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.
]]>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:
Three amazing days of music. Here's the abbreviated recap. More details later.
Friday
The Subways: Rocked hard, awesome energy, one of the best shows of the festival.
eels: They did the "security guard" show. Loved it.
Stars: Disappointing ... should have seen the Editors instead. Walked by Mute Math and they sounded really good too. One of my few regrets.
Ryan Adams: Boring. Only stayed for a few minutes.
Lady Sovereign: Lots of energy, but didn't quite know how to handle the heat.
Mates of State: Excellent! A lot of sound for two people.
Iron & Wine: Didn't catch a lot of the show, but it sounded good.
The Raconteurs: Rocked. Great live show.
Sleater-Kinney: Rocked hard, but an hour was about as much as I could take. Just like listening to one album is about as much as you can take in one sitting. I'll miss 'em.
Death Cab for Cutie: Kind of lame. Lousy sound, wooden performance. But that's just me.
Saturday
The Go! Team: Fantastic, one of the best shows going. Totally entertaining, and they totally won the crowd over. Great show.
Built to Spill: Quite a downshift from The Go! Team, but once you settled into the vibe it was a great performance. I wish I could have seen Coheed and Cambria too, but I've made my peace.
Calexico: A good chill experience. Good performance.
Kill Hannah: Though they looked a little out of place in the sunlight, they did a great job. A band to watch.
Sonic Youth: No surprises, but I'm happy I saw them.
The Dresden Dolls: Biggest surprise of the festival for me. They are AWESOME live. Built for live shows. I'm all in. And to think the only reason I saw them was because I was too lazy to walk over to the Popes show. Majorly impressed.
The Flaming Lips: Very entertaining, lots of fun. I wish they could have fit a couple more songs in.
The New Pornographers: Excellent performance. One of the better shows of the festival. Really maintained the fidelity of the songs while bringing more energy to them. Glad to see them have an opportunity to play for so many future fans.
Kanye West: Disappointing. Started with bad sound and the whole show
was plagued with technical difficulties. Sure was impressive to see the
size of the crowd though!
Sunday
The New Amsterdams: Yep, they're emo. Kind of a forgettable performance.
The Shins: Lousy sound, so all of the nuances of their songs were lost, which was too bad. Lots of potential, but it just didn't live up to it.
Reverend Horton Heat: The Rev can still rock it. Always fun to see him take requests.
Poi Dog Pondering: First time I'd seen them live, and they met my expecations. Fun.
Wilco: Wish they'd cranked the sound a bit more, but this was a good
set. Very accessible ... they didn't noise it up too much. "Wilco's
Greatest Hits". As much as I had wished they'd played Spiders
(Kidsmoke), I can understand the limitations of only having a set
that's an hour long.
All in all, it was AWESOME. I saw less than half the bands I wanted
to, but hey, life is tough. This is supposedly entrenched as an annual
Chicago event now, and I can't wait for next year!
Tomorrow is the start of Lollapalooza here in Chicago. I posted previously about the Friday line-up, but I think Saturday might have the strongest line-up of the three days. Here's my take:
It looks like the weather is going to be awesome this weekend. Can't wait!
Lollapalooza is less than
two weeks away, which means it time to start nailing down that
schedule! Here's my take on Friday's line-up at Lollapalooza:
Now, to figure out the Saturday schedule!
I got the green light from Christine for Lollapalooza
Aug 4-6 ... happy birthday to me! I'm gonna order the tickets later
today or tomorrow. Does anyone else want in to save on shipping?
Lollapalooza 2006 will be in Chicago August 4-6, and they've just published the schedule. Very sweet. I'm starting to bargain with the family now to get the weekend off.