Jealous you missed the Pitchfork Music Festival? Still regretting all those bands you overlooked at SXSW? Just gotta get out of the city during this insanely gross heatwave ... and find some other, more intense heatwave to experience? Well, good news! There are two major music events that are not so far away for New Yorkers -- Lollapalooza (Chicago) and the Virgin Festival (Baltimore). And for those who get left behind? According to our guide, staying home might be the best option of all.

VIRGIN FESTIVAL
August 4-5
Baltimore, Md.
Tickets: Two-day pass: $175/$450 (VIP); one-day pass: $97.50/$250(VIP)
Getting there: As we write this, there are plenty of flights available under $300, while Amtrak service from Penn Station to BWI runs around $140. Apex Bus (https://www.apexbus.com) may be the best option—over 20 leave from Chinatown daily and cost $35 round trip.

Five reasons to go...

Beastie Boys Failed to score one of those McCarren Park Pool tickets (and don’t want to blow rent money by chasing one down on Craigslist)? Catch the Beasties in their prime environment—the crew has been headlining massive festivals for years and have mastered the art of blowing up a stadium. Warning: They'll be playing a lot of instrumental stuff this time around, to coincide with their vocal-free latest, "The Mix-Up."  Saturday, August 4, 6:15 p.m. at the North Stage

Girl Talk Greg Gilles is the big-brained mash-up king behind a new breed of piecemeal DJ—he takes not two songs, but sometimes 35 song fragments to create an entirely new work Think: “Baby Got Back” + “Hollaback Girl” + “Friends of P” + “Pump Up The Volume” + “Pass That Dutch” = 1:30 into Gilles’ mind. Sunday, August 5, 12:30 p.m. at the Dance Tent

The Smashing Pumpkins The new album "Zeitgeist" may not be warming the hearts of the Pumpkin’s fan base (aged alt-rockers holding onto the glory; the city of Chicago), but one thing is certain: Billy Corgan knows how to put on a stadium show. And with rumors circulating of a James Iha reunion during the East Coast date (OK, we may have made that up), shit could go down. Regardless of gossip, Billy is Crazy—with a capital C. Sunday, August 5, 8 p.m. at the North Stage

The Fratellis The United States has been a bit less receptive to these NME-approved imports, but hard-line Brit-pop fans have fallen for the band’s cartoonish, high-tempo tales about being popular, drunk and wooing the married, all with a clear nod to their never-too-serious forefathers T. Rex and The Buzzcocks. Saturday, August 4, 1:20 p.m. at the South Stage

Spoon Having just released one of the year’s critical, and shockingly commercial, hits with the album “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” frontman Britt Daniel (and his freakishly talented band) deliver melodic, soulful rock that when played live shapes into lengthy, noisy soundscapes in the vein of Sonic Youth. Sunday, August 5, 2:25 p.m. at the North Stage


LOLLAPALOOZA
August 3-5
Chicago, Ill.
Tickets: Three-day pass: $195; one-day pass: $80
Getting there: As we write this, there are flights available for less than $250. If you dare to battle gas prices (and Ohio drivers), a trip in the car will take around 12 hours.

Five reasons to go...

Daft Punk We are really looking forward to Daft Punk playing Key Span Park in a couple weeks—and it has little do with those $35,000 helmets they wear. A Daft Punk show is an interactive crush of beats, visuals and recreational drug use. And with a lengthy cast of stars playing this festival, chances are a cameo or two will be in the offering. Friday, August 3, 8 p.m. at the AT&T Stage

TV on the Radio With the release of “Return to Cookie Mountain” on big, bad Interscope Records a little over a year ago, Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio completed an unexpected transition from quirky, electro doo-wop collective, known for memorable live performance and creative facial hair, to a globe-trotting supergroup winning fans in Denmark and Des Moines along the way. Sunday, August 5, 7:15 p.m. at the MySpace Stage

Against Me! AM! started as one man (Tom Gabel) with an acoustic guitar and a love of anarchy. Years later, the Gainesville, Fla., collective has morphed into the tightest, catchiest punk rock band in the country. And that’s punk as in The Clash, not as in Good Charlotte. The band’s newfound groove (most apparent on its latest record, “New Wave” ) should inspire the sweaty masses to dance. Friday, August 3, 3:30 p.m. at the Citi Stage

Muse Given the conspiracy theories and intergalactic subtext that infect most of Muse’s lyrics, it isn’t a stretch to think that the U.K. band’s breakout single “Starlight” is about alien abduction. But it’s not a stretch to think that the song is the best power ballad of the last decade, one that channels the bombast of Queen with the warm glow of synthesizers. Live, the group redefines arena rock for the 21st century…and puts on the best light show you’ll see outside of Laser Floyd (ask your burnout friends). Saturday, August 4, 8:30 p.m. at the AT&T Stage

Motion City Soundtrack Now that Weezer is MIA, here’s a chance to revel in another band that mixes pop, punk, keyboards and emotional distress. Singer Justin Pierre (he’s Minnesotan, not French-Canadian, yah) turns heartbreak into big, happy, synth-driven singalongs on the band’s soon-to-be-released “Even If It Kills Me,” and keyboardist Jessie Johnson gets points for doing handstands on this synth. Saturday, August 4, 3:30 p.m., MySpace Stage


NEW YORK
If you are not convinced a road trip is in order, here are five reasons not to regret leaving town.

And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead Yes, the show is technically on Thursday night, so you may be able to catch new Williamsburg resident Conrad Keely and his Texas-based compadres destroy the stage (literally) of the Luna Lounge. Although the group’s last record veered toward the somber, live is another matter—let’s just say if instruments aren’t destroyed or bottles aren’t chucked at Keely’s head (witness the group’s 2002 Bowery show), you should ask for your $5 back. Thursday, August 2, 9 p.m. at Luna Lounge, $5

CSS/Dirty on Purpose/Shout Out Out Out Out Hot sex, international intrigue, Brooklyn, free. Need you hear more? CSS does the dance-rock thing with a dose of R-rated fun and a little cheeky humor (see “Meeting Paris Hilton,” “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex”). The stuttering SOOOO hails from Canada and brings dance to the punk floor (or vice versa). Dirty on Purpose, meanwhile, can take their dreamy indie-pop and walk down the street to Studio B, as they hail from Brooklyn. Friday, August 3, 8 p.m. at Studio B, FREE

Erasure Twenty-two years after “Who Needs Love (Like That),” England’s most successful dance-pop act brings their stylish club hits to…a dirty pool in Williamsburg. Although the duo is flogging a new (and fabulous) new disc, “Light at the End of the World,” expect the group to dip into its lengthy catalog. And don’t miss openers Young Love, who bring a hint of guitar rock to its club-friendly sound. Friday, August 3, 8 p.m., McCarren Park Pool, $38.50

Vans Warped Tour “If assholes could fly / this place would be busier than O’Hare.” So once sang Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio, one of the many veteran punk groups holding court at the 12th annual Warped Tour. Fortunately, Warped is usually a-hole free (and nowhere near Chicago’s beleaguered airport), thanks to its egalitarian lineup (100-plus bands over multiple stages, 30 minutes for every band, no actual “headliners”) and anti-hipster crowd. That said, this year’s lineup is a bit weaker than usual (save for the Trio, Tiger Army and Bad Religion), and the blacktop parking lot of Nassau Coliseum is not exactly the most inviting place to spend a day in 95-degree weather. Saturday, August 4, 12 p.m., Nassau Coliseum Parking Lot, $35

Slayer/Marilyn Manson Still shocking: The latest releases by thrash legends Slayer (“Christ Illusion”) and shock-rocker Manson (“Eat Me, Drink Me” ) were as envelope-pushing and sonically brutal as anything in either band’s career. But the real fun of catching these two anger-rock outfits together on the same stage is how little their fans share in common. If you play with Slayer, you’re dead meat, and Manson’s ever-evolving, goth-tinged sound may provoke a riot among those who just want to hear “Reign in Blood” for the millionth time. Sunday, August 5, PNC Bank Arts Center, 7 p.m., $20.25-$49.25