Day One 8/3/12
Day one of my first Lollapalooza was a little daunting. With a good idea of what sets I wanted to catch already, I figured that I'd pretty easily make my way around Grant Park and see most everyone I wanted to see. Oh, how naive. Between the heat and the massive crowds, moving around the park was much more arduous that I had anticipated. I realized I'd have to very carefully plan out how I'd make it between stages, when to start the trek to the next set, how much time to allot for standing in line for water, etc. After I began to get my bearings it was already time to check out my first show, First Aid Kit.
First Aid Kit: Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg opened the festival at noon on the Playstation stage with a good sized crowd already waiting for them. The early afternoon heat did nothing to deter their set of pop-folk balladry from resonating with the sweaty crowd, who applauded and cheered heartily after each song. Klara opened crowd pleaser "Emmylou" with an extended dedication to Johnny Cash, Graham Parsons, June Carter and Emmylou Harris, which was met with hoots of approval from the audience. Great set ladies.
Best moment of the set: Maybe it was just me, but when the whole band stepped on stage and began playing was the moment that it really hit me that Lollapalooza had just begun and I had three days of fantastic music like this in front of me.
After a brief lunch and water break, I was off to the shady BMI stage to see Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band's 2:10 set
Kevin Devine: Oh Kevin, you never disappoint. This being my 5th time seeing Kevin Devine perform I pretty much knew what to expect, but as most of the crowd seemed relatively new to his music, there was a vibe of anticipation and freshness as he began his set. He and the Goddamn Band powered through tracks both old and new with remarkable intensity, to which the crowd responded in spades; bobbing heads, cheers and clap-alongs permeated the crowd, and by the end of "Cotton Crush" the audience was in Kevin's palm. As is expected at any festival, a few technical difficulties presented themselves, but were rectified quickly and relatively painlessly (this became a theme for the whole festival). Closer "Brother's Blood" had the crowd going wild as Kevin and the band yelled and bashed their instruments with a fury that was unparalleled for that early into the festival. Every time I see Kevin perform I find yet another reason to love him, and aside from being a great musician, he's also one of the coolest, most down to earth people I've ever met. If you get a chance, definitely be sure to check him out in future, you won't be disappointed.
Best moment of the set: The powerful band interplay on "Brother's Blood" is always a sight to behold, and this time was no exception.
Directly after Kevin's set ended I sped over to the Playstation stage again to catch a little bit of Sharon Van Etten before making my way across the park to see Tame Impala. Ms. Van Etten was fantastic, but I was only able to catch her first few songs as time constraints pushed me over to the crowded Sony stage for Tame Impala's set.
Tame Impala: The 3:15 slot at the dusty Sony stage was the most populous I had encountered yet, and with good reason. Tame Impala's prowess at raw psychedelia was on full display here, and an excited, albeit stoned, crowd was feeling the groove. The fuzzed-out fury of "Desire Be Desire Go" and new single "Elephant" had the throng swaying and bobbing like a troupe of hippie zombies. Issues with lead singer/guitarist Kevin Parker's guitar led him to postulate that one of his many effect pedals might have melted in the hot sun, which was met with laughter from the crowd. After a quick guitar change, things were up and running again within 5 minutes. Despite this interruption and the blazing mid-afternoon heat, the band retained their cool Aussie charm and finished out their set to a jovial audience.
Best moment of the set: The dual guitar solos on "Elephant" melted more faces than opening the Ark of the Covenant.
After Tame Impala finished up I floated around the park for a while checking out segments of many different sets. I saw some of Metric, Band Skulls and The Shins before claiming my spot at the Sony stage for M83's 7:30 slot.
M83: This crowd was easily the largest I'd yet been a part of and the extended setup time for the elaborate lighting equipment seemed to wear on them. Finally, the band made their entrance and went straight into "Teen Angst". An inordinate amount of audience singing started nearly immediately, and it was clear that the crowd had been assuaged. Level issues with the first few songs marred things a little, but soon enough the mix was fixed and the show went on without a hitch. The vivid light show worked nicely with the band's electronic dream-pop style to create an experience that bridged the gap between EDM danceability and visual spectacle, and traditional rock band song structure and instrumentation. Songs like "We Own the Sky," "Steve McQueen" and "Reunion" had as many people rave dancing as they did head banging and singing along. After the band had finished their most famous song, "Midnight City," about a quarter of the audience pulled up stakes to go wait for The Black Keys to start at the Red Bull Soundstage while M83 still had 15 minutes left to play. I'm not complaining, I ended up much closer to the stage after they all left, but I think it's telling about the audience; "Shut up and play the hits!" The band closed their set with a few instrumental tracks, which had the audience moving more than just about any other part of the set and was my personal favorite part of the show. M83 brought a wholly unique experience to Lollapalooza and did so without any pretension; if you missed this set, you missed one of the better moments of the entire festival.
Best moment of the set: When the band's saxophonist came on stage in the middle of "Midnight City" he was greeted with cheers that came close to drowning out his wicked solo. It was surely an epic moment, and his onstage moves multiplied the excitement five-fold. He returned later in the set to assist on the instrumental tracks, and the slimmer crowd was just as excited to see him. That fella can kill an alto sax.
After M83 finished up, I waited around and listened to The Black Keys for a while, but I had to make my way back to the Bud Light stage to hear at least a little of Black Sabbath. It's not everyday that a seminal band like Sabbath reunites (at least mostly reunites; drummer Bill Ward was noticeably absent,) and you can't miss that opportunity. I heard their last few songs and thoroughly enjoyed Ozzy's onstage antics; how he could rile a crowd of 30,000 drunk bikers into a frenzy was endlessly entertaining. I tried to make it out of the park before the swarm, but was unsuccessful and ended up in traffic for an hour on the way back to my hotel. What a day..
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