Festival Ratings: 2006 Lollapalooza
Submitted by greenmind on Tue, 08/08/2006 - 05:16
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- DAY ONE: 8/4/06
- 12:00 Sound Team (B-) - I make no secret of the fact that I hate the Scissor Sisters and so imagine my dismay when I show up and discover that Ghostland Observatory's opening number was a flat out Scissor Sisters rip-off (though the stage show was great with the lead singer prancing and preening around). This was actually the only band that I walked away from to go do something else. As I walked away from the stage in shock to get a good spot for The Subways, I got a listen to Sound Team (who I kept passively listening to the entire run-up to The Subways set). They sounded really good. But I can't grade them because I didn't really pay that much attention. I also saw the end of the Last Band Standing runner-up The Cankles.
- 12:30 The Subways (A-) - I was really worried that the best performance of the entire weekend was basically going to kick off the whole festival after these guys were over. It's as if the kids knew they had nothing to lose playing before almost anyone got there (though they drew a decent crowd, probably 5,000 or 6,000) and just went wild. The highlight of the high energy show was lead singer Billy Lunn climbing not one but both sets of scaffolding and then jumping off from about 10 feet up while still singing. Later in the festival Jared Leto did the same thing but Billy did it first. They tore through most of their album as well as debuted some new songs (that will probably be out in the U.K. next week but won't make it to the United States until 2007). Another highlight: Charlotte Cooper's shorts. They were the kind of shorts that only someone under 20 can wear and get away with. ;)
- 1:30 Cursive (B-) - What is there really to say? It's Cursive. They're really, really good. As far as performance went, however, there wasn't that much going on (though, I mean, they're not exactly going to climb the rafters). They brought along a really good horn section from Chicago on their national tour and their homecoming was nice.
- 2:30 Panic! At The Disco (C-) - Technically I heard Panic! At The Disco from a distance waiting between the two bands on the Q101 stage. One of the fun activities of the weekend seemed to be people coming up with alternate, insulting names for Panic! I can't remember them but I personally think Cover! At The You're Too Young For That was appropriate. They apparently performed two different covers - with Billy Corgan apparently performing "Tonight, Tonight" with them. Though that may just be a rumor - I was too far away from the stage. Basically I couldn't wait for them to close their god damn set.
- 3:30 Editors (B) - It must be odd for Editors to play during daylight hours in the United States at festivals. It seems like they would be best after dark (as would a few of the other bands) but they made do quite well. The only disappointment was that the kids didn't start dancing until they played "Munich" two songs from the end - though that's not surprising. Though once the seal was broken, "Fingers In The Factories" got a whole lot of kids shaking their rear ends to close the set.
- 5:00 Mates Of State (B-) - Oddly enough, the kids were really dancing for this combination of drummer and keyboardist (the dominant one guy, one girl lineup apparently which I hadn't realized until this weekend). Their performance of "Think Long" brought the house down. I just couldn't believe they didn't end the set with "Running Out." Sure it's depressing as hades but it was so written to be a festival, set ending anthem and probably would have had the crowd who saw it talking for weeks (I highly recommend anyone reading this download the song).
- 6:30 The Raconteurs (B+) - This one came out of nowhere. Jack White is my mortal blood enemy but the performance quality of this band had me wondering what I had missed on the album (a flat out C using the same rating). Maybe it was that Jack White wasn't the focus of the show as the risk was run. The band seems to genuinely like each other and had a great time playing their rock and roll loud.
- 7:30 Sleater-Kinney (B-) - For their final show ever, it felt like they didn't pull out any extra stops. Though not really being a fan, I could be entirely wrong and they could have pulled out every obscure track in their repetoire.
- 8:00 VHS or Beta DJs (B) - How could they spin The Sounds and make me realize they were the one band that should have played Lollapalooza but somehow didn't. Not surprisingly, the two members of the world's biggest indie live-instrument dance band are really diverse in their musical tastes and their set spanned the entire spectrum from random dance beats to The Clash. I do have to say that the hippie drummer was not nearly as good a DJ as the Asian guitarist. The drummer, ironically, was really not that good at staying on beat and the guitarist was always pushing him out of the way and changing the mix the drummer had started. This comedy routine only added to the set.
- DAY TWO: 8/5/05
- 11:15 Tonedeff (Inc.) - The winner of the Last Band Standing contest was pretty much straight ahead rap. Sounded pretty good and he was nice enough to give away free CDs but I only caught the very end of the set.
- 12:00 Be Your Own Pet (B-) - Much of what could be expected from this band. They were loud and crazy and a bit disorganized (I bet these kids have really messy rooms). One of the good things about them on their record is the three in the band who play musical instruments are really quite good for teenagers. The drummer, Jamin Orrall, certainly brought it but the bassist and guitarist, Jonas Stein and Nathan Vasquez left a bit to be desired. Though apparently Jonas got food poisoning from some eggs in the breakfast tent (similar to what either Tegan or Sara did last year). Maybe the whole band did because about 3/4rs of the way through the set Jemina Pearl vomited on stage before she said, "should we play any more? I just threw up. It tasted like watermelon in case you care." But being the ball of screaming spitfire she is, they continued on for the full half-an-hour even playing a couple of new songs as Jemina rolled around on the stage and cooed at the audience.
- 1:00 Cold War Kids (C) - I figured I might as well check out one band that the jam kids enjoy. I spent the entire set talking to these two blond girls who were moving across the country from Pittsburgh to San Diego and who made Lollapalooza their first stop. So I guess I can't rate the band except to say that the hippies were doing spinny things for them.
- 1:30 The Go! Team (B) - An extremely pleasant surprise. This band's chanting and rhythmically clapping just works really well in the festival atmosphere. And since they genuinely looked to have fun on stage with all 75 of their members (alright that's an exaggeration) it just spread to the audience. The sun just seemed to shine a little brighter during their set.
- 2:30 Built To Spill (C) - The most disappointing set of the entire festival (I mean there were worse but I expected this one to be amazing). Basically Doug and the boys decided to play every one of their epic songs. I think they played maybe six songs total. Well maybe more but there was so little interaction or anything to draw my attention to the stage that I ended up talking to a friend of mine who's a Built To Spill fan as well the entire set. The sound was really good but I wish this band just didn't stand there every time I see them. I should have just played the set on my mp3 player while watching Coheed and Cambria thrash around the stage. It would have been the best of both worlds.
- 4:30 Gnarls Barkley (B+) - What else can be said about this band besides they were probably the second biggest "experience" band on the bill after Flaming Lips. Their outfit of choice for the day (they wear matching outfits for every show they play) was 70s style tennis whites (right down to the headband). And it's not just Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse that wear them, it's the whole 11 piece band including a horn section, some strings, multiple percussionists. And they would all sway and clap whenever they weren't playing. Sure it's kind of stealing a page from The Polyphonic Spree to have a fake gospel revival on stage each night but Gnarls Barkley puts their own spin on it with Danger Mouse mixing beats right on stage for the band (when he doesn't get out from behind the turntable and play guitar). Sure they probably won't be around long because their schtick does slightly outdo their record (though there is some really unique stuff on there) but that just makes this one of their defining performances.
- 5:30 The Dresden Dolls (A-) - I don't even know where to start. I guess with the most unique moment of the festival (which I'm surprised hasn't gotten more hype around it - but maybe because there were maybe 3,000 people at Dresden Dolls). Amanda, the keyboard player and vocalist came out in this multi-colored dress and a few songs in she went over to the side of the stage and requested a shirt from the crew. She unzipped her dress and put the shirt on over her head but as she was pulling down the shirt the front of her dress fell and she flashed the entire right side of the crowd. She just embarassedly said, "wardrobe malfunction," and went on the rest of the show as if nothing happened. As far as the non-oops part of the set went, both Amanda and Brian played their behinds off and played an almost even mix of the self titled album and "Yes, Virginia." They also pulled out extra stops like bringing out the second vocalist (the soprano one) on "Delilah" as well as playing a cover song about the devil being everywhere (to introduce Flaming Lips no less by saying, "but the devil's in one band more than any other). At the end they took an extended curtain call knowing they had owned the crowd in a way that few bands did all weekend.
- 6:30 The Flaming Lips (B) - For a Flaming Lips show, it was actually a bit off. Though a Flaming Lips show isn't really about setlist so much as the circus that's going on around them. Wayne Coyne rode the crowd in a giant bubble, Santa Clauses and aliens danced on stage, there were giant astronaut balloon. I guess as far as concept went the show satisfied all the fans as they played both parts of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots (an album I personally can't listen to). Still Coyne was the master showman and no Flaming Lips show can possibly be bad as they just pull out all the stops whether they're headliners or not.
- 7:30 The New Pornographers (C+) - I shouldn't really give this band a rating (but I will since unlike other incompletes I was actually near the stage somewhat for the whole set) since they were just there for me. As far as background music to use the bathroom to, they weren't bad. But it was really just me killing time and waiting for Kanye West to come and go.
- 8:30 Kanye West (Inc.) - I had a ticket to The Frames/Nada Surf after concert so I left the festival early. In the time that I was there during Kanye, I can't really say that much. It seemed to be high energy but I was so far from the stage that I could barely make out anything that was being said. I did enjoy the presentation for "Diamonds From Sierra Leone" with a full string section and lots of guest rappers. Apparently after I left (and while I was there), Kanye was having sound issues and kept getting more and more angry at the sound team. I heard a rumor that at the end of his set, he got so irate that he said, "I've toured around the world and where does the sound get fucked up? In my home town!" I also heard by word of mouth that he fired a few people. Looks like he did a few cool covers from what I saw of the setlist so I guess it would have been worth staying. Actually it looks like a great set in general. I think I forgot how much I actually like quite a few of Kanye's songs.
- DAY THREE: 8/6/06
- 12:30 The Redwalls (C-) - If these guys are the next big thing out of Chicago, this city's music scene has gone to crap. All the other Chicago artists that played at least had something going for them that separated them from the pack (as much as I dislike Poi Dog Pondering). These guys have nothing to separate them from dozens of other bands that play at Schuba's. Wait, there is one thing. The alt-country bands at Schuba's at least give a crap about a good, high-energy performance. These guys were like, "we're local, worship us for the gods we are," the entire set.
- 1:30 The Frames (B+) - I wonder where The Frames have been all my life. Until the night prior to this set, I had only heard a few songs and thought they were alright (and after the after party where they opened for Nada Surf at Metro I listened again and again thought they were pretty average). But their live show is one of the best going right now. It was pretty easy to see why there were a few Irish flags flying all around the audience. This is a band that locals in Dublin (and Chicago) can be proud of. Anyhow, these guys find a way to spice up even the most downbeat of songs from their recording into full fledged parties. The reason is that they have a diehard following who are like willing puppets for the antics of Glen Hansard to the ends of the Earth. And he's a great cult leader in that he had an elaborate plan to get the audience whispering lyrics in German accents and singing complex vocables. The only problem was while they're kind of a large band, Lollapalooza in its infinite wisdom scheduled them opposite Burden Brothers and Hot Chip. On the plus side it gave Glen stage banter saying, "just imagine that loud noise is background for us" and it let me know when Hot Chip started. On the down side, they were drowned out a bit for about half their set.
- 2:15 Hot Chip (B) - It's so easy to make fun of this band because they are poised to be superstars. But these guys have the chops to deserve it. And they're unassuming Brits to boot who had no problem playing their electronative while the sun was bright in the sky and not half-assing it at all. They were no VHS or Beta but they were the closest band that I saw this year to having the turning the whole crowd into a giant dance floor despite the heat (though I hear Thievery Corporation got the most people dancing).
- 3:30 The New Amsterdams (B-) - Beautiful music completely drowned out by 30 Seconds To Mars (or as I like to call them Star Fuckers To Annoy). Did about as much as could be done with an acoustic guitar given the situation. I really wish I had bothered to learn more of their music since there were some moments of absolute lyrical brilliance. And, of course, they had a sense of humor about the whole thing. The band asked who was on the next stage and when it was responded that it was 30 Seconds To Mars, the lead singer said, "oh, Jared Leto's in that band," and in a fanboy voice said, "he's famous or something." And another member of the band said, "and he's kind of hot."
- 4:30 Matisyahu (A-) - I think more than a few people in the audience for the "biggest Jewish reggae star in the world" found religion during this set. Of course there was the usual amount of pot smoking and crowd surfing (including one guy wearing a fake beard and glasses which was kind of funny) but through it all, the crowd seemed to be hanging on every word coming from the stage. For his part Mati did what he could be expected to do and called for everyone to live as brother and sister and to "keep your heart pure and your hands clean and the big man will do the rest [when there's all the troubles in the world]." He did some songs off of both albums and a couple of prayers in Hebrew (which he explained into English) as well as doing a beatbox mini-performance. As people were walking away, I heard more than one person exclaim, "Matis-fucking-yahu." The stuff that goes on at this man's concert must keep him up all night. But I guess he tries to preach but not alienate in the end.
- 5:30 She Wants Revenge (B-) - This band just is what they are. They dress all in black, get up on stage, and sing evil and depressing songs with dark keyboard parts that could scare small children. I think if they toured with Go! Team, it would actually create rain. Sure they may be a little over the top but there's something about them just works even though some of their imagry is pretty kitschy (and, well, some of it is stupid). They definitely show potential if they moved a little more away from Interpol and a little closer to Joy Division (or just threw in some really loud guitar to just take it to the next level). They seemed really glad to be there at least.
- 6:00 Mix Master Mike (D) - Okay, wow. This was the worst decision that I made all weekend. Instead of going to see Wilco, I decided to kill the rest of the festival (because after She Wants Revenge conjures pure evil who else is going to top that?) in the dance tent (er by the Mindfield Stage). Little did I know that Mix Master Mike was just a bar mitzvah/wedding DJ posing as someone with electronica credibility. There wasn't a single song that he played that wouldn't be played at Hi-Tops after a Cubs game. He didn't even try to mix in any new artists. As people jammed out to three Beastie Boys tracks in less than an hour, I just got fed up and left. Nice playing to the lowest common denominator, asshat.
- 8:00 Mixin' Mark (B-) - I feel really bad for the real DJ that followed Mix Master Mike and actually played good music (including this amazing remix of Metallica to lead off the set) to a completely empty mindfield. He was sample heavy with really hard beats. After about half an hour of sitting on the bleachers watching like five people dance (out of about 25 people there total), I gave up and went to see Red Hot Chili Peppers.
- 8:15 Red Hot Chili Peppers (C-) - The last time I saw Red Hot Chili Peppers at a festival, the place almost burned to the ground (that festival being Woodstock 1999) so I haven't seen them since. Well that and I don't think they've put out a decent album since 1990. Well, I do have to give them credit for one thing. The band played exactly five of their singles, three at the beginning (from reports as I wasn't there) and two at the end. In the middle, however, they also played almost nothing from any album before the first of their craptastic releases "Blood Sugar Sex Magic." Though the world was thankfully saved from a rendition of "Under The Bridge," the whole time the band acted like a jam band. There wasn't much structure to the set and half the time it was hard to tell when they were actually going to start a song. I understand that some Broken Social Scene fans were about to start a riot because BSS got 15 minutes less of a set for that crap. I have to say I was about ready to join them. People were seemingly drifting out by the dozens by 9:00. I mean, it's one thing to try and beat traffic but this may go down as one of the worst headline sets in festival history in the minds of a lot of people.
Author Comments:
The Lollapalooza Music Festival took place in Chicago, Illinois on August 4-6, 2006. This is the second year that Lollapalooza has been in Grant Park along Lake Michigan (and by all reports a third in 2007 is all but a given). This year's festival was eight stages and 130 bands.
Of course I couldn't get to every band and these ratings are perhaps a little biased since these were the bands I chose (hence why they're a little friendlier than the Pitchfork Music Festival ratings).
Links are for pictures of the band mentioned.
Sounds like a good show overall. I heard Kanye was amazing, sound probs and all. Also heard great things about Dresden Dolls.
Are we spoiled by the Lips? Once you experienced them, does the sheen wear off?
Never been a big Frames fan. But maybe their live show would help.
Thanks for the personal account. Will have to check out the Pitchfork review.
I don't think the sheen wears off The Flaming Lips. I just think Wayne tried too hard to play both to die-hard fans and the festival crowd and it just felt awkward. I would love to have heard more of "At War With The Mystics" (besides "Free Radicals" and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song").
Since each stage show is unique though I don't think it's possible to get sick of the Lips.
It was a very good show overall. I was actually dreading Sunday but it turned out to be the best day.
What? No review of the Touch & Go 25th anniversary show?
I didn't go. :(
Join the club of people asking me why not. I like a lot of the bands but somehow just not enough to go. Though this cute redhead I know did go so I should have.