[Yes it took me FOREVER to write this up, went to see them July 21.]

I have been waiting to see this band for a LONG time and I was NOT disappointed. They finally put out a new album this spring after…I think SIX years since their last real album!!! (“Singles” in 2004 doesn’t really count to me.) Their albums can be pretty mellow so I thought maybe this would be a sleepy little relaxed concert. Um, NO. Not at all. Totally high energy, bouncing off the walls, singing their hearts out. So amazing. Tied with Gomez for my #1 live show so far this year, and I really do not foresee enjoying myself this much at any of the concerts I have lined up for the near future.

If you like their tunes AT ALL, their sweet, sweet melodies and (sometimes) melancholy lyrics and the extreme hummability of all their songs…make sure you catch them on their way through town. The sound was amazing, they turned songs I don’t even love off the albums into totally catchy tunes live. Sooooooo good. Great stage banter, completely engaging. Woot!

ALL and I mean ALL I cared about today was Lupe Fiasco and Pearl Jam, beginning and end. There were other things I wouldn’t have minded seeing, but for one reason or another just didn’t really care if I saw or not…and since Lupe and PJ were both going to be at the same stage and I knew Pearl Jam would be bloody fucking hell to get a good spot at if you didn’t plan it out several hours ahead….

So yeah, I picked our spot, spread out my sheet and did not move my butt away from that little incline except twice when I had “blanket company” and I ran up to the portapotties. Otherwise I just sat and read my book and occasionally listened to WHOEVER happened to be playing that field and lazed the day away in the BOILING sun.

Lupe Fiasco: Loved it. Totally loved it. Even though I saw him in March opening for the Roots, I still got totally jazzed by this performance. Like Rhymefest the day before, he’s super young and a little raw (and man does it crack us up when he says things like “sometimes I like to do my OLD stuff”. boy you don’t have OLD stuff yet!), but he’s a little more “poppy” and upbeat (whereas Rhymefest is a little more on the serious, heavy message side), and his dancing antics just totally push all my buttons. Would love to see him open things up with a backing band instead of just a DJ. His new album “The Cool” comes out on Halloween. Can’t wait!!

Blue October: I would have walked to the other field to see Paolo Nuttini, but a) did you read the first two paragraphs of this post? and b) I would really rather see Paolo in a small venue like the Vic or the Metro so I didn’t feel like it mattered if I missed this set. I do actually have a few mellow songs by Blue October on the iPod so I figured I might enjoy the set anyway. Not so much. It was 99% headbanger’s ball and 1% mellow. (For you young’uns, Headbanger’s Ball used to be an hour or so long set on MTV at midnight where all they played was heavy metal. Whenever you see “headbanger’s ball” on this blog, you can substitute the words “heavy metal shit that carolyn does NOT listen to” and you will get the context.)

Kings of Leon: I just do NOT get what the fuss is with this band. When everyone was lovinglovingloving their previous album a few years ago, I was loving Kings of Convenience instead. After seeing them live, I STILL DON’T GET IT. I did not think they sounded very good. Just loud. Boring!

!!!: I can’t remember how to pronounce their name although I know I read it several different times last week and after seeing them live I doubt I will ever even want to find out. I thought this set pretty much sucked. As did several people around me. But their friends (sitting elsewhere) loved it. Never know what’s going to float one’s boat, do ya.

My Morning Jacket: This was my pleasant surprise of the day. As with Kings of Leon, I’ve just never understood the hype. I bought “Z” when no critic would stop talking about it, and i just couldn’t get into it. Seeing them live was a TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY and I am really going to have to either give Z another listen or check out other albums that I might enjoy more. Because this set was GREAT. Really great. They were both rocking out and slowing things down very effectively. The vocals sounded great. They brought the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra out and the combination was just as sonically pleasing as almost any show I’ve been to in the past few years. Really impressed me and I was NOT expecting it. I would go see them live again in a heartbeat!!

TV on the Radio: This set left almost no impression on me because as the field just kept filling up and filling up and filling up, it got to the point where I could barely hear them over the crowd murmur of the milling about and not so patiently waiting Pearl Jam fans. Apparently during this time, Cafe Tacuba played a blisteringly awesome set in the other field. Which if the world was perfect and I could BEAM places and back effortlessly, I would have gone to but a) bygones, and b) I refer you again to the first two paragraphs. Two goals today. TWO GOALS. No dithering around.

Pearl Jam: Great set. Not the most even or polished performance I’ve ever seen. But a solid crowd pleaser. A mix of old and new, with the old songs certainly getting the most crowd involvement. Having seen him sit in with Ben Harper Friday night as well, we were all a little “woah” at how Eddie Vedder has aged. Maybe he’s doing some of the same kind of hard living as, say, Keith Richards, because he looks a lot older than he actually is. I figure this is probably my one time seeing Pearl Jam since a) I’m not big on the stadium-size shows other than at Lolla and b) I don’t spend all that much time listening to them anymore although I still LOVELOVELOVE their back catalog; so I was super psyched that I sat it out all day and had a really great view and could hear everything and … And. It was really a satisfying performance. Eddie brought Ben Harper out for a duet also (how did Ben Harper play HERE Friday night, at Virgin fest in where? Baltimore somewhere? on Saturday, and then back here Sunday night. Is he crazy?), And the “bring everyone from backstage on stage for the last song” really cracked me up especially because DENNIS RODMAN was there and at one point put Eddie Vedder up on his shoulders like a little kid. Too funny. Definitely a well-worth having seen set, not something I will easily forget.

Day two we decided to start late so we could make a HUGE dropoff at Goodwill first (I’m honestly starting to think that it’s weird I’ve never run into anyone wearing my old clothes because at this point statistically the odds have got to be in favor of that happening), and because nothing in the morning was on our MUST SEE list (which changed of course as the weekend went by).

Rhymefest: Super fun. I loved him. Super young, still seems a little raw. Lots of sass and fun and hello he threw himself into the audience and bodysurfed around. What a goofus. His band was great, his backup rapper dude did some great falsetto-y singing and it was a very enjoyable lively show. Tracy wanted him to use his band MORE and do the solo rappity rapping stuff LESS. I think he thinks of himself as a rapper first and a hip hop whateva whateva second so unlikely that he’s ever going to give that up. Even if about half the crowd ran away after his super serious a capella “this is how bad life can really suck and do you even have any idea about that” ditty.

The Roots: Since I just saw them in March, I wasn’t planning to watch this set, but as the plan of our day unfolded it just made more sense to stay down at that end of the festival. It was pretty good — high energy, good sound, etc. — but basically just a replay of that concert so I wasn’t like jumping out of my “seat” (prone position on the sheet) or anything. But if I hadn’t just seen basically a carbon copy of this set, I probably would have been!

Regina Spektor: So since I’ve already seen the Hold Steady three times, I figured why not try someone new? Yeah, and the reason would be because I don’t like Tori Amos-type freaky girl singers and I should have believed Michele G. when she told me that’s what Regina Spektor was. NOT MY THING. I stayed until she sang the hea-uh-uh-uh-uh-art song and then I took off…at a rapid pace.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Tracy really wanted to see these guys and I saw Snow Patrol (as with so many others today, right?) just last fall (and it’s not like they have a new album since then) so I didn’t really care one way or another. This was a set very much in the vein of, say, Of Montreal or Deerhunter. Just as much about the visuals and the wacky outfits/behavior of the lead singer as about the sound, and the visuals were definitely on the wacky sometimes you can’t even fathom what the “message” is side. So = OK. But nothing that blew my mind, and I know I’ve never even listened all the way through to the first album and this set isn’t going to make that situation change.

Spoon: We were too lazy to run a block north for Patti Smith so we sat through this one but we weren’t really paying attention. Spoon played Lolla last year also (weird). They sounded fine, but nothing that was really making me sit up and take notice.
And here’s where it gets REALLY weird is that I didn’t care whether we saw Muse or Interpol, whichever was fine (Muse I have no clue about, Interpol I don’t really like but I don’t hate, I’m just “eh” when it comes to them), but then it started raining and we were getting cranky and finally someone or other said “fuck it, couldn’t we just go check out the merch and maybe get home early?” The suggestion was met with resounding agreement and off home we went. I heard Muse’s show was great. So next time they come to town, I’ll make a point of checking them out. But considering how mediocre a lot of the rest of the day was, I was happy to go home and crawl into my dry bed! 😉

Rhymefest was definitely the highlight of the day, but I’m sure the fact that I didn’t really LOVE anything else I saw was my own fault due to bad choices. But if you balance it against day one, I’m still coming out ahead here in terms of stuff I loved….

I was feeling a little festival-ed out after Pitchfork. Turns out: that must have been a Pitchfork-specific feeling, as today was a GREAT first day at Lollapalooza!!

I saw five full performances, four really great and one really good, as well as two other performances that I missed parts of, one being REALLY great and one being pretty good. Yay!

The Fratellis: Great, great way to start the day. Perfect festival music. Not only did they sound great but the sound was wonderful (cough*unlike Pitchfork!!*cough). The crowd was into it. They seemed like really fun dudes. Good energy and good balance in the set. Totally enjoyable performance. Tracy: The Fratellis were really good, they rocked, sounded awesome.

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists: This was the performance I’d have to call “really good” as opposed to “really great” and I think that’s based primarily on the fact that Ted never seemed to get his mike in the right place. The rest of the sound / the entire band / sounded great. But his vocals were a little in & out, sometimes hard to hear, and it seemed like the mike might have been set too high? Liked the variety in the set, really showed off a bunch of different musical styles. Tracy was at Son Volt: They were allright, but not very exciting. Not a performance that was very different than listening to the album at home.

The Polyphonic Spree: Holy crap what an amazing fucking set. THE performance of the festival so far. I was a few minutes late, running the eight miles over from Ted Leo (no I did not really run) and I’m so glad I made the effort to get there. Super super high energy. Crowd interaction, hep, pep, laughing and shouting and SO MUCH FUN. The set was completely energetic and electric. And hello: the Nirvana cover at the end???? BLEW ME AWAY. Never heard “Lithium” like that. They were amazing. I feel like the Arcade Fire’s live show owes the Spree some debt. Tracy: The Polyphonic Spree was out of control. They were awesome, in a weird army slash gospel choir kind of way. I figured out what I want to be when I grow up: a backup singer for the polyphonic spree!!!

The Rapture: I don’t know these guys’ album as well as I know the Fratellis, but M.I.A. (english girl rapper) just wasn’t doing it for me so I wandered over to one of the smaller stages just in time for this set. Um, hello, these guys know how to put on a show. Given that it was at a smaller set, you figure the proportion of the audience that is actually already fans of the band is a bit higher. Uh-huh. The entire crowd was jumping up and down by the end. Pretty much straight rock, but with some interesting touches thrown in (the sax bits were great), two lead singers, pretty great energy for a band that doesn’t have backup singers or trombonists running around on stage.

G. Love & Special Sauce: I missed the first half while I was at the Rapture, but the second half was pretty damn good. He’s got all kinds of sass. It feels like a gimmick when you think about it in the abstract,: scrawny white dude doing this crazy mix of hip-hop, rap, blues, and a little bit of country. But he was great. Put on a show, really knew how to play with the audience. Love his sassy lyrics. Didn’t even realize this dude was still around. Defnitely worth seeing.

LCD Soundsystem: Oh boy, THIS is the set people brought their dancing shoes to. My eyes almost couldn’t believe some of the stuff going on around me (you may not know that I am incredibly calm at concerts for the most part or until I get drunk. I mean unless you are watching my knees, you might not see me move at all). I was a little taken aback by their appearance however. I mean, I guess I just EXPECT cool techno-dance-pop bands to be STYLIN’ do you know what I’m saying? And there was certainly only one person in this band (the girl) who really had any style at all. The rest were scruffy and unkempt, unshaven and sloppy. I found the visuals kind of distracting. But the sounds? They were great. I was impressed. Now go take a shower, shave, and have your girlfriend buy you some new clothes. THEN you will really rock.

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals: Wow. His voice is beautiful. (Hello, his face is beautiful!) One of those dudes who’s been around forever but I’ve only listened to intermittently so I don”t know his stuff very well. (You may remember me obsessing over “Reason to Mourn” last year. I think I would have started crying if he played that last night, so I’m relieved he didn’t!!) But this set was just gorgeous. Just sit down and hug your knees and lose yourself in the loveliness. Really talented musicians in his band (all outshone by him of course, check him out the lap slide guitar. fucking amazing) and a really tight set, including when Eddie Vedder came on stage for a song. Next time Ben’s in town, I am all over it. Wow.

p.s. my other “can barely listen without crying” Ben Harper-written song is actually a performance by Eliza Carthy of “Walk Away.” With so many people to love in my life, why do I worry about one? The lyrics of this song just blow me away.

And now it’s on to day two….

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.