Fri 3 Aug – Lollapalooza 2007
Photos from Lolla (Saturday)
A full review was done earlier, but damnit my keyboard freaked out and it's gone forever. I'll probably type it up again after lunch, but enjoy some of my crappy (i guess some of it was sort of ok) photography. It's a facebook link because I'm not in enough to have flickr.
Here's the aforementioned review...
Upon entering, we rushed to the Adidas stage to catch
Matt and Kim. It was particularly an awesome show because they were just so excited to see so many people there. It’s quite a change of scenery for them contrasted with the Brooklyn basements they normally play. Despite some technical difficulties (they keyboarded just a little too hard for the equipment), they got through their set and engaged the crowd in some witty banter (pens and inkwells...)
After Matt and Kim’s set, we hustled over to the Bud Light stage to catch
I’m From Barcelona. I really don’t have the words to describe what a spectacular show they put on, but I’ll try. Exultatious, might be a good one. 18 Swedes, a bag of balloons, and a raft for crowd surfing made this an unforgettable moment. Despite what some professional reviewers might say, there really wasn’t (at least from the crowd’s perspective) a single weak moment in the set. Marcus the bear singing/signing along throughout the set and tossing water and water bottles into the crowd was a joy to watch. If anything, the only disappointment this set could’ve brought was the knowledge that we missed the
Polyphonic Spree the day before. The set ended with a dancy/electronica version of We’re From Barcelona in which both the band and the crowd just went nuts. It was the perfect way to close out what was hands down my favorite set of the day.
At this point, we realized there was no point in rushing or hustling. The Myspace (ugh) stage was a long way away, but we still headed over to check out
Tapes N Tapes. What we heard of the set was great, and exactly as expected. The crowd just didn’t seem into it though. I can only assume that the audience had to be there waiting for
Motion City Soundtrack (ugh... and before you flame me, I’ve seen them live and didn’t like them then either... at the same time, I promise, no more negativity, that’s not what the weekend was about). TNT blistered through some stuff off the first record and some new songs and even brought out a tuba!
At this point, Joe’s schedule and mine diverged. He headed off towards an afternoon of
Hold Steady and
Spoon while mine was supposed to involve
Cold War Kids and
Regina Spektor. I also was going to try and get autographs from
Tokyo Police Club and Regina, but as I promised no more negativity, I can’t go on a tirade against FYE and their inane policy regarding the situation, but if you were going to try, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
So that would’ve taken us to Cold War Kids. I’m not a huge fan of theirs, but I do really like We Used to Vacation. However, upon seeing the amazingly huge crowd in front of the Citi Stage, I decided to just go and try and get a good spot for Regina.
Sound Tribe Sector Nine were still on the Adidas stage when I got over there, and I have to say, without knowing anything about them, they were really good. Not something I would necessarily seek out, but very chill. I maneuvered up through the crowd during the set trying to get close for Regina. I ended up in the 4th row, but was crushed basically and couldn’t breathe, so I went back a few rows. It was much more comfortable back there.
Regina came on and led with an a capella version of Ain’t No Cover which was simply stunning. As charming, witty, and beautiful as ever, she waltzed through a beautiful set. I was a bit surprised that there was no backing band, especially after listening to Begin to Hope, but she carried the tunes well. I also enjoyed the chair drumming during Poor Little Rich Boy. All in all, just a wonderful set from a stellar musician.
After this I met up with my friend Missy and we sat on the lawn and listened to
Snow Patrol and caught up. We hadn’t seen each other in over a year. Snow Patrol sounded great, and culled their set from their two most recent releases. As an added bonus the singer from the
Silversun Pickups replaced
Martha Wainwright on Set The Fire To The Third Bar and sounded magnificent in doing so. She had a busy weekend as apparently she did the same thing on Young Folks with
Peter Bjorn and John the next day.
We then wandered over to listen to Spoon, who I’ve personally never been a huge fan of. Their set didn’t entirely convert me, but they still sounded great and had a fair amount of songs that I liked. Also, I’m starting to come around on I Turn My Camera On. Funny how time changes perspective. After Spoon, Missy and I parted ways and I met back up with Joe to fight our way across the park to return to the Bud Light Stage.
Interpol. We got there late so it seemed like we were going to be in the back. But Joe made a friend at either the Hold Stead show or the Spoon show, I forget, and she was very adept at moving through crowds. So, for one show, I was that guy, lol. But we did get into an amazing spot by the end of the first set where there was room to move and dance and we could see. A great set with a great light show, I think this was a great environment to see Interpol in. The crowd was great and everyone seemed to really feel the energy.
It was a fantastic experience and I really can't wait until next year!
