|
Kweller belts it out on the big stage |
|
|
|
Written by LINDSEY KLINGELE / Photos by NICK POWILLS
|
|
Wednesday, 09 August 2006 |
The AT&T stage on the far south side of Grant Park was a host to some big names this past weekend, ranging from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to The Raconteurs to Kanye West. The acts that performed on the main stage had to be larger than life, and project an even larger sound across the wide field. For this reason, very few solo artists/singers/songwriters had the presence to grace the AT&T stage- with the exception, of course, of Ben Kweller.
| | |
Ben Kweller
|
August 6, 2006
AT&T Stage
Lollapalooza
|
| | |
Most of the mellow acts I caught this weekend were up on the north side of the park at the adidas-champs stage, which was set up specifically to help the vocal stylings of performers such as Aqualung and Iron & Wine reach the ears of the widespread crowd. So I was interested to see how Ben Kweller would fill out his large soundstage as I tramped over to the farthest corner of Lollapalooza early Sunday afternoon.
And, of course, my doubts were unfounded. Ben Kweller packed his performance full, and made even the AT&T stage seem small through the power of his voice and slightly off-kilter persona. The crowd was thick with loyal supporters of this performer who, although critically acclaimed and supported by a strong fanbase, has never really reached high levels of commercial success. Many of Kweller's fans first heard his tracks not through intense marketing or promotion, but through the power of the Internet and word-of-mouth.
But word-of-mouth carries weight, as the attendance at the performance proves. And Kweller himself carries weight as well, bouncing around the stage in all his over-zealous glory. He played some of his older, more popular hits such as “Sha Sha,” and also some newer, unreleased songs as well.
Generally a performer who relies heavily on playing his own instruments, Kweller only switched over to the keyboard for a few songs, and kept mainly to singing and jumping around the stage. But sing and jump he did well, very well, and he left no doubt of his ability to perform in the big league. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
