Help with Lollapalooza's hard choices

With dozens of bands - and disc jockeys - playing eight stages over three days, conflicts are inevitable at Lollapalooza, so that sometimes a fan might wish he or she were in possession of that Hermione Granger time-twisting device. Yet this year they've done a fairly good job of separating like-minded groups, and although there are a few big-name battles going head to head, the choice is pretty clear-cut depending on what kind of music fan you are.

Here are a few of the top choices to be made.

Friday, Aug. 6Devo on the Parkways stage vs. the New Pornographers on the Bud stage at 4 p.m. It's old-school new wave against new-school folk rock. Devo's surreal sense of theatrical fun merits consideration, but it's always an occasion when Neko Case returns to Chicago, even singing backup with the Pornographers.Lady Gaga on the Parkways stage at 8 p.m. vs. the Strokes at 8:30 on the Bud stage. Lady Gaga might seem the most unlikely of Lollapalooza acts, antithetical to its traditional grunge roots, but with her propulsive and almost irresistible dance grooves she has the potential to move a big crowd in a big way. The Strokes are years removed from their most successful recordings, but still have the big guitar riffs to charge an audience. So you makes your pick and takes your choice.Saturday, Aug. 7Green Day at 7:45 p.m. on the Parkways stage vs. Phoenix at 8:30 at Bud. Green Day has the fist-pumping all-American anthems, but they've dumbed themselves down as they've gotten bigger, while the French boys from Phoenix have come on strong with the hits off "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix." It doesn't make one anti-American to prefer Phoenix.Sunday, Aug. 8MGMT on the Bud stage vs. Wolfmother on the Parkways at 6 p.m. This doesn't really qualify as a major conflict, but it is an interesting pick-'em. MGMT tries to sell its audience live on its new sound, which has received mixed reviews, while Wolfmother tries to deliver on the hype that's driven the band up from Down Under in Australia.Soundgarden at 8 p.m. on the Parkways stage vs. Arcade Fire at 8:30 at Bud. This would seem a mismatch. Soundgarden is a first-generation Lollapalooza grunge band with a big sound, while Arcade Fire works with a quirky big-band instrumentation rich in melody but not in heft. Yet Arcade Fire's new single, "The Suburbs," from a hotly awaited album of the same name that will be out next week, has the feel of a group arriving at maturity, and Lollapalooza serves as a de facto album release party. It could bring the festival to a climactic conclusion.