Jim James was in awe of his surroundings Friday. At My Morning Jacket’s sold-out concert at the Auditorium Theatre, the singer gazed at the ceiling and let his imagination take care of the rest.

    “God … built this theater,” he said. “You feel like you could jump through one of those paintings into the alternative universe of your choice.”

    James and My Morning Jacket did a pretty good job of building their own alternative universe, imagining a place where Southern rock and psychedelic surrealism happily co-exist. It added up to a mighty summation of why the Louisville quintet has become one of the most formidable live rock acts of the last decade, gearing up for a headlining appearance in August at Lollapalooza in Grant Park.

    Behind the musicians were what looked like five window frames, like portals of a space ship looking out into a sea of Dali-esque eyeballs and crackling patterns of static. Out front, James was a shaggy, bearded shaman, turning his coat into a dracula cape and stomping around in white, big-foot boots. He slid across the stage on his knees and teetered atop a riser to urge on drummer Patrick Hallahan with pumping fists.

United Sounds of America: The six-part series inspired by six American cities and regions concludes with concerts devoted to Detroit (Friday with Marshall Crenshaw) and Austin (Saturday with Alejandro Escovedo), 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday at Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Av., $25 to $70; cso.org or 312-294-3000.

My Morning Jacket: The Louisville band’s latest album, “Circuital,” is inconsistent, but its reputation for strong live performances remains intact. This show will be a relatively intimate affair compared to MMJ’s headlining slot at Lollapalooza in August, 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Congress Pkwy., $37.50 and $47.50; ticketmaster.com.

Screaming Females: You’ll see no better guitarist this month than Marissa Paternoster, who shreds something fierce while leading this aggressively melodic New Jersey trio, 6:30 p.m. Friday with Against Me! at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $18; etix.com.

greg@gregkot.com

 Lollapalooza will announce its schedule Tuesday and here’s how the headliners will shake down: Coldplay and Muse on Aug. 5, Eminem and My Morning Jacket on Aug. 6, and Foo Fighters and Deadmau5 on Aug. 7.

Photos: Lolla lineup

Single-day tickets ($90) also go on sale Tuesday, so concertgoers will now be able to choose which day to attend the three-day 20th anniversary festival in Grant Park. Three-day passes ($215) went on sale a few months ago and the lineup was announced in April.

In an effort to dissipate some of the massive crowds that have congregated near the main stage in recent years, Texas-based promoters C3 Presents will offer fans more options throughout the festival until closing time.

2.5 stars (out of 4)

When they’re at the top of their game, Jim James and his longtime Louisville quintet My Morning Jacket specialize in thundercrack moments. Over six albums, they’ve developed a knack for splitting songs open with one of James’ sky-piercing wails, a guitar solo or a wondrous, where-did-that-come-from? choir. One such moment arrives in the middle of “Circuital” (ATO), the seven-minute title track from the band’s sixth album. It ambles sedately until a guitar crackles into the foreground, at first just a brief, violent intrusion then eventually taking over the song, until the silence folds in back around it. The song is the centerpiece of what in the vinyl era would’ve been Side 1 of the album, with the tracks sequenced to melt one into the next. The ascending, trance-like “Victory Dance,” the undulating finger-picked guitar and yearning vocal of “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” the surreal combination of Beach Boys-like vocals and pedal-steel guitar on “Outta My System” – it makes for a brilliant start and raises expectations that My Morning Jacket has finally made its classic.

Unfortunately, the album’s second half isn’t nearly as strong. “Holdin’ on to Black Metal,” with its cartoonish horn flourishes and female chorus, is this album’s answer to “Highly Suspicious,” the rogue funk track that divided longtime fans and sunk the band’s 2008 album “Evil Urges.” Things crawl to a close with two sleepy sign-offs, the aptly named “Slow Slow Tune” and “Movin’ Away.”

It’s a by-now-familiar lament. Though My Morning Jacket has been one of the most consistently brilliant live bands of the last decade, its studio albums remain hit-and-miss. “Circuital” is no exception.

greg@gregkot.com

Photos: Lolla lineup

Coldplay, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and A Perfect Circle will join previously reported headliners Eminem, Foo Fighters and Muse at Lollapalooza on Aug. 5-7 in Grant Park, the festival will announce Tuesday.

Also among the artists to be announced by Texas-based promoters C3 Presents are Cee Lo Green, Damian Marley with Nas, the Cars, Ween, Bright Eyes, Big Audio Dynamite, Girl Talk, Titus Andronicus, Deftones, Kid Cudi, Sleigh Bells and Arctic Monkeys.

The seventh annual festival will again feature more than 130 performers on eight stages.

As usual, the festival has only a smattering of hip-hop and world-music artists, though a handful of Chilean bands – Chico Trujillo, Los Bunkers and Ana Tijoux – have been booked as part of a cultural exchange with Lollapalooza Chile, which debuted April 2-3 in Santiago.