Lollapalooza - Day One

We had quite a merry party this year, me, my godson Nate, and his sister Nina.  I have to confess that I totally if inadvertently abdicated adult responsibility by having an inadequately charged phone rendering me unreachable for most of the day. However, our meet-up system worked well, and the other two got some quality time together.

Young the Giant

Whoa, whoa, whoa, yip, yip... a lyrical theme in the work of Young the Giant.

Tennis

Alaina Moore and her boyfriend Patrick Riley took it in their heads that they should forsake their normal lives and start tooling around in a sailboat. You can learn more about their life of "intimate engagement with the environment" on their website, and also hear some of their songs which pertain to the same subject. Which of these would be the more tedious I cannot begin to imagine. I also have no idea why they call their band "Tennis."

Electric Touch

You rarely go wrong with a scrawny English guy on vocals.

Le Butcherettes

This band is fronted by Ms. Terri Gender Bender, who has one of the most riveting stage personas I have ever experienced. The sweet baby sitter who turns out to be a psychopath has a voice like an unholy amalgamation of Bjork, P.J. Harvey, and the lead singer from Bikini Kill. She bangs her head against the mike, she dances around in a scary spazzy way, she delivers creepy songs in English and Spanish, she wears a bloody butcher's apron over her dress. She spits on her drummer. I was mesmerized.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have spent over 40 years attending performances by rock and roll bands, and Le Butcherettes stunned even jaded me when the drummer began projectile vomiting first next to his drums and then leaning over the edge of the stage while the other two band members mocked him and kept on playing. There may have been some artifice or stage trickery involved (the timing of this display was particularly suspect). However, I can testify that there was definitely vomitous looking stuff spewing from this guy's mouth. When he finished up he went back to playing the drums, and when the band cleared off the stage, the cleaning people looked pissed.

I thought about getting their autographs, but I was too scared.

The Kills

A quick listen to this band makes it clear that they also have a female singer who Means Business. Otherwise, I didn't pay too much attention, but my impression was generally favorable.


The Mountain Goats

I love the Mountain Goats. I will see them whenever I can. I was really happy that they had a nice crowd at Lolla. I always cry at least once during an MG set, the kind of crying that happens because you feel like someone just stuck a fork in your heart.

Bright Eyes

I've always felt that I should like Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst is so earnest, so completely and totally adorable. Who else would open their set at what has been called "the frat party on the lake" with a little number condemning US immigration policy?  I was very sorry not to feel more enthusiasm for this band.

Crystal Castles

Wake me up when it's over.

The Headliners

I wandered around trying to find something amusing. Ratatat was interesting but the location was undesirable. Coldplay: do I really need to say more? I hung around the dance stage while Girl Talk was DJing and people were bouncing up and down under a tent the size of a football field. Now this is my opinion: Some people are good at waving glow sticks around. Some people are good dancers. However, most people are not. Of course, I feel that everyone should enjoy themselves, and as the maxim tells us "Dance like no one is watching." And in my case, certainly I won't be. Finally settled on Muse. Could be the scrawny English guy principle, but I thought they were pretty good.

Slave to Sweat

I sweat too much. If I vacuum or wash the dishes I will sweat profusely. At the end of a sweaty day, you can actually see salt on my shirts marking some sweat related line of demarcation. It's good and hot at Lollapalooza, so I pull my hair  into a pathetic little pony tail. The sweat wicks down the hairs and collects in the pony tail so that liquid drips down my back or makes me think it started raining.  I feel like I have a small and extremely wet animal (drowned rat maybe?) nestling at the base of my skull. I look around and see people who look dry and comfortable. This is one of many things that make me feel alienated from others.

www.fatpossum.com/tennis