Lollapalooza reviews & comments

[Bags]

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!

[xneverwherex]

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!

[Vas Deferens]

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

[wxdude]

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.

[sweetcell]

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.

[sweetcell]

double post - deleted

[sweetcell]

Originally posted by xneverwherex:
   

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. [/b]

if you put your mouse over the image and wait for the imbedded ALT tag to appear, it'll tell you who is who in the pic.

[eros]

Friday:
 Polyphonic Spree, SSPU, Black Keys (at least in the background whilst eating), LCD, Daft Punk
 
 Saturday:
 Tokyo Police Club, Tapes n Tapes, (lunch), Cold War Kids, Roots, Snow Patrol, Muse
 
 Sunday:
 Amy Winehouse, (lunch), Kings of Leon, !!!, My Morning Jacket, PJ
 
 Highlights for me - Polyphonic Spree, Daft Punk, Tokyo Police Club, Cold War Kids,  MUSE, Kings of Leon, !!!, PJ
 
 I was also struck by the really great "vibe" that seemed to permeate the whole weekend.  Everyone - from the beer vendors, to the randoms we met in the crowd, to the waitress at the pizza place - was as nice as can be.  I also didn't see as much of the drunken meathead contingent as I was expecting.  Quite a refreshing change from the east coast attitude we often get around here.

[xneverwherex]

Originally posted by sweetcell:
   

Originally posted by xneverwherex:
   

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. [/b]

if you put your mouse over the image and wait for the imbedded ALT tag to appear, it'll tell you who is who in the pic. [/b]

even doing that on the first ones it still says img_6006. perhaps some pics do have it labeled. and yes, the spree on page 3 of photos are labeled accordingly. but thanks for the heads up, although i did know that    i use flickr for all my photos as well, just need to do a massive update, since ive not added concert photos since march. huge huge backlog.

[sweetcell]

thoughts and comments on lolla day 3:
 
 due to various family snafus and the need to get the girlfriend to the airport, i didn't make it to grant park until iggy came on.  pissed me off, i was looking forward to catching rodrigo y gabriela and wouldn't have minded a lil'dose of blue october's brand of pop songs.  grr.
 
 iggy was a ton of fun, not quite as much as at the club earlier this year (obviously) but he and the crowd were feeding off each other.  the stooges were a huge draw, having got there just after they started it was near impossible to fight my way to the front as i would have liked to do.  mike watt still makes the most ridiculous faces when he plays bass.
 
 "best performance of the day" might have to go to my mom.  yup, mommy saw that the GF left her bracelet behind and decided she wanted to check out the show.  i was afraid that iggy might be a bit much for her, but other than his dropping a few F-bomb she was really impressed at his energy.  next up was peter bjorn and john who were quite good, better than at coachella.  something went wrong with the PA during their third or fourth song and it went silent.  disappointed, we moved on to !!! and proceeded to dance like sillies.  at some point PBJ's audio probs were worked out and they started up again.  i trekked back to catch the rest of their set (including a rendition of "young folks" that appeared to include live whistling) while mom decided that !!! was more her groove - made me feel old.  after nic & co finished up, mom had had her dose and headed home.
 
 my plan was to check out some modest mouse but i was intercepted by flosstradamus' DJ set - which utterly ruled.  their basslines were very reminiscent of daft punk at times, remix/mashup highlights included "baby got back", "don't stop believing", "jump around" and some jay-z tunes that made half the crowd go ape-shit.  powerful stuff, punters danced up a storm.  i tore my self away long enough to confirm that they were putting on a better show than MM, then returned.  if MMJ was closer i would have ran over to check out some of that, but they were at the opposite end of the festival.  
 
 i  caught a few songs by cafe tacuba - latino punk rawk!  crowd was probably the craziest i saw at lolla.  while fun, i left after 3 songs in order to grab a last drink and get myself in position for pearl jam.  the sight of ~50k (?) people gathered in the main field in preparation for PJ was a very impressive sight.  i managed to grab a spot close to the soundboard.
 
 PJ started off strong but floundered by the end.  it was a good enough show but not great, not how i would have chosen to end the festival.  the fireworks going off behind the stage were fun.  they finished off with ben harper joining them for a disjointed version of neil young's "rocking in the free world"... meh.
 
 festival high point: daft punk.  simply amazing.  i'm now seriously considering vegoose if only to see them again.  other highlights were muse, flosstradamus, regina spector and the rapture.  
 
 main complaint was bleed between stages, which could be easily solved by having fewer filler acts and thus needing fewer stages.  also, the corporate vibe of lolla kinda bugged.  seems as if everything was "brought to you by" some company.  somehow other big festivals manage to keep sponsorship tasteful and subtle.
 
 overall i think i liked coachella a tad better but it's a tough call - i had a great time at lolla too.  the chicago skyline makes for an amazing backdrop.  
 
 one thing that made my lolla experience unforgettable: coming home every night to home cooking     home-made carrot cake, home-made keylime pie, mom's cookies... *siiigh*

[xneverwherex]

oh sweet! i found my friends (including kurosawa) in the !!! photos. man we were close to the front. sadly, i cant make out myself as i am way too short!      <img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1240/1040535495_e9bee0fd0d.jpg?v=0" alt=" - " />
 
 and sweetcell - those filler acts you spoke of - were some of the best acts out there. the bmi stage hardly bled into the other ones, but regardless that was where some of the best (and smallest) bands could be heard. id hardly consider getting rid of them, but maybe the scheduling is what needs to be worked on. some of the best bands out there could be heard on the really tiny stages. the biggest snafu was putting cold war kids on the adidas stage (or whichever small stage it was). that was awful!

[Vas Deferens]

Uh huh...that's why you had to cancel dinner with me at Miller's Pub...I won't forget that!
 j/k
 
 

Originally posted by sweetcell:
   
 one thing that made my lolla experience unforgettable: coming home every night to home cooking      home-made carrot cake, home-made keylime pie, mom's cookies... *siiigh*

[sweetcell]

new: lolla 2007 "a day in the life" website with links to setlists (way cool), pix and blogs.
 
 eventually some footage should be available in the  att blueroom archive.  don't expect daft punk, PJ or muse though    
 
   

Originally posted by wanderlust featuring j. marshmallow:
  Uh huh...that's why you had to cancel dinner with me at Miller's Pub...I won't forget that!
 j/k

heh, sorry about that dude - but one bite of mom's garlic pasta thingy that she made, and i knew i made the right decision.  besides, despite the 15-minute walk home i was served faster than i would have been at miller's   :p

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

They has Pearl Jam in the Blue Room ,in their entirety.
 
 

Originally posted by sweetcell:
  new: lolla 2007 "a day in the life" website with links to setlists (way cool), pix and blogs.
 
 eventually some footage should be available in the  att blueroom archive.  don't expect daft punk, PJ or muse though      
 
   

Originally posted by wanderlust featuring j. marshmallow:
  Uh huh...that's why you had to cancel dinner with me at Miller's Pub...I won't forget that!
 j/k

heh, sorry about that dude - but one bite of mom's garlic pasta thingy that she made, and i knew i made the right decision.  besides, despite the 15-minute walk home i was served faster than i would have been at miller's    :p  [/b]

[kurosawa-b/w]

Loved the whole weekend. Already looking forward to next year. You just can't beat that location.
 
 Friday - The Fratellis, Ghostland Observatory, Colour Revolt, The Polyphonic Spree, Sparklehorse, Inward Eye, Wax on Radio, The Black Keys, LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk
 
 Saturday - Dear and the Headlights, Matt & Kim, I'm From Barcelona, Tapes N Tapes, Kevin Michael, Aqueduct, Cage the Elephant, The Roots, Back Door Slam, Snow Patrol, Interpol
 
 Sunday - The Graduate, White Rabbits, The Cribs, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Lupe Fiasco, Los Campesinos, Apostle of Hustle, !!!, TV on the Radio, Pearl Jam
 
 The secret of the fest was definitely the BMI stage. Terrific sets by bands that were thrilled to be there.
 
 Highlights: Interpol (new songs sound great live), Dear and the Headlights (was bummed I didn't see more), Inward Eye (great energy), Lupe Fiasco (finally got to see him!), Polyphonic Spree, I'm From Barcelona, Rodrigo y Gabriela
 
 Disappointments: Colour Revolt, Aqueduct