It was hotter than anyone could have dreamed possible for August in SF yesterday, and the sun stayed out much of the day for the opening of the Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park yesterday. Many fans of all ages showed up, and judging from the crowd on the Polo Field around 8 p.m., Pearl Jam is still huge! Who knew. Here we bring you some pics from the scene, including Akron/Family, Los Campesinos! (who were sort of like The Psychedelic Furs meets Le Tigre), Silversun Pickups, Blind Pilot, The National (who were phenomenal), Thievery Corporation, and of course, the now white-haired but still rocking Tom Jones. Apologies for all ye Eddie Vedder fans -- there were special approvals required to photograph His Highness, and we were not among the chosen. more ›

We're not sure if Sean McCourt at the Guardian got old Sex Bomb on the phone, or whether these statements came through a publicist, but there's a brief interview with that legendary piece of hairy man candy, Tom Jones up on their Noise blog. Jones, who'll be playing a 6:50 set at Outside Lands this evening, says he doesn't change his act no matter what the size of the crowd, or the location. "If there are people out there and they've come to see me, I'm going to give it the best I can... I don't change the show from Las Vegas to a festival because I don't do a 'Vegas' act anyway. I don't use any dancing girls — it's a concert I'm doing. My show is basically the same, [though] I maybe make sure I cover the stage a little bit more." more ›

is emotionally dense, and thoughtful, and very deliberately quirky ... but in the end we just couldn't quite figure out what all the fuss was about. more ›

Has everyone gotten into the holiday spirit, or are we all just hopped up on eggnog? Either way, there are some festive fetes, punk rock riots and buzzworthy delights coming to our neck o' the woods this week. more ›