Lollapaloozled

Thought it was about time to give a run-down of my incredibly fun, hot, sweaty, twinkie-filled Lollapalooza experience.

Friday:
I went to see 'Dark Knight' again, so I missed most of the first day. But I did catch some great music. I was pretty bummed to miss the Black Keys and the Raconteurs - by all accounts they put on great shows. But I definitely had fun bopping along with Bloc Party. And staying at that end of the park meant I had a primo spot for Radiohead. Their performance was ridiculous - the light show was incredible. I would have liked to hear more of their older songs, since I really wasn't familiar with the new album, but all in all it was amazing.

Saturday:
Eddie joined me for the day and after brunch we started out seeing Mason Jennings.
AH: He sounds familiar, like someone I have heard before.
Eddie: Bob Dylan? (and yes, VERY Bob Dylan-y)
AH: Well yes, but also like someone else who sounds like Dylan.
Eddie: Mmhmm *rolls eyes*
Next song starts
AH: Oh! I know! He sounds like himself! I have heard this song before!
Eddie: Sigh.
We listened to a couple of Dierks Bentley songs and discussed how much new country sucks, then heard a few songs over at Steel Train - fun and nice to sit in the shade but not particularly memorable. At this point, we had counted about 25 people wearing Rage t-shirts (yes, we were keeping track. It is incredibly lame to wear the t-shirt of the headliner, people. Seriously.) and we moseyed over to MGMT who everyone seemed to be excited for. I wasn't all that impressed, but others appeared to be having fun. Lupe Fiasco was, well, dull. The performance was high energy but I just didn't enjoy it. The Toadies were also pretty meh, but we were positioning ourselves for Rage's performance so we stayed put. And then they started. And stopped. And started, and stopped. Apparently the crowd up front was just insane - but Eddie and I decided that rather than wait for them to calm down, we would sneak over to the rest of Wilco's set. Good decision. They were super fun and much more mellow and it was a great end to the night.

Sunday:
I walked over by myself and was totally drawn to the sound of the Blakes. I wish I had heard more, but they started my day off right and were a great rock band. Wild Sweet Orange was next, and again I was pleasantly surprised and I kept texting Eddie about how great these two bands were. What Made Milwaukee Famous? Certainly not the band, and the Weakerthans canceled, so I bounced over to Tally Hall - a group from Michigan who reminded me of Weezer's Buddy Holly video - all wearing skinny ties, fun music, and I regained my cheer. Over to John Butler Trio - which was so freaking good. Think the guitar of Tim Reynolds with the pep of more upbeat G Love songs. I was hooked. The vibe at this end of Lolla was really relaxed and fun and I was having a great time. Then I started getting these odd texts from Eddie asking where I was, and he showed up to surprise me, beer in hand. Turns out someone had flat out given him a wristband, so we got to listen to Iron & Wine together - super mellow and fantastic. Blues Traveler was next, followed by Gnarls Barkley. I am not a huge fan of either group, but they both performed with lots of energy and were ultimately really great to watch. I wanted to see the National, but getting back and forth across the park was getting tough so instead we drank beer (and bottles of wine, that may have been a mistake), listened to an interesting Ryan Adams cover, and waited for Kanye. Say what you want about his attitude, but the man is a fantastic performer. It was a great way to close out the weekend - high energy, all of his hit songs, and no bullshit. Very fun.

So, all in all, I had the most fun on Sunday, and would totally do it again. The high point? Discovering deep fried twinkies. Yeah. They were freaking amazing. The low point? Port-a-potties. Enough said. Next time I think I will do a better job of hitting up more performances, and there's always Austin City Limits to look forward to!!!