Vocalist and guitarist Greg Roberts glistened with sweat as New York City's White Rabbits took the stage early Sunday morning. The difference in weather was palpable -- yesterday was cloudy and pleasant, but today was scorching and humid. I thought I'd look ridiculous with my black Totes open to protect me from the blazing heat, but it turns out I wasn't the only one with that idea -- scores of black dots sheltered sun burnt concertgoers across the softball fields of Grant Park, still a soggy mess from the previous night's rainfall.

Early-risers (already swigging beer before noon), packed in to hear the Rabbits' jangly pianos and popping bongos, and songs like the island-tinged "Sea of Rum" and "The Plot" were instant crowd-pleasers. In any other weather audiences would be bopping and dancing along, but in this heat, the band was lucky those present were enthusiastically rockin' heads and raising hands to the sky. To all those Cold War Kids fans who packed the far-too-small-for-them Citi Stage yesterday, you'd do well to catch White Rabbits the next time they hit town.

Over on the massive AT&T stage, roadies were setting up for Louisiana's Dax Riggs, frontman of now-defunct Deadboy and the Elephantmen, who played Lollapalooza last year. More than one Pearl Jam t-shirt clothed the decent-sized crowd, and by this point, beers were readily flowing. Clearly, this guy was from the Eddie Vedder school of rock. Riggs, emerging with his band of "black clowns," rocked classic '90s-ish, blues tinged numbers "I Forgot I Was Alive" and "Demon Tied to a Chair in My Brain," plus retooled, supercharged versions of Deadboy tracks like "I'm Already Dead."

With his tight white undershirt, mangy shoulder-length hair, and similar voice, he could have been resurrecting a Vedder of the past. Themes of death ("let me write on the wall of death," "living in suicide") matched Riggs' stone-cold demeanor, and though he didn't talk much, you better believe he got us all more psyched for Lolla's capstone performance from Pearl Jam. ROBIN MONHEIT

White Rabbits' Steve Patterson / Photo by Karen Chan

White Rabbits' Greg Roberts / Photo by Karen Chan