Best overall performance: The New Pornographers

Best compellingly weird stage presence: the dude from Deerhunter (First runner-up: Cat Power; Second runner-up: the dude from Of Montreal)

Best Chicago band: Califone and The Ponys (tie)

Tracy: New Pornographers.

Jenn: The Ponys.

Carlos: Maybe New Pornographers. Wait! I mean Mastodon. [Hahahaha, he’s JOKING!]

Duff: A tie between Cat Power and Clipse. And De La Soul. A three-way tie.

Tracy: They were good. They were high energy, awesome. Loved it although I was too fucking tired to appreciate them.

Jenn: All the party people in the house say uuuuuuhn. The butt was shakin.

Duff: Pretty great to see them live even though I haven’t listened to them in years. “Three Feet High and Rising” is a very nostalgic thing for me. They were fun, but a little too much downtime between songs for me. More songs, less banter, please!

Tracy: The sound was great, probably the best it’s been all weekend. I thought they sounded awesome, I thought they were really great actually.

Jenn: I’m just really not a big fan but they have a good groove and it’s hard not to get into it while they’re on. But it all sounds kind of the same

Carlos: I enjoyed them, they were really good. They were really fun to listen to, very catchy.

Duff: They always put on a good show live. But they don’t really “last” beyond that for me. Felt the same at Lollapalooza: enjoyed them live, went out and bought the album, but it just doesn’t thrill me to listen to. When the singles come up on shuffle, they’re enjoyable enough, but the overall album isn’t very interesting. Wasn’t expecting to hear them do a Queen cover…

Jenn: They’re always really fun. Silly theatrics are OK when the band is good enough to back it up. Sound wasn’t great though.

Duff: Same stage as the Ponys but the speakers appear to have dropped out or the band’s mikes aren’t at the right volume. Would enjoy it more if it was as loud sound-wise as it is visually. Could barely tell which songs were which.

Jenn: What a space cadet.

Tracy: Is he wearing tinfoil on his head?

Tracy: I liked them. But it seemed a little bit like the wrong venue for them. I’d rather listen to the record than watch them live.

Jenn: I shook my booty. I didn’t realize they were as old as they are. They still rock, but… [Duff: They were dinosaurs, weren’t they?!?!]

Carlos: They weren’t awful, they weren’t great. I couldn’t get into it. It sounded too generic to me.

Duff: I was bored. Seemed like they weren’t playing quite together…

Duff: Duran Duran wanna-bes. A combo of Duran Duran, The Cure and Erasure. Fun and bouncy to listen to; but doing nothing to distinguish themselves from that early ’90s crowd.

Tracy: Good. They rocked. No real surprises, pretty conventional rock and roll band, but solid.

Jenn: Straight up rock. A lot of fun, nice energy.

Carlos: Enjoyed them, they were pretty good.

Duff: Once the speakers were fixed, they really filled up the field with their sound. Liked the rhythm and the energy. Definitely going to seek out their albums!

Tracy: I wasn’t into it. I would say I thought the songs were sort of interesting but I didn’t think they were well executed. For example, I thought they were very lousy singers and for a sparse arrangement where you’re highlighting vocals you need more. So I didn’t think they were good enough for what they set out to do.

Jenn: I really liked them. They have sort of an unexpected sound. They build until the point where I think they’re gonna blow up, but instead they drop out for a few seconds. It’s interesting but hard to dance to.

Carlos: I liked them. They weren’t conventional sounding, which was nice.

Duff: The music was way too sparse for me. They need to add another member who plays a “filler” instrument. They all shared vocals but at least two of the three vocalists had (to put it nicely) VERY WEAK voices.