Lollapalooza, Part 02

It's been three days of fun and sun, food and booze, music and madness here in Chicago. Lollapalooza 2010 was a hell of a ride, allowing me to not only see some of my favorite acts for the first time, but also opening my eyes to old acts I'd never given an honest shot and new acts I'd never heard of before. To try to properly convey the entire experience in a few paragraphs seems foolhardy and inadequate, so I'll just post some pictures and leave you with this tidbit:

After spending the whole day roasting under the sun, hopping from stage to stage to catch act after act, drinking and eating and drinking some more, it's remarkable that the human mind still has the capacity for a moment of unimpeded clarity, when it realizes the buzz of the alcohol and the contact high its been riding all day has given way to something new -- an adrenal rush that stems purely from the pulsing notes pouring out of the speakers, from the chorus of 100,000 voices crying out together in desperately earnest song, from the suffocating crush of bodies churning and shifting and bouncing and shaking in unison -- and in this moment you finally begin to realize what you've suspected your whole life, a basic truth about the profundity a few simple notes and a shared experience can bring.

And onto the pictures! We (being Roy, Figge, and I, with occasional guest appearances from Roy's college friend Lily and her boyfriend Tom, as well as Figge's friend Josh) started things off a little late on Friday, and I hadn't quite gotten into the flow of taking pictures yet so I don't have anything from the acts we caught that day (except for the Chromeo shot from the last post), so we'll kick things off with Saturday.

Wild Beasts. Awesome band I just found out about. Definitely worth checking out.

 Warpaint. Dreamy electro-pop all-girl group (with, fun fact, Shannyn Sossamon's sister on bass (in the middle)). I dig these girls' steez.

The xx. Gotta say, their live show -- as expected -- wasn't all that exciting, but the music's good, and the vibe's mellow. I'm not sure I'd be anxious to see them again, but I had a good time.

Perry Farrell (of Jane's Addiction, and founder of Lollapalooza).

Cut Copy. I never really got into these guys, but they put on a really fun show.

 This is, sadly, the best picture I ended up with of Phoenix.

But here's a video to make up for it:

Sunday kicked off with a repeat viewing of Company of Thieves. I can't get enough of these guys; they're that awesome.

In the afternoon we caught Freelance Whales. I was curious if their eclectic electronic folk-pop would translate in a live show, but they played a beautiful set.

Mumford & Sons. Another band I had never properly investigated before the weekend, and we only caught the tail end of their show, but they made enough of an impact that I'll definitely be doing some exploring in the next few weeks.

We took it easy for the next few hours, but I did make my way over to MGMT briefly. Yeah, they drew a big audience. Yeah, I didn't care enough to get any closer than this. I still love Oracular Spectacular, but that new album is so unimpressive, and their live performance, unfortunately, isn't much more riveting.

Swung by The Temper Trap's stage. I wasn't particularly enthralled by their album, but their live show was definitely more enjoyable than I expected. "Sweet Disposition" was about as awesome live as I hoped it would be. I swear everybody from spacey hipster chicks to muscle-clad jocks were vibing to that song. This is them in one of their tamer moments.

Closing the festival was Soundgarden and Arcade Fire. This was the crowd waiting for Soundgarden (and that's their stage in the distance).

We opted to watch Arcade Fire instead, which drew a similarly massive crowd. We clawed and elbowed our way to the front, but this is, again, sadly, the best picture I could get of them.

So here's another video instead:

Good times at Lollapalooza this year. Believe it or not, that wasn't even the full list of bands we saw. We managed to sneak in a few songs from the setlists of The New Pornographers, Matt & Kim (who put on an incredible show), Neon Trees, The Black Keys, Lady Gaga, The Strokes, Stars, Metric, Spoon, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, and The National. Needless to say, it was an exhausting weekend, but I couldn't get enough. I'm definitely going to try to come back next year. Until then...

[videos courtesy of Figge]