Playing an auto-show media event can’t be the best gig in the world.  The venues leave plenty to be desired, for one thing. Showrooms, corporate-emblem-festooned ballrooms and art galleries are perfectly nice places to congregate and sip champagne, but no one is going to confuse them with CBGB in 1978.  The audiences aren’t particularly committed, either. The room may be packed as long as the free food and drinks are circulating, but once the miniature parfait glasses are emptied and the last wadded napkin is discarded, many party-goers have already fled the scene in search of a cab. For those who remain, well, let’s just say that automotive journalists would never be mistaken for the CMJ Music Marathon crowd. Imagine a cocktail party where everyone is discussing gear differentials — if there’s something that comes after the Z-list, we’re on it.  And yet somehow, every year a handful of automakers convince noteworthy acts to appear at their press events. This year’s roster includes the Black Eyed Peas, fresh off of their Super Bowl performance in February, who perform on Monday night in honor of the redesigned Volkswagen Beetle. And Train will be on hand at Ford’s party on Tuesday, doing double duty after appearing at a Volkswagen Passat preview in Detroit in January.  Elsewhere, there was still some question as to whether Pete Yorn would be appearing at Wednesday’s Toyota event, a bit of scheduling suspense likely to be greeted by many auto writers with, “Who’s Pete Yorn?”  Not to be outdone, Kiss is scheduled to appear at the Mini press introduction on Thursday, though at the rockless hour of 10 a.m. and therefore, presumably, not in makeup. The only other question that remained was whether Mini Kiss — which made its Super Bowl debut a year before the Peas’ halftime appearance — would be in attendance, if only to close the marketing circle.  It is hard to predict whether these acts will put on a show or just phone it in. Past appearances have been a mixed bag. Not surprisingly, many performers stick around just long enough to honor the contract, but others have gone the extra mile. I recall Ziggy Marley doing only four songs at the Volvo for Life Awards in 2008, though his version of “Redemption Song” made up for the brevity of the show. Lawrence Ulrich, a frequent contributor to the Automobiles section who has some musical chops of his own, remembers the Flaming Lips playing more than an hour at a Mazda event in 2005 — a performance that included confetti, animal costumes and lead singer Wayne Coyne crowd-surfing in a giant bubble.  Sheryl Crow played a professional half-hour set at the 2008 Mercedes event, dubbed “House of Bluetec,” while that same year Common helped promote a Lincoln/Sirius Satellite Radio partnership. And last April, She & Him, featuring the actress Zooey Deschanel on lead vocals, brought their country-rock tunes to Audi’s Park Avenue showroom — along with a polite but bewildered aspect from Ms. Deschanel, as if she had not quite understood what she’d signed up for.  As for which automaker has most consistently provided top-notch entertainment, Volvo wins in a landslide. Over the years the automaker’s events have been a veritable rock festival, if one tending towards acts a few years past their peak of popularity. In addition to Mr. Marley, Avril Lavigne, the Black Crowes, the Wallflowers, Los Lobos, Toots & the Maytals, Joss Stone, Suzanne Vega and Sugar Ray have appeared on behalf of the Swedish brand.  An automotive soiree is no rock purist’s idea of a dream show, and it would be too easy to accuse these acts of selling out. Still, there are worse ways for an artist to make a buck.
The Black Eyed Peas, Train and Kiss join a long list of notable auto show appearances by artists both well within and well past their creative prime.