@AndyShore The Killers were an important band for me this weekend. They’ve always been a band that I enjoy, and had not been that impressed with any of the headliners so far all weekend. Sure that may have something to do with having to take off four songs in to Kings of Leon on Friday night. A great set from the Killers Sunday night could be enough to save Lollapalooza for me. I needed something that I could put on the level with Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine and Kanye West from 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

 @AndyShore Rules and regulations such as set times don’t apply to Lou Reed. The man is a rock star. Plus, it gave me time to meet some of the crazies up front. One 30-year-old woman, with silver-ish face paint and black lipstick, told me of her albino rat named after Lou Reed. She also claimed to have lived the exact same life as him, except she was never famous. By the time Reed took the stage, she had also asked me her chances at getting the CDs she brought signed and what the set list was. Read the rest of this entry »

 @AndyShore I can thank Entourage for introducing me to the Cold War Kids. “Something Is Not Right With Me” played over the closing credits during an episode last season, and I was instantly hooked. Thank you Shazam for telling me who was delighting me ears. Sadly, I missed the Cold War Kids set Thursday night at Rothbury this summer. I got my cast off my foot that day, and took the extra night to get ready for the festival. Besides, I knew Lollpalooza 2009 would provide me with a second chance to catch them. Read the rest of this entry »

 @AndyShore Vampire Weekend was an interesting choice for Lollapalooza this year. 2008 was their summer, hitting major stops on the festival circuit last year. Regardless, I was looking forward to seeing them on Sunday. Despite seeing them twice prior, I had never shot them before.

You pretty much know what you’re going to get when you see them. They only have one album’s worth of material to play, and a new song or two. Given the hour-long festival set time, that’s perfect for them. Vampire Weekend doesn’t add much to their live show. There’s no guitar solos or embellishment to the songs. The most they added in the three times I’ve seen them was a string section for a few tunes. Read the rest of this entry »

@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. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom At the risk of him reading this and banning me from his festival forever, I have a feeling Perry Farrell has tried to suck himself off. A bunch of times. I didn’t think it was possible to love yourself more than Kanye, but there for the grace of god goes Perry Farrell. The most full self-indulgent, overrated “rock star” at Lollapalooza.

After last year’s debacle of having Slash as his special guest, but not being able to hear him thanks to sound issues, Perry decides to make sure he’s late for his set by booking Prophit up until the moment Perry is supposed to perform. Prophit worked the crowd into a frenzy by getting a raucous mosh-pit going during their cover of “Bulls on Parade.” Too bad Perry was such a massive letdown. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom After getting my surprise of the fest by Yuto Miyazawa, I made it over to Hey Champ in time to get front row, center. The three piece from Chicago was entertaining, had witty banter and kept the set moving well for an early afternoon in the rain.

An unlikely opener on Lupe’s last tour, Chicago’s finest rapper signed them to his 1st and 15th label, Hey Champ seems well suited to play to any crowd, even before their first album drops. Lead singer Saam thanked us for being in the rain and said it’s lucky he wasn’t getting wet, because we’d get a better show than we paid for since he was all in white. Like we wanted to see that anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Stumbling on gems like Yuto Miyazawa is easily one of my favorite parts of going to festivals. 11:30 a.m. Friday morning after staying up until 4 a.m. the night before figuring out how the Festival Crashers forum worked and I hear an Ozzy cover of “Paranoid” on my way to “Hey Champ.” It’s never to early for Ozzy.

Little did I know the licks being laid down were from a 9-year old asian kid named Yuto with an adorably thick accent. After working over a guitar bigger than he is on “Paranoid,” he played an original which, to be honest, I couldn’t understand a word of, but his axe slaying is the real treat. I caught “Crazy Train” before getting a text from Shore saying not to miss “Hey Champ.” Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Los Campesinos! is the kind of band that could be my favorite at a smaller festival like Pitchfork, but surely a band who admitted they couldn’t believe they were asked back after playing  Lolla two years ago, couldn’t be my favorite show of the whole festival, could they?

Los Campesinos! oozed charm, frenetic enthusiasm, gave a touching tribute to Elliot Smith and had the lead singer crowd surfing while singing. It’s You! It’s Me! It’s Los Campesinos! It’s the best show I saw at Lollapalooza 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

@ZackTeibloom Kevin Barnes sings “We can do it soft core, if you want, but you should know I take it both ways.” After seeing him lead the spectacularly bizarre Of Montreal live show for the 5th time in 20 months, I’d argue he only knows how to bring it hard core.

You never know what to expect with the flamboyant Barnes. Well, you can count on too much eye make-up, absurd theater, laughably outlandish videos and the possibility he’ll take his clothes off, but it’s never the same. Read the rest of this entry »