Lollapalooza 2009 Review (Day One)

After months and months of predicting, planning, and effort, my second annual trek to Chicago's Lollapalooza music festival has come to an exhausting close.

A week ago at this time my friends and I were making our trip through the darkness of Pennsylvania as we spanned nearly one-third of the country in a single car to Illinois. Alas, the efforts always have their benefits, because there's nothing like Chicago in the middle of summer; it's vibrant, hot, serene, and cool on a constant basis.

Day one of the festival, however, did not follow the regular pattern.

Day One:

Lollapalooza 2008 could not have gone off better - with a median temperature of 83 degrees and sunshine on all three days, there were no worries on the weather's part. But imagine my disappointment when I took my first steps into Grant Park in nearly a year and rain began to fall. Heading into the weekend I already knew that day one would more than likely end up being the weakest day of the festival, with paltry upper-tier artists like The Decemberists and Thievery Corporation taking to the large stages in the early evening and lack-luster (in my opinion) headliners Depeche Mode and Kings of Leon - coupled with the poor weather, the day proved to be one of the least enjoyable in recent Lollapalooza memory.

However, even on the weakest day there were some nice highlights. The first act of the festival I made my way to was Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears. The Texas group appeared at the festival last year, however, because of schedule conflicts with The Kills and Gogol Bordello, I regretfully missed their performance.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

The group made the most of the early day show, with the charismatic Lewis leading the way through the light rain. The blues/funk ensemble played through their hits from the band's 2008 self-titled EP and this year's full-length Tell 'Em What Your Name Is! including wonderful renditions of "I'm Broke," "Get Yo Shit," and a very special "Bitch, I Love You." Weather withstanding, at this point of the day things were still looking bright.

From there, however, things began to spiral downward. My friends and I made our way to the Citi stage on the south side of the park to see Amazing Baby, a band with listenable studio material, but seriously lacking stage-presence. The songs were loose and the band members seemed too lost in themselves to take seriously. In short, leaving the set (that proved to be the worst of the entire festival) was one of the easiest choices of my weekend.

A steady stream of disappointment began to take over as the amount of rain, mud, and massive crowds all increased. While waiting for Bon Iver I listened to Bruce Springsteen cop-outs The Gaslight Anthem at the south side of the park. I now find my stupidity at the time outstanding, as I had forgotten that Bon Iver's show would take place at the north side of the park. So, as I paced through the crowds, my umbrella only covering my head and shoulders, I made it to the Playstation stage only to find an enormous crowd already waiting. At this point, the rain was still not relenting and the day was continually getting worse.

As the legions of Bon Iver faithful left the puddle-filled area of the PlayStation stage, I stood pat waiting for Fleet Foxes 5:00 performance. The rain, still going strong, left fans drenched and shivering, impatient for something to turn their day around. While Fleet Foxes weren't the stand-out highlight of day one, they certainly put on one of Friday's better performances. The Seattle band, only a year after gaining prominence from the band's Sun Giant EP and eponymous full-length debut, fit seamlessly with the cloudy Chicago day. Half-way into the group's set the rain finally began to part and along with it the ever-pressing allusion of disappointment.

Fleet Foxes

As Fleet Foxes closed their set with "Mykonos" and "Blue Ridge Mountains," two songs that have become obvious crowd favorites, fans drove out of the area to catch the aforementioned Decemberists, Of Montreal, and Peter Bjorn and John, while I made my way towards the front of the Playstation stage for the heavily anticipated Andrew Bird set.

By the time the Chicago native took the stage the rain had become a light mist, and soon dissipated completely. While I only took in roughly seven acts on the first day, Bird easily topped them all. The musical virtuoso showed his immense talents swapping between violin and guitar, whistling songs from 2005's Mysterious Production of Eggs to this year's Noble Beast, with a can't miss rendition of "Scythian Empires" from 2007's Armchair Apocrypha.

Andrew Bird

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Bird after the show, as Kings of Leon took over the nearby Budweiser stage. The band, while providing crowd-friendly rock music, did not seem to fit so well in the headlining spot - just not quite yet.

Walking through the park, which had finally resembled something close to "dry," at the end of day one, a legion of visually drunk bros could be spotted at every turn. The day closed out fairly well, compared to the early afternoon, but I couldn't help but fear that this may be what the rest of the festival turns out be. Thankfully, my fears never came to fruition.

Best Performances: Andrew Bird, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Fleet Foxes

Worst Performances: Amazing Baby, The Gaslight Anthem, Kings of Leon

Highlight: "Scythian Empires" by Andrew Bird

Lowlight: Finding out Bon Iver was too crowded to even see the performance.

Day Two Review Tomorrow