Last year's Lollapalooza was my first music festival experience. I had an incredible time and knew that I had to make festivals a summer tradition. I had been open to any one of the big festivals, but line-ups and timing issues lead me to Grant Park once again this year. I don't regret it one bit though, Lollapalooza is an undeniably well put together festival, and including this years updates I think it one-upped itself from last year. The park's grounds, food options, and water re-filling locales were all expanded, which made the park much easier to navigate and hunger and dehydration less of an issue (they had plenty of Vegan options as well.) Friday at Lollapalooza was really quite the spectacle. The number of "Little Monsters" with pop cans in their hair and wearing head-to-toe spandex was a sight in itself, but nothing compared to the truly amazing sets I was able to take in. Here's what I was able to see:Wavves:
12:15-1pm
Budweiser Stage
Following the release of their self-titled debut album in 2009, Wavves frontman Nathan Williams' received a lot of press, most of which wasn't entirely music related. From wild stage antics to a feud with Black Lips singer Jared Swilley that resulted in a bar brawl of sorts, WIlliams' didn't exactly make a great first impression. Fast forward to 2010, Williams' added former Jay Reatard backing musicians (bassist Stephen Pope and drummer Billy Hayes) and released Wavves' second album, the aptly titled "King of the Beach" to much critical acclaim. Although bands like Best Coast (fronted by Williams' good friend Bethany Cosentino), No Age, Beach Fossils, and Real Estate have flushed out the summery beach rock vibe quite nicely, Wavves manages to avoid sounding irrelevant or redundant. "King of the Beach" is hooky, and bright. There are obvious production upgrades but some fuzz still remains, as does Williams' overall slacker, self-deprecating, pothead attitude. Despite his moderately lousy reputation there is some evidence that Williams' is a pretty cool guy, after all Wavves' contact e-mail address is Tekken420@g-mail.com. Sounds to me like he relates perfectly to his demographic. Wavves was the first band I saw on Friday and the set definitely started the day off right. The sun was shining, personalized Wavves beach balls were thrown into the crowd, and Wiliams' and co were goofy, light-hearted and just plain fun to watch. The set consisted mostly of "King of the Beach" material as well as stand-outs "So Bored" and "No Hope Kids" from the 2009 debut. There were also some funny quips about Ben Stein, Williams' indecisiveness and of course a certain illegal substance. It seemed to me like Williams has his act together this time, let's hope it lasts.
The New Pornographers:4-5pm
Budweiser Stage
Having the description "super-group" attached to your band has to be somewhat intimidating. Though largely seen as the brain-child of singer/songwriter Carl Newman, the New Pornographers boast names like Neko Case, Dan Bejar and Kathryn Calder amongst its ranks. There is more than a little microphone passing involved here, there are tracks lead by each member and quite a few songs that use the oh-so-powerful male/female voice dynamic. Both Case and Newman have rather distinct voices that add to the charm and excitement that The Pornos are known for. I'm convinced it's impossible not to smile at a New Pornographers show, their songs are up-beat and undeniably peppy, but not sickeningly so. The Pornos walk the line of sparkly pop and clever indie rock brilliantly, there really is no doubt that they deserve the super-group moniker. Having a four o'clock set-time at Lollapalooza seemed pretty perfect to me. Night-time ambiance isn't at all necessary here, in fact the middle of the day sun added even more brightness to the already sunny set. They started off with the addicting "Sing Me Spanish Techno" which can be found on 2009's nearly perfect "Twin Cinema" and continued to include fan favorites like "The Laws Have Changed" and "Mass Romantic," as well as the Dan Bejar led "Myriad Harbor" and closed it all out with "The Bleeding Heart Show." Considering the band has such a great library of sings to choose from, I think this set-list was perfect for the occasion.
The Dirty Projectors:5-6pm
PlayStation
I'll admit that I left The New Pornographers set early to get a decent spot for The Dirty Projectors who were playing on the next stage over. Having been lauded by fellow musicians for their experimental style and excellent musicianship since their start in 2002, Dirty projectors finally started garnering much deserved fan attention with the release of 2005's "The Getty Address." Dirty Projectors mastermind Dave Longstreth has quite a bit of style. Dirty Projectors' songs feature choppy guitars, ecstatic arrangements, and the signature male/female vocals that involve Longstreth as well as the extraordinarily talented Amber Coffman. The Coffman featuring track "Stillness is the Move" from the band's newest album "Bitte Orca" garnered Dirty Projectors quite the hit, and was even covered by Solange Knowles (yes, she's Beyonce's sister.) The band's performance at Lollapalooza was nothing short of outstanding. Being that most Dirty Projectors songs are quite complicated, it was incredible to see them be reproduced live. The set-list was "Bitte Orca" heavy, featuring "Temecula Sunrise", "Cannibal Resource", "Remade Horizon", "Stillness is the Move", and "Useful Chamber." The band played some "Getty Address" material as well as a brilliant performance of their "Dark was the Night" collaboration with David Byrne. This really was quite the spectacle.
The Strokes:830-10pm
Budweiser
My headliner decisions were quite easy this weekend, there really was no competition. As blasphemous as it may be, I skipped out on Lady Gaga's set on Friday night. To be honest, I'm not a fan of hers at all and lets be real here, opportunities to see The Strokes don't come around very often. The Strokes were heroes of the supposed garage rock revival of the 2000's, their debut "is This It" was a massive hit and instantly shot the band into the orbit of music lovers everywhere. Singer/songwriter Julian Casablancas became quite the figure, his Joe Strummer-esque appearance and undeniable vocal style worked like a charm on the general public. While on hiatus from The Strokes, Casablancas released a solo album entitled "Phrazes for the Young." The band's guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. also released solo material including 2006's "Yours to Keep" and 2008's "Como Te Illama." During their hay-day The Strokes covered Rolling Stone, played night-time talk shows and even worked with producer Nigel Godrich (famous for his work with Radiohead.) Though their second album "Room on Fire" wasn't as successful as their debut, the album still went gold and provided hits like "Reptilia" and "12:51." The Strokes third album, "First Impressions of Earth" was released in 2006 to mixed feelings amongst critics and fans. The album was a bit of a departure stylistically, though songs like "Juicebox" and "Heart in a Cage" did enjoy success. After touring for "First Impressions" The Strokes went on hiatus until January 2009 when the band announced via Myspace that they would be retuning to the studio. Their first time around The Strokes' esthetic was copied by numerous bands and quickly became the go-to sound of the 2000's. Despite the "cool kids" too much hype ambivalence, it's difficult to deny The Strokes far-reaching impact, weather or not their new material will still be relevant is something that remains to be seen. After seeing their head-lining set on Friday night I can say that they definitely know how to put on a show. Casablancas seemed genuinely thrilled even referring to the fest as "Chicagopalooza" and pointing out that this was the bands first U.S. show "in like foooooorrrreverrr!" The crowd was wild (though not exactly as full as Gaga's), and sang along to every melodic guitar heavy gem. The set was chock full of hits and fan favorites, beginning with a raucous version of "New York City Cops" and finishing off the night with "Take it or Leave it." Here's the whole setlist:
New York City Cops
The Modern Age
Hard to Explain
What Ever Happened?
You Only Live Once
Soma
Is This It
Vision of Division
I Can’t Win / Reptilia
Last Nite /(encore:)
Juicebox
Someday
Under Control
Heart in a Cage
Take it or Leave it
*I was not at all close enough to get good pictures of The Strokes, that's just the nature of the Headliner beast.
