The Godfather of Grunge, hippie icon and anti-corporate hero Neil Young will hit the road this fall for a North American tour, backed by the same band he took with him to Europe earlier this year. Perhaps trying to match some of his eclectic but wildly successful line-ups from years past (Sonic Youth and Social Distortion come to mind), Young will bring rising upstarts Everest with him for the entire tour, while Death Cab for Cutie and Wilco will each tackle half the run. The tour begins on October 14 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and ends at NYC's Madison Square Garden on December 15.

Another great idea: general admission floor seating (with reserved in the stands). We love that.

Let's hear it for the boys. The Hold Steady and the Drive-By Truckers are teaming up for a nationwide tour called 'Rock 'n' Roll Means Well.' Taken from a line from the Drive By Trucker's 2003 album 'Decoration Day,' the full lyric is one of the Hold Steady's Craig Finn's favorites: "rock 'n' roll means well but can't help telling young boys lies."

The cross-admiration between the two bands will be apparent on the co-headlining tour itself, as they take turns with who goes last. Such gentlemen. The tour begins on October 30. In the meantime, check out the Hold Steady on Conan O'Brian on August 25.

Bay Area native Les Claypool doesn't have any plans etched in stone when it comes to Primus' performance at the first annual Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco. However, he does know one thing: "There will be astronauts involved," he said at a press conference. "I think we might play songs from Van Halen 'One,'" he joked.

Although they haven't exactly been performing Van Halen albums in their entirety, as threatened, the Primus fellas have actually been accompanied by giant inflatable astronauts as of late. "The astronauts are glorious," Claypool said, noting that they had them in tow this past June for Quebec City's 400th Anniversary Celebration. "I think it was touching for them to have an element of NASA and space at their celebration." Canada, of course, has never had a space exploration program to call their own (although some could make an argument involving Neil Young). Acknowledging this, Claypool said, "It could have been puzzling for them being that we were there to celebrate 400 years of Quebec City and we show up with ... 'In your face, Quebec!'"

Given all the space cadets in San Francisco, we predict Primus, at Outside Lands, will be a hit.

This Week: Gogol Bordello rock out with high energy, Gnarls Barkley's multi-instrumentalist Danger Mouse leans over the piano with tambourine in hand, Soulwax perform at the Virgin Mobile Festival in Baltimore and much more.

It's not exactly news that Rage Against the Machine is outspoken about the war in Iraq. Turns out, they're against it. The recently reunited band's latest diplomatic effort involves hosting a free festival-style concert at the Denver Coliseum (in, you guessed it, Denver, CO). Other bands slated to perform include the Flobots, the Coup, State Radio and Wayne Kramer. The event, which takes place August 27 during the Democratic National Convention, is billed as the 'Tent State Music Festival to End the War' and is the result of a partnership between Rage, Tent State and the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

For those pondering which one to attend (the convention or the concert), tickets for the show are free -- including no nasty service charges -- but available by lottery only. Information on how to obtain them, and other details, can be found here.

In anticipation of Outside Lands (a first-year major music festival that takes place in San Francisco, August 22 through 24) several key artists participated in a recent a press conference, including Steve Winwood. During his part of the conference, the iconic musician -- who, some would say, is a living relic from the music scene that San Francisco birthed in the '60s -- said he was looking forward to returning to the Bay Area not only for the weather but also to recognize his roots. The city was his U.S. first market and, in fact, the first place he visited in America. His career has careened in all sorts of directions since then, including a foray into mainstream pop with a string of 1980s hits such as 'Valerie,' 'Higher Love' and 'Back in the High Life.' He's come a long way since his days in Traffic or Blind Faith. But one thing that's remained from his hippie roots is an eco-consciousness that is suddenly back in style.

While Rothbury wins in the race for green this summer, Outside Lands will have a considerable green effort in its own right, including solar and wind powered cell phone charging stations and generators that run partially on biodiesel. Winwood says his own bus does not use biofuel, however the band has taken steps to make their touring lifestyle greener. "In fact, I was just today trying to buy biodegradable plates to take on the bus, and we recycle at every stop," Winwood said. "And so yes, we do think about it. Whatever happened to rock 'n' roll, I wonder? But there we are."

Meanwhile, when asked by a journalist if Winwood and one-time bandmate Eric Clapton had any additional plans to reunite following a few shows earlier this year, Winwood seemed optimistic. "We are in touch and I would think that there is a good possibility that we could do something else," he said. "But as of yet, there's no plans have been made."

Nine Inch Nails' recent conceptual effort 'Year Zero,' which has already spawned an Alternate Reality Game, may be joining the likes of 'The Sopranos,' 'Six Feet Under,' 'Sex and the City' and 'The Wire.' Trent Reznor tells the L.A. Times that the album, set 15 to 20 years in a bleak future caused by the current state of affairs, might be coming to HBO. "I just pitched it to HBO two weeks ago in L.A. It went great," Reznor said. "Ideally, we're trying to get them to do a two-year limited series. I prefer that over a film. We would have a second ARG tying into the second album and ties into the series and they all happen together."

"It's the most exciting thing on the horizon," he continued. "It's the thing that when I wake up in the morning it makes me say, 'God it would be cool if that happened.' This is my grand ambition."

Meanwhile, Nine Inch Nails will continue their North American tour Tuesday in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Metallica had a busy weekend. In addition to rocking Ozzfest in Dallas this past Saturday -- where they debuted a new song called 'Cyanide' -- the gigantic hard rock foursome took to the web to announce the completion of its ninth studio album, 'Death Magnetic.' Metallica also divulged plans for an extensive North American arena tour behind the upcoming, Rick Rubin-produced disc, which gets underway in Glendale, Arizona on October 21.

"Today we finished mixing and mastering our ninth studio album of original material, 'Death Magnetic', which hits the streets worldwide on Friday, September 12," the men of Metallica -- James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo -- collectively announced. "Plus, you'll be able to download every song from the album for 'Guitar Hero III' on the same day!"

Despite a stunning view of the Manhattan skyline, Garden State pride was in full bloom during Nicole Atkins' set at New Jersey's All Points West festival. After promising the fans a guest appearance from a Jersey icon, the band was joined on stage by the pork roll, egg and cheese mascots of Lakewood, New Jersey's Blue Claws minor league baseball team. The trio of giant food items proceeded to dance around the stage to the singer's ultra-catchy single, 'Maybe Tonight.'

Atkins, a proud Jersey native who greeted friends in the audience throughout her band's spirited set, proclaimed, "We are passionate about three things: New Jersey; pork roll, egg and cheese sandwiches, and punk rock," before closing the set with a scorching rendition of Patti Smith's 'Pissing in a River.'

The first-ever All Points West festival kicked off its three-day stint at New Jersey's Liberty State Park today. Bands and festival-goers alike were treated to breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline and, well, Lady Liberty's backside. And while there were a few passing rainstorms, they did little to dampen the crowd's spirit, not to mention their tangible anticipation for the first of Radiohead's two consecutive headlining spots.

Highlights of the day included the New Pornographers' cover of Blind Melon's 'No Rain' shortly after the rain stopped, Girl Talk's Greg Gillis calling out J.J. Abrams's monster movie, 'Cloverfield,' before rocking a seriously stoked crowd at the Bullet stage, and Thom Yorke's not-so-successful attempt at a Jersey accent . Stay tuned for more highlights and flip through pics from the fest below.

The Police did something very unusual at their show last night at Madison Square Garden: broadcast one of their members getting a clean shave live in front of a packed audience. That's what happened to vocalist/bassist Sting when his grizzled beard was shaved off in the backstage dressing room prior to the band's first encore, while the crowd in the arena watched the whole thing happen on the large video screens.

It was a humorous memory left at the final Police show, which concluded their reunion tour that started over a year ago. A benefit for New York public television stations WNET and WLIW, the concert was the band's last show together in the city where they began their first American tour at CBGB's 30 years ago.

"It's been an honor to be back with my friends," Sting said, referring to Police guitarist Summers and drummer Stewart Copeland, early in the show. Then he added, "The real triumph of this tour is that we haven't strangled each other."

Jim James, frontman of My Morning Jacket, seemingly owned the historic Newport, Rhode Island from August 1-3. When he wasn't on stage mesmerizing a crowd with his solo acoustic set and rightfully dubbing the humid weekend as 'Newport Folk Festival 08: Hot and Sticky,' he was making guest appearances with She and Him and Calexico, and enjoying the spirit of the festival.

"It's an honor to roam these hallowed halls with all the fine performers of yesteryear and today," the bearded James mellowly gushed as an earlier gust of terrential downpours along the Newport coast cleared up on Saturday. "That's the crazy thing about these kind of old festivals. It's been going on forever, and all the old festivals are still happening right now, while this one's happening. We're on top of ghosts. They're on top of ghosts. They're on top of other ghosts." He soon welcomed M. Ward (who James referred to as "Mr. Montgomery Ward") from the side of the stage to join him for a handful of songs.

When he wasn't onstage, he could often be seen appreciating fellow festival highlights like Brian Wilson or roaming the backstage grounds with a posse of people. "I saw Brian Wilson last night. That was pretty cool, to stand in the same cube of earth -- but he didn't play my favorite song, 'Merry Christmas Satan,'" James lamented before busting into his own falsetto to sing its melody. He closed his performance with an omnichord solo and then ran off stage.

Perry Farrell's sonic extravaganza, now in its twelfth year, is underway in Chicago's expansive Grant Park. Nestled amid the city's skyscrapers and boasting a musically diverse lineup -- as evidenced by headliners Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West -- the three-day event is sure to be a vibrant visual spectacle. So keep it here all weekend for pics of all the hot festival action.

This Week: MGMT played poolside in Brooklyn, the Subways' Charlotte Cooper struck a rockstar pose at the Blender Theater in NYC, Editors brought their dark disco to a foggy stage in Florence, and much more.

Way before Harold and Kumar, there was Cheech and Chong -- the pot-loving duo who were all at once movie stars, comedians and rock stars, opening for the likes of the Rolling Stones and sharing a stage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. On Wednesday, the iconic duo returned to L.A.'s famed Troubadour -- the same stage where they were discovered in 1970 -- to announce their first tour in 25 years.

While reuniting seems all too common these days, Tommy Chong told Spinner that there is a big difference between the reunited duo and all the bands who've gotten back together of late. "You have to get along to do comedy," Chong says. "If we were a rock band we probably would've gotten back together and broken up a million times." But all of that fighting is in the past now they say. "We're concentrating solely on the money," Chong deadpans.

Tickets for the 'Light up America' trek, which kicks off September 12 in Philadelphia and runs through December 20 in Denver, go on sale on August 8 at -- we're not kidding -- 4:20 in the afternoon.