Pinc's Picks

Lollapalooza

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I've been recovering this week from last weekend's music extravaganza in the Windy City. That's right, I fulfilled my teenage fantasy of going to Lollapalooza!

Three days of concertgoing took its toll, as did the travel. At Fort Lauderdale Airport on Thursday night the trip got off with a bang as I got into an altercation with a middle-aged woman who wrongly accused me of cutting her in line. The incident concluded happily, because, well, I won and she lost.
Friday, August 4th
Friday morning we went to Lou Mitchell's, a Chicago institution that provides free doughnuts to its customers waiting to be seated. They also served perhaps the best bacon I've ever eaten - and as I've eaten a lot of bacon in my lifetime, that's really saying something.

After our hearty breakfast, we started our trek to Grant Park. On the way we stumbled upon the Sears Tower and made a quick trip up to the SkyDeck to get a bird's eye view of the festival grounds.

We arrived at Grant Park in time to catch some less than inspiring performances (Midlake, Anathallo, Cursive, eels, The M's). At 3:30 we caught Stars' set. I wasn't familiar with them going into Lollapalooza but enjoyed their performance. I don't see myself buying a Stars album, but I liked their energy and music.

We caught a snippet of Mates of State, a band with whom I'm currently enthralled. However, the duo sounded a little bit like a screeching pair of teenagers at a talent show. They settled into the set as they continuecd but I left more than a little disppointed. Stick with the album, don't see them live.

At 5:30 pm I saw Iron & Wine, one of my main draws to Lollapalooza. Eventually I moved up to escape the loud talking and reverberating sound from the nearby stage where Lady Sovereign was rapping. Although I was initially discouraged by my technical issues, the rendition of "Upward Over the Mountain", faster and louder than the recorded version, was outstanding and fulfilled all my hopes for the show.

The 6:30 pm time slot exemplified one of the main problems with Lollapalooza, specifically the pure size of the site. It took at least ten if not fifteen minutes to amble from one side of the park to the other. So at 6:30 pm when The Raconteurs played against My Morning Jacket on opposite sides of the park, needless to say I was in trouble. I caught the end of "Steady As She Goes" and saw Jack White looking more than a little bit like a homeless man. Then after about fifteen minutes I trudged back across to see My Morning Jacket. While some called their performance "transcendent" (and you know who you are!) I found it to be pretty solid.

At last it was time to camp out for Death Cab for Cutie. Ben Gibbard owed me. He and the boys cancelled their show at the Hard Rock last year after Hurricane Wilma when we needed them most. I never got my ticket refunded thanks to Ticketmaster. So I had high expectations for Death Cab. As always, they delivered. They played essentially non-stop for an hour and a half, covered all their bases. Sounded amazing. Ok Ben, I love you again.

Friday ended on a high-note. We grabbed some dinner and collapsed into bed, well-hydrated and without sunburn. Ready to go for Day 2.

Saturday, August 5th
Saturday started with a search for coffee and pizza. After a minor misstep looking for Intelligentsia, we found it and were treated to some delicious coffee. What could top that? Oh, I know - how about pizza at Giordano's? Words can't describe that sublime treat. Sigh.

Day 2 kicked off at 1:30 pm at [Leslie] Feist's set. Her form of banter (a sing-songy improvisation) was endearing at first but proved to be somewhat irritating. Still, she is charming and clearly the indie "It Girl" of the festival (her audience was packed with young men, one of whom carried a sign saying "Date Me?").

After an hour of downtime we saw Calexico's performance. I only have heard their album recorded with Iron & Wine but I was extremely impressed by their show. Great instrumentality, original and unique songs, just brilliant all-around. At this stage we first became aware of an individual subsquently identified as "Beatle Bob", whose style of dancing will stay with me forever. What a loon!

The 4:30 pm time slot presented a dilemma: Gnarls Barkley versus Sonic Youth. I know I'm supposed to care about Sonic Youth. They're essentially a grand-daddy of indie rock music. That said, I've never found them interesting. On the other hand, Gnarls Barkley's stage antics and my current infatuation with their single "Crazy" drew me over to their stage. They sounded alright, I guess. At least it was a way to kill time before The Flaming Lips came on at 6:30 pm.

I saw the Lips in March at Langerado from the second row. I knew what to expect from their stage show. Even so, seeing it for the second time, it was still a hell of a ride. Dancing Santas, Martian go-go girls, balloons, streamers, confetti, and of course, Wayne Coyne in his vest.

7:30 brought the Thievery Corporation and New Pornographers. I caught roughly half of each set and they could not have been more different. Have to say that Thievery Corporation wins for audience enthusiasm (and they had a belly dancer).

Kanye West closed out the night, but as my sister and her boyfriend were waiting to pick us up and take us to dinner, we bailed out after about ten minutes of his set. Sadly we did not hear "Golddigger". Worth mentioning: he was backed by a full, all female, string orchestra. The musicians were dressed like modern Robert Palmer girls.

Sunday, August 6th

I stayed at my sister's boyfriend's house Saturday night and Sunday we ventured to the Garfield Park Conservatory for a change of pace. It was truly beautiful, and free!

By Sunday I was fading. My sister dropped me off just in time for The Shins at 4:30 pm. They sounded amazing and I was very impressed by their set. Walking across the grounds had gotten really old, but I still headed over to the other side of the park to hear Of Montreal (meh) and She Wants Revenge (double meh). Regarding the latter, I didn't realize that Depeche Mode's genre necessitated a new entry to help them carry synth pop into the 21st century.

By the time Chicago's Wilco came on at 6:30 pm, I was lying down in the grass. I like Wilco. But this is the third time I had seen them in two years and I couldn't bring myself to care. They sounded fine, but Jeff Tweedy looks terrible. Don't know what's going on with him, but it's not good from what I saw.

We left early to camp out at Broken Social Scene's stage. My two concertgoing companions are HUGE BSS fans. I liked them going into their show. I liked them more coming out. Without any question they put on the best show of the weekend. I'm told that every single member of the Canadian conglomerate was in attendance and the result was a kind of cathartic chaos that was a shitload of fun. The audience stayed and chanted "one more song" for at least five minutes after the set ended.

The best set of the weekend was followed by inarguably the worst. People left in droves throughout Red Hot Chili Peppers and its entirely the band's fault. They have an impressive back catalogue and rather than choosing to play some selections from it, they played almost solely new material. The oldest songs they played were "Scar Tissue" and "Give It Away". It was an utter disappointment and we stayed until the end on the vague promise of something special coming up at the end. Because were in Chicago, I hoped against hope that Billy Corgan would join the Chili Peppers on stage. But alas, it wasn't to be. Someday, Billy. Someday.

One final note: I was incensed by Pitchfork's pathetic review of Lollapalooza. It was clear (to me, at least) that it was fueled by the fact that Pitchfork's own festival occurred in Chicago the weekend before. It featured smaller bands in a smaller venue and couldn't draw 60,000 people like Lollapalooza. So instead of focusing on the excellent attributes of the well-organized three-day musical smorgasboard, Pitchfork chose to mock the line-up, mock the attendees, and mock their t-shirts. Seriously, Pitchfork can kiss my ass. I agree them most of the time, but this on occasion, where their snobbery stems from jealousy, their holier-than-thou attitude was really not cool. I would have loved to go to both festivals, but when push came to shove, Lollapalooza packed a bigger punch. And People had a great time. There was no rioting or arson. There was some kick ass and diverse bands assembled in a three day period. In short, there was a lot more good than bad. And this is one yuppie sell-out who danced her ass off and had an amazing time. I'm bending over Pitchfork. Pucker up.

posted by Danya @ 8/13/2006 04:37:00 PM