white nøise

After having such a blast at the 3-day music fest last year, we decided to buy tickets to the 2010 installment long before any of the bands were announced. We also got tickets for D’s nephew and brother just to introduce them to the party. When the lineup was announced earlier this year, the top acts were a slight disappointment – there were plenty of middle bands I like, but the headliners weren’t as much to my liking as the previous year. Sure enough though, as the dates neared I became more excited about the bill. I remembered how much fun it is in Grant Park, and that you don’t need to be watching your favorite bands to have a great time.

The first day started with the long early morning drive up. We hit a bunch of construction which delayed us close to an hour, and that led to us missing B.o.B. – one of the few hip-hop acts this year. Missing that, we met up with the boys, got settled into the hotel and headed out the park around 3.

After a quick spin across the park, we grabbed a good spot for Devo while we listened to the last half of Big Pink’s set from a distance. Devo came out with good energy considering they’re, well, older, and the lack of comfort their various costumes must’ve afforded them in the mid-day heat. They mixed a few new tracks with a solid setlist of favorites and they all blended in. “Jocko Homo”, “Girl U Want”, and of course “Whip It” were highlights. The large crowd, full of all ages, proved that the band’s following had not de-evolved too far after all this time.

From Devo it was over to the adjacent stage to watch young indies, Matt & Kim. I first heard a random single from them in 2006 and have been a fan of their infectious lo-fi since. They amassed a big, energetic crowd and they fed off of it in a musical frenzy. You could just see the awe in their eyes every time the looked out to the crowd. It’s nice to see performers openly have as much fun (if not more!) as their patrons, and Matt & Kim certainly did (e.g. Kim crowd surfed and booty danced while supported on the crowds hands). In addition to their own hits they threw in diverse covers of crowd pleasers, like Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and techno anthem “Better Off Alone”. After finishing their hit “Daylight”, each ran off the stage and to the rails to greet fans. I had my hand out for a high five and got a solid shake from Matt instead. The show was a sharp contrast to mega-headliners, Green Day and Gaga, with its barebones production and completely spontaneous vibe. While the headliners were amazing, the Matt & Kim set really embodied the Lolla spirit.

After Matt & Kim, we stayed at the stage until Chromeo came on, instead of fighting our way into the Hot Chip crowd. Chromeo is a funky duo transported straight from the 80s. I could have stayed and jammed to their whole set (we had a great spot up front), but after about 3 songs we heard that Hot Chip was finished on the main South stage. This meant that people would start rushing over to get good Gaga goggling positions in what was sure to be a huge crowd.

We got fairly close to the right side of the stage, probably about 8-10 people back from the rail. At that point people were packed densely and fiercely holding their ground. Looking behind me I felt pretty good about where we were. I figure there were probably 50,000+ people behind us :)

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an act at Lolla use a curtain on the main stage (imagine the amount of fabric!), but it was a sign that the set ahead would have some theatrics in store. Besides this heavy, opaque curtain a scrim was used with video projections during set and costume changes.

The show was definitively a finely choreographed spectacle. Through the show she and her numerous androgynous minions explained the origin of the Monster Ball and encouraged all her “little monsters” to “show their teeth”. She displayed a lot of voice and certainly a lot of skin. She also showed some piano chops and even played a bit with her stiletto boots. Gaga seems to be very conscious of mixing singing, dancing, theatrics, and instrument playing. With all these together she seems actually seems to stand apart from other pop icons.

At one point she singed from high up on an elevated platform and played this cyberpunk keytar.

Later after another costume change, she danced in something that looked like a huge fringe lampshade.

Although mostly frenetic and aggressive, Gaga had a softer moment or two. Her new song “You and I” with her at the piano provided a nice contrast that the throngs of fans could sway to. Then in a moment she couldn’t have even planned, fireworks at nearby Soldier Field’s Family Fun night went off through “Monster” and ended exactly with the song.

There was no shortage of shock and awe. At one point she told the crowd “I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I have a pretty tremendous dick — so get your dicks out!” There was also an interlude when she danced with her DJ, Lady Starlight, to Metallica’s “Metal Militia” reliving what they did back at Lolla 07. Later, as she got into her biggest hits, there was plenty of blood smeared about her and her dancers.

I don’t really get much out of Gaga’s fashion antics, but this geometric dress was pretty awesome.

Last but not least, the massive animatronic fame monster ravaged Gaga. WTF

Gaga was quite the experience; not my favorite Lolla performance, but full of enough craziness that you really did feel like you got a good chunk of entertainment for your ticket dollars. Perry Farrell said that Gaga rolled into Grant Park with 18 trucks and that really accounts for a circus within Perry’s summer circus.

A friend’s band, Bludstone, celebrated their 20th anniversary last Friday with a show at Dirty Jacks, a west side bar. It was a reunion show of sorts in that many different musicians who had played in the band over the years all came together to contribute to the show. As a homage, Joe, Chris and I had worked up new arrangements of a couple of their songs and practiced (inconsistently) for a couple months. For me, it was the first time I’ve played out in around 8 years, and the first time since high school on a drum set. For Joe, it was his first public bass playing since high school. Chris on the other hand is a seasoned performer, but was getting married the very next day, which brought its own set of nerves.

The performance space at Dirty Jacks is actually pretty impressive for a grungy bar. The room can fit a lot of people (there were maybe 50 people comfortably spread out and more back by the bar) and there’s a decent raised stage with lighting. By the time a couple other bands played it was close to 12:30 by the time Bludstone was getting set up. We used their equipment for our short set, then they took over for the rest of the show. Because there were so many musicians involved, the setup and sound check was hectic. Joe and Chris barely had time to check their own levels, and I had just enough time to wiggle in behind the kit, before we were off and running. In the scramble we had to ditch the sampler which would have been a nice compliment. It wasn’t integral to the songs, but would have provided some great segues.

Ralph (founder of Bludstone) opened with a few words about the wild ride over the past 20 years. He introduced us and Joe added a few words about how Bludstone might have slowed down a little over the years. And that led into our loungey version of a typically-sinister Bludstone song, “Check the Children”. After thrashing to metal all night, we weren’t sure how it’d sit with the crowd, but applause and laughs reassured us we’d hit the mark. From there we launched into a nice driving rendition of their song “Necronomicon”, which proved we weren’t there just for the lols. Except for Chris maybe – he wore no shirt and an authentic Mexican wrestling mask. It was pretty epic.

It all rolled by in a flash of adrenaline. The drum kit we were sharing felt great. There were toms, cymbals (omg, all the cymbals!), and accessories everywhere. Any random swing of an arm was sure to land on something. And when you’re playing a strange kit in front of an audience with no warm up, that’s a good thing. We’re still waiting on getting photos or video of us, but here’s a couple Bludstone shots that you can Photoshop us into if you like :)