Saturday, 1-3:15

Rogue Wave, Stars, Wild Beasts, Warpaint, Harlem, Dragonette, Beats Antique, and Blues Traveler will be performing at Lollapalooza 2010 between the hours of 1:00 and 3:15 p.m. on Saturday, August 7.

ROGUE WAVE
Oakland’s Rogue Wave hearkens back to a long-lost era in which organic talent trumped studio-room trickery. Zach Rogue and company’s recent Brushfire Records release, Permalight, and its predecessor Asleep at Heaven’s Gate are replete with dreamy textures and tuneful harmonies. Songs like “Solitary Gun,” “Harmonium,” and “Lake Michigan” have enchanted casual listeners and television music directors alike. Rogue Wave should be a perfect fit in its early afternoon slot at this year’s Lollapalooza. (Saturday, 1-1:45, Adidas Mega Stage) –text: Jeff Sistrunk

STARS
After 2008’s appearance by Broken Social Scene, it’s fitting that one of its satellite groups, Stars, now has its turn on the Lollapalooza stage. Having just released its fifth album, The Five Ghosts, Stars are continuing to expand the audience they have steadily assembled since 2003 release Heart and 2004’s Set Yourself On Fire. Though members switch off between Broken Social Scene and Stars, neither band has a lock on soft, lush-filled indie pop. (Saturday, 2:15-3:15, Budweiser Stage) –text: Chris Castaneda

WILD BEASTS
Wild Beasts is a fitting name for any band fortunate enough to have Hayden Thorpe as their lead singer. Seconds into any of the group’s two records, any listener can immediately grasp what makes this English indie rock quartet stand out: Thorpe’s distinguishable ability to simultaneously croon, shriek and howl with his countertenor falsetto pipes. Throw in some magical shimmering guitars and, well boys and girls, it appears that glam rock may be back. (Saturday, 1:15-2:15, PlayStation Stage) –text: Jodi Root

WARPAINT
Warpaint’s sparse, haunting sound — driven by the understated guitar work of Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman mixed with the group’s hypnotic vocal delivery — recalls the atmospheric allure of early ‘80s post-punk and ‘60s psych folk. Based in Los Angeles, the group’s debut EP Exquisite Corpse saw release in the fall of 2009, mixed by Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. Rough Trade Records will release their debut full-length later this year. (Saturday, 2:15-3, Sony Bloggie Stage) –text: Sean Rose–photo: Dan Monick

HARLEM
Harlem has spent the year making quite a name for themselves. The four guys are constantly switching instruments, which adds to the chaotic feel of their live shows yet it’s also a tribute to how laid-back their surfish ‘90s-style rock ‘n’ roll sound is. Their new album, Hippies, takes the garage band feel and gives it some affirmation. Harlem’s devil-may-care attitude keeps the songs fun and the tunes catchy as hell, without sounding at all poppy. (Saturday, 1-1:45, Sony Bloggie Stage) –text: Steven Jaynes–photo: Courtney Chavanell

DRAGONETTE
Out of their Toronto basement and into the limelight, Dragonette has made a splash in the electro-pop scene by snatching prized opening gigs for Duran Duran and New Order. The polymorphic trio blasts new wave-revisited songs that are playful and upbeat. Singer/songwriter Martina Sorbara conjures up the charm of Cyndi Lauper’s bubbly voice in synth-driven tracks like “Fixin to Thrill” and “Pick Up the Phone.” Dragonette’s energetic tunes will shake you from your teenage depression. (Saturday, 1:45-2:30, BMI Stage) –text: Jason Pete

BEATS ANTIQUE
Seamlessly blending jazz, hip-hop, Afrobeat, electronica, gypsy music and traditional Middle Eastern folk music, listening to Oakland trio Beats Antique is a lesson in fusion. Melding heavy rhythms with traditional instruments ranging from the kalimba to the clarinet to the viola, Beats Antique’s music bears all the smokiness of hypnotically danceable Middle Eastern jazz. This is world music married to trip-hop performed with a belly dancer, an unlikely but surprisingly potent amalgamation. (Saturday, 1:45-2:30, Perry’s) –text: Eric Bonkowski

BLUES TRAVELER
Since helping coin the jam band framework and becoming one of the more successful such acts of the ‘90s, the 2000s were not as kind to jammy blues-rock enthusiasts Blues Traveler. Lead singer John Popper had to undergo emergency bypass surgery in 1999 which left him with a stapled stomach, he controversially supported George Bush in 2004 and was busted for marijuana and weapons possession in 2007. Yet Popper remains, as one of the best harmonica players in the business. (Saturday, 1:45-2:45, Parkways Foundation Stage) –text: Chris Pugh

Blues Traveler, Flogging Molly, G.Love & Special Sauce, Iron & Wine, Saul Williams

BLUES TRAVELER
Formed over 20 years ago, Blues Traveler is still traveling the festival circuit with their tenth album, North Hollywood Shootout, slated for release later this year. Led by frontman and harmonica extraordinaire John Popper, the 4-piece gained mainstream recognition with their 1994 album Four and popular singles such as “Run Around” and “Hook.” After bassist Bobby Sheehan overdosed on drugs in 1999, bassist Tad Kinchla and keyboardist Ben Wilson joined the band. Like other jam bands, they are known for their improvisational live shows. (Sunday, 5:15-6:15, MySpace Stage) –text: Ariel Sundel–photo: Cambria Harkey

FLOGGING MOLLY
For a band that built a career fusing American punk roots with traditional Celtic instrumentation and structures, it’s all but bizarre that this year’s Float marked the first time that Flogging Molly actually recorded in Ireland. For almost a decade, the California ensemble has tapped its heritage and crafted atmospheric, pint-raising tunes here in the States. And though this 2008 release still was mixed back on the band’s home soil, the energy and legitimacy of those sessions in the group’s adopted homeland seems to have paid off. The album debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and also cracked the top two positions on the independent and alternative charts. For a band with such a distinct niche, it’s a surprising payoff. Then again, people who like beer (and pretending they’re Irish while drunk) is a pretty large demographic. (Sunday, 5:15-6:15, PlayStation Stage) –text: Derek Wright–photo: Lindsay Hutchens

G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE
Originally formed as a duo in 1992, G. Love & Special Sauce is now an alternative hip-hop trio including Garrett Dutton as G. Love (vocals/guitar/harmonica), Jimi Prescott as Jimi Jazz (string bass), and Jeffrey Clemens as Houseman (drums/vocals). They just released their eighth studio album, Superhero Brother, on Jack Johnson’s Brushfire Records, which they have been signed to since 2004. For longtime fans, the Philadelphia band’s music is still as lively as ever. (Sunday, 4:15-5:15, AT&T Stage) –text: Ariel Sundel–photo: Eric Kelly / www.conomocity.com

IRON & WINE
Raised in South Carolina and now residing in Austin, Sam Beam (a.k.a. Iron and Wine) burst onto the folk-rock scene in 2002 with his affable Sub Pop debut The Creek Drank the Cradle. In the vein of Will Oldham, Beam’s soft voice marries gently with his acoustic guitar generating sweeping Southern-style melodies. The prolific Beam released Our Endless Numbered Days in 2004 featuring the sonorous “Naked As We Came”, used effectively in the documentary Tarnation. Beam collaborated with Calexico for the 2005 EP In Reins and released yet another EP entitled Women King the same year. But it’s his cover of Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” that Beam is most recognized for. Last year’s third full-length The Shepherd’s Dog was well received just like all his material. Beam’s music doesn’t exactly translate as well in a festival setting as some of Lolla’s more bombastic groups, but his music is ideal for drifting away to in the hot summer sun. (Sunday, 4:15-5:15, Bud Light Stage) –text: Garin Pirnia

SAUL WILLIAMS
If a voice were a tangible thing, Saul Williams’ would be a dark, rusty razor blade, slicing mercilessly through every lie and falsification in our culture. This razor blade would act as a selfless, heroic voice in a society that has slowly become voiceless. Saul himself has described his music as “ghetto Gothic” and “hardcore dance.” His rapping and hip hop-oriented music has morphed into something that differentiates and separates itself from all other genres of music, creating a groundbreaking and incendiary new dimension in music. Dark, edgy, polyrhythmic beats act as reins to the horse of Saul’s thunderous voice, announcing itself in raucous, preternatural form: electric, eclectic, eccentric. His fearless declaration of opinion, dissatisfaction, and perspective has been strongly based on his extensive experience with spoken word poetry. Bottom line? Williams’ intense lyrics practice freedom of speech in every sense of the word. (Sunday, 5:00-6:00, Citi Stage) –text: Katie Knaub–photo: Evan Cohen

Blues Traveler, Broken Social Scene, Red Hot Chili Peppers

BLUES TRAVELER
Blues Traveler, formed in the late ’80s, is a band that has experienced as much stress as it has success. Despite crooner/manic harmonica player John Popper overcoming both a car accident that forced him to perform in a wheelchair for quite some time and an emergency angioplasty just a few years later — in addition to the band’s original bassist, Bobby Sheehan, dying at the much too young age of 31 — this band has still managed to prevail for almost two decades. One of the very few bands that have managed to squeeze the art of extended jamming out of the ’70s and into the mainstream with their poppy form of bluesy-rock, the group’s 1995 single “Run-Around” landed Blues Traveler onto the hit charts and propelled them to multi-platinum sales status. What exactly they’ve been up to in the decade since is anybody’s guess, but I suppose we could find out tonight. (Sunday, 7:30-8:30, Adidas-Champs Stage) –text: Melanie Falina–photo: Cambria Harkey

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
The New Pornographers, Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade are just a few Canadian bands that have been inundating the U.S lately. But let us not forget the Great White North’s indie godfathers Broken Social Scene. Formed in 1999, the band includes lead singer Kevin Drew, Evan Cranley (Stars) and Emily Haines (Metric) amongst a rotating lineup that has become a collective of 11 members. Feel Good Lost was the band’s first release in 2001 featuring mellow instrumentals. It wasn’t until the next year that BSS would make a name for itself with the boisterous You Forgot It In People. The album mixed the earnestness and beauty of Feel Good Lost with up-tempo and catchy pop music. Last year the group released their self-titled hyperactive third album, containing the spastic hit “7/4 Shoreline” and Leslie Feist’s smooth vocals. With so much talent in the pool, the band is quite the spectacle live. (Sunday, 7:30-8:15, Q101 Stage) –text: Garin Pirnia

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
Is 28 songs a bit too much for one album? Apparently not for the Red Hot Chili Peppers nor their recently-released Stadium Arcadium, which marks their first set of new songs in four years. The record’s sound takes the listener back into their hybrid world of funk-rock, a sound pioneered by the band in their earlier work — making this effort a sharp contrast to the pop sound of 2002′s By The Way. However, the band’s ninth studio album still offers accessible tunes like “Dani California” and “Hard to Concentrate.” The latter song reflects another trend throughout the album: growing up. Despite most of the band members being in their 40s, the album’s lyrics show a growth in understanding of interpersonal relationships, something that could be contributed to extended album space. Either way, the band’s naked-instrument-playing, tube-sock-wearing image now seems to be a thing of the past. (Sunday, 8:30-10:00, AT&T Stage) –text: Virgil Dickson–photo: Michael Muller