Fall In to Fallout: Once held yearly in Finlay Park, Fallout has become, at best, an afterthought. Though it’s a shadow of what it once was, the modern rock Mardi Gras returns this year, still helmed by WARQ but with a new location: This year’s Fallout storms the parking lot at Jillian’s on Friday.

Collective Soul

In years past, Fallout’s brought some top-flight modern rock talent to the Capital City: Jimmy Eat World right before Bleed American exploded; Incubus riding the crest of the Make Yourself wave; uh, Hoobastank. This year, too, finds an alt-rock radio chart-topper sitting atop the lineup: Stockbridge, Ga., natives Collective Soul headline this year’s rock ‘n’ roll revelry. The band landed an alt-rock megahit with its debut single “Shine” in 1993, and went on to score nine more Top Ten hits on the Billboard U.S. Modern Rock chart. Moreover, the band is one of the more seminal progenitors of the post-grunge movement; like Live, Candlebox and Bush, Collective Soul inherited the alt-rock radio landscape following the death of Kurt Cobain and smoothed out grunge’s rough edges, distilling the dizzying sturm und drang of Mudhoney and Nirvana into hook-heavy, radio-friendly hard rock. It’s fitting, then, in today’s landscape that the band’s newest self-titled release, its first since re-joining a major label (Roadrunner), is a reintroduction rather than reinvention, filled with high-gloss, high-octane arena-rock. Can’t hurt ‘em — the band’s charted more in this millennium on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 charts than on the Mainstream or Modern Rock charts.

Too, Fallout — and, by extension, WARQ — has been adept at tapping noteworthy local talent for the event; the last concert, in 2006, featured Crossfade and Stretch Arm Strong as its headliners. And while both of those bands were arguably on the apogee of their respective careers, this year’s most exciting local is a band with a potentially bright future: Justin Smith and the Folk-Hop Band. Indeed, WARQ has, especially since the release of the band’s World Unknwon, staunchly supported the band, spinning the band’s songs to an audience that has eaten it up like so much candy. Deepfield, another WARQ-advocated homegrown talent, also plays, as do Cartel — which made a name for itself on MTV’s Band in a Bubble — and the After Midnight Project.

Jillian’s is located at 800 Gervais St. in the Vista. The music begins at 4 p.m.; WARQ’s Matt Lee begins the live broadcast of the event at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 and are only available at Jillian’s and Wet Willie’s, which plays host to Elmwood following Fallout. Call 695-8600 or visit warq.com for more information.

Fossilized: Fossilization, in linguistics and second language acquisition, refers to the often-observed loss of progress in the acquisition of a second language following a period where learning occurred. The long and short of it: You’ve gone as far as you can go. So consider The Fossil Record fossilized: The band plays its farewell show at Art Bar on Saturday. Bummer, really: The Fossil Record’s tunefully off-kilter alt-rock stood out here in the Capital City, thanks in large part to Chris Compton’s rich voice and image-heavy lyrics. Thee Mad Frogs and Norwegian Blue help send the band off right. Call 929-0198 or visit artbarsc.com for more information.

Quick Hits: Perpetual Groove plays Headliners and Yarn burns up The White Mule tonight; Firework Show plays The Elbow Room on Friday; Pinna plays Utopia and Thee Mad Frogs play Art Bar on Saturday. 

The Playlist is a discussion of life, the universe and everything — but mostly music. Let us know what you think: Email music@free-times.com.