Lollapalooza 2010

As BSD mentioned, I was off running wild in Chicago last weekend. Me and the Ancillary Girlfriend spent three days baking in the sun and taking years off of our ability to hear at Lollapalooza.

I hope to post some pictures once I find the cord that hooks my camera to my computer. In the meantime, here is the list of bands we saw.

Arcade Fire
Beats Antique
The Big Pink
Dan Black
The Black Keys
Blitzen Trapper
Blues Traveler
Dawes
Dirty Projectors
The Dodos
Dragonette
Foxy Shazam
Freelance Whales
Green Day
Harlem
Hockey
Lady GaGa
Jamie Liddell
Metric
MGMT
Miniature Tigers
Mumford & Sons
The National
The New Pornographers
Royal Bangs
Raphael Saadiq
Soundgarden
Spoon
The Strokes
These United States
The Walkmen

Some of these bands we saw only two songs from, while others kept us company for over two hours. It was an incredible three days.

Best Three Shows:

Green Day
We almost went to see Phoenix instead. I'd still love to see Phoenix, but I'm really glad we made the decision to see Green Day. They put on a show for the ages. It really was kind of over the top. There were crowd singalongs, a t-shirt gun, fireworks, and all other sorts of ridiculousness.

But if there was ever an occasion that calls for being over the top, it has to be headlining Lollapalooza. The band absolutely rocked for 2 and half hours. They played songs from nearly every one of their albums, and the crowd ate it up. It helped that we got right down in front for this one. Fantastic show.

The Strokes
Julian Casablancas remarked that this was the first show The Strokes had played in the U.S. in a long time. The crowd was certainly ready for it. One of the great things about seeing a band that has only put out three albums is that they are probably going to play all the hits, and you're also likely to get a chance to hear some of the other songs you want to hear as well.

That is how it was with The Strokes. We heard 12:51, but we also got Hard to Explain. Casablancas spent some time between each song kind of rambling, which I don't mind, especially when the guy behind me is a pretty funny heckler. Anyway, it all seemed in good fun and the band was tight. I'm ready for album #4 next spring.

The National
I had mixed feelings about seeing The National at Lollapalooza. They are one of my favorite bands of the last decade, but many of my favorite tunes are as mellow as they come. So I didn't know what to expect from their live show. I was blown away.

They pretty much stuck to the more amped up tunes, which meant I didn't get to here a few songs I would love to have heard. But they absolutely rocked the entire time. The band was on and added Richie from Arcade Fire on several songs. What made the show unbelievable was front man Matt Berninger's forays into the crowd. During Abel and Mr. November he headed out to the crowd, climbing on the barricade and mingling with the revelers 50 feet from the stage. Not bad for a guy who came out wearing a jacket and tie. This was an exciting show.

I'll get some pictures up soon, and hopefully add a few more thoughts about the festival.