Ted Leo is a smart man. From the moment he performed a mini impromptu acapella version of Daft Punk's "Human After All" during his sound check, the massive crowd come down to check him out at the MySpace stage was in the palm of his hand. Utter pandemonium erupted when "Me and Mia" appeared early on in the set, as the One Man Clash ran around the stage, jumped into the pit, and barely missed busting his ass against a guitar amp. Mr. Leo is always in tip top shape, and his lightening-quick set proved to be a Day One highlight.

The Polyphonic Spree, 2:30 PM, Bud Light Stage

Yes, they have harps, flutes, xylophones and a choir made up of hot, smiling girls, but the happiest part of a Polyphonic Spree show has always been Mr. Tim Delaughter. Emerging from behind a red banner in full Fragile Army military regalia, Tim and the Spree barreled through highlights from the three albums, including (deep breath), an acoustic version of "It's the Sun", "Hanging Around the Day", a guest appearance by Chicago radio personality (and insane hip-thruster) Beatle Bob, a manic tap dance routine courtesy of The Chicago Tap Theater, a cover of Nirvana's "Lithium" and a costume change. So basically, just another day's work for the merry men and women of the Polyphonic Spree.

Powerspace, 3:00PM, BMI Stage

Sparklehorse, 3:30PM, Adidas Stage

If Sparklehorse were an author, they'd be Americana doomsday scribe Cormac McCarthy, painting macabre images of a ravaged countryside. If they were a drink, they'd be a warm shot of tequila slugged down in a Mexican brothel. Luckily, Sparklehorse are a band (headed by the magnificently dour Stuart A. Staples) and they play depressing alt. country that makes Interpol sound like Helen Love. If you've ever wondered what your alcoholic uncle feels like when he's done masturbating in his one-bedroom apartment, Sparklehorse's mid-afternoon set would have answered your questions. This is not to say the music isn't as complexly brilliant as it is deeply moving, with Staple's drawl (sometimes obscured by a distorted mic) weaving in and out of swarthy guitar twangs, just that it kind of makes you want to slit your wrists with a Johnny Cash LP. One of the most amazing sets of the day.

M.I.A, 4:30PM, Bud Light Stage

Even though we saw M.I.A not two weeks ago at the Siren Festival in NYC our excitement was at a peak, even if we knew more or less what to expect. Unfortunately, today's set paled in comparison to the Siren performance, which is like saying filet mignon is better than bacon, yeah, OK, but they're still both pretty fucking awesome. Plagued with vocal issues and technical difficulties, it was clear that M.I.A was struggling to make it to the end, and did she even truck (at one point she even brandished a bottle of throat spray, stating "Jack White Fed Ex'd this to my hotel this morning..."). We've said it once, and we'll say it time and time again: Kala is THE party record of 2007, much like Arular only with less politics, more pole dancing. The high points remain "Boyz" and "Bird Flu", songs everyone self-respecting dance fan from here to Sri Lanka knows by heart, despite neither of them being commercially released yet. Of course she brought the old school ("Bucky Done Gun" ravished, "Galang" killed) between well aimed purple-sequined rump shakes. This woman's capability to unify a crowd is absolutely astounding. M.I.A for fucking president.

Blonde Redhead, 5:30PM, MySpace Stage

By that time we had basically collapsed into a puddle of beer and pizza in the Media Tent, but could enjoy the lolling good vibes of Blonde Redhead's MySpace Stage set lofting across the park, as we tried to regain feeling in our legs.

Satellite Party, 6:30PM, AT&T Stage

Basically, all you really need to know about this set is as follows:

1. They played "Been Caught Stealing" and "Jane Says".
2. Perry Farrell is one crazy motherfucker.

Daft Punk, 8:30PM, AT&T Stage

Finally, the moment we've all been waiting for arrives. Break out your glowsticks, neon T-shirts and, um, gigantic robot helmets, it's time for some Daft Motherfucking Punk. If you were expecting to see two frenchmen standing around pressing play on hits from ten years ago, well, you'd be right, but there'd also be LIGHT UP LED ROBOT SUITS, AN ENORMOUS PYRAMID OF LIGHT, A GIGANTIC PROJECTION OF A MILLION SWIRLING LIGHTBULBS, "AROUND THE WORLD" "BURNIN'", "ONE MORE TIME", "DA FUNK", "HUMAN AFTER ALL", "ROBOT ROCK", "TECHNOLOGIC", "HARDER BETTER FASTER STRONGER", and THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF DANCING, TOTALLY ECSTATIC PEOPLE. We'd write more but words seem redundant, it's something that needs to be experienced firsthand. After all, we're only human.

Pissed We Missed: Illinois on the Citi Stage