Maybe it was my mood, but I kept thinking, “Man, there’s nothing I want to see this morning at Lollapalooza.”
Day two dawned kind of sleepy-eyed, as I looked over the schedule and saw bands I either knew I wasn’t that psyched about, or who I’d seen enough and didn’t need to book a repeat appointment with. But then, some of the coolest bands I’ve seen over the years at Lolla are the ones playing early on a side stage (like, well, The Verve, back in the day), so I opened my mind and ventured out. Because you can, I hit four different stages in the span of about 90 minutes and it was a mixed, but satisfyingly gumbo-like sampler.
The Ting Tings did their spunky ringtone dance punk thing on the main stage, which segued into the jubilant Flaming Lips-meets-Crosby, Stills & Nash at a My Morning Jacket show jam of Dr. Dog (a group I would not normally check out), and after a 50 yard walk, I was turned onto he spiky minimalist electro rockers the Foals, who kicked my head in with submachine bass and chiming guitars. All I can say about the death rattle blues of the Gutter Twins – fronted by former Afghan Whigs front man Greg Dulli and ex-Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan – is that Lanegan freaks me out and I know he wasn’t really staring down at me like he wanted to jump down and cave my face in, but it sure felt like it.
For a look at all the Lolla action -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- check out Gil's Lollapalooza photo diary.
This place needs its own zip code. Really. It’s been a few years since I was at Lollapalooza, but this place qualifies as a small town within one of America’s biggest cities. Took a full half hour to walk the length of Grant Park this afternoon. Began the day with two sets from very different places, geographically and musically – conscience and hip-hop from Somali musician K’naan, followed by my brothers from the ATL, The Black Lips, delivering plenty of flower punk, and some gobs of spit.
Remember cramming for exams? The flustered, panicky feeling where the task ahead of you seems so daunting that your stomach hurts and you just know there's no way you're ever going to make it to the finish line? Now imagine that feeling spread out over a mile of the most primo real estate in Chicago, and picture having less than 24 hours to get everything in shape before 75,000 people show up expecting you to put on a show for them.
By John Ochoa
On Wednesday, two days before the start of this summer's Lollapalooza in Chicago, I had the chance to chat with Perry Farrell, the festival's mastermind. It's always awesome talking to Perry, especially since I count Jane's Addiction among my all-time favorites.
We've chronicled presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama's