Jingle Ball Rock -- The End's `Deck The Hall Ball' Dangles An Impressive Lineup

------------------------------- Concert preview

"Deck the Hall Ball": Bush, Beck, Foo Fighters, Filter, 311 and Staind, 4:30 today, KeyArena, Seattle Center; sold out. -------------------------------

Give Bush a "fa," Beck a "la," a "la" to the Foo Fighters, and another "la la la la la la la" for Filter, 311 and Staind. It's time again for The End's (107.7 FM) "Deck the Hall Ball."

The annual concert marathon boasts another impressive alt-rock lineup, with its usual breakdown of superstars and up-and-coming bands (to check out The End's batting average, see accompanying list of past performers).

A percentage of proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Students Against Violence Everywhere. Fitting, since most of the audience this year will probably be just about ready for their first year of trigonometry.

Surprisingly, Bush has been called on to headline over Beck. The British band, which early on suffered the insults of "Nirvanabe," has just released "The Science of Things" album and the single "The Chemicals Between Us." For this album, lead singer Gavin Rossdale spent a year in a house near Cork, Ireland, staffed with a personal chef and gofer, taking walks, eating bacon and egg sandwiches, watching "Jerry Springer" and writing music. Still, he says, life isn't all biscuits and creme anglaise, even when you're the 73rd richest man in England. "I'm worried about my future. I'm worried about the price of your life to music."

Like Rossdale, Beck also spent a year working on his latest album, "Midnite Vultures." But he did it in L.A. His past album, "Odelay," was a patchwork project at a home studio; the new CD has more than two turntables and a microphone. "Midnite Vultures" was recorded with a band and shows signs of R&B and hip-hop influences. Beck Hansen hasn't peeped since 1996, and at last sight, his jerky, puppetlike dance performances aped old funk shows. Who knows what to expect this time around?

Other bands on the bill found their muses elsewhere. The Foo Fighters all escaped to the lead singer's house in Virginia for a four-month slumber party characterized by pillow fights, hogging the remote control, battling for use of the juicer (Seattle-based bassist Nate Mendel says, "We don't argue about drugs, we argue about the juicer. We were trying to be healthy . . . but those guys were eating Steak-Um.") They also found time to write "There is Nothing Left to Lose," which they recorded with vintage gear. "It's kind of cool, when so many bands are relying on computers and drum machines to find a new niche, to go with classic instruments and make a record," Mendel says.

Filter's second CD, "Title of Record," has sprung free of lead singer Richard Patrick's domination, incorporating writing by the other band members. Patrick, former lead guitarist for Nine Inch Nails, quit NIN and industrial rock in 1994 to form Filter.

"This album is a lot richer," said band member Geno Lenardo from Chicago. "It was more of a band effort. There's a lot more density and variety to it."

To lighten up the evening's bill, rap rockers 311 will bring the sounds of their new CD, "Soundsystem."

It blends the familiar reggae, rock and rap and throws Latin into the mix as well. As opposed to the other bands at Deck the Hall, L.A.-based 311 is relentlessly positive in its music.

"It's harder to be positive than negative," says P-Nut, the band's drummer. "It's easier to complain about something than to figure out how to solve a problem."

Metal band Staind sits on the opposite pole compared to 311. After being discovered by Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Staind has gone on several rap/rock festival tours. Lead singer Aaron Lewis explains the process behind his vehement lyrics. "I don't sit down and write. It just all kind of throws up out of me. Bleah."

Let's see how he throws it up on stage.