Friday begins at 11:15 a.m., and features Chicago-based band the Bon Mots-composers of sugar kissed pop music. Often compared to the Byrds and praised for vintage instrumentation, PopMatters.com cheers that the band mixes "witty lyrics and sly nods to the likes of Elvis Costello and Pavement," while AllMusic.com proclaims, "The Bon Mots just may be Chicago's best-kept secret."

12:30 p.m. ushers in another Chicago troupe, Cameron McGill and What Army. McGill's lyrics and melodies embrace the enigmatic and the melancholy, all while categorically maintaining a stark dedication to beauty and self-deprecating humor.

1:45 to 2:30 p.m. will be dominated by Houston's Makeshifte. Makeshifte is not for the faint of heart. The 2005 Texas Buzz Award winners for the "Musicians' Choice" award cite Hoobastank, Linkin Park and Incubus as key influences of their heavy, guitar-driven tunes led by feverish vocals.

San Francisco's Kelley Soltz follows Makeshifte at 3:00 until 3:45 p.m. Stoltz is capable of channeling Carl Wilson to sinful perfection, then swings over and nods to the Beatles, refusing to adopt any one monotonous sound or voice. A master of several instruments, Stoltz waves fondly to past icons while planting his feet firmly in 21st century pop.

4:15 to 5:00 p.m. brings Anderson, Indiana's Jon McLaughlin. A classically trained pianist, McLaughlin relishes in the sounds of Billy Joel and Ben Folds, and melds spirited keys with crooner-inspired vocals. The result jumps vigorously between genres like jazz, funk, rock and ragtime.

Chicago's Musical Outfits kick things off Saturday at 11:15 a.m. These four young musicians have created quite a buzz thanks in large part to the group's dynamic live show. Their 2005 debut album, Left Here, garnered spins on popular Chicago radio stations 93.1 WXRT, WLUW and Q101.

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. sees Austin, Texas, band St. James take the stage. The trio's buoyant harmonies are layered copiously over exquisite strings and the occasional piano, creating a moody feast for the ears well-worth revisiting.

New York rapper Lanz takes over at 1:45 p.m. Sixteen-year-old Lanz originally embraced the sounds of Jay Z, Tupac and Nas as an escape from the hardships that greeted her at an early age. Lanz has poured her arduous experiences into her lyrics, resulting in mature reflections in spite of her youth.

From 3:00 to 3:45 p.m., Rhode Island's Elvis Perkins holds down the fort. Dreamy melodies and stories dominate Perkins' music, which draws thoughtfully from folk rock and relies heavily on guitar and occasional fiddle mastery paired with emotive percussion.

At 4:15, Chicago's Kill Hannah wraps up Saturday's day stage. The Atlantic Records recording artists have created a fresh British-inspired rock / electronica hybrid best savored live. BMI proudly offers the opportunity to witness the band Billy Corgan called "the future of Chicago rock."

From 11:15 a.m. to noon Sunday morning, Chicago's Katie Todd Band will pleasantly awaken the crowd. Three albums deep into a promising career, the band is buoyed by Todd's sweet vocals that hint provocatively at the jagged edge buried just beneath the surface.

Chicago's Catfish Haven takes the stage at 12:30 p.m. The band's rustic sound achieves notoriety thanks to soulful lead singer George Hunter's gravelly vocal delivery. Named for the trailer park Hunter called home in his youth, the troupe's authentic grittiness seeps into every corner of their sound.

1:45 p.m. brings Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra to Chicago. The young pop band displays an innate understanding of balancing emotional depths with radio-friendly hooks that often evades artists twice their age. Manchester Orchestra is sauntering down a golden path, prompting Paste Magazine to proclaim, "When experience matriculates into that pre-existing talent, great music will spring from this simply good music."

Birmingham, Alabama's Moses Mayfield hits the stage from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. Epic Recording artists who claim influences ranging from Pearl Jam to Peter Gabriel, Moses Mayfield delivers an insightful rock punch that somehow prompts both introspection and unbridled head-banging.

Chicago's Assassins wrap up BMI's Lollapalooza day stage from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. The group's unique approach to composition and songwriting itself results in experimental layers of electro-rock bearing the distinct thumbprint of each one of the six members.

Katie Todd talks to her manager Jill Katona backstage - prior to kicking off the Sunday BMI stage lineup - as Lollapalooza's documentary film crew captures the conversation.

Hometown favorites frequented the BMI stage, from Friday's kick-off with buzz-band the Bon Mots until the Assassin's endnote on Sunday. Other Windy City acts Cameron McGill and What Army, Musical Outfits, Kill Hannah, the Katie Todd Band and Catfish Haven graced the stage as well-each a testament to the town's rich artistic backdrop. The four corners of the country were also well-represented, thanks to Houston's Makeshifte, San Francisco's Kelley Stoltz, Indiana's Jon McLaughlin, Austin's St. James, New York City's Lanz, Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra and Birmingham's Moses Mayfield.

Chicago's Catfish Haven - dressed in black - perform with a beefed-up presence: background singers and a horn section are dressed in white. Pictured left to right: BMI's June Neira, bandmembers George Hunter, Miguel Castillo, and Ryan Farnham, BMI's Charlie Feldman

"Lollapalooza is the perfect platform to underscore BMI's commitment to the best new music," says New York Writer/Publisher VP Charlie Feldman. "We provided a great opportunity for many of our up-and-coming acts in a high profile setting that also promoted many of BMI's superstars. Our stage sponsorship of this first-class event was a win-win for BMI."

Manchester Orchestra - left to right BMI's Samantha Cox, band leader Andy Hall with members Jay, Jeremiah, and Chris, BMI's Lynn Oliver

Moses Mayfield - Front row, l - r: Band members Matthew Mayfield and Will Drake, manager Jason Rogoff. Back row, l-r: BMI's Lynn Oliver, band members Will Mason, Hans Ford, and Matt Taylor.

l-r: Band members Will Mason and Will Drake, BMI's June Neira, Matthew Mayfield, BMI's Charlie Feldman, Hans Ford, Matt Taylor, manager Jason Rogoff, BMI's Samantha Cox

BMI's June Neira, Sub Pop recording artist Kelley Stoltz (currently opening for the Raconteurs US Tour), BMI's Charlie Feldman

Keyboardist Chris Frantisak, BMI's Kay Clary, BMI's June Neira, Bon Mot leader Eric Chial

BMI's Lynn Oliver and Samantha Cox gear up to catch Kill Hannah's headlining set on BMI's day stage.

L-R: BMI's Ben Tischker, Rodrigo Palma, Nate Swan, BMI's Charlie Feldman, Cameron McGill, Jeff Kmeciak, Noah Harris, and Sean Burke

Kill Hannah command the BMI Stage on Saturday afternoon

Performance photos by Scott Newton

Dan Wiese (guitars)

Jon Radtke (guitars)

Greg Corner (bass)

“And I’m not running anymore, I’ll stand to face it all, I’ll fight for every breath/Until there’s nothing left of us“

“Believer” by Kill Hannah

A title could not be more apropos. Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, the latest offering from Kill Hannah, defines the blue-collar work ethic of this unique band, whose American spin on British modern rock reaches its apotheosis on their sensational new release. 

After touring relentlessly through the two years that followed their 2003 Atlantic debut, For Never & Ever (which featured the smash single “Kennedy"), the band dedicated six months to conceptualizing their sophomore effort with intense songwriting and constant demoing. After having a lifetime to write their first album, it was, admittedly, a challenge. But they’ve beaten the odds before.

No one sounded or looked like them when they first broke free from their art school roots, peddled their independently produced records at shows and local stores, conquered skeptics and built a loyal fan base. Their sound had no precedent in their hometown of Chicago, yet its influence would launch a subculture there and spread far beyond to others that would follow their musical and visual leads. Back then, they had a ferocious DIY-mentality, creating their own merchandise, passing out fliers in the snow, maintaining their heavily trafficked website and more. They still do.

With the final mixes for Until There’s Nothing Left of Us, they knew they had given all they had to this music.

And you can hear it - in the passion and poetry, the candor of their lyrics, the physical impact of their beats … all the elements that prompted Billy Corgan to hail them as “the future of Chicago rock” resonate here. Easily described as the bridge between the Killers, AFI, Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance, this band owns John Hughes movies, worn out mix tapes and a comprehensive understanding of what came before them. Their sound is at once familiar and refreshingly original, showing undeniable growth by taking chances in a world where most art is being played safe.

While Kill Hannah had cut Forever Never & Ever far from home in sunny Los Angeles, Until There’s Nothing Left of Us was conceived and created back home in Chicago during the dead of winter. That, according to Devine, stamps every second of the album with a distinctive energy.

“Everything came from the stimulation I get from this place,” he insists. “I live in view of the entire skyline; the trains literally circle me. It’s almost like the city itself envelops me. Like any metropolis, it can be dark at times, but super romantic too. From nine to five, it’s absolute chaos, and then after six o’clock it’s completely desolate. At the lakeshore it might be totally placid and serene, and in the next minute these crazy waves crash in and freeze as massive piles of jagged ice. In a way, our music is like that too. From track to track on this record, and even within each song, we have moments of triumph and then we have moments of creepy romance.”

As the countdown for delivering Until There’s Nothing Left of Us began, Devine set off alone, exploring his city and finding magic in places that had somehow escaped his attention – a tiny Gothic church, for example, amidst the towers that loom over Michigan Avenue. Each detail stirred ideas – word paintings, a snippet of melody – that he’d record on his voicemail.

Soon the band gathered at friend/local drummer Garrett Hammond’s home studio and began taking all of their demos apart. “We’d rehearse and develop and record every single part,” recalls guitarist Dan Wiese. “Every note and every word got re-evaluated several times before everyone was satisfied.”

After wrapping up their intense pre-production, they hit the studio with Chicago native Johnny K. With a catalog that includes producing bands like Disturbed and 3 Doors Down, he seemed like an unusual choice for Kill Hannah. “But we wanted to experiment,” Devine explains. “My personal tastes lean toward European and 80s influences, and Johnny is known for doing straight-ahead rock or metal. In Chicago terms, it’s like we’re North Side and Johnny is, as he calls himself, a ‘South Side knucklehead’.” It was, of course, a perfect match.

They began by finding common ground as Johnny seconded their enthusiasm for the Cure, Peter Gabriel and the Psychedelic Furs. The plan, then, was to at once expand and refine their sound without losing the primal instincts that have driven Kill Hannah from the start.

“We love our first album and stand by it, but we also know that the most consistent criticism it received was that it didn’t have the raw energy that we have when we play live,” Devine says. “On the new album, we’ve got the harmonized vocals and electronics and sophistication that are so much a part of what we are, but Johnny’s perspective helped us to also bring that dynamic side of our show to the table too.”

If you’re lucky enough to have seen them live on tours with the Sounds and H.I.M., or headlining their now legendary shows at the Metro and across the country this summer, you’ll know immediately what all of this means.

From the album’s triumphant, instrumental opening, “Life in the Arctic,” which defines the context for the epic tracks that follow, through the siren-like riff that drives “Believer,” the drum and bass-inspired beats and delicate chimes that surge into waves of massive guitars on “The Songs That Saved My Life,” the seductive blend of emotive melody and body-slamming beat on the anthemic, lead single “Lips Like Morphine,” whose chorus fans began chanting at shows within days of the song’s appearance on the band’s MySpace page (myspace.com/killhannah). This is how Kill Hannah sounds onstage when they play with a strength only achieved by feeding from the energy of their fans and serving it back with immeasurable intensity.

Mat Devine’s lyrics for “Love You to Death” reflect his familiarity with that place where tragedy and romance unite, a Shakespearean vision that’s conveyed powerfully in classic pop song format. “Scream” pays tribute to their hometown, whose grandeur and intensity are critical elements of Kill Hannah’s style. And “Sleep Tight,” improbably intimate, provides the perfect coda.

Until There’s Nothing Left of Us is everything that the band and the legions that follow them could have wished for. But it’s only the start of the next exciting chapter for Kill Hannah.

Website: www.killhannah.com

Friday begins at 11:15 a.m., and features Chicago-based band the Bon Mots-composers of sugar kissed pop music. Often compared to the Byrds and praised for vintage instrumentation, PopMatters.com cheers that the band mixes "witty lyrics and sly nods to the likes of Elvis Costello and Pavement," while AllMusic.com proclaims, "The Bon Mots just may be Chicago's best-kept secret."

12:30 p.m. ushers in another Chicago troupe, Cameron McGill and What Army. McGill's lyrics and melodies embrace the enigmatic and the melancholy, all while categorically maintaining a stark dedication to beauty and self-deprecating humor.

1:45 to 2:30 p.m. will be dominated by Houston's Makeshifte. Makeshifte is not for the faint of heart. The 2005 Texas Buzz Award winners for the "Musicians' Choice" award cite Hoobastank, Linkin Park and Incubus as key influences of their heavy, guitar-driven tunes led by feverish vocals.

San Francisco's Kelley Soltz follows Makeshifte at 3:00 until 3:45 p.m. Stoltz is capable of channeling Carl Wilson to sinful perfection, then swings over and nods to the Beatles, refusing to adopt any one monotonous sound or voice. A master of several instruments, Stoltz waves fondly to past icons while planting his feet firmly in 21st century pop.

4:15 to 5:00 p.m. brings Anderson, Indiana's Jon McLaughlin. A classically trained pianist, McLaughlin relishes in the sounds of Billy Joel and Ben Folds, and melds spirited keys with crooner-inspired vocals. The result jumps vigorously between genres like jazz, funk, rock and ragtime.

Chicago's Musical Outfits kick things off Saturday at 11:15 a.m. These four young musicians have created quite a buzz thanks in large part to the group's dynamic live show. Their 2005 debut album, Left Here, garnered spins on popular Chicago radio stations 93.1 WXRT, WLUW and Q101.

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. sees Austin, Texas, band St. James take the stage. The trio's buoyant harmonies are layered copiously over exquisite strings and the occasional piano, creating a moody feast for the ears well-worth revisiting.

New York rapper Lanz takes over at 1:45 p.m. Sixteen-year-old Lanz originally embraced the sounds of Jay Z, Tupac and Nas as an escape from the hardships that greeted her at an early age. Lanz has poured her arduous experiences into her lyrics, resulting in mature reflections in spite of her youth.

From 3:00 to 3:45 p.m., Rhode Island's Elvis Perkins holds down the fort. Dreamy melodies and stories dominate Perkins' music, which draws thoughtfully from folk rock and relies heavily on guitar and occasional fiddle mastery paired with emotive percussion.

At 4:15, Chicago's Kill Hannah wraps up Saturday's day stage. The Atlantic Records recording artists have created a fresh British-inspired rock / electronica hybrid best savored live. BMI proudly offers the opportunity to witness the band Billy Corgan called "the future of Chicago rock."

From 11:15 a.m. to noon Sunday morning, Chicago's Katie Todd Band will pleasantly awaken the crowd. Three albums deep into a promising career, the band is buoyed by Todd's sweet vocals that hint provocatively at the jagged edge buried just beneath the surface.

Chicago's Catfish Haven takes the stage at 12:30 p.m. The band's rustic sound achieves notoriety thanks to soulful lead singer George Hunter's gravelly vocal delivery. Named for the trailer park Hunter called home in his youth, the troupe's authentic grittiness seeps into every corner of their sound.

1:45 p.m. brings Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra to Chicago. The young pop band displays an innate understanding of balancing emotional depths with radio-friendly hooks that often evades artists twice their age. Manchester Orchestra is sauntering down a golden path, prompting Paste Magazine to proclaim, "When experience matriculates into that pre-existing talent, great music will spring from this simply good music."

Birmingham, Alabama's Moses Mayfield hits the stage from 3:00 to 3:45 p.m. Epic Recording artists who claim influences ranging from Pearl Jam to Peter Gabriel, Moses Mayfield delivers an insightful rock punch that somehow prompts both introspection and unbridled head-banging.

Chicago's Assassins wrap up BMI's Lollapalooza day stage from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. The group's unique approach to composition and songwriting itself results in experimental layers of electro-rock bearing the distinct thumbprint of each one of the six members.