The Saints Are Coming

Tommorrow night, the New Orleans Saints will play in the Superdome for the first time since August 26, 2005, three days before Katrina landed in New Orleans. Regardless of whether or not you're a football fan, this is a huge event. After the damage sustained by the hurricane and its use as a shelter in the days after the storm, many people thought the Superdome would have to be torn down. Instead, a massive cleanup and rebuilding effort has brought the building back to life in just under 13 months, in time for the Saints to finally make their homecoming. You can bet it will be an emotional night in the Big Easy.

U2 and Green Day have teamed up to record a single to benefit Music Rising, the campaign headed by The Edge to replace the instruments that the gulf region's musicians, churches and schools lost when Katrina ravaged the area. Their cover of the Skids "The Saints Are Coming" will be available exclusively through Rhapsody starting tommorrow. To help celebrate the reopening of the Superdome, both bands will be in New Orleans to perform the single (along with 2-3 other songs) prior to the game. ESPN will broadcast the performance live starting at 8:19 pm EST, and it is also being offered free of charge to all radio stations by Westwood One. So if you cant be in front of a TV tommorrow night, check your favorite radio station.

The Skids - "The Saints Are Coming" (mp3)

The Skids were a Scottish punk band that featured future Big Country frontman Stuart Adamson on guitar. "The Saints Are Coming" was originally released on their 1978 debut album Scared to Dance, and is currently available on Sweet Suburbia: The Best of the Skids.