Palma Violets: 1:00pm, Bud Light Stage

These lads from Lambeth, London have been labeled the next big thing across the pond, so it only should be a matter of time until Palma Violets strike a similar match with us Yankees. They certainly did their best kicking off day three for the sun dried tomato faced crowd, starting off with a rambunctiously hasty rendition of the summer classic, “California Sun”. If their demeanor came across as apathetic, that wasn’t their intention. Palma Violets’ nonchalant vibes were fueled with plenty of energy and charisma; it’s just that they play a little loose, as if they were jamming out in their mom’s basement by themselves, clueless to the thousands of first time listeners at Lollapalooza. They cranked out the garage punk riffs infused with Oasis sing-a-long choruses from their debut album “180”, such as, “Step Up For The Cool Cats”, “We Found Love”, and “Rattlesnake Highway”, as drummer William Doyle slammed his kit a-la Animal from the Muppets. I also predict it won’t be long till we start hearing their made for festivals single “Best of Friends” in beer commercials, such a feel good song that begs to be blared while slamming down pints at the pub with your mates. I’m deciding to play a new game today and relate every band I see with a movie soundtrack their sound would fit right in with. I’m gonna go with “Trainspotting” for Palma Violets, with Ewan McGregor evading UK authorities to a song like, “Tom the Drum”.

 

Nightmare and the Cat: 1:50pm, BMI Stage

The nice thing about the BMI stage is that it provides the perfect opportunity to stop by and check out a random band you’ve never heard before, all while perfectly secluded in a shaded mini forest of trees. I catch a little bit of Nightmare and the Cat, and it’s not disappointing. Their glittery bug eyed sunglasses donning front man leads the way with their amalgam of 90’s alternative masters Blur and Marcy’s Playground, while busting out the glam rock distortion when seen fit. I’m gonna put them on the “Cruel Intentions” soundtrack, with their mischievous posh tone in the background of Sarah Michelle Gellar doing something heinously sociopathic.

Wild Nothing: 2:15pm, Red Bull Stage

“What time is Jane’s Addiction playing tonight?” Frontman Nathan Goodman jabbed at Lollapalooza brainchild Perry Farrell. But he knows damn well who’s playing tonight, because Wild Nothing, like so many other bands performing today, owe Sunday headliner The Cure just a little props, if not a nice royalties check here and there. But of course Nathan acknowledged sharing the same stage as his idols, dedicating the shoegaze dream pop jam “Summer Holiday” in their name amid textured synths and settling mist from fog machines. They ended on their seven minute dreamy post punk jam “Ride”, as Jeff Haley channeled Gary Numan’s “Cars” bassline through the murky guitar layers. Wild Nothing could be on something from David Lynch, let’s say “Mullholland Drive”, during any number of sequences where we cannot decipher what is reality.

Wavves: 4:45pm, The Grove

“Jesus loves you… No he doesn’t!” Cue fuzz distortion as Nathan Williams orchestrates the rowdiness with “Paranoid” off Wavves’ latest album “Afraid of Heights”. It was all killer no filler with Wavves, rarely stopping to chat or even tune, preferring an ambush of their punk catalog, including, “Post Acid”, “Sail to the Sun”, and, “Idiot”. Bodies were being shoved and pulled in every direction, and it wasn’t rare to dodge a half empty Budweiser can flying at your face. Nathan and the gang have been at this routine for a while now, and they were all business, providing what was mostly the last opportunity at pure head banging for the weekend. The crowd surfing fails were epic, and after the last power chord on “No Hope Kids” was strummed, a pink haired chick with her mouth covered in blood walks past me, all smiles, and full of hope. Soundtrack: “Kids” the 90’s skateboarding and AIDS family classic.