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."
By Steven Roberts
CHICAGO -- I grew up on Snoop Dogg. Outside of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario,” I think “Nuthin’ But a 'G Thang” was the probably the first rap song I knew the words to. Thinking of Snoop riding down the block on somebody’s handlebars wearing a Penguins jersey, khakis and Chucks in the “Gin & Juice” music video brings a smile to my face. I remember watching his performance of “Murder was the Case” at the 1993 VMA Awards like it was yesterday.
So, when I found out I as going to Lollapalooza this year, Snoop was the one person I needed to see. I had never seen him live and I didn’t care if I slogged my way through rain and the heat and saw nothing else. What better place to see Snoop then at Lollapalooza with tens of thousands of people?
I grabbed a camera so I could be in the press pit for his performance; snapping photos was secondary, I needed a front row seat! Once I got down there, I couldn’t see how far back the crowd stretched from the front of the Chicago 2016 stage. People in the crowd were chanting “we want Snoop,” and a certain pungent aroma was in the air. I knew it was only a matter of a time.
I could feel my mouth stretch from ear-to-ear as Snoop hit the stage. Photographers are allowed to snap photos for three songs in the press pit. I don’t remember any of the songs that played, but I think I snapped about 200 pictures of Snoop wearing his yellow Lakers T-shirt.
By Steven Roberts
CHICAGO -- A couple of years ago, Vampire Weekend was that “it” band that everyone tagged as the next big thing. Countless magazines, music television networks, blogs, and college radio stations pegged the four kids from Columbia University as the next … whatever. So it was only a matter of time before the predictable backlash began. Luckily for the guys, their bouncy South African township jive-inspired songs have acted as a kind of garlic necklace against the haters, even if two years in they're beginning to wear a bit thin as fans await the next batch of songs.
And how could you hate on any band that takes time out of their busy set to pay tribute to recently deceased Chicago-bred filmmaker John Hughes? The band gave props to the director with a performance of “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” on Sunday afternoon at Lollapalooza.
Lead singer, Ezra Koenig, said Hughes was very important to the city of Chicago, especially the suburbs – shout-out to “Home Alone”’s Kevin McCallister and loveable troublemaker Ferris Bueller. Many of Hughes films, including “The Breakfast Club,” “Home Alone” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” took place in the suburbs of the Second City. Cape Cod's a far cry from Chi Town, but Vampire Weekend won over the Snoop Dogg-awaiting masses.
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CHICAGO -- Los Angeles' The Airborne Toxic Event played to a small crowd of fans willing to rock and roll as the sweltering heat continued into a second day at Lollapalooza, but despite the misery index, Toxic's brand of bouncy emo-rock was very well-received by the head nodding crowd.
Dressed all in black, ATE's set kicked off with "Wishing Well," driven by riffs that'd make U2 guitarist The Edge proud. The band skirts a musical line that makes them easily accessible to modern rock fans, with songs that pulsate with a driving beat, steadily building to quick and tight explosions of energy on each song.
It's easy to say that violinist Anna Burbrook is the band's secret weapon, but it's the energy she brings to the stage that perfectly balances out frontman Mikel Jollett's steady nature. She constanly alternates between her synths and violins, dancing around stage at every opportunity.
Her face-off on violin with guitarist Steven Chen was one of the highlights of "Gasoline", and her vocals on the band's cover of obscure singer Q-Lazzarus' 1988 hit "Goodbye Horses" were pitch-perfect.
Airborne's crowd grew throughout their set and fans were jumping around despite the heat during the finale.
CHICAGO -- Now this is how you start the day properly! Continuing in the tradition of blue eyed English soul bands like the Style Council, UK dance machines Friendly Fires ripped open a blisteringly hot day three at Lollapalooza on Sunday with an ecstatic set of synth pop that got lunchtime feet moving immediately at the Budweiser north stage thanks to high-energy singer Ed Macfarlane.
Unassuming at first, in that English way, Macfarlane came out grooving and never stopped, pogoing, spinning, shaking his head and punching the air during the bouncy New Order-at-a-rave opener "Lovesick." Though already seemingly winded after just a few minutes, he continued gyrating wildly all through the polyrhythmic "Jumping in the Pool," after which he was, predictably, drenched in a torrent of sweat.
A few songs later, he warned that the exertion might cause him to pass out as his wild stage pacing continued through the song he said was the band’s best, the slyly funky "Photobooth." Despite facing directly into the noon sun, Macfarlane somehow kept his energy up, and the band ended on a high note with the falsetto funk and double drum kit calypso techno workout "Paris." It was the perfect powerbooster to jump start the always challenging third day of Lollapalooza, one where hangovers, sun headaches, missing flip-flops and no sleep typically start to take their toll. When in doubt, just do what Macfarlane would, dance like you just don’t care.
By Rich Sancho
CHICAGO -- Day Three is underway at Lollapallooza, and the summer heat is in full bloom. I check the Sunday schedule and see a familiar name, Bat For Lashes, an act introduced to me by a close friend and ex-MTV News online producer, Daniela Capistrano. Daniela had done a piece on a very talented young lady whom she raved about - who had a sound along the lines of an electronic/ ambient Mazzy Star and Tori Amos. That's something I could definitely get into.
I wandered through the desert-like grounds here at Grant Park to the Vitaminwater stage to take a look and listen.
When Bat For Lashes, a.k.a. enigmatic singer Natasha Khan, started her set, it was clear that the crowd was stacked with Bat For Lashes fans, not simply curious festival goers. The relationship between the frontwoman and crowd seemed uncommonly intimate for a gigantic dry, hot field in the middle of Chicago, with bits of flirty dialogue bouncing back and forth throughout the set.
Her music was a welcomed departure from the prior 48 hours of guitar distortion - beautiful ambient textures, electro and tribal beats enveloped in Natasha's angelic, sweeping vocals.
Daniela was right. Bat For Lashes absolutely gained at least one fan this weekend. All in all, a mellow, surreal oasis in the midst of a scorching day three at Lollapalooza 2009.
by Steven Roberts
CHICAGO -- It’s the final day of Lollapalooza, and we enjoyed some amazing performances this weekend despite adverse weather conditions. On Friday, fans endured the rain and enjoyed performances from Kings of Leon, Depeche Mode and Crystal Castles. They came back the next day to find the raindrops replaced by harsh sunrays, and an amazing performance by the always colorful Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, as well as a headbanging good time with Tool.
Well today fans came back for a second day of intense heat, and the final day of Lollapalooza. Sunday's line-up features some big name performances from punk godfather Lou Reed, The Killers, Snoop Dogg and of course Jane’s Addiction, but we wanted to hit the grounds at Grant Park to see what the kids were really excited to see.
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CHICAGO -- This is one of the weirdest shows," said an atypically sedentary Randy Randall, one-half of Los Angeles rock duo No Age on Saturday afternoon at Lollapalooza. The normally physically active guitarist had his arm in a sling due to a dislocated shoulder sustained the previous evening at No Age's round-robin tour with Deerhunter and Dan Deacon -- he got hurt during an over-zealous dance-off against Deacon. Fortunately, Dean Spunt seemed to hit the drums twice as hard to compensate, driving fans into a frenzy during the band's daytime set.
The crowd was mostly made up of younger kids seemingly eager to let loose under the hot afternoon sun and from opening the track, "Every Artist Needs a Tragedy," the relatively small audience immediately set to push and shove to the noise raging from the stage. The band really shines when they're playing small, enclosed spaces where the noise can blow out your ears, but they worked surprisingly well outside on one of Lolla's smaller stages.
There was even a crowd surfer or two that went up during "Sleeper Hold" and "Teen Creeps" really seemed to win over new fans standing idly around in the back of the scrum. The boys mostly stuck to tracks from the first two discs, Weirdo Rippers and Nouns, but also played a handful of new ones. The few fresh tracks sounded typical for the duo, but with denser songwriting and more frequent tempo changes. It's nice to hear the guys evolving and growing together and surely a positive sign of things to come. They're about to release a great new four-song EP called Losing Feeling, but are also hard at work on their next LP, due out sometime in 2010.
We went for a ride with the band and they told us what the pros and cons of playing a festival versus a typical club show.
By Steven Roberts and Rich Sancho
CHICAGO -- I met up with a friend to catch the tail end of No Age's performance yesterday afternoon. Afterwards, we decided to head over the Playstation Stage to catch the second half of Santigold's performance. Her stage is on the other side of the park, so we figured we better hurry.
Now by the other side of the park, I don't mean just over yonder. Grant Park is 319 acres in total. I don't know the exact distance between stages, but it was a long walk, not to mention the grueling heat, and thousands of other people walking.
We pass Buckingham Fountain, the fountain in the opening credits of "Married... with Children," but as we cross E. Jackson Drive, we started to notice that things where getting tighter.
There was a massive amount of people there to see Santigold, and we went from a brisk walk to a snail's pace. We knew we were getting closer, because we could hear her perform her song "Anne." We looked in the direction of Santi's stage and couldn't see it. We only saw what looked like an endless amount of people.
After a while, it became obvious that the wall of Santigold fans was impossible to break through, so we decided to go back towards Citi Stage to catch Lykke Li. I guess there's always a bright side, because Lykke Li killed, but judging by the video below, there was a clear reason for the impenetrable mob at Santigold's end of the park.
by Steven Roberts
CHICAGO Yesterday's high temperature was in the '90s. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the sun was
shining down upon the tens of thousands of people who packed into Grant Park. So when Lykke Li hit Citi stage dressed in all black with a tambourine around her arm, tapping a wooden block with a drumstick, I was sure either she had lost her mind, or I was in for a crazy show.
Li made her way to center stage as an eerie hum played over the sound system. She opened her set with "Dance, Dance, Dance," and
teased her black ruffled scarf, before finally tossing it to the side. Li would do battle with her scarf and the mic cord
throughout her set, entangling herself with both as she gyrated and
moved - somehow effortlessly - around the stage.
Oddly enough after "Dance, Dance, Dance," Li decided she wanted to turn up the energy and asked "Lollapalooza, are you ready to dance?" The crowd was more than happy to, as LI went into an electric performance of "Everybody But Me
" and "I'm Good I'm Gone." The Swedish indie pop singer continued to jerk and gyrate on stage, until she took what looked like a much-needed knee, as her band stopped and the music paused.
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