Item-World: Photo by Gwen

Ross Breneman, 20, of Maple Grove, got a photo onstage with his idol Gwen Stefani -- and the pop star herself snapped it. The No Doubt singer brought up the Minneapolis College of Art & Design student at her band's Xcel Energy Center concert Sunday, when he gave her an acrylic portrait he made of her. "She asked me if I wanted her to sign it, but I told her to keep it," Breneman recalled. Stefani thanked him by grabbing his camera. "I could tell the security guards wanted me off, but she stopped to take the photo."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Taking it in the shorts

Elvis Costello always seems to be more aware of his environment than your average rock star. At Taste of Minnesota, he knew he was in St. Paul (not Minneapolis) and he was fully aware of the makeover of the fest. "I bet you were disappointed we weren't a heavy-metal group," he said referring to this year's lineup of Judas Priest, Staind and Bret Michaels. "Sorry. We're all wearing leather shorts underneath."

JON BREAM

The hubbub over Taste of Minnesota's newly instituted $50 Gold Circle area is now being smoothed out by the festival's new organizers, after several performers and many fans complained about the empty seats between the stage and the non-Golden crowd. Elvis Costello even urged fans to jump the barriers Saturday (good thing most of his audience was too old and mellow to do so). Truth is, many of those seats were being offered for free to members of the military for Independence Day. Before Bret Michaels' set Sunday, the area was opened to all, which now has organizers tendering refunds to the 500 or so folks who did pay $50. "It definitely needs tweaking before next year," said new co-owner Andy Faris. "I think people will come to appreciate it once they understand we're offering premium seats to fans who really want that, and we're using that money specifically for the cost of booking bigger acts."

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

Soul Asylum singer Dave Pirner took his son to work last Thursday night at the Minnesota Zoo. Wearing heavy-duty headphones, Eli Pirner, 5, stood onstage in front of bassist Tommy Stinson's amp during the opening "Somebody to Shove." By the end of the night, Eli was at the mike, lowered to his level, to sing "Stand Up and Be Strong" with his kneeling dad. Afterward, guitarist Danny Murphy told the crowd: "Eli rocks! That was good, man. Just like the singer, it took Eli a little while to get wound up and then he was into it."

JON BREAM

Zut alors! Barack Obama was elected president, and Americans and the French are in love again. Well, at least in like. To celebrate, our governor and Twin Cities mayors declared this "Minnesota French Heritage Week" (the state was once a French colony as part of the Louisiana Territory). The Alliance Française and the Minnesota Opera have planned a très haute hootenanny Saturday to ring in Bastille Day, complete with music, mimes, wine, food, kids' activities and at least one rousing chorus of "La Marseillaise." (4-10 p.m. Sat., Minnesota Opera, 620 N. 1st St., Mpls. Adults $45, kids 5-12 $10, under 5 free). See afmsp.org for more information.

KRISTIN TILLOTSON

With "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on break for the holiday week, the Roots' jam-packed show last Thursday at First Avenue was their first here since signing on as Fallon's house band. The Philly hip-hop stalwarts sounded tight, but the real signs of how the NBC TV gig might have changed them were in the makeup of the sold-out crowd (more frat boys) and the makeup of their set list -- more cover songs, with a mid-America jukebox array that included Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love?" and even "Sweet Child o' Mine." They also jammed on MJ's "Never Can Say Goodbye." Here's hoping the Roots never bid adieu to the road.

CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER

* What would Don Draper do?

I.W. was excited to receive the DVD of season two of "Mad Men," AMC's addictive drama about the skirt-chasing men and long-suffering women of the 1960s ad world (out Tuesday). Extras include a mini-doc on style, featuring designer Peter Som, stylist Rachel Zoe and the Twin Cities' own Stephanie Lake, president of designer Bonnie Cashin's foundation. I.W. wasn't nearly as excited about the ads for Clorox bleach showing a white shirt with lipstick on the collar and the slogan "Getting ad guys out of hot water for generations." Note to Clorox: The show is sending up Neanderthal attitudes, not celebrating them. The third season, with Jon Hamm as Draper, starts Aug. 16.

MARCI SCHMITT

Need a film location in St. Petersburg? You soon may be able to find it in St. Paul. Boris Tsvetovat, former vice president of Russia's no. 2 studio Lenfilm, says he intends to co-produce feature films using the Twin Cities as an international service center.  His Fountaincinema Fund would aid Eastern European filmmakers who need access to U.S. localities and vice versa. "If you need a New York street, we can do it at the corner of Selby and Western," said Tsvetovat, a Twin Cities resident and real estate developer. For American projects seeking historic backdrops (and lower production costs and looser regulations), the venture promises "connections in all the eastern European republics." Minnesota beats either coast, Tsvetovat said, because of lower costs and good air-travel connections here. Tsvetovat will introduce a 2008 comedy by his filmmaking partner Yuri Mamin at Oak Street  Cinema on Saturday. "Don't Think About White Monkeys," a satire of pushy get-rich-quick Russian entrepreneurs, screens at 7:15 p.m., with star Katarina Ksenyeva attending.

COLIN COVERT

At last weekend's "Salute to America" concert, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison joined conductor Sarah Hicks on the Orchestra Hall stage to narrate Aaron Copland's "Lincoln Portrait." In her introduction to the rousing "Foshay March - Washington Memorial March," Hicks failed to mention the music's checkered history. In 1929, after it was performed at the tower's opening, Wilbur Foshay lost all of his money in the stock-market crash, and his check to composer John Philip Sousa bounced. It was not allowed to be played again until 1999, when a group of Minneapolis citizens paid off the debt. You can now hear it at the museum on the 30th floor of the W-Minneapolis.

SARA GLASSMAN