Lollapalooza reviews & comments

a few quick thoughts on lolla day 1:

hot weather but entirely bearable as long as you didn't get sunburned. too many stages too close together, bleeding between stages is a prob (having MIA thump in the backrgound while trying to enjoy the rapture really bugged). should have less stages with less filler.

music overall was meh - rapture was damn solid and daft punk ruled (more in a second), otherwise it was a lackluster day. sparklehorse was a snoozer (fans might think otherwise) and the spree just didn't connect with the audience. i LOVED their last show at the club but walked away from their set yesterday. in keeping with their coachella performance, LCD is in the same "doesn't work at a festival" category. satellite party was entirely reliant on JA (and one PfP) re-hashes. perry thinks way too much of himself.

however, i left grant park last night on a complete high thanks to daft punk's set. they absolutely slayed. the intro, a 5-minute contruction of noise into a killed thump, was simply masterful. i had sky-high hopes for DP's set and they far exceeded them. the lights/fx were a lot of fun, and the red lights on the suits at the end of the set looked beyond cool. yes, i'm still buzzing from the show :)

i got my money's worth during DP's hour and a half, anything from hereon out is pure gravy. with at that said, i'm off to check out day 2.

I second that emotion :)

thoughts from the field on day 2:

much better musically. it rained but just a little each time. wanted to catch tokyo police club and tapes n' tapes but got caught in family stuff - supposedly t'n't were really good. cold war kids weren't what i expected, they were very downbeat and kinda artsy… entertaining but a tad dull at times. the PA sounded a little distorted, which was disappointing. roots did their usual thing (which i'm quite over at this point), a good show to sit on the grass and snack to. regina was the #2 highlight of the day for me, what a sweetie. totally connected with the crowd, voice in top shape, and she was having a great time. snow patrol trucked out their usual brand of girlfriend-rock, either you like them or you don't. nikki from SSPU joined them for "set fire to the third bar" - personally i preferred the performance we got from the girl taken from the crowd at bender arena. spoon were decent. highlight #1 of the day goes to muse - incredible. talented musicians performing great songs on a mind-blowing stage set-up, who pulled all the stops. can't wait to see them again on thursday at patriot center.

Wow, you saw almost everything we did and I came out with pretty much the same opinion. I'm tracking with you on the Cold War Kids PA. I really wanted to like them. Was it sounding like crap on purpose?

Tokyo Police Club was nothing special. Derivative of The Strokes/Libertines. Tapes n Tapes was pretty good, had never heard them before. I thought the Roots were a lot of fun - they drew a huge crowd. Snow Patrol…meh. Every song was dedicated to someone/something.

I didn't think anything could've topped Daft Punk from Friday but Muse came pretty damn close. Can't wait for Thursday.

My highlights were, sad to say, Patti Smith and Iggy. I missed Friday (I know, I know…Daft Punk, but I had to work) so I flew out Saturday morning. Bags, family stuff this trip was a nightmare, I was with both my sisters so I'm sorry we didn't connect. Got to check out a chunk of Snow Patrol, but Patti Smith was absolutely stunning. "Gloria" alone made it worth the trip. She's the high priestess of poetry/proto-punk. I heart Patti.

Today I check out Paolo Nutini or whatever his name is. Meh. Iggy on the other hand was the fucking bomb. I mean, Philly was amazing but clearly a festival is where to see him. When he told people to get on stage I got to run all the way up to the stage, but it was MAYHEM. So I just danced my fucking ass off right in front of Iggy in the photographers pit during "No Fun" and sweat like I've never sweat in my life. After that, there really wasn't a point to me to stick around. Modest Moust and Pearl Jam? No thanks, Iggy was enough for me. I caught most of Yo La Tengo, who were good, but that was it for me. I really can't handle more than a few hours at a time at these things. Plus my oldest sister was a pistol and by the end of Saturday I was ready to drink myself into a hole. Oh wait, I did that last Tuesday at Social D :)

so heres my somewhat shortened review as im dead tired and had a nightmare time getting back to nyc. HATE HATE HATE CONTINENTAL!

loved the polyphonic spree. i dont know how they didnt connect, but the near top of the hillside everyone was dancing away, singing along, and the nirvana cover was beautiful. i left feeling very happy!

started the day with the fratellis, whom i had been dying to see. was very disappointed. no energy, and just werent what i was expecting.

for those that didnt check out the bmi stage that is where the best bands were, and also the best place to see bands. lots of shade, lots of trees and lots of unknown bands. inward eye, from canada, put on a really great show. 3 brothers who rocked out for 45 mins. and it ended with them passing out cds. was pretty cool. they were excited about the canadians that showed up to support them. was a bit disappointed with wax on radio, but i was glad to have caught them. i had seen sspu before and cant remember who they were up against, but was going for the shade route.

heard the switches going in. liked what i heard. saw ghostland observatory, and that was entertaining. but i was pretty hot, so was sitting way back on the grass. lead singer is out of control, and a great dancer :) managed to get up quite close, since it wasnt too crowded, and danced along to their fun set. im dying to see them again.

saw tapes n tapes. liked their stuff, but wasnt blown away by them. good, solid set. music wasnt quite what i was expecting, but hadnt heard much of their stuff either. heard part of ludo walking to the im from barcelona set, and they sounded great. wished i had caught more of it. saw some of silverchair - good stuff. they were rocking from what i could tell in my 15 mins or so. then headed to the nightmare called cold war kids. their set wasnt a nightmare, but the whole stage was way too small for them. the place was overflowing with people, and from where i was it was impossible to see, but somewhat hard to hear. not exactly what i was expecting from them. hard to believe they were on the same stage as Arckid, who was basically unknown.

CSS cancelled. was way disappointed, but the good news was - found this band called Back Door Slam from Isle of Man. The guys in the band are nothing short of rock geniuses. The lead singer is Stevie Ray Vaughan reincarnated. a really talented blues guitarist, who literally looked possessed when he played. hed close his eyes, and his hands worked magic on the guitar. i dont know if he realizes how greatly talented he is, because he seemed embarrassed/surprised, with the crowd response. they were really catching on to others nearby because the area got more and more crowded. isle of man knows how to rock apparently!

then was off to see snow patrol. im so in love with gary, that it really didnt matter what he'd have done. he was very chatty, dedicating some songs to 'spiderman from ireland'. loved seeing nikki join him on stage. sang along to the songs, and had a great time. then amazingly the crowd disappeared, and i was in the near front for interpol.

interpol didnt disappoint. i guess if youre not a fan of their live shows, this wouldnt be your thing. interpol's new stuff sounds brilliant. paul sounded really great and tore through a pretty decent set. loved the fact that it was a good chunk of their first album. 'slow hands' and 'evil' had the crowd going nuts. from the start of 'Rosemary Heaven restores you in life' it was quite cool with everyone singing along. the front part of the stage was filled with a mix of hardcore fans and really young fans from different areas of the world. was standing next to a young girl from canada, who had never seen them before. thought she was going to go nuts just waiting. really irritated with the people who were trying to do anything they could to move forward. they werent going to get passed kurosawa and i, no matter how hard they tried. i was quite happy ending the night with interpol.

from what i could hear of patti smith, she sounded really great. shes playing in nyc in a month or so, so i think ill try and catch her here.

sun: caught part of the graduate. a band from springfield, il. very radio-friendly pop music. was ok, but i should have just seen white rabbits. instead caught part of the postmarks, which just wasnt doing it for me. lead singer has a great voice, but it was a bit too mellow to start my sunday. didnt help with the mess of the weather, with it getting very muggy and humid early in the day. caught part of juliette & the licks. cant say im a fan of her music, but juliette lewis is a pretty kick ass- lead singer. she had the crowd in the palm of her hands, and she was working them over!

headed over to the cribs after. was right up front, as no one was there. good stuff, but the weather was getting to me. and they really arent made for that large of a stage. it was too big for them. better in a club, id imagine. so i headed over towards the back and laid down in the sun, and felt much better with the ice cold water dripping everywhere. then heard some of dios. liked what i had heard.

headed over to see rodrigo y gabriela (THANKS ROB!). they were nothing short of amazing. watching gabriela's fingers fly over the guitar she creates magic. the two of them were insane! played some hendrix, pink floyd, zepp, metallica (should have played more of the song - "enter sandman" i believe). just amazing to watch. somehow at that moment, the sun didnt seem as strong (although i know it was), but it was like being transported somewhere else while listening to them. i must say i loved when rodrigo mentioned something about how we should feel free to get naked. LOL.

then headed to the stage nearby and heard some of los campesinos. they were hving awful sound problems, which sucked, but they were much more energetic than i thought. the lead singer jumped into the crowd at the end and was dancing with everyone. was quite awesome! i fell asleep to some of their set lying in the grass. heard some of amy winehouse, with the sound probs los campesinos was having. they did mention her at one point, saying 'we can hear our neighbor amy winehouse'. or something to that effect.

next: caught some of the diffs - didnt care for them, so left - i think they describe themselves as surf/punk from LA. heard some of blue october, but too much sound bleed from the set next door (annuals), so took off to see some of paolo nutini - liked what i had heard, and heard some of apostle of hustle - not my cup of tea.

then heard some of kings of leon. not my thing, but they sounded good. managed to get almost near the very front for !!!. danced my ass off, and was sure i was about to pass out. good, fun set. loved seeing shannon rip off her clothes. the fight breaking out up front was insane. no clue what happened there. !!! really played well at the festival and they had a dance party going on for their set. hung around the stage, and was in very front for tv on the radio. by the time my morning jacket was over (whose songs seem to last forever), i was near dead and moved a little back. loved tv on the radio. very short set, but what a set it was! it seemed everyone was there trying to check them out, before pearl jam went on.

pearl jam were incredible. i loved eddies song about boycotting bp/arco and saving the lake. i stayed for about an hour of the set, and it was like a greatest hits album. the whole area was packed with everyone - young and old - singing along and rocking out.

all in all. lolla was great for me. loved hanging out with friends i dont normally get to see and we had a blast. was sorry i couldnt meet up with a few others, but my schedule was insanity at best. jumping all over the place made it hard to meet with others except those who knew when/where id be.

cant wait for next year. hotel 71 was really nice. great huge room at a reasonable price, with an amazing river view.

so - kurosawa - we're so there next year!

Nice weekend; overnight rain on Sat caused a bit too much mud in certain areas for Sun, though.

Slight set up changes over last year seem to work.

Portajohns plentiful; water refilling had some short lines at times.

Aftershows I went to: Fri: STS9 at HoB, Sat: Particle at Abbey Pub; Sun: Satellite Party & Mink at HoB.

Fest bands I did: FRI: Fratellis, Second City Comedy (sooo funny), Bang Bang Bang (ok, but not more), Polyphonic, Electric Six (really good), half of MIA, The Rapture, Satellite Party, half of Femi Kuti, Ben Harper (w/ Eddie V joining on "Masters of War")
SAT: Arckid, Ludo, Tapes n Tapes, half of Silverchair, a bit of Cold War Kids, half of STS9, Mission Improvable comedy, Roky Erickson and the Explosives (an immediate entry in the "don't-ever-miss-this-band" list), Mindfield dance tent, half of Interpol (before I just couldn't stand any more), end of Muse
SUN: Juliette & Licks, half of Rodrigo y Gabriela, half of Paolo, Iggy (with literally hundreds of fans up on stage), Yo la Tengo, Modest Mouse, Cafe Tacuba, PJ

Originally posted by sweetcell:
nikki from SSPU joined them for "set fire to the third bar" - personally i preferred the performance we got from the girl taken from the crowd at bender arena.

:D That was me at Bender Arena :D

You just made my day

Friday:


The Fratellis: Fun live band, crisp sounding songs with great hooks. Great way to start the fest. A-

Ghostland Observatory: I can't believe they are on the main stage! They should have played in front of the portable toilets. What a freakin' gimmick band. I wanted to pull the singer's ponytails. Rating: D

Ted Leo: He didn't sound so good after 2 songs so I left to see…

Son Volt: Pretty good overall with one or two brilliant songs. B

The Polyphonic Spree: Didn't translate well in a large setting. Bad sound and it got worse when they brought the tap dancers as background noise! The crowd went wild while they played the butchered Nirvana song. C

Sparklehorse: Good but not blown away. Probably better in a smaller setting, at night. B

M.I.A.: Don't really care much for the music but I love her moves! B+

Blonde Redhead: Best set of the day. I'm very surprised that their music translated very well on a big stage. Even Kazu was blowing kisses in the end. She knew they killed it! A


LCD Soundsystem: Enjoyable, esp. during North American Scum but the asian chick didn't look too happy on stage. B

Daft Punk: I know those two robots aren't doing anything but scratching their balls behing that huge ass triangle. Still, it was an amazing visual show. I can't imagine seeing them more than once, though. B+

Originally posted by bearman:
My highlights were, sad to say, Patti Smith and Iggy. I missed Friday (I know, I know…Daft Punk, but I had to work) so I flew out Saturday morning. Bags, family stuff this trip was a nightmare, I was with both my sisters so I'm sorry we didn't connect. Got to check out a chunk of Snow Patrol, but Patti Smith was absolutely stunning. "Gloria" alone made it worth the trip. She's the high priestess of poetry/proto-punk. I heart Patti.

Today I check out Paolo Nutini or whatever his name is. Meh. Iggy on the other hand was the fucking bomb. I mean, Philly was amazing but clearly a festival is where to see him. When he told people to get on stage I got to run all the way up to the stage, but it was MAYHEM. So I just danced my fucking ass off right in front of Iggy in the photographers pit during "No Fun" and sweat like I've never sweat in my life. After that, there really wasn't a point to me to stick around. Modest Moust and Pearl Jam? No thanks, Iggy was enough for me. I caught most of Yo La Tengo, who were good, but that was it for me. I really can't handle more than a few hours at a time at these things. Plus my oldest sister was a pistol and by the end of Saturday I was ready to drink myself into a hole. Oh wait, I did that last Tuesday at Social D :)

Bearman, I think I met you on the flight home. I sat behind you and borrowed your newspaper. :)

Originally posted by wanderlust featuring j. marshmallow:
Friday:


The Fratellis: Fun live band, crisp sounding songs with great hooks. Great way to start the fest. A-

Ghostland Observatory: I can't believe they are on the main stage! They should have played in front of the portable toilets. What a freakin' gimmick band. I wanted to pull the singer's ponytails. Rating: D

Ted Leo: He didn't sound so good after 2 songs so I left to see…

Son Volt: Pretty good overall with one or two brilliant songs. B

The Polyphonic Spree: Didn't translate well in a large setting. Bad sound and it got worse when they brought the tap dancers as background noise! The crowd went wild while they played the butchered Nirvana song. C

Sparklehorse: Good but not blown away. Probably better in a smaller setting, at night. B

M.I.A.: Don't really care much for the music but I love her moves! B+

Blonde Redhead: Best set of the day. I'm very surprised that their music translated very well on a big stage. Even Kazu was blowing kisses in the end. She knew they killed it! A


LCD Soundsystem: Enjoyable, esp. during North American Scum but the asian chick didn't look too happy on stage. B

Daft Punk: I know those two robots aren't doing anything but scratching their balls behing that huge ass triangle. Still, it was an amazing visual show. I can't imagine seeing them more than once, though. B+

Except for Ted Leo, I saw exactly the same acts you saw on Friday! Interestingly enough, I agree with most of your grades too. I thought Ghostland Observatory was terrible, one of the worst I saw all weekend. I left to catch someone on a side stage and that was a GREAT decision. I would give both Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem A's however. The robots were the show of the weekend for me.

Saturday:

Truly disappointing day. Matt and Kim sounded thin, I'm From Barcelona's songs were too juvenile for my tastes. The Roots and Silverchair didn't do anything for me. Yeah Yeah Yeahs were better than usual (the extra guitar player helped), Spoon and Tapes 'n Tapes put on good, but not great performances. I only liked half of Muse's set…maybe because I'm not into the songs from the new album. Hundreds of people were leaving to go see Interpol and vice versa (hundreds leaving Interpol to see Muse).

Best act of the day: The Hold Steady.

HA! Yes Eros, that was me. That's hysterical…great to have met you! Hope that you will have a great time at Muse on Thursday, be sure to give us a full report. Small world :)

Chicagoist has a pretty good wrapup of the whole thing.

Does anyone who was there have a guess on what the Sunday attendance was? I'm really terrible at judging stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were over 100,000 people there though.

Originally posted by eros:
Chicagoist has a pretty good wrapup of the whole thing.

Does anyone who was there have a guess on what the Sunday attendance was? I'm really terrible at judging stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were over 100,000 people there though.

no but i swear saturday was more packed than sunday from my experience on the stages i was at. sunday seemed not nearly as packed, and friday by far was the best date there with the least amount of people :)

it was rather cool to see all the people (mostly nice to each other) gather together for pearl jam. it was not so cool when all those people decided to see tv on the radio and i thought i was going to get crushed towards the front, by stupid people not letting me leave the area. it was the closest i felt to passing out at the festival. didnt help i had already danced my arse off for !!!.

So funny, looks like my Lolla lineups are completely different from most of y'all's (I was kind of working out a schedule based on both what I wanted to see and what my friends were seeing…was kind of odd and not super easy for me to navigate).

I was there Saturday and Sunday, from about 3:30 p.m. on each day (had morning plans with college friends not attending the festival, etc). I spent the entire time I was there over on the ATT stage side of the park. So I saw:

SAT:
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The Hold Steady
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Spoon
Muse

SUN:
Annuals
Peter Bjorn & John (only 2 songs)
!!!
My Morning Jacket
TV on the Radio
Pearl Jam

Highlight was The Hold Steady (all the rest of my crew said Rodrigo y Gabriela was the highlight; sorry I missed them but am definitely hitting the October show at 9:30).

On Saturday, Yeah Yea Yeahs were great, Spoon was okay (not a stadium band, in my opinion), and Muse was a full on rock show (though the sound was not consistent, and way too low for parts of the show). The bit of rain made for a comfortable day.

Sunday was humid and hot… I cuaght the Annuals just because my friends were there, and we stayed at Citi stage so we'd have good placement for PB&J. We were up very close, but then PB&J had the power go out at the beginning of their third song. :( I gave it about 15 minutes, then headed to !!!, which was a great time. Can't believe I've never seen them before and didn't really know what their deal was. Fun craziness.

My Morning Jacket played with a youth symphony, and were as bad as always (I just don't like them). TV on the Radio was okay, and Pearl Jam was just jampacked as theirs was the only timeslot that didn't compete with anyone. I was mid-crowd for three songs, but went up to sit on the hilly sidelines for the next 45 minutes, then headed to the bar at the Congress Plaza Hotel before they came back for what must have been a long encore.

Well run festival, good food options, no beer lines.

Congress Plaza kicked ass because it is RIGHT there, two blocks from the entrance to the park.

Bearman, I was in a similar boat in that I did lots of non-Lolla stuff, so it was hard to meet up. Hence, I didn't see Kurosawa either. Hope you both had a fabulous time, along with the rest of you lot!

Originally posted by eros:
Chicagoist has a pretty good wrapup of the whole thing.

thanks for the link. loved their write up of it. my only complaint - their photos dont list who any of the artists are. the only thing i do know - they are bands i didnt see, so was curious :) ah well.

and from the sounds of it - it sounds like pearl jam was insanely packed. i was close to the myspace stage having just seen tv on the radio and didnt make it up far, but at least it wasnt wall-to-wall people where we were.

and like bags, sad to say i didnt meet up with a lot of people, but i had an insane schedule that i was mostly keeping to, and seeing as many bands as i could in the 3 days.

what is rather funny is back in NYC its like lolla all over again. a good chunk of the bands are here and playing more shows. and daft punk has people trying to sell tix for $300. egads!

Sunday:

White Rabbits - reminded me of a happier Walkmen. I was very impressed. B+

The Cribs - Ehh. Forgettable. D

Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Something tells me they'll be forgetten in a couple months. I hope. D

Amy Winehouse - One song was really good (Back to Black), the rest were average. C+

Paolo Nutini - He sounds like he was gangbanged by a dozen men the night before. Hopefully no straight men likes this garbage. F

Iggy & the Stooges - mmmm…he RULED. Made me very happy. A+

Yo La Tengo - opened with "Sugarcube" then "Autumn Sweater" :eek: I wish their set was 2 hours! B+

MMJ - He yelled more than usual. So they get a C.

TV on the Radio - the last four songs gave me goosebumps (wolf like me, I was a lover, dirty whirlwind, and staring at the sun). A

PJ - Too predictable ending, but was happy to hear Crazy Mary and what seems to be a greatest hits set. B

I saw 27 in total, most full sets, three or four half sets:

FRI

Fratellis, Ghostland Observatory, Tom Schraeder, Son Volt, Polyphonic Spree, Sparklehorse, Silversun Pickups, Blonde Redhead, Satellite Party, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk

SAT
Matt and Kim, I'm From Barcelona, Pete Yorn, Silverchair, Cold War Kids, Roky Erikson, Regina Spektor, Snow Patrol, Spoon, Interpol

SUN
Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Amy Winehouse, !!!, My Morning Jacket, TVOTR, Pearl Jam

Highlights were of course Daft Punk, LCD, I'm From Barcelona, Rodrigo Y Gabriela and Pearl Jam.

wrote a third-day review on the plane last night, will post shortly.

Originally posted by eros:
Does anyone who was there have a guess on what the Sunday attendance was? I'm really terrible at judging stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if there were over 100,000 people there though.

my guestimate: not quite that high, more like 50-60k. it was a damn impressive sea of humanity to behold, as one walked south and entered the baseball field "bowl" just before PJ…

i had to opportunity to meet up with bnyced and joe marshmellow at the festy - good times!

Originally posted by xneverwherex:
and from the sounds of it - it sounds like pearl jam was insanely packed.

i spent most of the show in line with the soundboard, about 30-40 feet to left of it. wasn't crazy packed, one had a little personal space to groove in. people were really well-mannered and positive, dare i say helpful… almost makes me believe in that crap we used to call "vibe".

Originally posted by xneverwherex:
and daft punk has people trying to sell tix for $300. egads!

based on their show friday night, i can understand the hype - it was phenomenal. i'm still buzzing from it. if i didn't have major responsibilities friday morning, i'd be trekking up to NYC for this. instead i'll be doing the next best thing, muse at patriot (who were damn impressive too, my #2 highlight of the festival).

i am, however, already planning my attendance at vegoose. RATM (highlight of coachella) + daft punk (highlight of lolla) + stooges + muse + QOTSA + thievery + gogol + etc etc etc?!? no questions, i'm there.

more soon.