So lets see, my Lollapalooza actually started the day before on Thursday where I met up with The Subways for a quick photo shoot in an alley around the corner from the Hard Rock Hotel. I had considered seeing if they wanted to go down the stairs to the Chicago El which is their subway system but maybe that was too obvious and cheesy. I’m still not sure on that one and maybe I should have tried and pushed for that. Regardless the three-piece were playful and easy to get some fun shots and their publicist is such a great guy, thanks for everything Rick!
Jump to Friday and the first big day of what is to be a long weekend. First stop is Media to receive my credentials which includes the All-Access “God” Pass. Okay right there is the key to my success and the only way I was able to accomplish my task and have a very happy happy Lolla weekend. The sun is already cooking but nothing compared to what the weather was last weekend so it looks like we might be spared a bit by Mother Nature.
It’s just a little bit after twelve and I have about fifteen minutes before The Subways hit the stage so I decide to run over to the Q101 Stage and grab shots of Sound Team, I get them and I head over to the AT&T Stage. The Subways come out strong and you can tell they are having a great time even if they are opening the stage. I eventually get on stage and capture a few fun shots of the great Chicago skyline.
Next up I jumped on the Fest Express or golf carts and I head almost a mile down Lakeshore Drive to hear and shoot a few shots of Aqualung & Cursive. I also grab the eels before I head all the way back to the AT&T Stage.
Back at the AT&T Stage I end up staying for most of the Panic! At the Disco set because they are so much fun to watch. Their show has an array of performers that come out to help liven up everything. It’s sort of hard to explain but visual it’s a photographer’s dream.
Next up I jump back into a golf cart and headed back down LSD to the stages on the North side and shot 4 more bands in an hour until heading over to the Bud Light Stage for Ryan Adams. At this time the sun was really attacking the stage and made it difficult to see Ryan in his red shirt but a quick stop at the Lolla Lounge to grab a SoCo Cherry Slurpee made it a little more bearable, yum.
Afterwards, I walked over to get a little lesson of the streets from Lady Sovereign or as I see her, the new and improved Sporty Spice. She’s a bundle of energy for such a little British girl. Regardless, I wouldn’t want to mess with her because I still think she could take me in a fight.
The Secret Machines were next along with My Morning Jacket until I finally headed to get Jack White’s new band The Raconteurs who blew up the AT&T Stage. They covered everyone from David Bowie and even a nice rendition of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy”. Crazy fun insane is right. It’s hard to believe Jack will ever want to go back to a two-piece ever again.
Sleater-Kinney was up next and wow I now know what they are talking about with this band or at least for the guitarist, Carrie Brownstein. That girl is a Rock Star and has the guitar chops and moves to prove it. Anyone that missed their set made a grave error. Of course they may have been watching the Violent Femmes and I suppose that is also understandable considering they also were worth catching on the other side of the festival, which included back up by the Dresden Dolls.
The night ended with two bands that to me are kind of boring to watch, Ween and Death Cab for Cutie. But hey the fans were still there on both sides of the Lolla grounds sticking it out to the very end. Well, I guess I don’t know I shot a few songs and came home and passed out.
Day Two I started a bit late and arrived around 2ish but within an hour I had already shot and seen 5 bands. So not too band for being tardy I think. I even jumped on stage again at the AT&T Stage to capture some wide shots of the city during the Coheed & Cambria set.
Afterwards I jumped into a golf cart to the Bud Light Stage for a little rock-n-roll fun with Wolfmother. They are such a fun band to see and Wolfmother singer/guitarist Andrew Stockdale knows how to keep a crowd satisfied. I can’t wait to see how they grow with their next album.
I shot a few more bands and tried to grab a golf cart to the AT&T Stage to catch the opening of the Gnarls Barkley set that I assumed was going to be amazing. They are so known for grand openings dressed up in classic pop culture personas so I could only imagine what they were going to do here at Lollapalooza. At Coachella they came out dressed up from classic characters of the Wizard of Oz and at the Mtv Movie Awards they were dressed up as Star Wars characters so I couldn’t wait. My prediction was the Blues Brothers and the band dressed as Chicago cops. I was even making bets although it seemed so obvious and a lock from my point of view. So with this in mind I didn’t want to be late so I began to run the last half a mile with all my gear trying to make their grand entrance. I finally make it out of breath and far more sweaty then I have been all weekend. They walk out on stage and they are wearing, okay get this, they are wearing “tennis outfits”. That’s right, tennis outfits because as we all know when we think of Chicago and Chicago’s sports we think of “tennis”! WTF, how lame is that? It’s so disappointing and such a cop out. Shame on you Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse for dropping the ball on that one. Regardless, they are such a great band and proved it with a great performance but I'm still not going to forgive them fot their lame ass costumes.
I shot a few more bands until it was time for The Flaming Lips to deliver their usual crazy New Years like show to Lollapalooza. Their shows are always pretty much the same but that doesn’t mean they aren’t fun. Wayne and the boys showered the crowd with confetti and balloons that even included a life sized one with Wayne himself walking on top of the fans. He did this much better at Coachella a few years ago but it’s still worth seeing.
On the other side of the Lolla grounds, Chicago’s own Common was on the AT&T Stage dropping verses like only the debonair Common can. What can you say for this sometimes under rated artist other than the word, class?
At the adidas-Champs Stage the Thievery Corporation played a lengthy set of special guests that included Poi Dog’s Frank Orrall and Perry Farrell himself closing out their set.
Closing the night you had your choice of Manu Chao or Chicago’s own Kanye West. I decide to go international with Manu and did briefly catch a bit of Kanye when he was joined by Common but I was pretty much burnt out at this point and I still had one more day to go so it was time to call it a day.
Hooray for Sunday, although I had no idea I would in fact cover 22 bands today. My first stop was the KIDZ Stage to catch Perry Farrell with his former guitarist of Porno for Pyros, Peter DiStefano. It was a good way to open up the day that included their songs “Pets” and the beautiful “Tahitian Moon”, which they dedicate to the next artist that made a surprise appearance on the stage and was not officially billed. That artist was the one and only Patti Smith who although is known as a New Yorker is in fact born here in the Windy City. Patti at times seemed nervous and humble to be playing to the Lolla crowd and was a shame for all who missed her brief but beautiful set that she dedicated to her father.
Next up for me was a whirl wind that included the tail-end of The Redwalls, The Frames, Ben Kweller and finally Nickel Creek who did a nice cover of Radiohead’s “(Nice Dream)” and followed that with a Britney Spear’s cover of “Toxic”. Yes you read that correct but I have to say I loved it and so did the look of the crowd dancing their asses off.
>p>Once again I started another crazy run of bands that included Andrew Bird, Pepper who had a nice reggae vibe ala 311, The New Amsterdams and the Jared Leto band, 30 Seconds to Mars. Say what you will about actor driven bands and I probably agree with you but this band does seem to have a following and the crowd of women and men were going mad for them.
The next two bands on my lists was more reggae Hasidic Jew style by Matisyahu and the mellow melodic art-pop of The Shins. Both were fun to catch and I was happy I made it in time to hear The Shins play their Garden State hit, "New Slang", so it made for a perfect hour of music.
I briefly caught the under rated Assassins, another Chicago-based, who had a lot of technical problems at the beginning so I only had time for one song. Oh well I’ll catch them at The Metro in the near future.
Reverend Horton Heat was also a brief but he’s always worth a moment to breathe in his wonderful rockabilly flair. He’s one Reverend that can preach to me any day of the week.
A few blocks down was a band that seemed so Eastern European I was surprised to find they are from REM’s own Athens, Georgia and I am talking about the band, Of Montreal. Not really sure what to say about them other than their indie-pop musings might have been over shadowed by their attire of bright colors and one member donning drag.
The night was slowly winding down as I walked over to the Q101 Stage to catch a bit of She Wants Revenge before heading over to the Lolla Lounge to catch a bite to eat and of course another SoCo frozen yummy drink.
Normally I would be excited for Queens of the Stone Age but without Nick and Mark Lanegan in the band it’s just not the same. I think the Lanegan songs are my favorite so it’s quite a disappointment. I quickly jump into a golf cart to the Bud Light Stage.
Here Wilco is on stage to probably one of the biggest crowd this stage has had all weekend. I’m not sure why it is but I always forget what a great band Tweedy and the boys are.
I grab a couple SoCo’s for Security who are working their asses off and head over to see if Popper has managed to keep the weight off and catch a few tunes by Blues Traveler. It’s weird to see him so skinny these days but good for him. I catch a few tunes and jump back into a golf cart for the last two bands of the night.
I head over to the Q101 Stage to catch a few songs of Broken Social Scene that includes a few special guests including Feist. Afterwards, I head over to the Media area to check in with everyone before heading over to the AT&T stage for the big grand finale.
This is the big event probably for many and how can you go wrong with the funky boys that never let you forget they are from California, none other than the Red Hot Chil Peppers. They came out strong with a nice little instrumental funk jam that reminded us why we love them. It was a great way to end the night and the weekend unlike last year where we were stuck with the endless jams of Widespread Panic.
My night wasn’t over, I briefly headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel and the CK Lounge after party to mingle with rock stars, drink, eat and of course grab a gift bag with goodies.
So that’s my Lolla experience, 3 days, 57 bands, gift bags, golf carts, trips to the Lolla Lounge and of course lets not forget about those SoCo Cherry Slurpees, yum!
• Random Noise appears on the second Tuesday of every month, exclusively in Lumino Magazine.
