If you want to avoid major crowds, have no definite musical destination in mind and want to soak up some sun and some Big Gig vibes, a weekday afternoon visit to Summerfest might just be what the doctor ordered.

It's become a tradition for me to check out some local music on a weekday afternoon at Summerfest and I picked yesterday with an ulterior motive. I wanted to see Madison's Locksley on the Rock Stage before the four headed over to Miller Park to sing the national anthem before last night's Brewers game.

The quartet, dressed to the nines, has all the moves, traditional early rock and roll stylings and outfits you might expect from a band rocking a 1960 CYO sock hop. And Locksley has three frontmen who take turns at centerstage.

But add in an unflappable energy and some guitar sounds that conjure the likes of The Strokes and you've got a fabulously entertaining band. That's Locksley.

Plus, the band was born and bred in Wisco and has Sconnie written all over it. Hell, one of their best songs is called, "Oh, Wisconsin."

Locksley is my pick so far for the best band at Summerfest 2011.

I got there early and wandered. Ran into some friends, watched kids cavort on some crazy bouncy houses, including one filled with water with a giant climb-in floaty ball and tunnel that tempted even this grizzled adult.

I strolled through the Gibson guitars exhibit trailer on the south end and salivated over some great-looking six-strings, including a stylish silver ES-135 semi-hollow body.

A few hundred yards away Milwaukee veteran rocker Louie Lucchesi was kicking it at the Classic Rock Stage with his band, which this year had George Phillips instead of Chris Lehmann on the drums.

Lucchesi and company played a wide-ranging mix of covers, from Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground" to U2's "When Love Comes to Town" to Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl" to the Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

I watched trio El Valiente play some alt.rock instrumental music on the Cascio Interstate Music Groove Stage for a while and checked out pop songstress Alison Scott on the piano, with her band, for a bit on the U.S. Cell nearby.

Watching some golfers try their hand at the hole in one on the south end, I gazed out at floating neon golf balls and hoped that Summerfest skims them up afterward.

And finally, I tried the Frito pie deep fried chili at Pitch's & Miss Katie's Diner in the Marcus forecourt on the urging of Damien Jaques. I enjoyed them but I think you'll agree from his write-up that he enjoyed them even more.

But, I enjoyed spending some mellow time at Summerfest the day after I saw the Black Keys in what seemed to me the most packed Amp show I've ever attended.