Before I can tell you about Lollapalooza, I need to tell you about getting in to Lollapalooza. Here’s the story… We (myself and my friend, Jordan, from college. He flew in from Colorado while I drove from Akron) exchanged our tickets (bought from a 3rd party over ebay) for our 3-day wristbands. Now, I’ve been to Lollapalooza before (2008) so, I’m no stranger to the wristband. However, I noticed a little card-stock tag on the wristband. All this tag says is “Lollapalooza 20th Anniversary”. I thought to myself, that I didn’t need a stupid commemorative tag attached to my wristband, rubbing on my wrist all weekend. So I told my friend I was taking this tag off. He agreed it was a good idea. Well, as luck would have it, that “stupid commemorative tag” had a computer chip in it that they scanned as you came in to the park. I still had my computer chip in my pocket, but my friend must’ve just dropped his on the ground after taking it off the wristband. We got in the line for people having ticket problems. Immediately after we got in line, about 200 other people got in line behind us. There were some major ticket problems of all different kinds. When we finally got to the front of the line, we explained our situation, we took the chips off our wristbands thinking they were just some kind of tags, and my friend no longer had his. But we still had the tickets we used to exchange for the wristbands, so I assumed this would be fixed quickly.
Wrong. They would not help us. They said they could not help us. Because we didn’t have the chip, and our names were not on the tickets (bought from 3rd party on ebay), we had no proof that we actually paid to get in, so they would not do anything for us. When we realized they were not going to help us fix this problem, we began to get upset, so they had a security guard escort us away. We walked away, dejected. Our only hope was to find that chip somewhere on the sidewalk, on the streets of Chicago, somewhere between where we got the wristbands and the front entrance. We scanned the sidewalk, not really expecting to find the chip, already hatching up schemes how one of us would have to jump the fence while the other got in with the one chip we had. Suddenly, I saw it: on the ground and trampled on. I dove to the ground, nearly knocking people over in the process. We actually found the tiny chip. After some discussing what to do now, we decided to just try sliding it on the wristband and see if it would scan anyways, in its shambled state. It DID scan in. We made it. Now, after our trip nearly ended before it truly began, it was time to rock out. On to the first band…
The Vaccines:
We were simply happy enough just being in the park at this point. My friend remembered enjoying the one song he sampled from The Vaccines. So we saw them first. They erupted on the stage with a fury of punk energy. Now, these guys are not punk, but their energy and tempo on stage was just what we needed to make us forget our stress of almost not getting in. The one song my friend knew, “Post Break-Up Sex”, was good, but they played it early. So now we had no idea what was coming. They slowed things down with their song, “Wetsuit”. This song started out slow, but had a chunky feel with the drum beat of the chorus. Every time the chorus came around, the energy of the band and crowd would increase. The singer would sing more passionately, and the band would play heavier. This song was constantly building. By the time the last time through the chorus was building, the band had escalated things as much as they could, and the crowd was eating it up. The chorus broke and so did the crowd. The singer was yelling out the chorus along with all the fans. Everyone was bouncing to The Vaccines… well, everyone listening around 1:15 anyways. With their pseudo punk energy and moderate use of synthesizers these guys embodied everything that is classic U.K. music. They closed out their set with “Norgaard”. After listening to the studio version, they must have played it at double speed live. And the studio version (On the album What Did You Expect From The Vaccines) only clocks in at 1 minute 38 seconds. The song ended just after it started. It left us reeling, but hungry for more. The Vaccines cemented themselves in my mind. I’m now a fan. Immediately after The Vaccines we saw another band at my friend’s urging…
The Naked And Famous:
It’s hard to write a lengthy review about bands I didn’t particularly enjoy. Maybe it was the heat of the sun beating on us. Maybe we were still filled with energy from The Vaccines only ending minutes earlier. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for relaxing music. Whatever the reason, The Naked And Famous were easily forgettable when compared to other bands we saw. However, two songs stood out: “Punching In a Dream” and “Young Blood”. Both are off their album, Passive Me, Aggressive You. After going back and listening to their album, I’m a little surprised they didn’t have more energy live. It seems their music could transfer well live, but maybe the outdoor festival just isn’t their environment. I could find myself liking this band; they just didn’t do it for me at Lollapalooza. When The Naked And Famous were done, we had a little time to kill, but we hung around the same stage because we wanted a good spot to see…
Foster The People:
Ah, yes. One of the most anticipated bands of the day. I had been listening to their album, Torches, for a few weeks prior to Lollapalooza. While it’s enjoyable, I was concerned how it would be live. I wondered how much energy could really be put in to these songs; even the single, “Pumped Up Kicks”. Sometimes it feels so good to be wrong.
Foster The People played with surprisingly high intensity. What was also impressive was how the songs were played. There were four different keyboards on stage for different members of the band. Lead singer, Ben Foster, is a very talented musician. He sings, plays keys, guitar, and at one point he even joined the drummer as they both played on the same set from opposite sides. Foster The People sounded great, and took away all doubts I had about their ability to bring the needed energy to Lollapalooza. Also, it needs to be said. Ben Foster has some nice dance moves. The man is a great musician and singer, but he is also light on his feet and entertaining to watch; moving around while he sings. The band played most of the songs off of their only release, but they also played a cover of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold”. They finished their set with the aforementioned hit single, “Pumped Up Kicks”. Great show. I can’t wait to see them again.
Now we had a small break in the day. So we got food, refilled our water, etc. We then caught the tail end of…
Two Door Cinema Club:
They had a massive amount of people watching them. I just didn’t like it. The only song that made me want to hear more was their closer, “I Can Talk”. I’m glad we didn’t waste time watching their whole set. Starting immediately after them, a band worth seeing based on name recognition alone…
A Perfect Circle:
James Iha is one of my favorite modern guitarists. I loved his work with Smashing Pumpkins, and I really enjoyed the super group Tinted Windows, despite releasing only one album. But I’ve never quite loved A Perfect Circle as much as his other endeavors. I’m only familiar with their work because of radio play. I didn’t have very high expectations for them, or place a very high value on making sure I saw them at Lollapalooza, but I’m glad I did. In my short time I watched, they played “Imagine”. After watching the beginning of their set, I really wish I could have stayed to watch the whole thing. We had to leave to make our way almost all the way across the park to see perhaps my most anticipated band of the entire 3-day weekend…
OK Go:
As Tinnie Tempah finished his set, we dashed up front as his fans left. Apparently Tinnie Tempah fans are not OK Go fans. As we fought upstream, against the current of people leaving, somehow we found the guardrail by the front of the stage. We managed to get to the front row for OK Go. This couldn’t have started any better. As they took the stage, each member was wearing a different brightly colored suit: blue, red, yellow, and green.
Just as on their recently released live album 180/365, they started their show off with “Do What You Want”. The song list from this live album contains very much of what they played at Lollapalooza. “White Knuckles”, “A Million Ways”, “Invincible”, “Here It Goes Again”, and “Skyscraper” name a few of the highlights. The band performed a song entirely with hand bells as well as the lead singer immersing himself 25 feet within the crowd while he played guitar for a song. This band may seem gimmicky from time to time, especially if you only know them by their outlandish youtube videos. All their gimmicks and videos aside, this band was made to play live. Front man Damian Kudash had beautiful control of the crowd with his banter from the stage. After instructing their fans how to sing the chorus of the last song, they closed the show with “This Too Shall Pass”. When the last note hit, and my body finally stopped shaking from standing in front of the speakers for the entire show, I was in amazement. On a day, where I thought OK Go was under billed by not playing on any of the four main stages, they brought their A-game and put on the kind of show I was hoping for. There it was: the highlight of my day. However, there was still one more band to see. With Coldplay and Muse playing head-to-head at opposite ends of the park, the choice couldn’t have been easier. We saw…
Muse:
We tried to get back across the park to see Muse as fast as we could, but they started just as soon as OK Go was finishing, and leaving early was not an option. As we approached the field where we would be seeing Muse from, I could not recognize the song. Unfortunately just as we got close enough to make out the song, it ended. After a small bit of silence, the band erupted with the thick bass, distorted sound, and drum beat that is “Super Massive Black Hole”. Not only did the band sound great, but they had a very impressive light show. They played with some small hexagon shaped screens behind them, and also had impressive graphics on the two large screens next to the stage. Other stand out songs included “Undisclosed Desires” and “Time Is Running Out”. They must have played “Uprising” early in the set. Oh well. The band finished their set 20 minutes early, leaving time for an encore. I think it’s a little ridiculous that the schedule says Muse will play until 10:00, so they finish their set up, so their encore fits in to the time slot. I know the idea of a true encore is dead in the live rock scene, because all encores are already planned out, but finishing a set early so the encore finishes at 10:00 on the dot… I don’t like the idea. Regardless, for their finishing song, Muse played my favorite song by them, and possibly the most epic, larger than life, feeling song ever: “Knights Of Cydonia”. With a killer light show, tons of on stage smoke, and the entire crowd chanting the lines, it was a great way to finish out day 1 at Lollapalooza.
We almost didn’t get in (in part to my own stupidity), but then did get in (because I was able to find the computer chip on Chicago sidewalks), were surprised by bands like The Vaccines and Foster The People, and had expectations fully met by bands I knew and loved in OK Go and Muse.
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