Beyond the Blog

Whew, that was fun! Three days of music and sweat. Here's my quick-fire recap.

Friday

Started out by catching about 20 min of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. Wish I could have seen more ... Ted Leo definitely rocks.

Went over the The Polyphonic Spree, which was a highlight for me. They were epic. For the first 35 minutes or so, they were in their new black garb. Then they disappeared and came back in the white robes and launched into a fantastic cover of Nirvana's Lithium. A great hour.

The met up with my brothers and caught Sparklehorse. It was a bit of a strange venue for them, and there was some noise bleed from Electric Six not far away, but it definitely made me want to listen to them more.

Next up was M.I.A. She actually doesn't have that great of a stage presence, surprisingly, but it was good to listen to for about 30 minutes.

Then over to one of the few disappointments of the festival: Silversun Pickups. The sound mix was all wrong so it just didn't sound good -- couldn't hear the lead guitar at all really. I only stuck around for about 15 minutes.

Then went to check out Wax on Radio, a local band, on the small stage. It was nice to sit under the shade of the trees and listen to them. I liked them and I hope they hit it big.

Then I had to leave for a little bit, but came back for LCD Soundsystem. This was a big surprise of the festival for me. I was amazed at how well their sound translated to a live show. I just kind of a assumed that they just pressed a couple of buttons and their tunes would spill out of Pro Tools, but instead it was a for-real live show with amazing percussion and big-time talent. Lead singer was a stitch as well. This show was a lot of fun.

Finally, the main event: Daft Punk on the big stage. It was a show from the future. Definitely the most incredible light show I have ever seen. I mean, it was a little bit like going to epcot, and Mr. Daft and Mr. Punk could have been robots (are they robots?) and it wouldn't have changed the performance at all, but that's beside the point. It was a relentless 90 minute sonic and visual assault. Wow.

Saturday

Saturday was fun because I was joined by my wife Christine. She's five months pregnant, so we adjusted our game plan a bit to minimize the walking and maximize the sitting. Here's what we saw.

We got to the grounds at about 2:30, so we missed a number of great acts earlier in the day, but you take what you can get with timing with babysitters! We caught Aqueduct and I was surprised by how good they were and how many songs I recognized. I'll check them out more for sure.

Then we went to sit down on a blanket in the main stage area, where Silverchair happened to be playing. They were fine. It was mostly background music for us as there was a good-sized group of us and we were all just talking.

Then we walked over to see Cold War Kids. They were on one of the side stages, but with a main stage-sized crowd. It was unbelievable. It was totally jam-packed, and we couldn't really get close enough to appreciate their performance. What we heard was most excellent. Let's hope they get a big stage for them next year.

We wandered back over to sit down again and listened to Motion City Soundtrack. I don't really know their music, but it was very good and we could have listened to more. Another band to check out more.

Then it was time for Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The lead singer's voice was even more falsetto than I expected. It was a good show -- not great, but good. Cool to see them up on the big stage, though.

As much as I would have wanted to stay for The Hold Steady, it was time to walk over to the other side of the park for the next couple of shows. 25 minutes and a ribwich later, we were sitting down listening to Regina Spektor. We actually couldn't hear her very well: it was just her and a piano. I wish they had made that a bit louder.

Then, the highlight of the festival for Christine and me: Snow Patrol. They sounded so great, and they seemed to be having a great time playing up there. We left smiling and we look forward to seeing them when they come to town again.

Then it was over to see Spoon, but it started to rain, so we ended up bailing and going to our crash pad on Michigan Avenue. Yeah, it would have been good to see Spoon and Muse, but the first rule of festival attendance is "no regrets".

Sunday

Flying solo again on Sunday, I got another late start. First band I saw was Kings of Leon at 4:15pm. Really good performance, just straight-forward rock. Fun seeing the drummer sing harmony. For the last song they brought special guest Eddie Vedder up on stage and he proceeded to destroy a pair of tambourines in a frenzy of percussive accompaniment. Pretty cool.

Next stop was !!!. I was pretty far from the stage, but even from way back you could see that the lead singer is a nutball. What a crazy performance.

Then it was My Morning Jacket on the big stage. They were actually great ... a lot more rockin' and high energy than I was expecting. They totally won me over as a must-see live band. Nice work from the Chicago Children's Symphony Orchestra as well.

TV on the Radio was next. I'm not a huge fan and their performance did nothing to sway my opinion.

Finally the show everyone was waiting for: Pearl Jam. I had never seen a Pearl Jam show, but they delivered exactly what I was expecting: a stellar live show. They are a Rock Band that will go down in the history books with the greats as a band that knows how to put on a live performance. Good rapport with the massive, massive crowd. Lot of love going back and forth from the crowd to the stage. I'm glad I stayed for the show -- it was worth it.

Well, there you have it. A great time, and really the weather cooperated for the most part. I'll be back next year for sure.

Lollapalooza is just days away now. I've been studying the schedule and listening to all the bands, and I think I've got a plan. Of course, everything changes once you get there and you realize how far you have to walk between stages. But this is my going in position.

11:45 The Fratellis, Elvis Perkins, Carey Ott, Illinois
Starting out with a bang, I think the Fratellis would be fun to see, but if they suck it would be easy to walk over to Illinois. This is all contingent on me being able to leave the office this early.

12:30 Ghostland Observatory, Soulive, Tom Schraeder
I think I'll eat lunch. I don't care about any of these bands.

1:00 Chin Up Chin Up, Colour Revolt
Looking forward to hearing Chin Up Chin Up, a local combo.

1:30 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Son Volt, Bang Bang Bang
Ouch ... tough match-up between Ted Leo and Son Volt. I'm going to have to go with Ted Leo on this one because, as Joe says, "Ted Leo will save rock & roll".

2:15 Charlie Musselwhite, Viva Voce
This is an overlap time slot. I'm certainly interested in seeing Viva Voce, so maybe check them out while walking by.

2:30 The Polyphonic Spree, Jack's Mannequin
While Jack's Mannequin sounds pretty emo-riffic, I gotta check out the new look of the Spree.

3:30 Sparklehorse, Slightly Stoopid, Electric Six, Against Me!
I like Sparklehorse, but I'm not sure how their sound will translate for this kind of live performance. If they suck, then I'll head over to Against Me!, which sounds like fun.

4:30 M.I.A., moe.
No jam bands for me, thanks ... M.I.A. all the way. Let's hope she handles the heat better than Lady Sov did last year.

5:00 Silversun Pickups, The Rapture
This is where it starts to get really hard. There are a bunch of great overlapping bands. I'm really excited to see Silversun Pickups, but it overlaps with M.I.A., Blonde Redhead, and Wax on Radio. Ugh. May the best band win.

5:30 Blonde Redhead, G. Love & Special Sauce, Wax on Radio
So, I really like listening to Blonde Redhead, so I'd like to check them out, but the biggest surprise of the day might be Wax on Radio. I had never heard them before, but then I listened to their album and they blew me away (check out their MySpace page). Seriously awesome. So, I must check them out live on the small stage.

6:30 Satellite Radio, The Black Keys
I guess go show Perry Ferrell some support, but really this will be "wait in line for dinner" time.

7:30 LCD Soundsystem, Femi Kuti
No question. Might be a little too hot for running in place, though.

8:30 Daft Punk, Ben Harper
Daft Punk should be fun, but if it's not a good show then take off and rest up for Saturday.

Those are the picks for Friday. It's supposed to be in the 90s and humid, but let's hope for a nice breeze! I have a Yahoo Music playlist that includes a track from each band on Friday ... let me know if you want that link.

Time to agonize over which of the 3 bands that are playing at the same time you're going to go to ... the Lollapalooza schedule has been announced. Remember that some of those stages are really far away as you're planning your strategy.

The whole family made it out to the Cubs game about a week ago. Cubs won, and we had a great time. We even got a family photo out of it:

Lollapalooza had found a semi-permanent home in Chicago and this morning the organizers revealed the first batch of bands that will be playing. Overall, I'm quite happy with the line-up. Here are the bands I'm most excited about seeing from the 86 acts that have been announced so far:

• !!!
• Blonde Redhead
• Blue October
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
• Cold War Kids
• Daft Punk
• Lupe Fiasco
• The Fratellis
• The Hold Steady
• Iggy and the Stooges
• Interpol
• Kings of Leon
• LCD Soundsystem
• M.I.A.
• Modest Mouse
• Muse
• My Morning Jacket
• Pearl Jam
• Peter Bjorn and John
• The Polyphonic Spree
• The Roots
• Silversun Pickups
• Snow Patrol
• Regina Spektor
• Spoon
• Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• TV on the Radio
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Pete Yorn

Huh ... now that I type them all out, this is going to be another scheduling nightmare. There's a lot of good music in there.

Fantastic show at the Double Door last night. Those great Danes known as Mew rocked the house with fantastic fidelity, staying very true to the sound of their recordings. Even though I was half-hoping they'd just get up and play And The Glass Handed Kites all the way through, it ended up being a good mixture of songs from that album and Frengers. Lots of surreal visuals behind the band throughout the performance.

The opening band Oh No! Oh My! (or as my brother Blake kept calling them, "Oh me oh my") was pretty good. I'd describe them as 50% Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, 40% Wolf Parade, 20% The Decemberists, and -10% original. That might not be quite fair, but the songs were a bit hit-or-miss. Note to bands everywhere: when the drummer says he's got a song he wants to perform, politely deflect the request. I missed them when they came to Lollapalooza last summer, but I'd see them if they came back this year.

I'm very excited to see Mew this Wednesday night at the Double Door. And The Glass Handed Kites was my number one album of 2006, even though it technically came out in 2005. Whatever -- it's an amazing album that rewards persistence and repeated listenings.

Here's a video from one of the catchier songs of the album, Zookeeper's Boy, but it kind of seems wrong to pull tracks off the album. It's best to appreciate the CD all the way through.

I saw a fantastic show last night ... Los Lobos at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, IL. The venue only seats 350, so it was a fabulous opportunity to see them up close and personal. Of course, by the end of the evening, no one was sitting in those seats -- they turned it into quite a party. They were awesome.

Here's my crappy Treo photo:

What's your musical horoscope?  (Put your player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)
Inspired by Stephanie.  

1. Sufjan Stevens, The Seer's Tower
2. Snow Patrol, Grazed Knees
3. Death Cab For Cutie, Soul Meets Body
4. The Rapture, House of Jealous Lovers
5. Neko Case, Margaret vs. Pauline
6. Frank Black, Fast Man
7. Snow Patrol, Ways & Means
8. Ryan Adams, So Alive
9. Tv on the Radio, Wolf Like Me
10. Blackalicious, Powers
    

Okay, now what?

Flipped on woxy.com and heard a song that has reframed my whole day: "Lightening Man" by Nitzer Ebb. Just hearing that transported me to a different time and place ... to a world where Skinny Puppy and Ministry breathed angry breath, and "Industrial" wasn't a charming historical musical niche.

I'll have to dig up the song for you, but here's the album that got quite a bit of play in my dorm room: