Saturday was day 2 of lolla. After waking up, showering, buying some underwear and socks (that's another story entirely), and grabbing a burrito at chipotle, we were back at grant park by 1 p.m. Overall I'd say it was the most eventful day of the weekend...I saw the best performance of the weekend, the most awkward sight of the weekend, and witnessed a set that never seemed to start. But enough with the intro, let's get down to the play by play.
1:47 p.m.- after grabbing some beers, danny, matty ice and i made our way to the tiny little bmi stage to catch a man by the name of langhorne slim. none of us had really heard of the dude, but we were mildly intrigued by his bio, which boasted his "old timey folk and country blues sound" and suggested he would have been in his element "selling snake oil to rubes at county fairs" back in the day. So with a bio like that, we really had no choice to check him out. Without a doubt, his band sounded much different from any other band at the fest...I mean I don't remember any other band featuring a stand up bass. Overall, I actually kind of enjoyed him too...sounded like something straight from the "oh brother where art thou?" soundtrack. but, after 4 or 5 songs, we grew tired of his old timey sound, and moved onwards.
2:11 p.m.- we make our way to perry's for some more dj sets, which quickly reminded us what century we were living in. Up on stage was a couple of djs by the name of kaskade, and they were playing some generic club music while two go-go dancers did their thing on stage. overall it was very forgettable, but the one thing that will forever stick out in my mind is the couple dancing just yards away from us. it was a woman, red hair, late 30s, and a dude, same age, kind of spanish looking, and without a shirt. the sun was also beating down that day, so the two were dripping with sweat...and let's just say that they were not shy about rubbing the sweat all over each other. i pointed the two out to my buddies, and after danny saw them he looked like he might vomit his burrito all over the place. easily the most awkward and heinously disgusting spectacle i saw all weekend.
2:47 p.m.- we're still at perry's and this band called animal collective is playing some strange island music, much like they type your dad might hear as he picks out his summer vacation shirt from tommy bahama (please tell me my dad isn't the only one). Now I had never heard any of their music before, but i suggested we checked them out after hearing that the album they released earlier this year, called "merriwether post pavilion" had been one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2009 to date (received an 89 on metacritic in fact, which is extremely high). So after nearly 20 minutes of this inexplicable island music, we just assumed that the set hadn't actually started yet. wrong. another twenty minutes go by, and still the same bland island tunes. at this point we decided to cut our losses and move on with our day. although it's difficult to explain such an inexplicably bad set from a supposedly talented band, my theory is this: fresh off a widely acclaimed album, they got cocky and went into what "the sports guy" likes to call "eff you mode", by playing whatever they damned well pleased. Well if that was their goal then they definitely succeeded, because we all felt effed in the "a" by the time we left. screw you animal collective.
4:30 p.m. after animal collective we made our way to the bud stage so that we could get up close for the band i had been eagerly waiting to see all weekend: arctic monkeys. the boys from sheffield, england must have been high on a lot of other people's list as well, because even an hour before their set the crowds extended well behind the sound tent in front of the stage. when they finally did step on stage they were not only sporting a new look (long hair for all but the drummer) but also some new songs from their upcoming album. in fact, they played a good deal of new numbers, which i typically despise when bands do this at concerts. despite my disappointment, it was cool to get a taste of their new sound, which sounds a lot more muscular and more mature then their earlier work. i particularly liked "crying lightning" which i think would fit perfectly in the opening credits of a bond movie (at least much better than the jack white/alicia keys song from "quantum of solace"...vomit in my mouth). So, between the new songs and old favorites such as "i bet you look good on the dancefloor", "brianstorm", and a soaring rendition of "505" to close the set, i'd say i was pretty satisfied (although i would've liked to hear more old stuff, like "teddy picker").
5:38- after arctic monkeys, i made my way over to the stage opposite the bud one to catch a little of santigold. i didn't stay long because i wanted to get back to get a good spot for the next band playing on the bud stage, but this brooklyn based singer definitely had the crowd moving for her set. i stayed long enough to hear "l.e.s. artistes" and "lights out" (which is featured in a miller chill commercial) and if you haven't checked her out yet i highly recommend that you do.
6:14- back at the bud stage and with a pretty decent spot up in front of the sound tent. i quickly notice that the same exact video montage of past lolla's is playing on the jumbotrons, and it's starting to get a little annoying seeing the same exact clips over and over. i'm also getting annoyed when everytime a clip of daft punk playing in 2007 comes up some d-bag nearby shouts out something like "ohhhh shiittttt, that show was INSANE!" (actually i'm more jealous than anything, because i would've loved to see them that year.
6:32- finally another band i had been waiting to see, tv on the radio, steps on stage, and quickly rips into a raucus hour long set. they played a number of hits from "dear science" which was easily one of the best albums of 2008, as well as some older songs like "wolf like me" which probably generated the most frenzied reaction from the audience of any other song played all weekend. i heard in the days afterwards that tv on the radio didn't sound that great and was having some sound issues, but honestly, i had zero complaints. these guys are an absolute force live, and i recommend seeing them if you get the chance.
8:30- after grabbing some food and taking a little siesta, we return to our spot at the bud stage to catch the headliner for the night, the yeah yeah yeahs. we new right away we were in for an interesting show when the lead singer karen o came out on stage dressed in some crazy technicolor headdress....part chief illiniwek and part elton john. this band was a last minute replacement for the beastie boys, who had to skip the weekend due to illness, and without a doubt they turned in the strongest overall set of the weekend. mixing together powerful rock numbers ("gold lion", "phenomena"), crowd thumping dance numbers ("heads will roll", "zero") and sing a long ballads ("maps"), they had a little something for everyone. adding to the spectacle was a pair of giant inflatable eyeballs which got tossed from the stage into the crowd during the middle of the set, and, of course, karen o's flamboyant on stage antics, which included bizarre costumes, spitting water out of her mouth like a dolphin shooting water from it's spout. the weirdest thing of course, was during the middle of singing maps, easily their most well known song, she stopped singing, and went "shit, i forgot the words!" (which is sad really, because i can get like a 96 easily on rock band doing that song!) the crowd merely laughed it off though, because on this night, with the way they were playing, they could do no wrong. once again, the best overall show of the weekend.
that'll just about wrap up day two of lolla. day three will be the third and final day, which means there's still plenty of music to talk about. stay tuned for more...
-PG
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