Opening the day is Melee, one of the few popular bands from Orange County, California, that doesn't play punk, though the group's piano-based pop could pass for emo--or at least their lyrics do. The exuberance implied in the group's name is mostly put to use delivering broken-hearted love songs with more than a touch of bitterness.

Then comes singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, whose lovelorn lyrics are more self-deprecating and purposely wry. They're also more voluminous, so be prepared for lots of aimless stage patter reinforcing the low self-esteem shtick. On his new album, he tackles more adult themes like considerate sex and divorce (his parents', not his--he's still pretty young) and he's gotten better musically, but watch out for that ego.

Jakob Dylan's hangup is right there in his name, and if you don't know what that means then when exactly did you arrive here from Mars? Dylan could always escape his dad's shadow in his very popular group the Wallflowers, but he's on his own now, at least temporarily, and one has to wonder why he's being billed as "Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers" rather than just plain old Jakob Dylan. We'll assume it means Wallflowers's fans have nothing to worry about.

The afternoon's mini-theme is completed by the guy who basically invented white boy American emo-pop, Ben Folds, a better musician than his detractors will admit and a more savvy entertainer than almost anyone at this year's festival. Whether Folds' brand of "suburban punk rock," as he once called it, still has something to say to the college set who once embraced him depends on how far that set has moved beyond the usual traumas of middle class adolescence, but none of those things really matter in a festival setting. My question is: can anybody sit through these four acts in a row without some sort of antidote afterwards? Bring on CSS!

Phil

photo(c)Kim Tonelli