With Boston’s newest multi-day, here pilule multi-stage music outdoor music festival, ampoule Boston Calling, just a few short days away, it would behoove you to take a moment and figure out what you REALLY want to do, see, eat, etc. at the inaugural event. Before you know it, you will be trapped in the middle of City Hall Plaza surrounded by eager tweens looking for their besties so they can take Vines of themselves belting the chorus to “We Are Young” and it would really be a shame if you didn’t know how to keep your cool and check out the goods. Listen here, chum.

1. Get there early – We’re lucky to have such a solid public transit system here in Boston (psych), so if you’re making the most of it, be sure to hop on it nice and early. Some of the best acts of this festival are playing at the top of the morning as well. Local studs Bad Rabbits and Caspian kick off their respective days at 1:30, and you would be a total dingus to not show them some Boston love. If you haven’t done your homework yet, Bad Rabbits just released their new LP, American Love, last week and they’re quickly rising to world domination.

2. Talk to your tummy – See what he or she is feeling. Maybe you’re down for a simple music festival favorite in the grilled cheese (Roxy’s will be there on Saturday), the local seafood dishes (The Shuckin’ Truck has got you covered both days), or treat yo’self to a desert from Kickass Cupcakes. Hell, a pickle from Grillo’s pickle cart would make for a refreshing mid-afternoon snack too (or flask in some whiskey and see if Mr. Grillo will indulge in a pickleback with you) (but actually, don’t do that). If you can’t pony up the change for food inside the festival, don’t sweat it. Not only does Boston Calling let you bring your own food in, but they also permit re-entry, so you can hop across the street to Burger King, or go fish your dinner out of Boston Harbor, or whatever the hell you want to do.

3. Budget Your Energy – Anybody who has been to any summer music festival knows that they can be taxing. Even though you would like to see everything, it’s just not gonna happen, so here are our suggestions for acts to make sure you check out:

• The National:  The Brooklyn quintet’s brand new LP, Trouble Will Find Me, just received Best New Music from Pitchfork, and that’s just one of the many raves that their new tunes are earning. Basking in the haunting baritones of Matt Berninger is probably the ideal way to close out the weekend.
• Dirty Projectors: One of the more exciting live bands on the indie rock spectrum, Dirty Projectors’ last album, Swing Lo Magellan, was one of the top releases of 2012, and continues to be a relic of sunnier times.
• MS MR: One of the exciting new names on the synth-pop front, Brooklyn’s MS MR recently released one of this year’s best debut albums, Secondhand Rapture. They have been touring recently with local buds Magic Man, so you know they’ve got some live game too.
• Youth Lagoon: The solo outfit of Idaho’s Trevor Powers put out one of this year’s more underrated albums. Wondrous Bughouse is the perfect cross of palatable and experimental, and is sure to get Sunday moving in the right direction.
• Andrew Bird: One of the most perfect outdoor performers, it is basically impossible to see Bird play live and not smile. Not only will his set provide a nice mid-festival breather from the more danceable options, but he adds some nice acoustic diversity to the lineup as a whole.

4. Don’t Be a Fucking Sourpuss – Seriously, we get it that not all the bands on the bill are from Boston, and some of them are played on the radio, but if that’s going to stop you from having a good time, then stay at home and keep it to yourself.

5. Help Make It Successful – Not sure if you remember the Wiz Khalifa show on City Hall Plaza a few years ago, but if you forgot, then good. Because of disasters like that one, the city of Boston doesn’t make it easy for events like Boston Calling to happen are immeasurable– so much so that nobody felt like committing to the headache of it all until now. That said, it will only be as successful as everybody helps make it. Who knows, if Boston Calling goes smoothly, it may lead to another bigger one next year, or to other opportunities like it. But this won’t happen unless people are patient, cooperative, and respectful. Yeah, it might take an extra five minutes to get in the door. That shouldn’t matter, considering you’re getting a one-of-a-kind concert experience in the greatest city in the world.