@ZackTeibloom As I made the decision whether to stay close enough that I could hear an atrocious Animal Collective set or get close for the visually stimulating, but tortuous to listen to Tool show Saturday night, I had to wonder. What happened to Lolla this year?
It wasn’t just the rain, though it was a cold, harsh day Friday. It wasn’t just the heat. (Sorry if I brought the Austin heat with me.) It was a lack of headliners that did it in.
Last year on Saturday night at Lolla I was seeing a 9.8 Lupe show feed into a 9.9 Rage Against the Machine Show while knowing I was missing a Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings show that always hovers in the low 9 range. This year Saturday I was deciding if Animal Collective’s 5.5 show would get any better, foolishly getting close for a Tool show I couldn’t stand, going all the way across the festival for a 8.5 (tops) Yeah Yeah Yeahs show. That’s not the Lollapalooza I know and love.
I thought @Mattsilver was a fool for leaving the festival after the start of Animal Collective, but honestly, I wish I had too. I ended up losing Andy’s camera, walking around in circles for hours and tiring myself out too much to see Ezra Furman that night. When you don’t have a strong act to close out the last 2-3 hours of a night, you’re leaving open a huge gap. I thought they could make up for it with the plethora of strong afternoon bands and for the most part, they did, but I left wanting more. I saw a number of fantastic shows from 11:30 a.m. on, but rough weather, the most spread out festival I’ve ever been to and the deeply lacking headliners make me feel the need to call Lollapalooza 2009 my least favorite of every year it’s been in Chicago.
Friday night’s Of Montreal into Kings of Leon was a strong way to close the first night, no doubt, but could it possibly come close to matching The Raconteurs into Radiohead that Friday offered up last year? Not by a long shot. I’ll admit that I didn’t get to stay for Sunday and I was forced to miss Kings of Leon Friday night, so please feel free to fill me in on some great things I missed, but it wasn’t just my least favorite Lolla, it was the worst festival I went to this summer.
- 1. Jazzfest Weekend 2
- 2. Bonnaroo
- 3. Jazzfest Weekend 1
- 4. SXSW
- 5. Lollapalooza
Shows I saw at Lolla 2009:
- Los Campesinos!: 9.7
- Of Montreal: 9.4
- Kings of Leon: 9.3
- Fleet Foxes: 9.1
- Bon Iver: 9.0
- Yuto Miyazawa: 8.8
- Mike Snow: 8.8
- Thievery Corporation: 8.7
- White Lies: 8.6
- Ben Folds: 8.5
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs: 8.4
- Hey Champ: 8.3
- Rise Against: 8.2
- Animal Collective: 5.5
- Perry Ferrell: 4.0
- Tool: 3.5
- The Gaslight Anthem: 3.0
Related posts:
- Probable Lollapalooza Line-up
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs Take Beastie’s Spot at Lollapalooza
- Sasquatch Festival: The 2009 Indie-rock all-star team
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Lollapalooza
- Kings of Leon @ Lollapalooza
8 Responses
It was probably the worst festival all summer for you because you didn’t see the best three shows of the weekend.
1) Kings of Leon (even though it was a little short)
2) The Killers (Brandon Flowers was a close second to Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes) for best individual effort IMO all weekend)
3) Passion Pit (Clearly the next big thing in indie-pop-experimental music)
And BTW, Yeah yeah yeahs were TERRIBLE. She forgot the lyrics of the best song half way through! Big Thanks to TV on the Radio, Fleet foxes, and Santigold for the great shows.
Posted on August 10th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I absolutely agree with Matt that The Killers and Kings were two incredibly great shows! I think it’s a mistake to keep comparing this fest to last year as in the review above – let it stand on its own. I also caught Airborne Toxic Event, which was such a good show only hampered by it being one of the absolute hottest parts of the day on Sunday when they took the stage. My only disappointment (other than the near-heat stroke-inducing temps) was my level of annoyance with Lou Reed for playing over his time, thereby cutting into my Band of Horses time. They sounded fantastic, but I sadly only got to hear a few songs to have time to head over to The Killers!
Posted on August 11th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Bro . Best shows were sts9, tv on the radio, snoop, thievery and deadmau5. After party hob sts9 the fuckin building was shaking. Totally weak festival I agree, but you went to all the wrong stages!! Fyi, the dj stage was probably the strongest sttage at lolla.
Posted on August 11th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
I’m really glad Of Montreal was your number 2 (I mean, you were with ME and all) BUT it was my number 2 as well, after TV on the Radio… as I said you should go to…
I still love you…
Posted on August 12th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
oh yeah, and the Killers KILLED. They were 4th, after SNOOP
Posted on August 12th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
darn it, one more! i keep thinking after i post… i agree with whoever above said the DJ stage was the strongest because it really was pretty ridiculous.
Posted on August 12th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Palermo- I have to agree with you. I made a lot of wrong choices on stages and I’m usually good at picking the right one. I’ve seen Sts9, TVOTR and snoop before and tried to see someone I hadn’t seen before. It was still a fun festival but if i could re-do a lot of things I would. Needed more time at DJ stage.
Jess- glad you’re posting. Glad I got to see Of Montreal with you.
Matt- you’re right. I had to miss too many of the great shows.
Posted on August 13th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Beth- It’s hard not to compare this year to past years to gauge it. That said, it was still a lot of fun and I’m glad I went.
Posted on August 13th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
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