[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….