sanborn, Najee and others, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, June 5-6. Hootie and the Blowfish at Pier Six Concert Pavilion on June 9. Roomful of Blues at the Avalon Theatre in Easton, June 10. Madonna at the MCI Center in Washington, June 14. The O'Jays, Temptations, Whispers and Four Tops at Nissan Pavilion in Manassas, Va., Aug. 1. Hilary Duff at George Mason University's Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., July 22.

Ozzy Osbourne's appearance at the Merriweather Post Pavilion -- which had been postponed Sept. 5 when the singer was suffering from stomach flu -- has been canceled.Refunds may be obtained as follows: Those who purchased tickets through the Merriweather box office should mail their tickets, along with their name and address, to the Merriweather Post Pavilion, P.O. Box 1112, Columbia, Md. 21044; a refund check will be mailed. Merriweather recommends making a photocopy of the tickets before mailing.

More than half of Howard County's 2,000 graduating public high school seniors bid farewell to their schools yesterday, in the first of a series of commencement ceremonies taking place this week.Centennial, Glenelg, Hammond, Oakland Mills and Howard high schools held ceremonies at various locations around the area, including two at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and one at Merriweather Post Pavilion."This commencement marks the culmination of the long and arduous process to which many people . . . have contributed," Superintendent Michael E. Hickey told Hammond's 245 graduates.

Def Leppard and Poison performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion Tuesday night. Midnight Sun contributor Jay Trucker was there. At around 10 Tuesday night at Columbia's Merriweather Post Pavillion, a pair of fans were relieving themselves of $12 margaritas and $10 beers when the following disagreement took place: Fan No. 1: “Poison should be headlining this show, man. They're better than Def Leppard.” Fan No. 2: “No way....

Avicii, Kid Cudi and the Shins headlined the Sweetlife Music Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion on Saturday. Reporter Vivienne Machi reviews the event. If the Sweetlife Festival were an actual sweet, I'd vote for a lemon bar: smooth, luscious, with only a few chunks of sour, yet on the whole thoroughly enjoyable. For the second year in a row, music lovers from around the state and beyond gathered through rain and patches of sun to celebrate some of the biggest names in dance and electronic music, and, to a lesser degree, sustainability, environmental consciousness and all that jazz.

Finally, a no-brainer. Kicking of Merriweather Post Pavilion's season, the Sweetlife Food and Music Festival boasts an eclectic, solid lineup of established acts and rising talents. In chronological order, here are the five acts I suggest finding time for on Saturday: Action Bronson (12:25 p.m., Treehouse) Before heading over to the main stage for Fun., check out a few songs from this Albanian-American star-in-waiting. If you like raps about high-end food, left-field pop references and other atypical topics for hip-hop, Action Bronson will make your day. His latest mixtape, "Blue Chips,"  is an intoxicatingly fresh listen.

Above, find a high-resolution map of Merriweather Post Pavilion grounds on Saturday for Virgin FreeFest. The map looks much like last year's. There are three stages: a dance forest, a festival stage on the venue's West side, and a main stage at the amphitheater. There will again be a ferris wheel. The heart of the venue will be again commandeered by festival sponsor Kyocera. Doors will open at 11 a.m. The first band goes up at noon on the dance forest stage. The full schedule is here .

Since at least August, some concertgoers have been traveling to Merriweather Post Pavilion by way of the party bus company Rock & Bus. Today the concert venue formally announced a partnership. Rock & Bus, which also offers "luxury tailgate travel" to Madison Square Garden in New York and M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, will be the venue's official shuttle service. Tickets for an upcoming round trip, say, to see Incubus, cost $40. The buses have pick-up stops in Maryland, Virginia and the District.

The most distinctive piece of the National, an indie-rock quintet from Brooklyn, N.Y.-via-Cincinnati, is lead singer Matt Berninger's slurred baritone. It's a smooth, low purr that, when combined with the band's circular guitars and Bryan Devendorf's expert drumming, lulls listeners into a trance. This combination has led to great success, including 2010's High Violet, a gold record that debuted No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and won Q magazine's best album of the year. Tuesday, the National will be at Merriweather Post Pavilion . Bassist Scott Devendorf took time from the band's European festival run to talk about High Violet's success, tour-mates Wye Oak and the group's support of President Obama.

DUE to miserable ticket sales during the summer concert season, it appears many acts are reluctant to come out this fall.As for major area arenas, just four acts have been booked to date, and Van Halen, Paula Abdul and Rush are expected to go on the road, but no local dates have been announced.Some clubs have greatly benefited from the soft arena concert season with bigger-name bookings. Cinderella and Kix, which have played at least theater-sized venues, played Hammerjacks during the past week and more big names appear to be on the way.The following sparse concert calendar reflects the fear of the acts and the promoters:Robert PalmerPalmer comes to Pier Six Concert Pavilion tonight.

Santana / Nissan Pavilion Guitar god Carlos Santana and his band play Saturday at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Va. The concert begins at 7 p.m. and will take place rain or shine. Santana announced last week that he plans to donate all net proceeds from the summer tour to the fight against the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Tickets are $20-$59.50 and are available through Ticketmaster. Call 410-481-SEAT or visit www.ticketmaster.com. For more information about the band, visit www.santana.

The smell of beer and fried food saturated the lawn and pavilion at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Packed for the co-headlining tour of Maroon 5 and Train, the concert brought generations together. Teens perspiring from Adam Levine-induced delirium mingled raucously with fans of adult alternative band Train and Gavin DeGraw. Train, who just performed at the Preakness Stakes in May, signaled its entrance to the stage with the ear-piercing whistle of a railroad train. The chugging of gears was greeted with excited screams from the band's older fans and ended, much to their delight, with the appearance of frontman Patrick Monahan.