The summer is nearly done, which means that the festival season is also nearing its end. That's why we're going out with a bang, as MTV News will bring you updates from the Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park this weekend. Starting tomorrow, Pearl Jam, the Black Eyed Peas, Dave Matthews Band, Tenacious D, Jason Mraz, M.I.A. and, uh, Tom Jones will be covering the park with hot tracks, and we'll be there to take it all in, talk to the stars and deliver late-breaking news.

Obviously, the headliners will pack a punch, but here are the five acts on the undercard who may not have giant audiences or multi-platinum sales but who always manage to deliver at festivals.

Autolux
Their driving, spacey brand of rock marries prog to Britpop. It's the perfect appetizer for the Mars Volta and just the right dose of adrenaline to kickstart Friday afternoon.

The Duke Spirit
A lot of small bands get lost on festival stages, but for some reason, the Duke Spirit's brand of gutter-garage feels much more alive in the middle of nature. Read more...

Last weekend, Sony Music and GenerationFly sent the winner of their summer internship contest to Lisbon, Portugal for Optimus Alive. Here are her dispatches.

By Kristina Truong

I found myself in Lisbon, Portugal, ready to dive head-first into Optimus Alive 2009. Kids on the bus to the festival grounds were just going nuts: Jumping, banging on the exit doors, passing around bottles of who knows what and screaming "Metallica!" at the top of their lungs.

Getting through the entrance, I definitely missed the black outfit memo, as the dominant fashion trend was all black, heavy metal rock T-shirts and cyber goth gear. It made sense, as this was Optimus Alive's metal day, with Mastodon, Machine Head, Lamb of God, Slipknot and Metallica all on the main stage. The lineup was fleshed out by less-hardcore groups like the Klaxons, Crystal Castles, Silversun Pickups and TV on the Radio.

Silversun Pickups caught my attention right away. The band's live performance was very impressive and the sound quality was nearly identical to how they sound on their records. Crystal Castles, a band that I was excited to see again, got the crowd on their feet and on the edge with their intense energy and light show. However, their show was a bit derailed by technical difficulties with singer Alice Glass’ mic. Metallica, on the other hand, performed another phenomenal show. It seems impossible for these guys not to put on a heart-pounding, feet-stomping, hair-whippin’, body moshing, heavy metal show.

The second day of Optimus Alive was similarly exhilarating and blood-pumping. Read more...

I know that Dave Matthews Band's new #1 album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, is a tribute to their late saxophonist LeRoi Moore, so I feel weird making fun of it. I applaud the band's devotion to the guy, and his death is genuinely tragic. But seriously: Is that title not the biggest "WTF?" in the history of top-of-the-chart records?

I was curious, so I did a little digging. As it happens, there are a number of other titles that looked a little weird, or were hard to say, or otherwise just seemed ridiculous representing the most-bought album in this country. Before I get to the list, I want to make two points. First of all, it's really interesting going back in time to look at the chart-topping albums through the years. This is especially true when you get into the '80s and early '90s, where single albums would rule for months at a time (Prince's Purple Rain stood on top of the charts for over 20 consecutive weeks). Because of the dominance of so few albums, it made it difficult for zany names to sneak into the mix. (It should also be noted that the #1 albums started turning over a lot more once SoundScan started tracking accurate sales, which is telling.) Secondly, the titles that are overly wordy tended to draw most of my focus. Though there are plenty of single-word titles that still don't feel easy to say (U2's Zooropa, for example), it's the eight-, 10- and 12-syllable titles that cross over into truly ridiculous territory.

Anyway, here's the list. Did I leave any off?

10: Dave Matthews Band, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (2009)
Turns out plenty of stuff is wackier.
Read more...

By Alex Shapiro

Dave Matthews Band fans watching the action-packed Grammys on Sunday night may have cause to be upset — and it wasn't because DMB didn't win any awards. DMB saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who died in August due to complications from an ATV accident, was not included in the "In Memoriam" section of the show, which honored legendary sound mixers, producers and musicians.

Today the Recording Academy's president, Neil Portnow, issued a statement regarding Moore's absence from the televised tribute.

"Nearly 250 members of our music community have passed in the last year, and all of them have been listed in the program book for the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, including LeRoi Moore," he said. "For the 'Encore' segment of our annual Grammy Awards telecast, unfortunately we are unable to include all of the talented and wonderful people within the allotted time frame. The Academy recognizes Moore's contributions to music and music education, and we are deeply saddened by his premature passing."
Read more...

By Alex Shapiro

Dave Matthews fans are angry with the Grammys because band co-founder and saxophonist LeRoi Moore, who died in August, was excluded from the show's annual "In Memoriam" segment. While the exclusion of more recent passings, such as Cramps singer Lux Interior and Stooges guitarist Ron Ashton, might have been understandable, Moore was clearly overlooked. Granted, the Grammys had a challenging show last night for well-publicized reasons, but for fans, it's hard not to take this as a slight. The band has not only sold millions of albums and performed for countless fans, they have been nominated for multiple Grammys and won one (Matthews himself won an additional Grammy for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance in 2004). We understand the challenges of putting on a live awards show — believe us, we understand! — but it seems the Academy could have spared some shine for this gifted and much-missed musician.

Spokespeople for the Grammys were not available for comment at press time.