Know Your Capitol Hill Block Party Bands: Mostly Locals

The Capitol Hill Block Party kicks off today and stretches through Sunday evening. A few festival updates via their twitter news feed to note: will call opens at 11 a.m. in case you want to beat the rush, the music starts at 3:30 p.m., and single tickets to today's festivities are gone baby gone. While this is sad for procrastinators, it's somewhat good news to those who purchased tickets early: according to LineOut, they restricted themselves to selling fewer tickets than the last year's crowd-crushing Frizzelle-lifting peak attendance (Sonic Youth). Finally, to make more room for meandering, food carts will be sparse within the fences (appropriate, given their sparseness in the city); so plan on patronizing one of the restaurants within the grounds or stepping out of the festival to stimulate the local economy via your hunger and thirst.

Sure, some of the biggest draws may be from out of town, but the festival is also a great place to sample a bunch of local (and locally-connected) bands. The lineup promises a overflowing smorgasbord of Seattle bands on all of the stages, but to catch up with your friendly neighborhood musicians, be sure keep an eye on the Kerry Zettel-curated stage at the Cha Cha. You can also check out the eclectic interests the kids at the Vera Project by visiting their stage, situated away from the lure of the beer gardens. There's also a not-quite-secret stage at Vita's bean room, for those who secured the right credentials (hint: visit the AT&T store).

Below, a few day-by-day reminders of sets to consider, complete with a few videos to help you pass the time until the gates open. As usual, take advantage of the vast comments section to let us know who you're dying to see.

Friday

Despite having played only a few local shows, Ishmael Butler's latest, Shabazz Palaces has already earned an giant reputation here and around the country. Over Memorial Day, they opened the Sasquatch mainstage to a decent crowd of fans who rushed into the Gorge; this time they'll play to everyone who sprints from work to the Block Party.  (Friday, 6:00 p.m., Mainstage)

Other contenders: Head Like a Kite (8:45 p.m., Neumo's) and Fruit Bats (10:45, Vera), who aren't exactly Seattleites, but the Sub Pop connection, Portland commute, and sweet stylings give them a local place in our hearts.

Saturday

Although the acts aren't Seattle-based, the label is, with a trio of Sub Pop band getting the mainstage nice and toasty: Obits (3:30 p.m.); Avi Buffalo (4:45 p.m.); Blitzen Trapper (6:00 p.m.). After that, duck inside Neumo's to check out newish inductees, Happy Birthday (6:30 p.m.).

Also worth waking up early: Head and the Heart (2:00 p.m., Vera).

Sunday

- It's a Carissa's Wierd re-reunion! Not quite, but back-to-back performances by alumni. Jenn Ghetto's S is first, followed by Mat Brooke & the rest of the Grand Archives crew. (Sunday, 5:15 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., Vera Stage) When that's finished, duck inside to see Aveo, who have temporarily reunited after years of hibernation. Lead singer William Wilson came all the way from Sweden to get the band back together to open the Carissa's Wierd reunion show. While he's in town, they booked a block party gig at the Cha Cha. A DON'T MISS for nostalgics; they sound even better now than they did then. (Sunday, 7:45 p.m., Cha Cha)

- For a study in contrasts, get to the mainstage early to catch some of the mayor's favorite bands. First it's Americana octet the Maldives, venturing to Capitol Hill from their native land of Ballard (2:45 p.m.) followed immediately by the hip-hop antics of now-exonerated Mad Rad crew (3:45 p.m.).

- Other noteworthy performances: THEESatisfaction (Saturday, 5:15 p.m., Neumo's), Hardly Art's the Dutchess and the Duke (7:30 p.m., Vera), local label Townie Records' first signee, Hey Champ. (8:00 p.m., Neumo's), and electro video fiends Truckasaurus (9:15 p.m., Neumo's)