By JASON DEAREN/The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - Steven Garcia pulled into a Houston gas station recently to fill up the old Dodge van his punk band uses on summer tours.

For months, the 23-year-old singer-guitarist had been budgeting money and booking show dates for Something Fierce’s third tour - but skyrocketing gas prices have put the brakes on those plans.

“Once I ran the numbers it was a ‘There’s no (expletive) way’ kind of moment,” Garcia said. After much hand-wringing and grumbling from bookers who’d scheduled the band to play, Garcia canceled the tour.

Cramming into a rusty, creaky van and playing dive bars and house parties is a summer ritual for many young musicians and ambitious independent bands trying to get exposure, make a living and maybe build a solid future in music.

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According to Star Pulse Entertainment, Supergrass will be launching a summer tour alongside the Foo Fighters in support of their latest album “Diamond Hoo Ha.” The Britpop act released its sixth studio album on June 10 off their new record label Astralwerks. For tour information, see Supergrass.com.

By JAKE COYLE/The Associated Press

MANCHESTER, Tenn. - Bonnaroo began in earnest Friday with the rarest of double bills: Chris Rock followed by Metallica.

Metallica’s Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett introduced Rock, and the comedian in turn introduced who he called “the baddest … band in the world.” Both acts were unlikely fare for the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which began in 2002 as primarily a jam band event.

But in recent years, Bonnaroo has broadened itself and brought more diverse fans to its 700-acre countryside site south of Nashville. Among the tens of thousands of festival-goers, Rock, Metallica and many other performers were very conscious of their entry into a tie-dyed world they seldom traffic in.

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