Lollapalooza 2010 - Day Two

                  

    Harlem

Through their stage banter and general demeanor, this band reminds us of why they made Slacker in Austin. I don't think they were real happy about playing at one in the afternoon, but I enjoyed myself.
                   Blues Traveler
This guy is really, really, really good at playing the harmonica! I definitely enjoyed their version of Creep, which Radiohead refuses to play live ALTHOUGH IT IS THE ONLY GOOD SONG THEY HAVE RECORDED IN THEIR ENTIRE CAREER.
                    Against Me
A very exuberant and earnest bunch of guys! A good time was had by all.
                    Outdoor Toilets
Got to see the vacuuming of the toilets. A depressed looking man came along with a metallic hose which connected to the waiting tanker. He entered the toilet, and using the hose, vacuumed the floor of items like toilet paper and environmentally friendly paper water bottles. Then he closed the door to perform the actual suctioning of the toilet. His colleague followed to spritz the unit with disinfectant or whatever. I'm still wondering what they do with the collected contents of the toilets!
                     Grizzly Bear
This is a band that actually said, "I love your spirit" to the crowd. Naturally I was put off, but they did deliver "otherworldly harmonies" as promised in the Lolla Official Program.

 Social Distortion
Aging punks: still pissed.
                     

                          Green Day
I love Green Day without reservations! They pulled out every hackneyed huge crowd rock concert pleasing cliche and amplified it to the point of absurdity. I think the word, "Chicago" passed Billie Joe Armstrong's lips almost as many times as "fuck" and all its friends and relatives. They even brought a small child onto the stage and got her to do cute things. The music was great. The graphics were great. The pyrotechnics were great. I'm not being snarky when I say this was one of the best fucking shows I've ever seen.
                           A Word from Our Correspondent
Talked to my mom on the phone from a parked CTA bus, aka Cooling Station. She reported that the news radio station she listens to panned "The Gaga Band" and said, "She didn't seem to know what she was doing."
                           Five Things I Saw More Than Enough of Today
1) Alcohol fueled displays of bromantic activity.
2) Boots with short shorts look.
3) Boots with short skirt look.
4) The butt crack of the lady in front of me during the Grizzly Bears.
5) Indiscriminate body painting.

Lollapalooza 2010 - Day One

The Ettes

This is a "garage band" (according to the Lolla official program) from California. They were very entertaining, with smoking guitar and bass. The lead singer had extremely good enunciation. The words of every song were easily understood.
                 Los Amigos Invisibles
Yeah! My first chance to see one of the ultra-cool South American bands I've been reading about in Batanga magazine. Los Amigos Invisibles, from Caracas, Venezuela, were just about more fun than I could stand. Visit their website (link below) to purchase one of their official thongs.
                 Mavis Staples
I sat down with my falafel on pita and enjoyed some great gospel music before Mavis startled me by bringing to the stage none other than Jeff Tweedy. Apparently he is doing a Jack White and producing her new album.  Then they launched into a song which I believe originated with The Band. I began to seriously consider checking out something at the opposite end of the park.

Instead.........

                  The Outdoor Toilets
Everyone will be glad to hear that the outdoor toilet situation is much improved this year. The enlarged festival area allowed staging of a veritable armada of toilets across from the Art Institute. As I huddled in a scrap of shade, I observed two Waste Management tankers creeping along behind the row of toilets. I was quite excited at the prospect of witnessing waste transfer, but when nothing happened, I gave up and wandered off. Where do you think they put all that stuff they suck out of the toilets?
                  Drive-By Truckers
It didn't take the girls in the Lady Gaga t-shirts long to decide to give this band a pass. To tell the truth, I could only handle about a half an hour of their undiluted Southern angst. Things must really suck in Alabama, that's all I can say.

                  Devo
In spite of being middle-aged, with a couple of double chins and some receding hairlines among them, the members of Devo were unafraid to execute synchronized dance steps and cavort in very short pants and knee socks. They had  four costume changes (two in full view of the audience), cool graphics, and performed some new songs in addition to the favorites of our youth.
                  F**k Buttons
I wanted to see this band, but due to my problems with direction, I couldn't find the stage.
                  The Black Keys
At the beginning of this band's set, I thought, "This isn't very interesting." By the end I had revised my opinion to "This is really boring." Did give me a chance to rest up, though.
                  Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff is probably older than the guys in Devo, but his dancing was dazzling: high kicks, hip swivels, tai chi moves, moonwalking. I worked my way up to about the fifth row from the stage, had great view of Jimmy and his excellent  band. He sang all his hits, including those amazing songs from "The Harder They Come," and also some new numbers, including a protest song. The chorus went: "Remember Vietnam; stop the war in Afghanistan." (There probably weren't too many people there besides him and me who actually could remember Vietnam.) This man was so good that he had me singing along to the chorus of the Cat Stevens' song "Wild World." Great show!
                  The Strokes & Lady Gaga
To tell the truth, I wasn't real interested in either of these headliners, but I decided to give them each my attention for at least one song. The first time I heard The Strokes I had to check to see if Lou Reed had passed away, since he certainly seemed to have been reincarnated! I came to like their first album, but frankly I've always thought there was something kind of disturbing about them and their music and NOT IN A GOOD WAY! After their first number, I hastened to the other end of the park and saw Lady Gaga do one song. Admittedly this is probably not a representative sample, but I thought she sounded a lot like Tori Amos. Less clothing, though.
                   Overview
I'm all by myself this year, and it's not as much fun. It does give me the opportunity to spend an entire day without using human speech to do anything other than ask for a lobster corn dog or sing Cat Stevens' lyrics.
                   Faces in the Crowd
There were an awful lot of guys who looked liked middle aged lesbians at the Drive By Truckers set.

http://www.amigosinvisibles.com/