Life Is Beautiful’s best bets by stage

The folks at Life Is Beautiful have done a splendid job of assembling a wide array of talent this year. With more than 121 acts appearing on the four primary stages, the local stage and two art cars, zeroing in on which to catch from the teeming throng is a daunting task. While many of the options are obvious — marquee acts such as Stevie Wonder, Imagine Dragons, Kendrick Lamar, Brandon Flowers of the Killers, Weezer, Duran Duran, AWOLNATION, Snoop Dogg, Major Lazer, Death Cab for Cutie or Atmosphere — others are less so. That said, here are the performers we think are worth making a point to check out on each stage.

DOWNTOWN STAGE

As with most of the other stages, you'll want to show up early to catch the best emerging acts on the Downtown Stage. On Friday, the first two artists, SZA and X Ambassadors, should get things going strong. With a roster that includes Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, Top Dawg Entertainment clearly has an eye for talent. And while SZA's a singer, not a rapper like her label mates, her inclusion on the TDE imprint speaks volumes about the level her talent. New York's X Ambassadors, meanwhile, come to Life Is Beautiful propelled by their hit single "Renegades." Early in the day on Saturday and Sunday, there are trio of alt-pop/rock acts that are also worth catching, New Politics, Saint Motel and especially Royal Blood, which just wrapped a string of dates supporting Foo Fighters.

HUNTRIDGE STAGE

If you've seen Future Islands live — or at least caught the act on Letterman before he left the building — then you know how formidable frontman Samuel T. Herring is live. If not, don't sleep. Dude's dance moves are worth the price of admission. There are also plenty of burgeoning bright stars to be found here, starting with the bewitching voice of Andra Day (seriously, don't miss her Amy Winehouse/Lauryn Hill cover on YouTube). You also won't want to miss the ski mask-clad Leikeli47 and Halsey, whose profane seasonal send-up "F--- the Summer Up" and "New Americana" were marked, respectively, by the most mesmerizing and memorable refrains of the summer. The real must-see acts here, though, are homegrown and play back to back Friday: Big Talk, the Killers offshoot led by drummer Ronnie Vannucci, which earned rave reviews for its show this past spring at the Bunkhouse, and Shamir, who last week dropped a crazy cool video for his song "In for the Kill."

AMBASSADOR STAGE

Alessia Cara, the first act Saturday, is probably one of the more buzzed about on this year's lineup. Cara put out perhaps the most cynical yet satisfying single of the year with "Here," a searing song that samples Portishead and bemoans the benign prospect of being stuck at a party under clouds of marijuana, painful when you're not partaking. Speaking of parties, if you've never been at a dance party hosted by DIY deity Dan Deacon, you haven't lived. Night Terrors of 1927, the act featuring Jarrod Gorbel from the Honorary Title and Blake Sennett of Rilo Kiley, will have you swaying to the synths. If their sensational set at FYF in L.A. last month is any indication, Killer Mike and El-P's Run the Jewels is, hands down, the absolute must-see act on the Ambassador Stage on Sunday at 7:55 p.m. Head over there early at 6:40 p.m. and you can catch the brilliant Bethany Cosentino and Bobb Bruno of Best Coast, whose pristine pop seldom disappoints.

TROUBADOUR STAGE

If you feel like cutting loose and cutting a rug, you really can't go wrong with any of the acts on this stage, which is curated by the night owls at Insomniac, the folks responsible for Electric Daisy Carnival. "He's got such a strong command of the EDM world," festival founder Rehan Choudhry says of why he enlisted Pasquale Rotella and his Insomniac team to be involved with Life Is Beautiful. With headliners like Porter Robinson, Carnage and Knife Party, you really can't argue with that. But the EDC promoter also put together a pretty auspicious undercard, the most attractive of which to us are a pair of promising Australia acts, Wave Racer and Peking Duk, and Jauz, a up-and-coming West Coast-based producer who's collaborated with Skrillex and rocked crowds as part of the Mad Decent Block Party.

— Read more from Dave Herrera at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at dherrera@reviewjournal.com.