white noise

I woke on Day 3 of Lolla still thinking of that impressive Green Day show. I knew it wouldn’t be topped today, but their were still some great acts in store. For the first time in this installment of Lolla we got some rain in the morning. Not too hard, but enough to decide to miss a couple early acts and have a couple drinks at the hotel instead. By about 2:00 it had cleared up and we headed in.

We took more time today to check out the pretty large section of vendors (a part of Lolla since the start). The guys picked up a couple tee-shirts and I found a cool guitar strap repurposed out of a seatbelt from a FedEx truck. We also hit the Adidas shoebox diner and got a couple silly photos taken.

For the day’s first act we returned to the DJ area, Perry’s, to catch some NERVO. The sisters from Australia were laying down some nice beats while the gray skies were clearing up. It wasn’t the frenzy of Steve Porter, but it was a good warmup for the day.

The next band we caught was Hockey , a new act from Portland with a couple catchy singles. They played on a small side stage and it was nice to walk up and be close, but not in a crush of people like so many of the other acts.

After just a few songs we made our way back to the other end of the park. As we passed Perry’s again, Perry himself was in the middle of a DJ set. After listening for a few a moving on, we made it just in time to catch the last couple songs from X Japan at a distance. I wish we’d caught a little more of their set, because they really threw down in their long awaited first performance in the States.

Next up, along with some lounging, was a chill set by Erykah Badu. After that I was tempted to fight the crowd to see some of MGMT’s set, but opted to grab dinner instead. I’d need the energy for the next act.

Just as evening approached, Cypress Hill took the stage. Their set reminded me a lot of Snoop’s show the year before: energetic, nostalgic, and well, smokey. A string of 90’s hits like “(Rock) Superstar”, “Dr. Greenthumb” and, of course, “Insane in the Brian” had the diverse crowd pulsing hard while band members took turns hitting their 7 foot bong.

Our closer for the festival was Arcade Fire. Even though I think opposing headliner, Soundgarden, drew a big crowd, there was an absolute sea of people already crushing in for them. We decided to sit this set out from a distance and enjoy a nice patch of grass. At times I wished I was up in the frenzy, but taking in the whole scene from a distance was an appropriate way to close out the awesome weekend. Arcade powered through hit after hit, and with the crowd singing throughout, I realized just how popular they had become in the past couple of years since their first Lolla appearance.

As their set finished and we walked under the inflatable, and real, stars overhead the crowd continued singing the chorus to “Wake Up”. A continued into the downtown streets.

After a great start to Lolla, we launched into Day 2. After some coffee and a morning walk around downtown we headed into the park around 1:30. To start the day D and Mike checked out the Prius tent and got some other swag, while Justin and I headed to Perry’s (the DJ stage).

Whether you’re a fan of techno or not, Perry’s is always worth at least one visit. Steve Porter rose to internet fame when he remixed the Slap Chop infomercial into an auto-tuned rap. Turns out he’s an all around fun DJ. He had the crowd jumping at Perry’s for a solid hour with great beats and crazy video mashups on the screen behind him. I was going to catch The XX’s set, but we were having such a blast at Perry’s it didn’t seem right to leave for a much more mellow show.

One thing you must always be on the lookout for is crowd surfers. Although they were most frequent during the big shows, I learned the hard way that even at Perry’s you’re not safe.

After dancing our butts off, we grabbed some food and drink. Once again, with Chef Graham Elliot as food director, Lolla had the best food I’ve ever seen at a festival. Throughout the weekend I enjoyed some awesome BBQ, classic deep dish pizza, and of course Elliot’s lobster corn dogs.

The rest of the day was about rocking out, so we started with AFI. They were (predictably) screamy, and very loud, but the few songs I knew sounded very good.

After about 4-5 songs in, it was time to switch over to claim a close spot at the main South stage for the evening’s last two acts. D and I grabbed a decent spot right on the rail to the left of the stage. You really can’t beat a rail vantage point – even if you’re off to the side there’s no one to look over and people aren’t constantly trying to push past you. First up was Social Distortion. They played all the staples and sounded good, but it was a notch less intense than the club show I saw them at last Fall. Some of the songs seemed arranged a little slower (e.g. “Ball and Chain” really crawled) and others just didn’t seem to have the usual SocialD fire. Or maybe the momentum was just slowed with the bits of between song banter (which I actually enjoyed). But even with a little less spunk, Mike Ness and company still put out a solid set of old school punk rock.

So it was a good historical segue into the new(er) school of punk(pop) rock, with Green Day’s headlining performance coming next. I really didn’t like Green Day through the 90s, and I didn’t particularly care for them in most of the 00s either. I’m not sure if it was their pop-ified version of punk, Billie Joe’s affected singing accent, or all the endless media adoration. It wasn’t really until American Idiot that I began to appreciate them for being anything more than a snotty pop hook generator. Even then I’d say I wasn’t a fan of the band, but rather a fan of a handful of songs. That would change tonight.

Even before SocialD finished, but especially after they did, fans flocked to that field in droves. I don’t know if Green Day drew more people away from their headlining rival (Phoenix) than Gaga did from hers (The Strokes), but I wouldn’t doubt it. As the crowd rushed in, I worked and worked my way to Mike and Justin who were more centered in front of the stage. Turns out we’d only be together for a short time – a couple songs in and the moshing ripped us in different directions.

Early into the set Billie Joe announced “You paid your hard-earned money to buy a ticket to tonight. It is my honor and my privilege to give you the best fucking show you’ve ever seen in your life.” And man he wasn’t far off. OK, I might be hard pressed as to whether it made my top 5, but it possibly was the best set I’ve witnessed at any Lollapalooza (and that’s going back to ’91).

For a solid two and a half hours Billie Joe, Tre, Mike and their touring players put on a clinic in running a rock concert. Their set list was constant stream of greatest hits spanning the past 20 years. Even their older stuff which I didn’t think I cared a lot for turned out to be a fun blast of nostalgia. The crowd was captivated, sometimes thrashing, sometimes swaying, but shouting along every note of the way.

But how in the world do you keep tens of thousands of people entertained for that long? I mean, these are people who have been rocking out in the hot sun for two days. You throw everything but the kitchen sink at them, is how. As we learned, Billie Joe is really a master of working a crowd. For starters, he’d coordinate crowd chants constantly throughout the show. They also took tangents at two different points to play snippets of covers (including “Sweet Child O Mine”, “Ironman”, “Highway to Hell”, “Shout”, “Satisfaction”, and a great sing along of “Hey Jude”). Then there was the firing of t-shirt cannons and fire hoses into the crowd (which was sweet relief). They even had big concert cheese in the form of pyro and (really loud!) fireworks to punctuate points throughout (and a barrage at the end). Hell, he even dropped trou and mooned everyone at one point.

But what was most cool were the many opportunities he took to pull fans on stage. In one song Armstrong brought up about a dozen fans to sing and dance around the stage. At another point he brought up a kid to stage dive back into the crowd (which was pretty scary given the stage setup). He also got a little girl to come up at one point and lend some acting. But the most memorable came during “Longview,” when he called a random “skinny little shit” up to completely take over the vocals from start to end. The kid (obviously a huge fan) nailed it – he worked the stage like a pro, running from end to end, and never dropped a line. Impressed, Billie Joe gave the kid his guitar when the song was over.

The show ended with a 1-2 punch of “When September Ends” and “Good Riddance”. For at least the last hour, my voice was shot, my feet aching, and my arms too tired to raise, but as the last of the fireworks ash fell on our heads and the field began to clear we couldn’t stop talking about how utterly surprised and amazed we were.

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.