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Portugal. The Man Chows Down At Lollapalooza

Posted 8/7/11 4:42 pm EST by in Lollapalooza


By Rya Backer

In addition to being a hub of all things music since Friday, Lollapalooza has established itself as a culinary bastion – hosting such Chicago institutions as Lou Malnatti’s Deep Dish pizza, Kuma’s Corner burgers, and Grahamwich – a Northside restaurant operated by Lollapalooza’s culinary director (yes, they’re that serious about concertgoers literally leaving Chicago with a good taste in their mouths) Graham Elliott.

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Portland-by-way-of-Alaska psych rockers, Portugal. The Man were tasked with the burden of being our taste testers of all the festival had to offer in the strip of food vendors known as Chow Town. Drummer Jason Sechrist was excited to finally try a Kuma’s burger – each named after a famous metal band (he got the Neurosis); keyboardist Ryan Neighbors grabbed a Scotch Egg from The Gage and Henri; lead singer John Gourley sampled lobster corndogs and truffled popcorn from Grahamwich, and each of the four got watermelon and jalapeno popsicles from the Chicago Local stand.

The quartet picked up the goods – occasionally being stopped by an incredibly enthusiastic fan – and parked at a nearby picnic table to feast. They agreed that the biggest hits: the burger, the popcorn, and the Scotch Egg. The lobster corndog – despite how dazzling it might’ve sounded – was a near miss only because it wasn’t deep fried enough.

“Lollapalooza has an incredible menu to chow down on,” exclaimed Sechrist. “That’s the best festival snacks I think I’ve ever had.” His burger was so good in fact, that he was tempted to sample even more Neurosis – this time though, it would be the music by the actual band.

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MTV News is in Chicago for Lollapalooza 2011! Stick with us all weekend as we cover the bands you love and the bands you will love soon.

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Lollapalooza Day Two: Skylar Grey, Patrick Stump, Ellie Goulding Mix It Up

Posted 8/7/11 1:23 pm EST by in Live Music, Lollapalooza

Chicago — The plan for a weekend of Lollapalooza shuffle firmly established, Saturday's musical Pu-Pu platter was a bit more focused on rock and its various offshoots, plus, frankly, bands I either love already or was just curious about.

First on the list was hip-hop's current go-to hook queen, Skylar Grey. In her first major appearance since blowing up thanks to her vocals on Dr Dre's "I Need a Doctor," singer/songwriter Grey is clearly read to go out on her own. (She would join pal Eminem later in the night during his headlining set.)

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With a haunting, gothy vibe, Grey came out wearing a ragged white hoodie that hung in shreds like a ghost shawl down to her ankles, accented by combat boots, army pants and a white sports bra that showed off her impossibly thin belly. She was all aggression and angst, at one point neck-tackling her guitarist.

Her moody rock tunes, which balanced programmed beats with live playing, combined anxiety and empowerment ("Monster," "Beautiful Nightmare"), showing off her crisp, high vocals and the plainspoken songwriting slated for her upcoming major-label debut. Part Alanis Morissette and part Dido, the songs struck a balance between vulnerability and no B.S. strength. The self-professed "f---ing weirdo" also played a snippet of Radiohead's "Creep" before busting into her own tune about being a super freak, "Weirdo."

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Just as they did two years ago, British dance popsters Friendly Fires drew an early, sweaty slot on the North main stage, but made the most of it with a high-energy set that ended with the falsetto boogie anthem "Kiss of Life." It was a very different vibe just moments later on an adjacent stage when pale, puffy-eyed and sleepless-looking flower punkers the Black Lips stumbled out for one of their typically chaotic sets.
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Lollapa-Cruisin' With Damian Kulash Of OK Go

Posted 8/6/11 4:21 pm EST by in Lollapalooza


By Rya Backer

In addition to welcoming 90,000 concertgoers this weekend, Chicago, Illinois, can claim many notables as its natives: Oprah, the McCallister family from "Home Alone," Michael Jordan and even our president. And OK Go, the pop-rock act with a flair for catchy choruses and groundbreaking music videos, also hail from here — so it was only natural for the group's lead singer, Damian Kulash, to take us for a spin around the grounds of Lollapalooza.

But Kulash was quick to admit that the crowd congestion this weekend doesn't present an accurate portrayal of his hometown. "The entire city of Chicago is on shutdown," he admitted.

Tweet your pics from Lollapalooza to @mtvnews and they could be featured on MTV.com!

Kulash, who attended his first Lollapalooza back when it was a touring event in 1994, has a certain affinity for the festival. "My favorite band at the time was Shudder to Think," he recalls. "They were on one of the smaller artist stages. I just sat there and worshipped. It was amazing."

And his admiration still stands, having labeled the three days of nonstop music across eight stages "the American rock tradition in one place."

Thirteen years after attending as a fan, Kulash and Co. took to the stage themselves. "It's the second time OK Go's played Lollapalooza. We played Lollapalooza the first year it was here in Chicago. It was 102 degrees. It was unbelievable!" Less memorable was his choice of dress back then. "I was wearing a wool suit the entire time. I've become much more practical in my old age," pointing out his decidedly lighter, cotton button-down shirt.

The excitement was palpable as Kulash drove the cart ("I don't play golf, but I know how to drive a cart") in and around the festival grounds. "I know it sounds crazy, but everybody's got this 'I can't believe it's about to happen' vibe!" He pointed to the main stage fields, which were quickly filling up with fans for the evening's headliners Coldplay.

MTV News is in Chicago for Lollapalooza 2011! Stick with us all weekend as we cover the bands you love and the bands you will love soon.

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Tinie Tempah, Skrillex And Grace Potter Cover The Bases At Lollapalooza

Posted 8/6/11 1:29 pm EST by in Live Music, Lollapalooza


CHICAGO — Who doesn't like to hit "shuffle" every once in a while? Sure, playlists are cool, but sometimes when your friends come over, it's also fun to spin the dial and see what comes up, maybe impress them with anything from Miles Davis to My Morning Jacket, Britney Spears to Bon Jovi.

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So I decided that my first day of Lollapalooza would be random, a musical buffet that went from hippie pop to British rap, indie rock to electro, with a few stops at everything in between. It began with England's Vaccines, who kicked off the first day of the three-day music orgy on one of the main stages with their ear candy coital anthem "Post Break-Up Sex." Fittingly, I took in their set while chatting with "120 Minutes" host Matt Pinfield, who agreed that the 'Cines sound was a perfect throwback to the good old days of Brit pop and 1980s indie rock.

Wayyyy at the other end of the spectrum (and field) was the hip-shaking boogie of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, who were serving up a mellowed-down easy vibe with "Goodbye Kiss," a smooth slice of hippie rock that fit the mood of the hazy early afternoon. Potter, as usual, in high heels and a spangly, barely there microdress that ended around where it should have begun, wailed like a new-age Janis Joplin on "2:22" and strapped on a flying V guitar for the band's breakthrough hit "Paris (Ooh La La)," a boogie pop-blues tune that got the audience doing the scarecrow dance.

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Things came down a notch when hometown indie rockers the Smith Westerns took an adjacent stage, playing a set of feathery, soothing tunes like "Fallen in Love," a far cry from the hyped-up, DJ-inspired beats served up a short while later by another Chicago act, former Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's new band, Black Cards.
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Death From Above 1979 Bring Lollapalooza To Life

Posted 8/5/11 12:22 pm EST by in Live Music, Lollapalooza

Credit: Gil Kaufman/ MTV News

Chicago – Some bands never live up to their legend and others have a legend but don't stay together long enough to live up to it. And then, somewhere in between there are bands like Death From Above 1979. The Canadian dance punk drum and bass/keyboard duo reunited this year after a five-year hiatus, which equaled the amount of time they were together the first go round (2001-2006).

Judging from the hour-long show they played at Chicago's Metro on Thursday night as part of a tune-up for this weekend's Lollapalooza festival, there isn't much rust on this hard-driving machine. Playing to a sold-out crow at the legendary northside nightclub in the shadow of historic Wrigley Field, bassist Jesse Keeler and drummer/singer Sebastien Grainger fell right into the pocket as if no time had passed at all.

Opening with "Turn it Out," Grainger – in all white – and Keeler – all in black – set of the first of a relentless barrage of rocket-fueled beats, with Grainger yelping urgently over his double kick-drum beats and Keeler's killer bee of doom bass. "Black History Month" slowed their roll just a hair before the whole thing collapsed into a squall of noise and feedback.

Though Lolla has expanded over the years to include much more hip-hop, techno, jam band, mainstream rock and every genre in between, DFA's screeching feedback and seasick mix of squelchy keyboards and machine gun beats was like a time machine back to the 1991 edition's version of a noise machines, Nine Inch Nails and the Butthole Surfers.

Like those bands, DFA's face-punching attack never let up, making it feel like the duo were running as fast as they could in every direction, always just a bit off balance. Around 40 minutes in Grainger addressed the audience, thanking them for coming out, admitting he can't tell the Cars from Ok Go and Weezer and launching into an extended riff on lesbians and their buzzing bedroom assistants.

Keeler promised they weren't just killing time because they only had one album's-worth of material to play, proving it with the fuzzed-out "Do It!," which, like a number of their songs, sounded a bit like the White Stripes if they were less concerned with melody and more focused on ear-blasting distortion.

The show ended with a tease of the dancey "Sexy Results," which went from club-friendly to yet another 12-car pile-up of thundering drums. The crowd, sweaty and satisfied, spilled out into the humid night charged up and seemingly fueled for three more days of musical mayhem.

Check out all of the highlights from Lollapalooza 2011, and tweet your pics from Lollapalooza to @mtvnews and they could be featured on MTV.com!

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A Newbie's Guide To Lollapalooza

Posted 8/5/11 10:00 am EST by in Lollapalooza

Photo By Zachary Swickey

Photo By Zachary Swickey

By Zachary Swickey

It’s that special time of year again! Lollapalooza, one of the most iconic music festivals in the states, which happens to be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, kicks off today.

No longer the traveling road show it originated as, Perry Farrell has kept the fest’s spirit of diversity alive with acts ranging from Crystal Castles to Eminem, and the whole thing now goes down in one of the raddest cities in the world, Chicago. Taking place at Grant Park, the festival is smack dab between beautiful Lake Michigan and the amazing Chicago skyline – a view few festivals can compete with.

If you are unprepared and have never been before, there is plenty to miss out on. I pity anybody who goes into a music festival blindly without any idea of what the experience will truly entail. Trust me, I’ve seen it all (including a first-time LSD user begging me to “take him home”). It’s easy to be overwhelmed, so I’ve concocted this guide for all you newbies venturing to Chicago this weekend. Seriously, take heed of what I tell you.

Douse Yourself in Sunscreen and Chug Water
Seriously, just pour the stuff all over your body, because the Chicago sun can be brutal and those shady spots underneath the trees are few and far between. This year’s fest is bound to be one of the hottest yet with an insane heat wave ravaging most of the country. I personally got a wicked awesome wristwatch tan line that everyone happily pointed out to me on a daily basis for a week. Do they make SPF 1,000? Also, bring a water bottle and fill that sucker up regularly or you will regret it.

Know that Your Cell Phone is Probably Not Going to Work
Yeah, that’s what happens when 95,000 people congregate in the same place, and it doesn’t help that you’re pretty much in the heart of downtown, which is already heavily populated. It will bode well for you if you don’t have an iPhone or use one of the major phone carriers. At the end of every night at Lolla, my phone lit up like a Christmas tree with texts, missed calls and voicemails, which leads me to my next bit of advice… Read More...

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Pete Wentz Picks His Lollapalooza Playlist

Posted 8/4/11 4:45 pm EST by in Fall-Out-Boy, Live Music, Lollapalooza

Pete Wentz

They say you can never go back home again. Not unless you're former Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz. Not only is he coming back to his childhood home of Chicago this weekend, but he's gearing up to play the biggest gig so far with his new band, Black Cards, at the city's signature summer blowout, Lollapalooza. The dinnertime slot on Friday's opening day of the three-day fest is a coming-out party of sorts for Wentz, whose former band never made it onto the bill once Lolla set down roots on the Chicago waterfront and was reborn as a destination event in 2005.

We caught up with Wentz as he was making this way through Los Angeles International Airport for his Thursday afternoon flight and chatted about coming home, playing in front of his family and friends and how he feels about the inevitable whispers about a potential on-stage FOB reunion (former singer Patrick Stump is also on the bill, playing the same stage at around the same time on Saturday).

"I'm pretty excited about it because Lollapalooza is kind of a big summer event in Chicago and I've been going the past couple of years and it's hot and fun and [co-founder] Perry [Farrell] has done a really good job of having a wide range of bands," said Wentz. "For me it's really exciting. I've never played it before and to be able to play and hang out with my friends and family and have them see me play is really cool."

While Wentz is psyched for the Lolla audience to hear the electro pop sounds of his new band – who will also play an after party set at his downtown bar, Angels & Kings – he ran down his list of must-see sets. Read More...

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Send Us Your Lollapalooza 2011 Pics!

Posted 8/4/11 2:00 pm EST by in Lollapalooza

Are you heading to Chicago this weekend (Aug 5-7) to catch Lollapalooza 2011? Well, not all of us can be so lucky, so we want to live vicariously through you!

Tweet your photos of the festival to @mtvnews and tag them #lollapix! We’ll choose the best ones to be featured (with your photo credit, of course!) on MTV.com! With major acts like Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, and tons more, there will definitely be plenty to capture. We want everything, from “crowd goes wild” shots to your friend passed out in a bear suit. If you think it’s cool, we’ll probably think it’s cool! Here are some examples from Lollapaloozas past: Read More...

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Lollapalooza Schedule Creates Headaches: Muse Vs. Coldplay?

Posted 6/7/11 1:55 pm EST by in Coldplay, Eminem, Foo-Fighters, Live Music, Lollapalooza

It's the best and worst moment of every U.S. festivalgoer's life: schedule day. On the one hand, you can't wait to see when your favorite bands are playing and then start planning your long weekend. On the other, you dread the sight of two of your absolute faves playing on opposite sides of the mile-long field at EXACTLY THE SAME TIME!

In which case Tuesday (June 7) morning was either a huge relief or a major bummer if you're planning on trekking to Chicago on August 5 for Lollapalooza. First, the good news: With the exception of a few headliner conflicts, the schedule is actually one of the most fan-friendly rundown in years.

Yes, Muse and Coldplay are playing at the same time on Friday night, which will probably cause major headaches for thousands of fans of falsetto-driven, pomp and circumstance English rock. (To say nothing of the fact that party hardy DJ Girl Talk and excellent post rockers Ratatat are also playing at the same time as the headliners, which may pull some Lollers in yet more directions.)

But the rest of the day has a pretty open schedule that allows for some decent stage hopping. If you start the day off with some solid indie rock courtesy of Wye Oak, it's just a hop, skip and jump to latest English lad rock sensations the Vaccines, with perhaps a stop-off for some psychedelic bits from the Delta Spirit, a touch of hippie-pop from Grace Potter & the Nocturnals and new-wave reminiscing with Foster the People, at which point things pile up a bit.

Awesome Smiths-inspired rock from the Smith Westerns, or English rap from Tinie Tempah? Brainy rock from the Mountain Goats or the latest from Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz's new band, Black Cards? Noise avalanche from Sleigh Bells or arty stomp from a Perfect Circle?
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Killers Help Cap Lollapalooza 2009

Posted 8/10/09 2:08 am EST by in Lollapalooza, Music

CHICAGO -- It can't be easy going up against festival head honcho Perry Farrell and Jane's Addiction just across the park, but The Killers managed to put on a raucous show to close out Lollapalooza's South Main Stage Sunday night with a bit of swag.

Kicking off the set with "Human," the Vegas four-piece immediately got the massive crowd jumping and for the first time all festival, the females outnumbered the men for a South Stage headliner ... and boy, did they scream and sing along! An early-set "Somebody Told Me" had the women going wild for that familiar feather jacket-clad singer Brandon Flowers, and he seemed to smile like he meant it all night long. During "Bones," Flowers played up the theatrics like a pitch-perfect "American Idol" performance.

"I know this is a Sunday Night," said Flowers, "but this is the Killers! Let's turn this into a dancefloor!" he encouraged the massive crowd while introducing "Joyride." The live horn blasts really added to the one-two punch of "Joyride" and "Bones" and helped keep the crowd moving.

Before "Mr. Brightside," Flowers told a story about how the riff was the first demo he ever got from guitarist Dave Keuning - and how far the Killers have come. Just five years ago they were playing the early-afternoon slot at the Coachella Festival in the California desert and now in 2009 they were rocking out a proper headlining slot at Lollapalooza, closing things out with "When We Were Young."

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