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Ah, day three of Team Rhapsody's intrepid sojourn into the bowls of Summerfest, the largest music festival in our wondrous solar system. This is our final stand -- the last hurrah. Friday is the busiest day yet, no question about it. A ton of patriotic Americans, more than primed for the three-day weekend, have obviously ditched the 9-to-5 slave trade in favor of wandering Henry Maier Festival Park for the next 10 hours.

As our routine now dictated, we kicked-off our early afternoon schedule with an interview: Christian metalcore missionaries The Devil Wears Prada, who headlined the CoolTV Rock Stage. Fun stuff for sure -- they're young and sassy and talkative. Hold on a second; did I mention young? The band and just about everyone in their entourage looked as if they required permission slips from their parents to tour the country without a chaperone watching their every move. By the way, if any TDWP fans are reading this, lookout for a special EP release in the very near future. Hopefully, we'll be adding it to Rhapsody's catalog as soon as it comes out.

While chatting about Mike Hranica's now-defunct grind project xGUMBYx, I heard a low, ominous grumble. I initially assumed it was Hranica shifting into his cookie-monster growl, some kind of pre-show ritual, possibly. But it was actually my stomach. A massive VACANCY sign was plastered across it. After parting ways with Hranica and his vocal foil Jeremy DePoyster around 2:30, I scoured the festival grounds for the ultimate in Summerfest cuisine, which is basically [insert food] dipped in fried grease. The Crate Digger's poor, little tummy wasn't totally prepared for this; despite my love of the heavy jams and hard rock, I'm an organic-loving wussy when it comes to food. (Yes, this means I often crank Thin Lizzy's Fighting album while sipping a warm cup of green tea.)

Nevertheless, I felt a weird compulsion to do a Charles Kuralt-inspired "slice of American life" tour of the concession stands in order to discover what unique culinary treats the fine people of Milwaukee enjoy devouring. So, without further ado, here are three dishes that totally scream SUMMERFEST!

Day Three in the trenches and conditions are brutal. We have been reduced to subsisting only on various wursts and copious amounts of funnel cake, with only $6 cups of MGD Lite to wash it down. An army of cover bands lies in wait, ready to assault us with a barrage of pitch-perfect, genre-hopping tributes (as I write this, for instance, Cerfus Project is bombarding me with the Who's "Baba O' Riley" in an attempt to trick me into thinking theirs is friendly fire, but I'm not falling for it! I'm onto you, Cerfus! I'm staying in the air conditioned media trailer until I have to make a run through the huddled, drunken masses to the American Idols! headliner show in thirty minutes!). I am sunburned, my dogs are barking and the number of times I have heard a cover of Sublime's "Santeria" is now up to four -- from as many different bands (Milwaukee=the SoCal of the Midwest?!). The outlook is grim, people. We may not make it. Tell my wife I love her very much (she knoooows! And the cover band goes, doo-do-do-do-do-do-dodo.)

But our "struggle" has not been for naught. First and foremost, we have seen some damn fine shows. Just from a pop perspective (see the Crate Digger's post for the more rock and roll highlights), the highlights from today alone included: catching the American Idols tour on the mainstage with a bunch of excited kiddoes (onstage and off); hearing the Bravery perform "Ours," their song off the Twilight soundtrack, for the first time ever live; and getting the opportunity to hang out with Pharrell Williams and Shay Haley of N.E.R.D. in their dressing room at the Miller Lite stage just before they headed out to perform.

But most of all, we may have very well cracked the code of the Big Gig -- the reasons behind its overwhelming popularity among both bands and fest-goers, the things that make it tick and, of course, the parts of it that just stink. So, here, in no particular order, we present the, uh, carefully researched and laboriously obtained tenets of the Summerfest Ethos (with particular attention to its Pop Philosophy), complete with nuggets from today's fest:

We spent a few minutes here at Summerfest on the tour bus with Wes Scantlin of Puddle of Mudd where he shared his thoughts on Joan Jett, Jim “Dandy” Mangrum's spandex pants and sausage eating contests. Rock on!

Jeremy DePoyster and Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada backstage at Summerfest 2010.

On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Big V of Nappy Roots talk about his favorite album of all time. Rhapsody subscribers can listen to The Pursuit of Nappyness and millions of other albums whenever and however they want. Click here to sign up for a free Rhapsody trial subscription and see what we're all about.

ARTIST: Nappy Roots RECORD: Bad

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On the Record is a video series where rock stars gush about their favorite records -- in exactly 45 seconds. Click above to watch Marc Roberge and Chris Culos of O.A.R. talk about their favorite album of all time. Rhapsody subscribers can listen to Rain or Shine and millions of other albums whenever and however they want. Click here to sign up for a free Rhapsody trial subscription and see what we're all about.

ARTIST: O.A.R. Record: Ten

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O.A.R. performing live at Summerfest in Milwaukee, WI.

Day two at the Big Gig (day eight of the whole fest) and we're getting into the groove. And that's not a phrase your resident poptimist uses lightly! After slogging through a gazillion post-grungers and jam banders (then reveling in the superstardom that was Usher!) yesterday, pop fans have been rewarded today with a rather exhilarating lineup that spans retro funk-&-B (Cameo), camptastic alt-pop (the B-52s!!!) and the Roots! OK, we're still not reaching Gaga-esque proportions here, but that's the point: Summerfest appears to have an interesting definition of pop and we're attempting to pull it apart. For now, however, let's focus on the day's pop highlights, which were many and varied:

Thursday started off in spectacular fashion, if I do say so myself: blazing yellow sun, clear blue skies and talking Thin Lizzy with Craig Finn, whose band The Hold Steady was running through a morning soundcheck at the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage in preparation of their 10 p.m. performance.

Actually, during our interview we talked about several bands near and dear to our classic-rock loving, uh, butts, including early Scorpions and the mighty UFO. But we really dug into Thin Lizzy. I told Finn -- who is a super-swell dude, as well as a top-shelf record nerd -- that I thought too many rock critics mention Springsteen when attempting to parse his influences. It's true. You can't read a review or feature that doesn't contain a reference to The Boss and how his street-rock storytelling helped shape Finn's own rock-and-roll poetics. Springsteen is definitely a defining force, but I also hear a strong Phil Lynott influence. In fact, on the new album, Heaven is Whenever, the tune "Rock Problems" contains a few key tricks (especially the twin-like guitar lines) clearly inspired by Thin Lizzy. Finn wholeheartedly agreed and was pretty stoked to be talking about one of his favorite bands. I got the feeling that he wishes more writers would cite the great Phil Lynott.

Craig Finn of The Hold Steady was kind, and boss, enough to take some time after a morning soundcheck at the U.S. Cellular Connection Stage to chat with fellow music nerd Justin Farrar (a.k.a. Rhapsody's The Classic Rock Crate Digger). Watch the video above to hear Craig's thoughts on Summerfest, The Brewers, reggae music, the genius of Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott and more.

Fish Scales and Big V of Nappy Roots talking about The Pursuit of Nappyness backstage at Summerfest.

Sclemeel, Schlemazel, Hasenfeffer Incorporated.

We’re gonna do it, people: the Classic Rock Crate Digger, along with the rest of Team Rhapsody, is here in Milwaukee attending the all mighty Summerfest.

Now, there might be music festivals out there with more hipster cache or street cred as they say, but none are bigger, or longer, than the “Big Gig,” as it has come to be known through the decades. Summerfest is, according to the Guinness World Records, the largest music festival in the world. Each and every year hundreds of thousands of ready-to-party-hard concert-goers pass through the gates of Henry Maier Festival Park (a 75-acre spread tucked in between downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan) to catch a who’s who in rock, pop, hip-hop, R&B, country, comedy, folk and more. Surrounding the festival’s 11 stages is what amounts to a sizeable carnival: a gazillion food vendors, copious amounts of beer, family fun stuff, a market where trinkets are sold and an actual Skyglider that runs the length of the park.

So yeah, this sucker is no joke.

Bass player Ryan Stasik, guitarist/singer Brendan Bayliss and the rest of Umphrey’s McGee get their jam-on at Summerfest 2010 in Milwaukee.

Ah, Summerfest. A wonderland of cheese fries, overpriced Miller products and classic rock jam sessions. At least at first glance. Rhapsody's here in Milwaukee, hanging out at the massive, annual festival, an 11-day extravaganza featuring more than 800 bands. Our own Classic Rock Crate Digger, Justin Farrar, is spearheading the Summerfest coverage, and quite frankly, it seems to be very much his territory. Over the course of day one, we chatted up excited Moody Blues fans (everyone's favorite "Nights in White Satin" played tonight), interviewed Puddle of Mudd and got lost in one of Umphrey's McGee's epic grooves. But hold onto your favorite Gaga t-shirt, pop fans: there's a place for us here, too. In fact, Summerfest has quite a lot of spaces for fans of pop (not to mention just about everything else). My goal over the next few days is threefold: One, I want to dig out the pop nooks and crannies in the Crate Digger's coverage. Two, I want to see if we can find common ground between the rockers and the popsters. And three, I want to try to figure out what makes the World's Largest Music Festival -- the "Big Gig," as it's known -- just so big and so well-attended year after year. Oh yeah, and I want to eat some cheese fries. Like, a lot of them.

Let's start with the pop fare. Summerfest's range varies widely. The headliner for the entire festival is Tim McGraw -- and then the country coverage all but drops off until July 4, when Carrie Underwood takes the stage. Tomorrow features a bunch of good hip-hop. And today, tucked into a day that seemed to be overrun with jam bands and post-grunge outfits, was none other than Usher. That's right: the R&B singer known for his fly dance moves, impeccable style and ability to make the ladies say "Yeah!" rocked Milwaukee's Marcus Amphitheatre tonight. And oh, what a show. Opener Lyfe Jennings managed to get the crowd both warmed up and in a thoughtful mood, performing new material from his upcoming album like "Statistics" (which encourages women not to fall into the booty call trap) and older faves like "S.E.X." Then Mr. Raymond took the stage.