It took some convincing to get Zack to check these guys out, but he dug them.

-A.S.

After the Hue, Zack wanted to explore all that Summer Camp had to offer. My plan was to shoot Hot Buttered Rum, who I had enjoyed at the festival a few years ago, and then to go to Ivan Neville’s Dumstaphunk. Zack did not want to come see any bluegrass. I had to argue with him to even get him to give them a try. He agreed to explore the Trojan Condom tent for a little, and then promised he would check them out.

By the time I exited the photo pit, Zack was there to greet me with the yeah, they’re pretty good face. We decided to move back into the crowd to catch a few more tunes. They all traded off taking solos and demonstrating their excellent bluegrass chops. Probably the biggest response from the crowd came during the cover of Phish’s “Possum.”

The Hue brought their rock faces Sunday (Jared Rabin, Geoff Shell, Marcus Rezak)

~Z.T.~ I like to joke that The Hue’s fan-club should be called “The Hefner’s” and a few members were certainly added this weekend.

The Festival Crashers got back to Chillicothe, IL. just in time to see our friends, The Hue, rock some sleepy fans’ worlds at the Camping Stage. With a 12:30 p.m. time slot, The Hue owned the tiny stage, enclosed on all sides by campers’ tents.

It’s hard to believe these guys have been playing together for less than two years. Their show is a feast for electric guitar fans as Rabin and Rezak unleash more licks than a lesbian orgy. With no vocals and little break in the rock assault, you need to remember to breathe every once in a while.

They were especially “on” Sunday morning with more and more fans flocking to their set as Rabin lept around giddily during “Don Johnson” as bassist Geoff Shell (left) thumped around like a Velocoraptor, which he surely was in another life.

Their soaring, scaling guitars felt like a film score as they burst through the light drizzle, delivering us into a beautiful Sunday afternoon.

Welcome to the Good Life
~Z.T.~It was a strong showing for Chicago’s finest, but for a glow in the dark tour there wasn’t any glowing. Kanye performed everything we wanted to hear, but a dynamic spaceship-themed show was done much better by The Flaming Lips the night before.

After three captivating performances, the crowd was hungry for their headliner. The Kanye chant came at 10:03 p.m. as the lights went down in the United Center. A female computer sounding device counted down went “Systems? Check. Engines? Check. Navigation? Check.” before blasting off with a tease of “Stronger.”

Kanye revealed himself, lying on his back, on stage as the voice said “Wake Up, Mr. West.” Still on his back, he sung “Good Morning” on the uneven terrain of his custom stage. Billowing smoke and streams of fire made it feel like an active volcano on another planet. After a strong “Champion” and “Diamonds Sierra Leone” the crowd went nuts for “Can’t Tell Me Nuthin.” I couldn’t stop thinking of the hilarious Zach Galifianakis video

Kanye followed with “Flashing Lights” before getting back into the dialogue with his space ship navigator. Those exchanges were laughably bad, as Kanye’s love affair with himself were on full display. My favorite: “Of course we know who you are. You’re the biggest star in the universe”

Later, Kanye tells his navigator, “I ain’t had a woman in so long. I just need some pussy.” A gold covered woman says back “Maybe I could help you with that,” as Kan led the crowd through sing-alons where he let them sing large portions of “Gold Digga” and “Good Life.” The Chicago native got his biggest response when he sang the lyric “Summer time Chi.”

He closed with “Stronger” at 11:15 as the crowd begged for more. Lupe and Kanye went back-to-back as they closed strong, trading lyrics on “Touch the Sky.” It was a strong final song except the 15 seconds where Kanye’s mic cut out.

All in all, I really enjoyed Kanye, and all four shows were thorougly entertaining and totally worth driving back for.

-A.S.

Rihanna took the stage wearing a massive dress, as thousands of little girls screamed. I have been to relatively few rap/hip hop concerts, and I was surprised to see a band on stage with her. She had a drummer, bass, guitar, two back up singers and dancers on stage.

After “Pon da Replay,” Rihanna launched into a medly of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” (best used in the Pineapple Express Trailer) and Lauren Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).” As her dancers were playing washboards, she broke into “S.O.S.” After a couple of ballads, including her latest hit, “Unfaithful,” Rihanna brought the house down with “Don’t Stop the Music,” which was made even better by the dancers with light sabers.

Her set was almost as good as she looked. The most disappointing part was that Chris Brown did not come out at all, not even for the set-closing “Umbrella” ella ella ella.

-A.S.

Although I was least familiar with N.E.R.D. going in, I was excited to see them. Everything Pharrell has touched the last few years has turned to gold. By the time they were done, they were in contention with Lupe for best set of the night.

They were in full force tonight, with a backing band that included two drummers, bass, guitar, keys and a a synth. They got the whole crowd to their feet as they dropped into “Rock Star Poser.” Next up was a track that is on their upcoming album (out June 10) that included a freak out dance party with a whole slew of people on stage that included Chris Brown dancing, Common and Lupe.

These guys really know how to work a crowd. For many of the songs Pharrell was running and jumping around the stage, acting a fool. They even drew a huge roar when the band went into the White Stripe’s “Seven Nation Army.” The energy was high all the way through, and on several occasions the members of the band got their chance to shine. The show was simply awesome, and I cannot wait for their album to drop next month.

-A.S.

Kicking the night off for the Glow in the Dark Tour was Chicago’s own Lupe Fiasco, who I was most excited to see tonight anyways. Lupe was not holding any punches as he had the whole crowd going from the start. Only a few songs in he had the whole crowd singing “I’m from the city in the Midwest best city in the whole wide wide world” during his hometown inspired “Go Go Gadget Flow.” During the intro of “Paris, Tokyo” Lupe displayed a sick jazz dance walk/pimp swagger (for those of you who have been following, Zack and I have been talking about dance walks since bringing up American Psycho the other day).

One of the reasons that Lupe was so great, was because almost everyone he featured on the album was at the show. Both Sarah Green and Nikki Jean joined Lupe for some of the tracks that they are on. Matthew Santos was also in the house for both of the songs he collaborated with Lupe on, including a rocking “Superstar.”

Lupe was certainly at home in front of the sold out crowd at the United Center. He commanded the crowd with his stage presence, and proved why he can get away with naming an album The Cool. The set that may have been the best of the night closed with my favorite Lupe song, “Daydreamin’,” with Sarah Green and Matthew Santos manning the vocals in place of Jill Scott.

~Z.T.~We’re back and rested after a full day of music and driving. I finished off a 4-pack of red bulls and two 32-oz Gatorade’s in a day. Now we’re off to the Glow in the Dark tour, before heading back to Summer Camp for George Clinton and Parliament, The New Pornographers and our friends The Hue. Be back with a Kanye wrap tonight. Sadly, no pics allowed.

~Z.T.~

I was quite happy to have our first night end with my favorite sleepy time song. I’ve probably put “Shine on you Crazy Diamonds” as my away message, right before I’ve passed out, 150 times in the last two years.

I gotta give Andy credit. He called this one on the first note.

-Z.T.-
Wayne Coyne never ceases to amaze me. No matter how many times I see him, he’s got a new fun toy to keep my in a perpetual state of wow. Last Bonnaroo, it was thousands of Laser pointers he threw into the crowd. This time? Hot. Naked. Girls.

Decked out in a three piece suit with the bow tie undone, Coyne launched himself into the crowd inside his trademark plastic balloon.
Wayne Coyne knows how to make an entrance.

Proceeding to trot out his usual toy box filled with: Monster balloons filled with confetti that float 20 feet in the air, smoke guns, confetti launchers, two sets of dancers, hilarious videos like a Japanese game-show featuring a lizard, and a fish eye camera in his mic so his head was projected behind him.
Confetti rained from the sky as the Flaming Lips put on their spectacle of a show.

After a couple originals, Coyne said when he was nine years old, he imagined that whenever Zeppelin would play “The Song Remains The Same,” everyone would run around naked and frolic. “I know it’s chilly, but what the fuck” Coyne challenged us.

No one near me de-robed, but onto the stage came 7 gorgeous women, 4 completely nude, 3 topless.Now it’s not only 9-year-old Wayne that sees naked girls during “The Song Reamains the Same”

He guided the crowd through always enjoyable sing-a-longs of “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots” and anti-war anthem “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” I was screaming them word for word the first time through, but Andy seemed much more into the spectacle than the songs.

He played a 30-second “Taps” in tribute to the end of W’s reign of terror and exploded into “The W.A.N.D.” which he powered through on a megaphone.

The Lips closed with a video of Jon Stewart circa 1994 introducing “She Don’t Use Jelly.” A raucous crowd demanded an encore where they had an even funnier video with Tiffany Amber Theisson introducing “Do You Realize.” As it winded down, Andy was making an “I’ve only seen Umphrey’s 48 times, let’s head over there face and we left happily.

Some lazy friends of ours convinced us to get on this little tractor bus with 32 seats to pull us 500 feet closer to their tent before Umphreys. While moving, we started to get hop-ons. (Oh, you’ll get hop-ons.)

One dude fell off and said, “No, it’s cool. I’m Ironman.” It was my first time hearing an “Ironman” joke and it was a little surprising. Apparently now if you’re tough, you’re “Iron Man.”