THE JAYHAWKS played Taste of Chicago over the weekend and I went when the storms foretold failed to materialize (though a few minutes of rain was a welcome respite to a baking sun and humidity).  The reunited quintet opened with "Wichita" from Hollywood Town Hall; the set leaned heavily on that LP and Tomorrow The Green Grass (the reissues of these albums being the focus of their current tour). Certainly, the latter LP's "Blue" got the biggest round of applause of a well received set, though "Waiting For the Sun" was also a highlight.  The band also unveiled a few from their upcoming Mockingbird Time album, including "She Walks in So Many Ways" and "Black Eyed Susan."  Folks who were there for the free music seemed to enjoy it and were perhaps surprised at the band's cover of Grand Funk's "Bad Time."  The attitude of the band was as sunny as the day turned out; they seemed to view it as a chance to add to their rabid fan base, and likely succeeded.  Not having seen The Jayhawks in their initial run was on my regrets list and I am glad to cross it off, particularly as their harmonies (not merely the incredible blend of Gary Louris and Mark Olson, but also the occasional spice of Karen Grotberg and Tim O'Reagan) seem as strong as ever.

EVEREST opened for the Jayhawks, and if you listen to this Morning Becomes Eclectic, it's not surprising that Neil Young signed the band to his label. But even more than Young, the band reminded me of the fictional Stillwater from Almost Famous, absent the Jagger/Richards or Plant/Page dynamic.  That is, Everest is very much in the genre of classic rock without sounding too much like any of those bands in particular (not a bad thing, imho).

ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER is advance streaming Last Summer.

THE HORRORS are advance streaming Skying.

THE SUNDELLES did five free songs for Daytrotter.

LOLLAPALOOZA: Get your free MP3s from Spinner.

THE REPLACEMENTS played their final show 20 years ago yesterday. Stream it.

RYAN ADAMS covers "Nutshell" (Alice in Chains) and offers a new track, "Empty Room," a collaboration with the missus (Mandy Moore).

GUIDED BY VOICES: NYC Taper joins the band in offering two streaming tracks from McCarren Park, June 18, 2011; the whole set (and all their reunion gigs) may be purchesed from the band.

THE DOORS:  Over the weekend, former members of the band have marked the 40th anniversary of the death of Jim Morrison by lighting candles at his grave in Paris.  So why not "Light My Fire" and "Touch Me" for Twofer Tuesday?

BOB MOULD talks to NY mag's Vulture about his memoirs.

THE BEST OF 2011 (So Far): According to Drowned in Sound; Paste staffers Bonnie Stiernberg, Josh Jackson, and Max Blau; SPIN and The Queitus.

BLONDIE: Debbie Harry talks to the Daily Mail about new artists, Botox and more...

RICK SPRINGFIELD: Charged with two counts of DUI.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: To the surprise of no one, Transformers 3 cleans up with 97.5 million over the weekend, and 162.2 million since opening Wednesday.  That's actually about 38 million less than what Transformers 2 took in over a similar period, despite the 3-D premium price.  But it has already grossed 391 million worldwide, so we have likely not seen the last of the autobots, even if Shia LeBeouf is making noise like he's done.  Cars 2 skids a remarkable 62 percent to the second slot with 25.1 million -- was it just the Transformers, or a quality problem? Hmmm.  Bad Teacher dropped 55 percent to the third slot with 14.1 million, but is already well in the black on its 20 million budget.  Larry Crowne debuted at No.4 with 13 million, which is a sure disappointment for a Hanks-Roberts vehicle, though it won't likely count as a financial flop, given its 30 million budget.  Rounding out the Top 5 is the 7.6 million debut of Monte Carlo, which ain't bad against a 20 million budget.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Shriver filed for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger, revealing there is no prenup, which reportedly means they will split as much as 400 million dollars. (Note the media savvy of dumping the divorce filing on the Friday night before the July 4th weekend.)

RYAN REYNOLDS & SCARLETT JOHANSSON are officially divorced.

KATE MOSS got hitched to rocker Jamie Hince.

SALMA HAYEK's billionaire husband fathered Linda Evangelista's child.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE: Why I Don't Drink Alcohol Anymore.

CHARLIE SHEEN's ex, Brooke Mueller, is out of rehab.

ASHTON KUTCHER is having a Twitter fight with the Village Voice over child prostitution. He has gone so far as to tweet advertisers about the Voice's Back Page personal ads.

PRINCE ALBERT II wed longtime love Charlene Wittstock in a civil ceremony inside the palace in Monaco on Friday afternoon.

AL QAEDA: Toward the end of his decade in hiding, Osama bin Laden was spending as much time exchanging messages about al-Qaeda's struggles as he was plotting ways for the terrorist network to reassert its strength.

IRAN's elite military unit, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has transferred lethal new munitions to its allies in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, according to senior US officials, in a bid to accelerate the US withdrawals from these countries.

EGYPT: Liberals and secularists now fear that at least some of their newfound freedoms may be backfiring. But if the revolution has had an uncomfortable lesson for Egypt's discordant and inexperienced liberals, it has the same catch for the Islamists: with free expression comes diversity, and not everyone is going to agree.

IRAQI commandos are taking the lead in rooting out insurgents, but want US special ops to stay in-country.

DOVE vs CAT: Who you got?

TWO RACCOONS carjacked a German motorist.

RATS rampant at Arizona's Capitol building.

A WAYWARD BABOON that apparently escaped from an amusement park and became a mini-celebrity -- appearing at a golf course and being followed on Twitter -- was captured Saturday after spending three days on the lam.

THE LESSER WATER BOATMAN is the loudest creature in the world thanks to the insect's noisy 'singing penis', scientists have discovered.