Lollapalooza Plan Of Attack - Saturday Edition

With a festival as sprawling and diverse as Lollapalooza, one can easily feel conflicted about where to spend your precious time. Should you plot an early spot waiting for the popular band or roll up fashionably late splitting time with lesser known acts? Would you be better served seeing an artist you know little about or go for the group you just satisfyingly caught in a much more intimate setting? Fret not, noble 'Palozzian, your choices are not so weighty. The edition for Saturday's lineup will try to lean toward the lesser known acts and perhaps completely avoid the Parkways stage. Seriously Perry, Blues Traveler?

Mimicking Birds/The Morning Benders/Harlem/Wild Beasts: 11:30-2:15pm
For those early risers who can't get enough sweaty summer festival fun, Saturday has a great starter lineup. Begin the day with the delicate beauty of Mimicking Birds. After that, don't be tardy for the highlights of The Morning Benders. The lush production and laid back instrumentation on their debut LP Big Echo turned a lot of heads this year. Catch some quick lunch, then head back for the fun-loving garage rock of Harlem. Finally, the beguiling vocals of Hayden Thorpe in Wild Beasts is worth the attention and wonder. Conveniently playing nearby as suitable replacements at 1pm is The Soft Pack's set of straight forward rock and roll. Also a solid possibility but a further hike are sensitive indie rockers Rogue Wave.

Mimicking Birds - Burning Stars


The Morning Benders - Promises


Harlem - Friendly Ghost


The Soft Pack - C'mon


Wild Beasts - All The Kings Men


Stars/The xx/Grizzly Bear: 2:15-5:15
For the stalwart indie follower, this triple bill would make the surliest of hipsters to crack a giddy smirk. Stars' brand of 80's influenced, boy/girl fronted synth-pop will surely bring the joy. The xx is as quietly understated as their band name, but no less intense. Grizzly Bear's chamber pop sums up the equation of indie rock: accessible yet dissonant, emotional yet over-considered, big and brash with measured amounts of buried subtlety. As a lesser-known, yet worthy alternative to the main stage, I offer the haunting melodies from the all-girl quartet of Warpaint. Of course, there are those who want a little more punch, both in your music and from your fellow concert-goer. The no nonsense punk of Against Me! and the gypsy-thrash-as-fronted-by-Borat Gogol Bordello should be just the sock in the jaw you were expecting.

Stars - Fixed


The xx- Islands


Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks


Warpaint - Elephants


Metric/Spoon: 5:15-7:30pm
For live music, there is not much of a decision here. Metric's key and guitar intensity and frontwoman Emily Haines' sexy vocals are perfect to pick you up as your energy wears down in the summer heat. Spoon are as dependable as your favorite pair of blue jeans. Every couple of years they put out another album that simply reasserts their consistency for catchy indie rock. If you need to get your club music tasting, this may be the best time to do so. French disco DJ/visual innovator Joachim Gerraud and Chicago house torch carrier Kaskade will keep Perry's stage thumping.

Metric - Help, I'm Alive


Spoon - Written In Reverse


Kaskade - Sorry


Check out Joachim Gerraud here.

Cut Copy/Phoenix 7:30-10pm
It is hard to think of Green Day as the elder statesmen remembering their small label snot nose Buzzcocks rehash. The hard truth is that their output while sliding to the mainstream and picking up more listeners and Grammy wins has become a shadow of their humble, fun-loving beginnings. For the music of right now, check out Cut Copy where disco beats and shimmering pop fall in love and make little dancing glow stick babies. Phoenix can also be light as a souffle, but their indelible hooks have been winning over fans since their 2009 breakthrough release Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Don't forget to hydrate and see you Sunday.

Cut Copy - Where I'm Going


Phoenix - 1901