Mac McCaughan may be best recognized as the leader of indie pioneer Superchuck (watch live video!), but with his solo project Portastatic, the Chapel Hill, NC, native and Merge Records founder explores territory outside the fuzzy, loose jangle most have come to know from that band.

The sad truth: Not all youngsters gallivanting under Seattle's Space Needle Monday turned out to heed SPIN deputy editor Steve Kandell's advice and catch indie rock luminaries Superchunk's rare live set in Memorial Stadium.

AND THE FOUR REASONS ARE:

Every band you like owes them a debt.
Now entering their 20th (!) year, this Chapel Hill quartet virtually invented everything about indie rock worth emulating: economic self-sufficiency, creativity unchecked by careerism, perfect pop hooks, and songwriting chops that have matured at the same rate the band and their audience themselves.

Officials for the 2008 Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival have completed the festival's lineup, adding Death Cab For Cutie, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Superchunk, Two Gallants, and the Weakerthans, among others, to a bill featuring Beck, the recently reunited Stone Temple Pilots, and Neko Case. The festival convenes at Seattle, WA's Seattle Center from Aug. 30-Sept. 1.