To call Lollapalooza's Friday lineup diverse is an understatement; nearly all factions of the alternative music scene (and rock, folk, hip-hop, etc) were represented. But some promotional genius obviously had the right idea to start the day off rocking by offering The Subways at the AT&T stage at 12:30 p.m.
“This is for mad little darlings, because they fucking rock,” yelled out bassist Charlotte Cooper, before launching into a high-energy song and flailing herself up, down and around the stage.
Charlotte was only outdone for uncontained energy by lead singer Billy Lunn, who throughout the show jumped on top of the drum kit, knocked over at least three microphone stands, and climbed up both sides of the stage. He was also, as far as my knowledge goes, the only member of a Lollapalooza act to participate in crowd surfing.
The band even directed their abundant energy towards angry rants against corporate radio. “Raise your hands high and say 'no more shit on the radio,'” screamed Lunn. And everyone did.
Although only two of The Subways' songs have had any radio play (“Oh Yeah” and “Rock and Roll Queen”), the audience at the show (mainly under the age of nineteen) were bopping along and raising their fists to all tracks, from the loud, crackling “Holiday” to the more lyrics-charged, British-sounding “Mary” (a personal favorite).
The Subways were electric, and they transferred their energy to the early afternoon crowd. One concert-goer even said, while heading off across the hot sand after the show, “Man, that really got me pumped for the day.” Is there any higher praise than that? If Lunn could have heard it, I think he would have been happy. And if his finale of dive-bombing drummer Josh Morgan and knocking him to the ground at the end of the show is any indication, I think that maybe he was.
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