Looks like Chester Bennington from Linkin Park was kicking it with Ryan Shuck from Orgy at last night’s 10 p.m. performance of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil over at the Mirage. As per usual, the rock stars got VIP treatment, ducking backstage after the show to meet the cast and smile for the camera.

But then it occurred to me: What the hell ever happened to Orgy? Is it even accurate to say “Ryan Shuck from Orgy” if the band no longer exists? Well, I did the ol’ WikiPedia dig and sure enough, the band is not finished, but rather “taking some time off to do independent projects.” Apparently, 2008 might be the year that the death rockers return to the limelight. Oh, and Shuck’s connection to Bennington? The Orgy guitarist — along with fellow Orgy six-stringer Amir Derakh — are working with the Linkin Park singer on a side project, Dead by Sunrise.*

Just for old time’s sake, here’s a little late-’90s love from Orgy:

*Special thanks to reader Lisa for clarifying the status of Bennington’s solo/side project.

Desertscraped: New Noise from the Neon Wilderness is local author/poet/musician Jarret Keene’s latest project spawned with the help of a Cirque du Soleil Community Support Grant. The music compilation will feature “no more than eight epic tracks” compiled by Keene to showcase artists working in experimental genres such as post-rock, avant-electronic and ambient. This is Keene’s second Community Support Grant, the first of which financed last October’s “Neon Crush” spoken word event and chapbook.

“I didn’t want to repeat myself, so I formulated a musical/performance project that I felt would spotlight some of the more underground and underappreciated musicians in Las Vegas,” Keene told VEGASinsight. “I really didn’t expect to get the second grant, and I am very grateful to Cirque for the opportunity to bring some attention to artists like Albino Leviathan and Meat Over Moscow.”

Artists are invited to submit their original, unheard songs in MP3 format by May 1. Selected artists will be notified by June 1, and those who are able to replicate their compositions in a live setting will be asked to perform for a public audience to celebrate the release of Desertscraped. Interested parties should contact Keene at jarret_keene@yahoo.com.

Hey, remember we told you about that acoustic set that Grammy-nominated (ugh, really?) pop-rock band Daughtry is playing tonight at The Beatles Revolution Lounge inside the Mirage?

Well, for you Daughtry fans out there (and apparently, there are, somehow, many of you), you may be interested to know that North Carolina’s finest dropped by the 7 p.m. performance of The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil before their scheduled performance to benefit the ONE Campaign. And, of course, like every celebrity but never us, Chris Daughtry and the boys went backstage after the show to meet the cast and crew.

Note the buff chick in the top of that picture: That’s Alevtyna Titarenko, one of Las Vegas Weekly’s “Most Beautiful People.” We have to hand it to the Weekly — its shallow popularity contest posturing actually featured some pretty cool finalists, including artist Caesar Garcia, Love Pentagon drummer Courtney Carroll, sideshow hottie Lady Diabla, turntable queen Bree Delano and MMA fighter Gina Carano. And yes, we’re totally biased in listing those names.