Ah, Lollapalooza.  The name conjures up a different time in music, when super bands reigned and moustaches weren’t ironic.  Overall, the experience was overwhelmingly positive.  There were a few snafus that anyone could expect when servicing a crowd of 100,000 or more.  There were enough bathrooms, lines weren’t too long, the park was beautiful, the crowd was generally friendly, food and beverages were reasonably priced and the lineup was incredible and evenly paced.  Huzzah, Perry Farrell and Co.!  Read after the jump for the quick n’ dirty rundown of Day 1. 

Going in, I got stuck in a cattle shoot of people getting their bags checked and walked onto the festival grounds to the sound of Holy Fuck closing out their set with “Lovely Allen.” Drat!

Ran over to Citi Stage to catch Manchester Orchestra. They played a decent set consisting of mostly material off their debut, I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child, plus a few new ones. Perhaps Andy Hull’s beard was feeling a bit under the weather that day?

Manchester Orchestra

The deceptive massiveness of Grant Park made itself known during the journey across to the Bud Light stage for The Go! Team. The Go! Team promptly relieved my weariness by bringing the sass so hard that MC Ninja had me convinced knee high rainbow stockings were a good fashion choice for everyday wear. This is a band that runs on energy made out of everything adorable in the world, and they were not in short supply of it for this performance. 

The Go Team

Of all the bands that performed that day, the stupefying heat seemed to get to The Kills the most. Though their set was full of badass attitude and catchy sleaze rock, Alison “VV” Mosshart kept running and crouching down in the shaded area in the back of the stage, while Jamie Hince stoically played on at the front. It maybe could have been her refusal to remove her leopard print dinner jacket, but a girl’s gotta look good, I guess.

The Kills

Even though we left The Kills set early to stake out a spot for Gogol Bordello, the gypsy punk collective’s reputation for the most insane live show of all time must have preceded them, for we weren’t able to get even halfway to the stage. Thankfully it didn’t really matter what part of the crowd you were in; the insanity reached everywhere.  Violinist Serget Ryabtsev looked like someone’s crazy old Russian uncle who used to be a virtuoso before the war and now whips out and shreds the violin only when he gets sloshed at family reunions.  At one point, “general performers” (as they are described on Wikipedia) Elizabeth Sun and Pamela Racine were running around the stage in tiny little green sequined shorts, at points just grabbing whichever mic was on hand and shrieking into it.  Finally, there was Eugene Hutz.  Ohh, Hutz.  The man has more stage presence in his moustache than the musicians in the rest of the festival combined.   Costumed to the nines in the beginning, Hutz was a sweating, half-nude beast of a smiling man by the end.  Closer “Think Locally Fuck Globally” brought the house down, and it was with sweaty, battered bodies we made our way to a grassy patch to take a breather during Mates of State. 

Gogol Bordello

 

We popped a squat and listened to the sunny sounds of the keyboard lovin’ husband and wife duo at the stage adjacent to the main one.  I couldn’t see too well, but the band sounded tight, and I was impressed with Kori Gardener and Jason Hammel’s easy rapport on stage.  I wonder if their live show stinks when they’re fighting.  Fully recovered, we staked out a spot for Bloc Party.

Bloc Party was in a word, awful.  I’ve never been so disappointed in a band’s live show before.  They looked bored and/or miserable, and vocalist Kele Okereke mentioned several times that they “weren’t used to this.”  I’m not sure if he was talking about the heat, the crowd, or the incredible level of suck they were playing at, but they did impress me in one area: I never knew it was possible to stand quite so still while playing music. 

At this point, we had a pretty decent spot for Radiohead, so we just stayed put.   I’ve never been the hugest fan, but heard stories about people camping at the front all day for the chance to see Thom Yorke and crew up close and personal.  No need, diehards. Radiohead put on a light show that was most likely visisble from space.  I’m actually having trouble remembering what the music sounded like because I was so dazzled by their display.  They played a set heavy with material from their two most recent releases, with classics like “Paranoid Android” and “Fake Plastic Trees” thrown in the mix.  There were no competitive headliners playing at the same time, so the crowd was overwhelmingly huge.  The band did a great job of making the show feel slightly more intimate, with Thom Yorke’s suprisingly friendly stage banter and video screens that stayed tightly viewed in on the musicians.  They pulled out the rare double encore to the delight of the audience, and closed out the night with crowd favorite ”Idioteque.”  It was my first time seeing them, I’d definitely say they lived up to the hype.  I’ll not soon forget the sight after they finished. 75,000 people trying to exit the park through two exits.  Whoops.  

Radiohead

 

Tags: Bloc Party, Gogol Bordello, Lollapalooza, radiohead, show review //