Virgin

When: August 4-6

Where: Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland

Why: It beats paying scalpers' prices for The Police and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Who: The Police, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, 311, Interpol, TV on the Radio, Incubus, Danny Tenaglia, Deep Dish, Modest Mouse, Wu-Tang Clan, Cheap Trick, LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Regina Spektor, The Fratellis, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, Peter, Bjorn and John, Fountains of Wayne, Velvet Revolver, The Crystal Method (DJ set), Girl Talk, M.I.A., Spoon, Bad Brains, and more.

How: Single Day tickets for $97.50, two-day passes for $175. VIP tickets for $250 and $450 for one day and two days, respectively. For more information, head over the festival's event's Web site.

How many: Info not available as of press time.

The Virgin Festival is a Western Hemisphere offshoot of the popular V festival in England. Three are held this year in North America, with the Pimlico Race Course (home of the Preakness) in Baltimore, Maryland, hosting the US-based one for a second year in a row (the other two are in Canada).

Unlike other festivals which lean heavily on the indie-rock crowd, Virgin Festival adds some more mainstream horses (The Police, The Smashing Pumpkins) and electronic acts (The Crystal Method, top-name DJs) that will certainly draw a different crowd. Expect a fair amount of white baseball caps with Greek letters in the audience thanks to frat-friendly acts like Incubus, The Beastie Boys, 311, and Velvet Revolver.

Unavoidable: LCD Soundsystem

The incredibly hot band at the moment that is playing just about everywhere is indie-electro outfit LCD Soundsystem. And that's a great thing because they're damn good--see their latest LP Sound of Silver for evidence. Frontman James Murphy is the New York vibe right now, and the band's live shows combine the best club atmosphere with a solid rock and roll show. They won't disappoint.

Unmissable: Girl Talk

Though Virgin Festival has a solid lineup of DJs, the one with talent that goes simply beyond matching beats is mash-up master and re-mixer extraordinaire Girl Talk. Samples of Tears for Fears, hip-hop act Clipse, and psychedelic country rockers Grizzly Bear in the same song? Believe it, and that's just in the first 15 seconds of the track. Not only does it work, but it will make even the most statuesque wallflowers shake their groove thing. Pure fun.

Unwatchable: Velvet Revolver

Velvet Revolver is made up of former members of Guns N' Roses, Stone Temple Pilots, Wasted Youth, and The Cult. However, Velvet Revolver is no Guns 'N Roses, Stone Temple Pilots, Wasted Youth, or The Cult.