Lollapalooza: Day 3
We arrived a little later this day because we weren’t worried about seeing any of the early bands. Plus, we wanted to catch up on sleep. Even though we arrived later than previous days, we still had time to wander around until the first band we wanted to see: The Joy Formidable. In wandering around, we stumbled upon one of the smaller stages and discovered…
The Kingston Springs:
We arrived 15 minutes in to their set. At first, they sounded generic. It was a retro rock, garage band kind of sound. It was good, and moderately catchy, but generic none the less. As the set went on, it became less and less generic. They added keyboard, bells, and even a trumpet. My only complaint is that they never announced any song titles. That makes it difficult to say “THIS song was great, or THAT song had a nice upbeat sound.” While on the band’s website, you can listen to the entire EP, The Vacation Time EP. Upon listening to the song “Vacation Time”, it sounds familiar, and I recognize it from the live performance. The Kingston Springs were a solid band and I expect to see more from them in the future. The set ended, and we moved on to see a band that my friend and I were both excited to see…
The Joy Formidable:
I don’t know much by these guys, but what I have heard, I like. Imagine a modern, heavier version of Blondie from the U.K. and you have The Joy Formidable. The band played much heavier and faster than in the studio. Instantly, I can’t help but pay attention to their drummer. Not only was he very adept at using the double bass, but he was just an all-around great drummer. I love to give credit where it is due, so here it goes. The Joy Formidable had the most skilled drummer at Lollapalooza. As the band played their final song, “Whirring”, three inflatable cat heads began to be blown up on stage. With cat heads fully inflated, the band really rocked out the ending to their closing song and began beating the hell out of things on stage. The bassist picked up a drum (separate from the drum set) and repeatedly threw it on the ground. The female vocalist grabbed a mallet and began pounding on the gong they had on stage. After a while she grew bored with the mallet and began using her guitar to beat on the gong. They finished ten minutes before they were supposed to end, but I didn’t really mind. They played well, and I would much rather have a great 35 minute set, than a good 45 minute set with 10 minutes of garbage. When they finished, we had just over an hour to catch our breath before…
Noah And The Whale:
After a recorded instrumental intro of “Bohemian Rhapsody”, Noah And The Whale took the stage, and opened with “Give A Little Love”. Just like The Joy Formidable, I was not very familiar with the band’s material, but I had heard just enough beforehand to know I liked their sound. They followed up with “Give It All Back” and “Tonight’s The Kind Of Night”; both are songs off of this year’s release: Last Night On Earth. Their lead singer sings in a range just great enough to not be considered monotone. However, when he talked to the crowd in between songs, there was no emotion in his voice. I get the impression that is just the way his voice is. The band played with plenty of energy. After another new song, “Life Is Life”, the crowd got really excited for an older song of theirs, “5 Years Time”. It was at this part of the show I felt totally ignorant. They started playing a song that sounded familiar, but I wasn’t quite sure what it was. It turns out it was the band’s latest single, “L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.”, which has been getting moderate radio play. I’ve even heard my wife singing this song. I just didn’t know it was Noah And The Whale. Oh well. Now I know. The band did a great job with their closer, and I would love to see them again sometime. Again, we had some down time before the band I was most excited for on this third day…
Flogging Molly:
This is the third time I’ve seen Flogging Molly, but the other two times were unintentional. The first time they headlined the 2005 Warped Tour in Cleveland, and I barely saw them play before leaving early on what seemed like the hottest day of the year. The second time they were playing at Cleveland’s Great American Rib Cook-Off, and to be honest, I was eating ribs while listening to them. This time however, I had the fortune of picking up their latest release, Speed Of Darkness just months before this show. In my opinion, their latest album is the band’s best work to date. I thought the band showed some musical growth and began to shed off some of the Irish shtick that they and Dropkick Murphys suffer from. “Look at us! We’re drunk and like to fight and we talk with funny accents,” can only be the theme of so many songs before it starts to get old. Don’t get me wrong, I love both bands, but neither has shown anything NEW in their last few albums before Flogging Molly released Speed Of Darkness. Needless to say, I was excited to hear this new material live.
As soon as the first note hit, I dove in to the mosh pit. This was the most punk band at Lollapalooza this year, and I wasn’t going to miss out on this. Normally I would rather sit back and enjoy the show, but I had done a lot of that in the past few days. I knew every song they played: “Requiem For A Dying Song”, “Float”, “Drunken Lullabies”, and “The Worst Day Since Yesterday” to name a few. I was a little disappointed with the song selection though. Only three songs were played off the latest release: “Oliver Boy”, “Revolution”, and “Saints And Sinners”.
No “Speed Of Darkness”, “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down”, or “The Power’s Out”. But most disappointingly, they did not play “The Heart Of The Sea”. I was hoping to hear some of these new songs live.
They finished up with “Seven Deadly Sins”. I moshed and had a great time as I was covered in mud. Maybe I’m just a little critical because it wasn’t everything I hoped. But don’t think they played poorly. The band was great and played everything as intense as needed for the live performance. With not many punk bands at Lollapalooza, Flogging Molly did punks proud, and showed that they can put on the kind of show fans will always be excited for. When the last song finished I was dead tired. The next band we wanted to see started immediately after Flogging Molly. On the next stage over, we were ready for…
Cage The Elephant:
Unfortunately, Cage The Elephant attracted quite the crowd, but didn’t have the luxury of playing on the main stage. That made it difficult to listen from far away. And because they started immediately after Flogging Molly, we didn’t have the opportunity to stake out a good spot. We heard their first song, my favorite by them, “In One Ear”. I’m glad we got to hear this live, but the quality was not great because of where we were. My friend really wanted to see the Arctic Monkeys, who were getting ready to play on the other side of the park. Maybe it is a decision I will regret someday, but I chose to go see the Arctic Monkeys over trying to fight through a crowd to get close enough to get a good listen to Cage The Elephant. But I heard my favorite song, so it was on to the…
Arctic Monkeys:
As we were waiting for the band to start, the rain came. For two and a half days we had cursed the hot sun beating down on us, burning us. Now, we were desperately hoping for the sun to come back because this cold rain sucked. The rain actually delayed some of the bands. Luckily it didn’t last too long, as the Arctic Monkeys started about 25 minutes late. This is a band I was totally unfamiliar with. Even after the show I still don’t feel like I know the band very well. It continued to rain through almost their entire set. The only thing I really took away from this show, is that during every song I liked by them, my buddy would lean to me and say, “This is off their first CD.” He mainly enjoys the first CD by them, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, and I can see why. They closed with “From The Ritz To The Rubble”, which was awesome. I feel they definitely saved their best song for last.
Now, it was decision time. The Foo Fighters are living legends. Dave Grohl is already a rock icon. How could I possibly turn down the opportunity to see them live?
This is how I turn down the opportunity to see them live. I like the Foo Fighters’ early material. My favorite song by them is “All My Life”. But I feel like their recent work has been effortless. I get the feeling that they found a formula for classic sounding modern rock, and people flocked to it. Now, they just follow that formula, and regardless of how inspiring the music is, the fans love it. All the Foo Fighters have to do is put their name on something and instantly, it is regarded as great. It’s almost as ridiculous as U2. Also, I can’t help but feel like some people are still rooting for Dave Grohl to succeed because of the “tragedy” of Nirvana with Kurt Cobain ending his own life.
Despite all of that, I probably still would have seen them, if it weren’t for the fact that lately I’ve been really getting in to…
Deadmau5:
(Pronounced “dead mouse” for those of you unfamiliar) That’s right. I am forgoing the living legends, future hall of famers, just to see some guy in a giant mouse head mix music. Deadmau5 was not set to go on until 10:30 p.m. We found or spot to watch from about an hour prior to his start time. Just as at the rave the night before, the glow sticks were already out in full force. This time we were not offered drugs, but instead we were asked if we had any to share. At 10:00 we noticed the dark clouds starting to roll in. Would the clouds just pass over us? If it rained, would they postpone or even cancel the headliners? Questions were racing through everyone’s minds. The rain started, we could see it. It was moving across the rooftops towards us. Deadmau5 wasn’t set to start for another 20 minutes, but the rain wasn’t going to wait. We saw it hit the far edge of the crowd, and raindrops began racing over people, making their way towards us. There was no running for cover even if you wanted to. We were packed in like sardines. All we could do was brace for the impact of the sudden chill.
That’s when it happened: the most cinematic moment I’ve ever been a part of. As the rain swept across the crowd, the curtain dropped. The fans erupted. Immediately, the lights ignited, and music overpowered both the sounds of the cheering masses and the sudden downpour. Deadmau5 started blasting his rhythms within seconds of the rainfall emerging. Everyone started jumping. Just witnessing the incredible lights and graphics shining down through the pouring rain, on to the thousands of people who were cheering and bouncing, after it all started so suddenly was absolutely overwhelming. The only thing I could do was jump and cheer as well. We were all excited he started 20 minutes early, but I feel people were more so cheering that they were a part of something truly special in that moment, more than they were cheering for the music itself.
The music definitely delivered in its own right. Rarely did a beat actually stop. For the most part, he would just strip his music down, layer by layer, until only the most basic rhythm remained. Then he would rebuild something entirely different, again layer by layer. The lights were far more impressive than Pretty Lights the night before. Clearly, this was a top-notch production. Laser lights, spot lights, giant screens projecting graphics, moving three dimensional cubes scattered amongst the stage, projecting graphics and images on all sides as they moved; no expense was spared. He even wore multiple mouse heads. His finale was “Moar Ghosts ‘n’ Stuff”, in which he discarded the typical mouse head and wore a plain white sheet over his head with two big eyes cut out. The on stage graphics showed his Deadmau5 character running around with Pac-Man with his band of ghost villains. The beats were catchy and the lights were phenomenal. When the song ended, he came out to the front of the stage and took a bow.
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