Lollapalooza 2010

BEST:

Raphael Saadiq
Jamie Lidell
The Strokes
Wild Beasts
Erykah Badu
Soundgarden
Spoon
Dirty Projectors

GOOD:

Stars
Metric
Devo
MynameisJohnMichael
Dawes
Frank Turner
Cut Copy
Wavves (but drummer needs to shut up)

GARBAGE:

Empire of the Sun (except for the costumes)
Black Keys (is this even music?)
X Japan (cheesy hair metal but very funny band)
The Cribs

eros wrote:
Good:

All the headliners I saw (Arcade Fire, Strokes - even though they kind of mailed it in, Green Day)

Green Day ROCKED.  The music snob perception of them is that they are lame but you HAD to be entertained by them.  Green Day's set was like Ted Nugent meets the Buzzcocks.

While a mile away Phoenix was smoking clove cigarettes…

Brian

P.S.  But, Brian, Arcade Fire don't NEED fireworks.  The fireworks they set off are in your MIND!….and your HEART!…and your SOUL!

P.P.S.  Some dude played "Eruption" on a saxophone and they did "Highway to Hell."

Disappointments: Wavves - i so hope they just disappear - it was a trainwreck! Nathan's drug issues are great for a BV read - but really I dont need to hear every last detail!
Temper Trap - so dont get the hype
The Dodos - well the highlight was Neko Case playing with them, but they were quite boring
Wild Beasts - eh not that bad, but wasnt totally feeling it (enough that ill skip their nyc show)

Best:
Arcade Fire - nearish front and directly in the middle - awesome place to be! amazing set!
Mute Math - biggest surprise! excellent show
Kissaway Trail - their couple of songs in the Toyota tent were as awesome (enough to make me reconsider the above mentioned wild beasts show as theyre opening)
Green Day - definitely know hhow to put on a show
Strokes - a bit boring, but they sounded amazing

Good:
Devo, Frightened Rabbits, Hockey, Health, Hot Chip, Mumford & Sons, Warpaint
and plenty of other bands Im sure that Im forgetting!

Vas wrote:
GARBAGE:

Black Keys (is this even music?)

How would you even know?  You didn't even stay through their set.

Four songs is enough to know that they have nothing to offer musically….they should just be an accapella band!

MonkeyPants wrote:

Vas wrote:
GARBAGE:

Black Keys (is this even music?)

How would you even know?  You didn't even stay through their set.

MonkeyPants wrote:
How would you even know?  You didn't even stay through their set.

he read it on a blog.

That is the right answer sweetcell ;)

Um, you didn't even stay for four songs. I have the text that says you left after three ;)

Vas wrote:
Four songs is enough to know that they have nothing to offer musically….they should just be an accapella band!

MonkeyPants wrote:

Vas wrote:
GARBAGE:

Black Keys (is this even music?)

How would you even know?  You didn't even stay through their set.

Brian_Wallace wrote:

eros wrote:
Good:

All the headliners I saw (Arcade Fire, Strokes - even though they kind of mailed it in, Green Day)

Green Day ROCKED.  The music snob perception of them is that they are lame but you HAD to be entertained by them.   Green Day's set was like Ted Nugent meets the Buzzcocks.

I was talking about the Strokes who mailed it in.  Agree 100% on Green Day.  Tons of fun - I was even contemplating going to the show tonight out at the seventh circle of hell (Nissan/Jiffy Lube)

overheard people say that Green Day's medley of classic rock songs was terribleeeeee.

Dates for next year announced Aug 5-7, just booked my room  ;D

Vas wrote:
overheard people say that Green Day's medley of classic rock songs was terribleeeeee.

It's Green Day, what would you expect? 

I liked it well enough.  But hey, I'm old.

me and all my friends loved it. it was fun and fit into the show. not sure what on earth your friends (or whoever you heard) was expecting - but they gave it their all and put on one hell of a show. maybe they should have left for phoenix.

Vas wrote:
overheard people say that Green Day's medley of classic rock songs was terribleeeeee.

Green Day was awesome, GaGa was awful.  That blog post a few pages back captured it perfectly – it felt like a faded carbon copy of a circa 1998 Madonna show.  Her banter made you want to poke out your eardrums.  And the amazing amazing sets reminded me of a regional touring stage set for "Rent."  Didn't bother with the Strokes…they never have done much for me live.

Would have loved to see Phoenix, but I was in for Green Day and I can't believe I chose poorly.

I enjoyed Social D, Devo, Temper Trap (enjoyed them much more once I moved into the crowd – I wasn't getting the energy when sitting out on the edge of the stage area).  Hated Matt & Kim.  Somehow they think screeching "fuck" a lot makes you forget there are only two of them on stage.

Saw others that were fine (hot chip, etc.)  The xx did NOT work in a venue like this – nap time.

Missed a lot as I was galavanting in Chicago with friends who live there, etc.  All in all a great weekend, but I've had better "music" weekends.

sweetcell wrote:

redsock wrote:
But was very disappointed with Empire of the Sun, who was expecting more from. Their show was impressive, but their music may have been completely canned. Too bad, though playing the woods might not be the best place to see them.

i watched 2 songs on youtube, and it looked like what i'd expect - live guitars & vocals, an occasional synth, and just about everything else sequenced (slightly different than purely canned, but i'm splitting hairs).  it's dance music.  it wasn't written live, so that they chose not to interpret it live is understandable.

they could have used a live drummer, but that's dicey for EDM.  most electronic acts (like thievery corp in recent years) don't use a live drummer because a human can't play evenly and predictably enough.

and personally, i think a dance party under the trees is an awesome idea, mostly because i've been at some great EMD parties in the forest.  not to say that lolla's interpretation of that concept was successful…

I saw them last Monday in NYC and they did everything live, including a drummer. Was an awesome show! I guess it's a good thing I stuck to Arcade Fire that night though?

Best decision I made all weekend was leaving MGMT for The Temper Trap. Also awesome was winning sidestage passes for the Playstation stage and sitting on the stage for Metric. :D The Soundgarden preshow at the Vic was fun, but not AMAZING like I had hoped. Lady Gaga can sing, but she talked WAY too much. After camping out all day to be close for her show, it pissed me off quite a bit. Devo was a lot of fun, as was Balkan Beat Box, Gogol Bordello (DUH), Mute Math, and The National. I really don't like Green Day, but I have to say, I quite enjoyed their set! I was also a bit let down by Arcade Fire, but that may just be because I didn't have a good spot and couldn't see well. Though at least because of where I was standing, I caught Alex from Edward Sharpe as he was leaving and got a picture. :) It was a great 5 days of music for me, and I'm still recovering! Here's my photos and videos if anyone's interested:

Soundgarden at the Vic: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Soundgarden%20August%205%202010%20Chicago/
Day 1: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%201%202010/
Day 2: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%202%202010/
Day 3: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%203%202010/
Empire of the Sun in NYC: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Empire%20of%20the%20Sun%20NYC%20August%209%202010/

Bags wrote:
This has me thinking though.  Maybe a different way to do Lolla is just go to Chicago and see what's in clubs.  Skip the fest, enjoy the full city, and see a few bands rather than a gaggle.

this is exactly what i did in 2006 and it worked out great. i just went to the pre/after parties/concerts  on friday and saturday nights.

agenthal wrote:

sweetcell wrote:

redsock wrote:
But was very disappointed with Empire of the Sun, who was expecting more from. Their show was impressive, but their music may have been completely canned. Too bad, though playing the woods might not be the best place to see them.

i watched 2 songs on youtube, and it looked like what i'd expect - live guitars & vocals, an occasional synth, and just about everything else sequenced (slightly different than purely canned, but i'm splitting hairs).  it's dance music.  it wasn't written live, so that they chose not to interpret it live is understandable.

they could have used a live drummer, but that's dicey for EDM.  most electronic acts (like thievery corp in recent years) don't use a live drummer because a human can't play evenly and predictably enough.

and personally, i think a dance party under the trees is an awesome idea, mostly because i've been at some great EMD parties in the forest.  not to say that lolla's interpretation of that concept was successful…

I saw them last Monday in NYC and they did everything live, including a drummer. Was an awesome show! I guess it's a good thing I stuck to Arcade Fire that night though?

Best decision I made all weekend was leaving MGMT for The Temper Trap. Also awesome was winning sidestage passes for the Playstation stage and sitting on the stage for Metric. :D The Soundgarden preshow at the Vic was fun, but not AMAZING like I had hoped. Lady Gaga can sing, but she talked WAY too much. After camping out all day to be close for her show, it pissed me off quite a bit. Devo was a lot of fun, as was Balkan Beat Box, Gogol Bordello (DUH), Mute Math, and The National. I really don't like Green Day, but I have to say, I quite enjoyed their set! I was also a bit let down by Arcade Fire, but that may just be because I didn't have a good spot and couldn't see well. Though at least because of where I was standing, I caught Alex from Edward Sharpe as he was leaving and got a picture. :) It was a great 5 days of music for me, and I'm still recovering! Here's my photos and videos if anyone's interested:

Soundgarden at the Vic: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Soundgarden%20August%205%202010%20Chicago/
Day 1: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%201%202010/
Day 2: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%202%202010/
Day 3: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Lollapalooza%20Day%203%202010/
Empire of the Sun in NYC: http://s73.photobucket.com/albums/i236/agenthal/Empire%20of%20the%20Sun%20NYC%20August%209%202010/

Nice photos, how did you get tickets for the Soundgarden vic show??  Did you win from the email signup??  Here are my videos from the weekend if anyone is interested  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/user/godieinhell2?feature=chclk

Nope, I did what any person who knows about fans on message boards does… I went to the Soundgarden message board and begged someone to let me be their +1 for face value. Managed to get my friend in too, it was sweet.  ;D Any band with a hardcore fanbase has fans who aren't greedy and just want other fans at the show, thank god…

As you should know, as I totally know who you are now looking at your vids. You were at all the Muse gigs I went to. XD I used a bunch of your videos when I was doing that fan edit… and, I assume you use the Muse boards, like any sane Muse fan would, because they're awesome. You going to the Charlottesville show and shit? I'm doing Wembley, woo!

agenthal wrote:
Nope, I did what any person who knows about fans on message boards does… I went to the Soundgarden message board and begged someone to let me be their +1 for face value. Managed to get my friend in too, it was sweet.  ;D Any band with a hardcore fanbase has fans who aren't greedy and just want other fans at the show, thank god…

well that was a good idea.  It was lucky of you to find someone for yourself and your friend.  haha, i'm glad you like my videos.  Yeah, i'll be in Charlottesville for their show.  I've got a floor ticket  ;D

I got a copy of the Soundgarden show from the Vic. Pretty much the best setlist you could ask for. Although 4th of July isn't the same anymore.