If you think the tension is thick this week when Senator John McCain has lunch with his gone-rogue running mate Sarah Palin, can you imagine the eggshells people are walking on backstage at the Rock Witchu Tour? Thankfully, this time Janet Jackson's health isn't the problem. But she got some bad news on Monday when opening act LL Cool J's people announced that Uncle L was dropping out due to "scheduling conflicts." Hmm ...

Read more about LL Cool J's surprise departure from Janet's tour here.

When we heard the news over the weekend about Travis Barker and DJ AM's plane crash, we couldn't help but think of the last time we caught up with them, fresh from their stint as the house band at the Video Music Awards.

The duo showed everyone a good time, with some help from LL Cool J, the Ting Tings and Katy Perry, but it was the guys themselves who really seemed to have the most fun. When John Norris caught up with them at the VMA afterparty, Travis told him, "Oh my gosh, it was so fun!" They also talked about just how cool it was to collaborate with those artists and to have the opportunity to be the soundtrack for the awards show.

The guys were particularly stoked to work with LL Cool J ("I saw him in '87. I was freaking out!" AM gushed), thrilled with the results of their Ting Tings collaboration and blown away by Lil Wayne. In the end, though, AM joked, "I'm just happy I didn't mess up."

See how the guys were feeling after their big night below.

First, I wanted to say thanks to all of you for your comments on the interview with LL. I appreciate it. Like I said, that was just a snippet of the conversation, and I'll have the best bits of the interview coming soon.

Second, I thought you guys might like to see this as well. A couple of days after I sat down for that interview with LL, I went over to Chung King Studios to pay him a visit, where LL kindly agreed to preview us some of his brand new material for the first time ever. The shoot went great and the tracks were hot! We sat down for about an hour as LL played us some of the album track-by-track and broke down the story behind the music.

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At the end of last week I got a phone call from LL Cool J and his manager, the lovely Claudine, telling me that he was spending his Friday night down at New York's legendary Chung King Studios laying down the final touches to his latest album, Exit 13 — and would I like to come down with a camera crew for an exclusive first listen?

We jumped at the chance — after all, this was an opportunity to witness history in the making.

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