Check out this great video of stormtroopers from the 501st Carolina Garrison practicing a cheerleading routine backstage at the Weird Al concert where they escorted the iconic nerdy singer on stage. The real cheerleaders didn’t show up to dance for Weird Al’s song “Smells Like Nirvana” so they were asked to fill in. Bring it on!

VIDEO: Troopers Cheer for Weird Al

Also on that same tour, Weird Al asked another group from the 501st Legion — Empire City Garrison — to escort the singer on stage.
Read all about it here:
Stormtroopers Invade Weird Al Concert

Anyone want to suggest a few cheers?

2-4-6-8
Who do we appreciate?
Vader! Vader!
Go Darth Vader!

Weezer’s new video “Pork and Beans” pays tribute to every Web celebrity and viral video you can think of from the Coke-Mentos experiment to Charlie the Unicorn. Of course, Star Wars fans Ryan vs. Dorkman and lightsabers in general make the usual cameos!

See if you can name all the guest stars and shout-outs!

VIDEO: Weezer - “Pork and Beans”

(Spike Star Wars billboards remixed with Murakami art)

Contemporary Japanese artist Takashi Murakami — most noted for founding the Superflat postmodern art movement — recently moved his @Murakami exhibit from Los Angeles to Brooklyn. io9 chats with him about his art and how sci-fi films like Star Wars influenced his work.

Do you have any specific science fiction influences to your work? Any movies or television shows you grew up watching?
I loved Galaxy Express 999. When I saw the scene depicting Planet Maetel’s collapse, I was moved from the bottom of my heart, and made the decision to work in the field of anime. Also, the amount of influence that the appearance of Star Wars exerted on my generation is tremendous. I felt sympathetic to the revolution that George Lucas started, and my work has become a re-enactment of that sort of revolution in the art scene.

What artists do you enjoy?
Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, J.J. Abrams, Hayao Miyazaki.

Read the full interview here:
Murakami Tells io9 About His Secret Love For J.J. Abrams

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SOURCES: AndIamNotLying.com, ClubJade.net, io9.com

Count Dooku actor Christopher Lee recently recorded the metal version of “The Toreador March” with South London punk group, The Inner Terrestrials. Even though this might be old news to a few die-hard fans, we’re hoping Christopher Lee makes more guest appearances with bands in the near future.

Watch the video here of Christopher Lee singing and hanging out with the band.

(photo courtesy of News Newgroup Papers Ltd.)

According to The Sun tabloid, Brit singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor has funny looking knees. As if! What we care more about is her choice of costume at a recent DJ gig.

The singer was recently seen at London’s Koko club, where she and her husband Richard Jones — bassist for The Feeling — did a DJ set for the venue’s Guilty Pleasures night. The pair showed off their Star Wars fan cred by dressing as Han Solo and Princess Leia! Though Richard does look more like a Jedi than a space pirate…

And for the record, we think Sophie’s knees look just fine.

Check out the story here.

Sighted on stage at the Iron Maiden show in Los Angeles on 2/19: Lucas Online’s very own Dennybot, rocking out and sporting a handmade T-shirt depicting Iron Maiden’s mascot, “Eddie,” wearing a Vader helmet! Good times.

Photos: John McMurtrie

And while we’re on the topic of Star Wars/Iron Maiden mashups, check out this cool drawing by superfan Timo Kumpulainen that has Eddie in full Sith regalia:

http://www.twentyelevendesign.com/maidenart/DarthEddie3.jpg

Brit band Kasabian frontman Tom Meighan shelled out some serious dough to add replicas of R2-D2 and C-3PO to his growing sci-fi film memorabilia collection.

According to The Sun:

Tom has paid 8,000 British pounds to have the life-size R2-D2 and C-3P0 models made and they are both exact replicas from the film. They now have pride of place in his flat, which is full of cool stuff from cult movies. Tom spent around 10,000 British pounds earlier this year on the actual BMX they used in E.T. - and he also has a life-size model of E.T.

Read more about Tom’s collection here:
Singer’s £8k on C-3PO & R2-D2

Learn more about why Tom loves Star Wars in our interview with him here:
Britpop Band Kasabian Reveals Love for Star Wars

Be sure to catch the rest of Kasabian taking a tour of Lucasfilm in the Presidio here.

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SOURCES:
The Sun, ClubJade.net

While the Sex Pistols had Malcolm McLaren to keep Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious in line, looks like Welsh rock band Losing Sun has Darth Vader to contend with on the tour bus.

Actor David Prowse (who played Darth Vader in the Original Trilogy), has agreed to manage the band.

“If my friends had said to me years ago that Darth Vader is going to manage our band I would have never believed it,” laughed drummer Jayce Lewis. “He’s brought stacks of experience and enthusiasm to the band and is so driven,” he added.

Read the full article here:
Star Wars actor backs Welsh rock band

(photo by Bob DeSimone)

A recent concert review in New York Magazine reveals that our favorite comedian/singer/curly-haired god — Weird Al — invited the Empire City Garrison of the 501st Legion which included a Darth Vader, two sandtroopers and 10 stormtroopers to come up on stage with him — impressing fans including this music critic!

The evening’s undeniable highlight was the half-hour mash-up of Al’s best-loved song parodies — yep, he played “Eat It.” “Amish Paradise” too — culminating in “The Saga Continues,” his Star Wars–themed version of Don McLean’s “American Pie,” for which he was flanked by Darth Vader and eight dancing Stormtroopers. Even some girls enjoyed it!

Read the full review here:
‘Weird Al’: Still Great! (via New York Magazine)

Be sure to check out our own interview with Weird Al about his love for Star Wars here on starwars.com:
“Weird Al” — Nerdy Something

Blogged from The Burnkit 2600 — Circuit Bent Instrument Gallery — is this awesome hack of a retro Star Wars toy with such modifications as input and output jacks, mic/input selector, pitch and distortion controls.

This Darth Vader pitch-shifting device makes your voice sound like a Sith Lord’s. The Dark Side Box creates great, growling, pitch shifted sounds of whatever source you input. It has three Darth Vader samples, tiny mic, speaker and volume control.

The Dark Side Box was used to process the analog sounds of an old Univox drum machine. The result was really distorted; I especially like the pneumatic piston-type sounds that were added in the second half of the sample.

Check out the MP3 sample here:
Dark Side Box