The Redwalls
Don’t worry, they haven’t forgotten about you, Chicago. Despite just coming off opening-act duties for Oasis’ European tour, Deerfield natives The Redwalls failed to pick up much in the way of Gallagher-style egos. “It’s good to be home,” shouted bassist/vocalist Justin Baren as he took the stage. As Lollapalooza’s opening act, the quartet succeeded in kicking off the fest with a rocking start. Their tight, 45-minute set clearly illustrated the band’s retro charm. The North Shore mop tops banged out favorites like “It’s Alright” to a good-sized, appreciative crowd. Other highlights of the set included the single “Thank You” and a rebellious, unhinged version of “Balinese” from “Universal Blues.”
–CHRIS LA-MORTE, METROMIX
Kaiser Chiefs
“I left my voice in Washington,” raspy-throated Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson reluctantly admitted to the crowd after struggling through the band’s first song, “Na Na Na Na Naa.” Well, he left everything else on the stage Saturday. Wilson pulled out all the stops in order to make the audience feel it, including flailing microphones and tossing tambourines. “Who gives a [bleep] about being cool when it feels so good?” he said after asking for a little audience participation. While the best song of the set was easily their hit, “I Predict A Riot,” it was topped when Wilson, who by this point was literally croaking, plucked two surprisingly talented audience members to do the heavy lifting on “Oh My God.”
–CHRIS LAMORTE, METROMIX
Weezer
Considering Weezer has already played the Aragon in support of its latest disc, “Make Believe,” and just announced a fall outing with the Foo Fighters, the band risked overexposing itself with a Lollapalooza slot. Yet even with the foursome’s gigs, there’s still something attractive about a group of geeky guys who continue to write infectious anthems 10 years after their debut. No matter what period they pulled from, Rivers Cuomo and Co. served up their alternative surf-pop with ease, turning the fest’s last Saturday set into a group sing- along. Of course, the most well-received moments came from summertime classics “Say It Ain’t So,” “El Scorcho,” “Buddy Holly” and “Island In the Sun,” all of which were saturated with harmonies and hooks.
–ANDY ARGYRAKIS, REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
Liz Phair
Liz Phair’s live shows have always struggled to pack the same punch as her deliciously deviant lyrics. Saturday was no exception. The highlight of Phair’s 50-minute set came serendipitously; while her guitarist worked to correct a malfunctioning rig, the former Chicagoan strummed the opening chords to “6′ 1″.” She sounded hesitant and stumbled over a chord or two before she and her band–sans lead guitarist–fell into the lead track from “Exile in Guyville,” her 1993 debut masterpiece. The sparse, raw arrangement was a refreshing break from the slick sound Phair has been honing lately. For most of the set, Phair’s talented-but-unadventurous band sounded at home when cranking out polished tracks from her most recent album. “Extraordinary” and “Why Can’t I” sounded tight, if a little soulless.
–MATT MCGUIRE, METROMIX
Digable Planets
As they noted numerous times during their set, it’s been a decade since the Digable Planets, the cerebral, playful hip-hop trio, behaved like a band. It’s been even longer since the release of the second of its two critically acclaimed albums, “Blowout Comb.” What most of the crowd came to hear were songs from the group’s jazzy, hook-heavy and much lauded 1993 disc, “Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space).” The Planets delivered. Backed by a three-piece live band and DJ Jedi, the group performed a selection of songs from both albums–as well as a vocal piece courtesy of Ladybug’s solo LP, dropped last year. But it was hits “Nickel Bags,” “Pacifics” and “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)” that had the audience on its feet. There’s been talk of a new album in the works; judging by the crowd’s rekindled devotion and the rappers’ still-potent blend of confidence and social consciousness, now’s the time.
–JENNIFER WEHUNT, METROMIX
OK GO
Chicago’s quirky OK Go specializes in the type of hook-laden, power-pop songs that have fueled loads of personal summer soundtracks. But during its early-afternoon Sunday set, even the band’s mostly satisfying renditions of songs like “Get Over It” and “You’re So Damn Hot” paled in comparison to its re-enactment of its video for “Millions” from forthcoming album, “Oh, No.” Already a cult hit online, the video features OK Go parodying boy-band choreographed bombast. Braving the heat in suits and ties, the quartet’s encore featured a step-for-step video re-enactment, complete with requisite boy-band lip-synching from bassist Tim Norwind. It was an absolutely charming finish.
–CHRIS LAMORTE, METROMIX
Kasabian
After becoming critics’ darlings in the UK, capturing the crowd during Austin’s South By Southwest Festival and earning kudos from the legendary Robert Plant, Kasabian sure had a lot to live up to on its latest stateside visit. Though the chaps earned an “A” for effort in the ghastly heat, they only scored a “C” when it came to execution. Part of the problem was the crowd’s lack of enthusiasm, which the dance driven pop-rockers usually draw from. Early on the group unleashed the crown jewel “Cutt Off,” a raved-up romp reminiscent of muses Primal Scream and Happy Mondays that would’ve made a jarring impact in an intimate club but lacked its sting in Grant Park. By the time Kasabian delivered the distortion-aced “Club Foot,” even the contagious chorus and rippling bass line couldn’t motivate the soggy, sweat-stained fans.
–ANDY ARGYRAKIS, REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
Drive-By-Truckers
The Georgia-by-way-of-Alabama Drive-By Truckers had a leg up Sunday on most of the bands at Lollapalooza: They’re used to braving 100-degree weather. They were also one of the few bands on the two-day bill to emphasize songwriting over style, and for that they were rewarded by the faithful, even if they probably failed to broaden their fan base very far. The band is used to playing three-hour plus sets rather than a mere 60-minutes, which barely gave the quintet time to warm up. Despite the handicap, the band gradually grew in Southern rock spirit, its impassioned tales of working class life and political woes getting stronger as the short set stretched. “Putting People on the Moon” was about as political as any single song sung at the oddly apolitical fest, while the narrative lyrics of “Decoration Day” and “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” may have been lost on a crowd that responded more to the massive riff that drove “Let There Be Rock,” an ode to arena-acts that for once was played to almost enough people to fill one.
–JOSHUA KLEIN, REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
Arcade Fire
The last notes of the Drive-By Truckers had barely ended when the big crowd gathered in front of the stage began to cheer loudly. It was clear the reputation of the Arcade Fire had preceded it. And with the group’s revered debut “Funeral” still selling strong, the swelling crowd was primed. Predictably, the Arcade Fire (blessed with an intro from Perry Farrell) didn’t disappoint. Clad, despite the heat, in their somewhat anachronistic dark suits, the group built into “Wake Up” (incidentally the same song U2 used as lead-in music for their recent tour). The audience shouted along with the song’s waves of intense vocals, cooed and swooned to “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)” and generally fed off the passion exuded by singer Win Butler.
–JOSHUA KLEIN, REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
The Killers
No, that wasn’t Duran Duran pounding out of the Lollapalooza loudspeakers toward the end of Saturday night–it was actually The Killers. Despite being derivative of the “Rio” rockers, these Vegas boys knew how to throw down a party. And after being scorched all day long, that’s what the doctor ordered for fans during a twilight show carried by high-octane radio fare like “Somebody Told Me” and “Smile Like You Mean It.” Singer Brandon Flowers sure has come a long way since the band’s indie beginnings, settling into his role of commanding a crowd rather than lounging around indifferently as he’s been guilty of in the past. Songs from 2004’s “Hot Fuss” were delivered with confidence, like the ominous “Andy, You’re a Star” and the cocky “On Top.” Make fun of them for wearing make-up or call them rip-offs, but based on the swelling audience, on top is exactly where The Killers stood at day’s end.
–ANDY ARGYRAKIS, REDEYE SPECIAL CONTRIBUTOR
– – –
BEST OF LOLLA
1. Short bathroom lines and beer lines.
More Top Picks Ankermake M5
2. When Kaiser Chiefs’ frontman Ricky Wilson lost his voice and brought up two audience members to sing a song.
3. When Billy Idol (left) wiped his sweaty chest and leather pants with a towel and threw it into the audience.
4. Pixies set. They powered through song
after song with no breaks.
5. Incredible skyline around the venue.
“You can turn around and see Chicago,” said Drew Carr, 18, who drove from Warren, Penn. with three friends.
6. Well organized. Bands started and ended right on schedule.
7. Weezer’s encore.
8. The Bravery’s Sam Endicott dedicating a song to “this girl who just grabbed my [bleep] really hard.”
9. Good food beyond the
typical nachos-and-hot dog fare.
“I had a gazpacho –I was blown away,” said Catherine Mathys of Montreal.
10. The fashions: Guy in utility kilt, hipsters who never broke character in full polyester.
WORST OF LOLLA
1. Sound leakage from other stages.
2. Dry, crackly grass to sit on, plus dust and dirt from softball fields.
“Couldn’t they have put water on this stuff to keep it from flying into people’s eyes?” asked Jeremy Fojut, 25, of Milwaukee. “It’s like a dust storm out here.”
3. No hometown hip-hop acts such as Common and Kanye West (right).
“Kanye West is from Chicago–that would have been a popular act,” said Jason Peterburs, 29, of East Village. “I think Kanye West would have been at the top of my list.”
4. The “Lolla Girls” dancing an ode to Chicago to blaring music opposite the Pixies set.
5. Anton Newcombe’s rage against “contemporary urban culture” during Brian Jonestown Massacre set.
6. The heat.
“I don’t think I would have bought a ticket if I’d known it would be this hot,” said Tom Shekleton, 36, of Ukrainian Village. “The music is great, but this heat is the worst.”
7. Not enough water refilling stations.
Jon Trunk, 23, and his friend brought liter bottles to Lollapalooza, but security took them at the gate and replaced them with smaller bottles they said Trunk would have no problem refilling. “They said we could fill them up everywhere. We could only find one.”
8. Lack of merchandise.
“It’s not even halfway through the day and
the good [T-shirts] are already gone,” said Catherine Mathys, 28, on Saturday.
9. Not enough garbage cans.
“We’d like to throw things away in the right places, but there aren’t enough garbage cans,” one concertgoer said.
10. The sunburn. We’re all feeling a little crisp today.
–RedEye.
———-
Talk to us
What did you think of Lollapalooza? And would you go again if it returns to Chicago next year?
E-mail us at [email protected]
More Top Picks Best Premium Noise Canceling Headphones For Focus