Lollapalooza 2008 has come and gone, marking its fourth year as a Chicago festival (and thus, my fourth year as a Lollagoer). The consensus: the festival was very pleasant, and I didn't see much I didn't enjoy. On the other hand, there wasn't super much that blew me away. The temperature was nice - hot at times, but nothing like the scorching 105 degree heats of the first year. The festival DID seem more crowded than previously - I'm not sure if I am just imagining that, or if it has to do with different stage layouts or what. It also seemed a little disproportionate - on Saturday it seemed like people showed up in hordes on the Southside and stayed there most of the day. On Friday I had hardly any reason to go to the North set of stages.

Also, I don't think the irony escapes anyone that a festival presented by AT&T would occur in an iPhone dead zone. Grant Park is truly the place that cell phone reception goes to die.

Winners:

Yeasayer had one of my favorite sets of the weekend - a very great performance for a hot summer day, with songs like Sunrise and 2080 offering the perfect soundtrack for the festival. Foals was a group I hadn't heard of until the festival - I had caught a couple of tracks at their recent pre-Lolla Apple store performance and had enjoyed it though. They were a lot of fun - the festival program calling them "angular, funky, math rock." They reminded me a bit of bands like the Lovely Feathers, with stand out songs like "Cassius." Wild Sweet Orange was another band who I knew nothing about and was really impressed by. From Birmingham, this group had a beautiful sound and I plan to pick up there album ASAP. It was one of those situations where I heard music in the distance and though "this sounds great, I'm going to wander over and listen to a couple of songs." These happy discoveries are always my favorite part of festivals. My more awesome then me friends were already there! Flogging Molly was a hell of a lot of fun, and though I was dragging ass near the end of the festival (I drifted off to the lovely sounds of Iron & Wine before them), they were the Irish punk shot in the arm in the home stretch that helped me get through it. Finally Broken Social Scene was a highlight performance a couple of years ago, so much that they got the biggest "Encore" chant I've seen at a Lollapalooza. Unfortunately, they were denied an encore that time around, but they were back to blow away the crowd again this year. With special guests like members of Stars, including the lovely Amy Milan, they rocked just as hard in 2008, and I think that you could say they got their encore in a big way.

Radiohead was the performance I was most looking forward to, with Nine Inch Nails a close second. Their performances didn't let me down, although I walked away not as blown away as I was by last year's Muse or Daft Punk performances. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that I was more familiar with Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails so had more expectations (but I wasn't familiar enough to know more than a handful of songs). Also, the crowds seemed crazier and the places to view the show from seemed less prime than previous years, which kind of delivered a somewhat muted experience. The light shows were great for both - Radiohead had some interesting light tubes which changed colors and pulsated. Every year for the past few years, the headlining performance has corresponded with fireworks being shot off near the museum campus or Navy Pier for some other event. It happened during Pearl Jam as well as Ween. This year, it occurred during Radiohead, and was a nice touch accompanying Fake Plastic Trees. (There was also a display after the Saturday night festival had let out.) Nine Inch Nails' light show might have been better though, which had some moving video screens and one of the most interesting effects I've seen in recent memory, in which a screen is lowered in front of the performers, and a void appeared around Trent and followed him around. You'd have to see it to get the full effect, but it was great.

Another big winner of the festival was Barack Obama. The whole weekend was abuzz with rumors of a cameo from the Jr. Senator from Illinois. A visit didn't manifest, but that's not the point - festival goers were talking about him all weekend. They weren't the only ones - bands were name dropping him all weekend too. From Chicago's own Office to foreigners such as Broken Social Scene and Bloc Party (Kele was wearing an Obama t-shirt!) Speaking of which - Obama t-shirts seen at festival - 9 bajillion. McCain t-shirts - Zero. Obama even had an official store on the grounds that sold merch and signed people up to the mailing list. I'm going to bet that McCain doesn't know what Lollapalooza is.

The final big winner of the weekend that I have to point out is the most awesome ASL signer that totally rocked out more than anyone I saw in the crowd. She wasn't just signing, she was loving the music!

All in all, it was a great weekend, and I am still glad that Lollapalooza is in town!

Other enjoyable performances: Bloc Party, Dr. Dog, Wilco, Sofia Talvik, The Blakes, The National, Okkervil River. The Ting Tings, Office, Bang Camaro (not my type of music, but great. Kind of the metal version of my favorite band from last year - We're From Barcelona)

Sorry that I missed:DeVotchKa, CSS, Mates of State, Battles, The Kills, Grizzly Bear, Uffie, Chromeo (There's just not enough time or energy in the day!)

Soundtrack of my weekend:
(Go and download these now for a near Lolla experience)

Rogue Wave - Chicago X12
Yeasayer - Sunrise
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
Margot & The Nuclear So & Sos - Quiet As a Mouse
The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
Dr. Dog - The World May Never Know
Foals - Cassius
Bloc Party - Like Eating Glass
Gogol Bordello - Supertheory of Supereverything
Wilco - Jesus, Etc.
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
MGMT - Time to Pretend
Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe
Office - Oh My
Wild Sweet Orange - Ten Dead Dogs
The Blakes - Don't Bother Me
What Made Milwaukee Famous - Sultan
Nicole Atkins & The Sea - Maybe Tonight
Iron & Wine - Woman King
Flogging Molly - If I Ever Leave This World Alive
The National - Fake Empire
Nine Inch Nails - Closer

During my first foray into the infamous festival that is now Lollapalooza (18 years and still going), I was witness to many things. My fellow festival compatriot, Josh, and I were able to take in some of the best live music that I can remember in quite some time. Unfortunately, we also experienced one of the worst scenes I have ever encountered at a concert. Honestly, in my two days at Lolla 2008 (I didn't have the dough nor the energy to go all three days) I can say I saw the best, the worst and everything in between for live music.

The Worst:

I was SUPER excited to finally see Rage Against the Machine on their reunion tour. I had always listened to them when I was in High School, pumping myself up for my big X-Country meets and tennis matches (Yeah, I know I was an intimidating athlete). They were probably the 2nd most highly anticipated act at Lolla (behind Radiohead) and rightly so. They were THE band for a large part of the 90's. The sound for their set was not loud enough and Rage needs to be heard at insanely loud levels (they need to go to 11 in other words). The band did perform their first 4 songs with flourish and energy that made them one of the top live acts to see for quite some time. Then it all went to hell. The group had to stop because people were crushing others into the stage (too much moshing and insanity). I don't know why people feel compelled to be violent and stupid at rock concerts. When you have to stop music because people are getting too unruly, I sometimes question people's motives. Anyhow, the group ended up having to stop their set multiple times and threatened to cut it short if people didn't calm down. It made me sad to see something like this any day, let alone in this day and age.

Everything in Between:

The majority of the bands at Lolla were unfamiliar to me. I was able to go and explore a great amount which is always a perk when you are in such a wide variety of genres. Some of my highlights:

Gogol Bordello: http://www.myspace.com/gogolbordello
My compatriot was a huge fan of these guys so I tagged along. It is kind of hard to describe gypsy punk music so I would just refer you to their myspace page for a listen. The group had some of the best energy I have ever seen for a live band...crazy ladies jumping around banging drums, old men playing eletric fiddle, just mayhem from start to finish.

Mates of Statehttp://www.myspace.com/matesofstate

Many people have recommend this married duo to me for quite some time and I was glad I saw them. They write some of the catchiest pop tunes I have heard in quite some time. And they make a pretty big sound for just a duo. You throw in a couple of string players and you make this reviewer quite a happy camper. They lived up to the hype and I will probably be compelled to check out some of their catalog now.

Booka Shade, James Curd (Greenskeepers) and DJ Bald Eagle

I have to admit that I used to be a frequent club goer back in the day and I made my way over to see a few eletronic acts and djs. I picked these 3 as they seemed like the closest mix of what I enjoy. Booka Shade are German producers that make some of the best electronica I have heard in quite some time. They were AWESOME and I was blown away by their set, ESPECIALLY since it was in the middle of the day. James Curd also had the small side grooving. DJ Bald Eagle gets bonus points for having enjoyable guests rapping along with his beats and having the best costume get-up since a Flaming Lips show (a perfect rendition of a Bald Eagle...in 80+ heat...bravo)

Bloc Partyhttp://www.myspace.com/blocparty

I have seen Bloc Party before and I just love the energy and talent in the group. I think i was the only person in the middle of Grant Park dancing and grooving but I have complete faith that those people up in front were just as enthused as I was with their set up tunes. I was ESPECIALLY happy with the fact that they played two of my personal favorites off of their debut (Like Eating Glass and Helicopter). In my mind, they were the perfect one-two punch with Radiohead.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings:http://www.myspace.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings

One word: WOW. The Dap Kings are the band that has played on Amy Winehouse's BACK IN BLACK album and now I know why. The group is SUPER TIGHT and just blow you away with their skill. I probably had the best location for this band (right up front) and I was glad because I was grooving and dancing around on a high RIGHT before the catastrophe that was Rage. Sharon Jones' voice has so much soul and shear power, it needs to be witnessed live and unproduced to believe. They were easily my favorite Non-Headliner act I saw over the two days at Lollapalooza. From start to finish, it was a joy.

The Best:

The whole reason why I went to the festival was for the ability to see Radiohead perform live again. I will never forget my first experience seeing them live in 2001 in Grant Park (one of the best shows I ever saw, bar none) so I had high expectations for this time around. They did not disappoint. Thom Yorke and company were in rare form and they covered most of their catalog, as far back as my personal favorite album, THE BENDS. There was a massive amount of focus on their latest, IN RAINBOWS, and rightly so as it one of the better albums to come out in the past few years. I had heard about the stage lights and the creative aspects of what was in store for the show and they were all insanely perfect for the setting (unfortunately I forgot my camera once again so no pictures to back up my thoughts). The most perfect moment of the entire day (and in my mind, the festival) was when the band was performing Fake Plastic Trees, from THE BENDS, and there were fireworks from some other event going by Adler Planetarium (perhaps it was for Lolla, I don't know). It was indescribable...the fireworks reflecting off the building and the perfect build up of Thom Yorke's falsetto over a serene field of worshippers....It was the epitome of what is best in music now and forever. And it is what keeps me coming back for more (check out the link below for their full setlist and those of other artists from Lollapalooza).

http://www.lollapalooza.com/2008_files/takeover/setlists.asp?dayx=1

So Kyle and I were both at the Pitchfork Music Festival this past weekend but we both experienced completely different festivals. I experienced Saturday in the day of a normal everyday schumck that likes to sweat it out with all of the hipsters, hippies and hard core musical fanatics. I believe a new scent of "collective human odor" was created on Saturday...look out Old Spice, I think we have the new overpowering item for the marketplace.

All in all, I was very happy with the performances. I saw Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, part of Dizzee Rascall and !!! and Animal Collective.

Fleet Foxes were the first band of the day for me when I got to the fest at approximately 2:45. They started off their set with a very mellow, acapella tune that made the entire festival hush to a silence. It was a crazy, surreal moment to have a festival that quiet for a performer. That just went on to show you how good these guys are and how they bring folks along for a musical journey with their rich harmonies and melodies. I was quite impressed. The only flaw I found was that their set was not very organized and they had long pauses between songs which kind of annoyed my short attention span.

Next was Dizzee Rascal. He was the only rapper of the day and he is British. Oh yeah and he has GREAT abs..like washboard abs. This guy must do about 300 situps a day. He also liked to call the audience MotherF----- a LOT. I lost track after we got done with the first song and we had already hit 20 (I'm that big of a nerd that I was counting). Yeah, but he does have the #1 hit song in the UK right now. Congrats to him for that.

NOTE: The Fleet Foxes lead singer is a Vegan who enjoys Vegan Ice Cream. As I got done with Dizzee, Nate and I went looking for some food and came across a Vegan Ice Cream booth. The employees went on to shout with glee, "Hey look everybody the FLEET FOXES like VEGAN ICE CREAM!" Yeah, that was a big shocker.

Vampire Weekend were the reason why I went to the festival. They were AMAZING. Super tight 45 minute set of straight pop/rock songs. My favorite song was a B-side I had never heard but it had a nice little trippy "apple" drum machine beat to it. It made me bounce with glee. Yep, I was full of glee.

!!! were crazy and very charasmatic but not my cup of tea. The lead singer was very...interesting. He liked to shake it. But every song kind of sounded exactly the same to me so I stayed for about 15 minutes and then went to check out flatstock posters.

The headliners of the night, Animal Collective, is what my buddy Nate the Greek came to see. He loves their sound of experimental samples and loops. It is definitely an acquired taste...kind of like asparagus or beer...something you typically don't like the first 20 times you listen to it. I have to say their live show was AMAZING. They had synchronized lights and just TONS of energy. I was not really a fan but I have to say that I am now. No words can really describe their show. The people behind me were high on something other than life and they kept oooooing and ahhhhing because the spectacle was just crazy. I couldn't imagine seeing them on anything...it would probably be sensory overload. The bass was so loud that my body vibrated with the music. Someone said to us when we were leaving that it was a "spiritual experience that made you question your own existence." I wouldn't go that far but it was definitely some nice icing on the cake of a great day.

South By Southwest 2008 has come and gone, and with it over 50 great bands under my belt. (I think my dad got double that! Oh well, what can you do? Last year (which I was too lazy to blog about) was my first SXSW, and a totally overwhelming experience - I didn't know what I was getting myself into. This year I had it way more under control. I was on top of the day show schedules thanks to austinshowlist.com and donewaiting.com. I made schedules for each day with hourly breakdowns and left multiple things per hour on the schedule to allow for last minute decisions based on venue capacity and location. I was on top of that shit.

Last year was a great year though, and had way more bands that I saw that were HUGE for me to see. I had been waiting to see bands like Simple Kid and Bic Runga for a long time, and had been wanting to see new favorite artist Chris Garneau. This year didn't provide any bands that came near the level of must-see as those bands. However, this year was overall a better year, with a higher percentage of bands that I really loved (last year had a lot of stinkers). Below you'll see my rating system as well as a comprehensive list of the shows I saw at SXSW 2008 after the break!

Ratings:
+1 = I hated it. I would do anything in my power to avoid having to endure this again
+2 = I adamantly didn't like this. I would be disappointed if this band were opening for a band that I wanted to see.
+3 = I was pretty neutral about this band. If I must see them again it wouldn't bother me, but it wouldn't tip the scales in a positive way either. I won't be looking the band up when I get home Also known as the "my mind is wandering" rating
+4 = I enjoy this band. I will check them out online, and if they were opening for another +4 or +5 that would be exciting.
+5 = I loved it. I will be buying their CDs and going to see them live again.

Continue reading "SXSW 2008 Recap"

Sorry to everyone who has been waiting anxiously for SXSW coverage. My computer is muy sick and is going in for repairs soon, so I haven't had the opportunity. In order to hold you over, I wrote up a quick recap of the hottest performers of the week. Enjoy!!!

1. Chris Garneau - Far and away the hottest performer in all of Austin. 5'5" and skinny, with perfect hair, face, fashion sense. A voice that could kill you and bring you back. And he likes boys. What more could you want?
 
2. Justin Harris (Menomena) - Just look at that smile. This boy is all smiles. He moved Menomena from a band that I liked to a band that I like liked.

 

3. Nick White (Tilly and the Wall) - I don't have a picture of Nick, seeing as I was outside of the sold out Tilly tent. But I knew he was in there, being adorable and biding his time until we are married.
4. Peter Gannon (Calla) - The wedding ring bumps him down on the list just a little bit, but I can still look! Oh, and he smiled at me while I was waiting in line for BBQ at the Snocap party. And I saw a twinkle in his eye. Awww.


5. This is a tough one. It is a close call between Peter (Peter, Bjorn and John), Dave Monks (Tokyo Police Club) and the dude from Headlights. It's so tough of a choice I think I'll just give the #5 spot to Chris Garneau again. Yum.