So that's it. Lollapalooza 2009 is over, I'm showered and sitting at my recently elongated cubicle back at the station. Wondering what an "elongated cubicle" looks like? You don't want to know.Yesterday was a good day. For one, I was riding a high from one of the best wedding receptions I've been at. The Saturday night party was at the Brookfield Zoo, with the cocktail hour in the "Tropic World: Africa" monkey house. Might sound strange, but watching two gorillas play-fight while sipping a cold beverage and snacking on Beef Wellington turned out to be one of the most exciting hours of my weekend. Am I getting old or what?
Anyhow, Lollapalooza Sunday consisted of me walking around Grant Park and taking in some much needed music. It was a late start...
2:30 KAISER CHIEFS (above)
If you've ever seen The Kaiser Chiefs, you know they're a great way to wake up your day. They've also got a great sense of humor.
Shaking off the heat, lead singer Ricky Wilson commented on how sweaty the crowd looked.
"We need 50,000 beers out there right now," he said. "Anything but Bud."
They were playing on the Budweiser stage. They ripped through their hits and anything else that would make the crowd get in the air. Great show.
3:30 THE WOW IT'S HOT OUT HERE'S
After about 3 p.m., the heat really started to take effect. Thankfully a nice breeze cooled things off, and festival organizers and vendors handed out plenty of free water. Here's some quick video I shot:
4:30 VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Easily the biggest crowd I've seen for a non-headliner, other than an act I'll talk about in a second. I wondered how their mellow sound might translate to a festival crowd like this (I've missed them at previous festival appearances). It was surprisingly upbeat and energetic. The guys dedicated one of their songs to late director John Hughes, citing the obvious Chicago connection. It was a pretty cool moment during a set that would have been even cooler if they were headlining. Hopefully Lolla takes note.
6:30 LOU REED
Here was the plan - to catch the first half of Lou Reed and hustle down to Snoop Dogg. Unfortunately Mr. Reed went on about 15 minutes late. We caught "Sweet Jane" (which sounded great BTW) and zig-zagged are way down south. What we saw then was wild....
6:30 SNOOP DOGG
I've never seen Grant Park this full for a daytime show. Snoop had the entire south end of the park slammed with waving hands. Maybe it was all of the floating narcotics spotted in the crowd, or perhaps it was just a little piece of nostalgia from the "Doggystyle" days, but Calvin Broadus had no business playing a show in daylight hours. The D-O-Double-G is a headlining act, make no mistake about that.
One complaint if I may - can we stop the whole "if you don't give a f#*!@ about the police say yeahhhh" thing? I know there have been incidents involving police brutality in the past/present, but for the most part, police officers are doing their finest to keep festival goers and everyday citizens safe.
Over the past years at Lollapalooza I've had conversations with the security team, many used to or still work as cops, but they take on these side jobs for extra cash. How would Snoop like it if these guys simply walked off the job and let the mob crash the stage?
I wonder if cops go to concerts on their days off. How do they feel when they're bouncing around to some music, and all of a sudden the artist tells them to "f-off." I can just see the guy jumping up and down, singing along, then...oh wait. Snap. This wasn't worth the $80 I risked my life for!
And why haven't any rappers gone anti-fire department yet? I'm sure someone's got a gripe about a grease fire that wasn't extinguished in enough time. The red hats and dalmatians could lead to plenty of colorful thoughts. How about the library and their lack of modern intellectual literature? Public Works and their lallygagging while patching up our streets?! "F- the potholes / F- the potholes / F-em!" I should have been a rapper.
8:30 THE KILLERS
Yes, I decided to skip Jane's Addiction, even though rumors were spreading all day that Perry Farrell would come down in a UFO piloted by John Travolta and unveil a genetically engineered brontosaurus that would breath beautiful streams of freshly ground coffee into the crowd. That just didn't sound like a very big spectacle. Now, had it been freshly ground peanut butter?! Giddy up and take me back to the Jurassic era!
For the second year in a row members of the media, full of poorly conceived SoCo mixers and leftover pizza, had concocted some crazy dream that wouldn't come true. Last year it was the guy they all voted for introducing Kanye West. But I hear that Jane's Addiction put on a pretty energetic show complete with a helicopter shining a spotlight into the crowd (whoa! lights and aeronautical engineering!). I was more interested in The Killers and their pleasant tales of travel and feeling their bones.
They kicked off the set with "Human," (see video I shot from the field above) the big single from their latest album "Day & Age." I've loved The Killers since their big "Hot Fuss" debut. They ripped through the hits on that album as well. Brandon Flowers might be a bit too corny for me with his between-song musings, but the guy knows how to work a crowd. They were great.
And so it ends. I had my complaints about the lineup, but organizers once again put together a safe and secure festival. Congratulations to them on another successful year.
After about 3 p.m., the heat really started to take effect. Thankfully a nice breeze cooled things off, and festival organizers and vendors handed out plenty of free water. Here's some quick video I shot:
4:30 VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Easily the biggest crowd I've seen for a non-headliner, other than an act I'll talk about in a second. I wondered how their mellow sound might translate to a festival crowd like this (I've missed them at previous festival appearances). It was surprisingly upbeat and energetic. The guys dedicated one of their songs to late director John Hughes, citing the obvious Chicago connection. It was a pretty cool moment during a set that would have been even cooler if they were headlining. Hopefully Lolla takes note.
6:30 LOU REEDHere was the plan - to catch the first half of Lou Reed and hustle down to Snoop Dogg. Unfortunately Mr. Reed went on about 15 minutes late. We caught "Sweet Jane" (which sounded great BTW) and zig-zagged are way down south. What we saw then was wild....
6:30 SNOOP DOGG
I've never seen Grant Park this full for a daytime show. Snoop had the entire south end of the park slammed with waving hands. Maybe it was all of the floating narcotics spotted in the crowd, or perhaps it was just a little piece of nostalgia from the "Doggystyle" days, but Calvin Broadus had no business playing a show in daylight hours. The D-O-Double-G is a headlining act, make no mistake about that.
One complaint if I may - can we stop the whole "if you don't give a f#*!@ about the police say yeahhhh" thing? I know there have been incidents involving police brutality in the past/present, but for the most part, police officers are doing their finest to keep festival goers and everyday citizens safe.Over the past years at Lollapalooza I've had conversations with the security team, many used to or still work as cops, but they take on these side jobs for extra cash. How would Snoop like it if these guys simply walked off the job and let the mob crash the stage?
I wonder if cops go to concerts on their days off. How do they feel when they're bouncing around to some music, and all of a sudden the artist tells them to "f-off." I can just see the guy jumping up and down, singing along, then...oh wait. Snap. This wasn't worth the $80 I risked my life for!
And why haven't any rappers gone anti-fire department yet? I'm sure someone's got a gripe about a grease fire that wasn't extinguished in enough time. The red hats and dalmatians could lead to plenty of colorful thoughts. How about the library and their lack of modern intellectual literature? Public Works and their lallygagging while patching up our streets?! "F- the potholes / F- the potholes / F-em!" I should have been a rapper.
8:30 THE KILLERS
Yes, I decided to skip Jane's Addiction, even though rumors were spreading all day that Perry Farrell would come down in a UFO piloted by John Travolta and unveil a genetically engineered brontosaurus that would breath beautiful streams of freshly ground coffee into the crowd. That just didn't sound like a very big spectacle. Now, had it been freshly ground peanut butter?! Giddy up and take me back to the Jurassic era!
For the second year in a row members of the media, full of poorly conceived SoCo mixers and leftover pizza, had concocted some crazy dream that wouldn't come true. Last year it was the guy they all voted for introducing Kanye West. But I hear that Jane's Addiction put on a pretty energetic show complete with a helicopter shining a spotlight into the crowd (whoa! lights and aeronautical engineering!). I was more interested in The Killers and their pleasant tales of travel and feeling their bones.
They kicked off the set with "Human," (see video I shot from the field above) the big single from their latest album "Day & Age." I've loved The Killers since their big "Hot Fuss" debut. They ripped through the hits on that album as well. Brandon Flowers might be a bit too corny for me with his between-song musings, but the guy knows how to work a crowd. They were great.
And so it ends. I had my complaints about the lineup, but organizers once again put together a safe and secure festival. Congratulations to them on another successful year.
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