Punk fans are notoriously fickle about bands selling out, but Alkaline Trio’s ascension from small-time macabre punk band to Killers-sized modern-rock band was so gradual and so natural that many fans might not even have noticed that their favorite group is now appearing on “The Hills.” The guyliner-wearing rockers do a 10 p.m. show at the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage tonight.
They’re back for more. Jammy roots-rockers O.A.R., a perpetual favorite on college campuses and among tape-traders, headline the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard tonight at 10 p.m., just 24 hours after they headlined a different stage, the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse, last night. The guys distinguish themselves from similar jam bands by throwing in the occasional, straight-forward ska riff.
The Crystal Method’s debut album, 1997’s Vegas, made a splash in the music world for longtime electronic-music junkies and newbies alike, even capturing the hearts of die-hard rock ’n’ roll fans. Featuring the sounds of a Clavia Nord Lead synthesizer and samples from Bill Cosby’s stand-up comedy and even answering machine messages, the album brought the big-beat movement of electronic music into the American limelight. As rave culture declined in the late ’90s, this sound came to represent, for many, nostalgia for the electronic music scene that had once been. Tonight the Crystal Method guys do a rare DJ set at the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse at 10 p.m.
Young prog-rockers for the Vans Warped Tour set, Coheed and Cambria do a 10 p.m. show at the Miller Lite Oasis.
