Summer Splash : CRITIC’S PICKS

You can sample several key currents in contemporary pop by targeting just three shows--starting with the Stone Roses at the John Anson Ford Theatre (May 29). After years of lethargy, British rock is showing signs of creative rebirth--and the Stone Roses is one of the groups that blends classic rock textures (from the Byrds to Zeppelin) with contemporary sensibilities.

Pearl Jam, which will be at the Del Mar Fairgrounds (June 26-27), stands as the essential American band of the ‘90s, a group whose music best articulates that renewed idealism and conscience that has sprung from the anger and alienation of the Seattle grunge movement.

This year’s Lollapalooza, at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre (Aug. 14), will let us see Courtney Love (with her band, Hole) and Sineead O’Connor on the same bill for the first time. The two singers are leaders in a contingent of gifted women that is helping set the creative agenda in pop and rock.