Lollapalooza 2009 Review (Day Three)

After soaking in the rousing success that was day two of Lollapalooza I boarded the Chicago Blue Line Sunday morning anticipating (or at least hoping) for day three to be as good. While the headlining acts of Jane's Addiction and the Killers may be a bit lacking in my opinion, the rest of the schedule was stocked full of notable acts that I could hardly wait to see.

Day Three:

Taking the short walk to Grant Park I noticed the sun was bearing down much harder than the day before, reaching the mid-90's by early afternoon. With sweat and sunscreen on my face, I took to the Chicago 2016 stage to catch Syracuse indie-pop group Ra Ra Riot. The band, only in their second year of existence, played mostly from their full-length debut The Rhumb Line, released last year. The limited amount of material may have held them back a bit, but the on-stage product remained an early-day delight for many of the fans who stood patiently in the sweltering heat.

Ra Ra Riot

As the female counterparts of the band, Alexandra Lawn and Rebecca Zeller, careened their string instruments through the band's songs, strong likeness of The Shins and the fanciful pop of the Arcade Fire remained prevalent. While this charmed the aesthetics of many, a little maturity would suit the group well. In a few year's the band could be filling a steadier spot in the festival line-up, but as of now they still have a bit of growing to do.

After a small break I made my way towards to the Vitamin water stage to catch English via Pakistan act Bat for Lashes. Natasha Khan's powerful harmonizing voice resembles something of early listener friendly Bjork, touching the subject of mythical and imaginative love in songs like "Sleep Alone" and "Siren Song."

Bat for Lashes

A moment of surreality came when Natasha's voice rose so far that the Chicago winds blew the tarps completely off the stage, to which Khan gently commented, "Whoops" garnering a laugh from the crowd. The show, despite the raging heat and uncontrollable winds, went off extremely well, showcasing Khan's on-stage talents and irresistible charms.

After taking a small walk around for food and a meet and greet with Natasha herself, I hurried back to the Vitamin water stage just in time to snag a spot for Baltimore electronica dynamo Dan Deacon. His shows were rumored to be fantastical events where fans get riled up into furious frenzies of excitement and energy, and his Lollapalooza appearance definitely proved those remarks true. The show started off fairly normal, with Deacon getting the crowd going with "Get Older" off this year's Bromst LP. From then on the energy continued to climb and climb, with Deacon getting into the crowd, making them yell, hold each other, form tunnels, and dance around a circle, along with bringing out the What Cheer? Brigade as he orchestrated an intense ending show climax with "Of the Mountains" and "Crystal Cat."

Dan Deacon with The What Cheer? Brigade

Fans from faraway could see the sheer amount of people bursting through the crowd, as countless numbers of them proceeded to crowd-surf their way to the front as streams of bottles, floats, and toilet paper streamed through the air. The final result was impossibly satisfying, as sweaty fans drudged their way away from the stage (like myself) physically and mentally exhausted from what they have just experienced. And while I may have known what I was getting myself into, I'm still at awe of what I witnessed. Unlike anything else in my concert going experiences, Dan Deacon's shows are a must not for just electronica and indie music fans, but for anyone who has the nerve to they could have a better time somewhere else.

Drained, I elected to skip Vampire Weekend (who had already started their set at the nearby Chicago 2016 stage) and instead grab a nice spot for indie-pop upstarts Passion Pit at the Citi stage. My total exhaustion (along with the massive crowd) forced me to take a 15 minute breather in the nearby grass. As I collected myself the Citi stage crowd grew and grew, proving a miscalculation by concert organizers (see; Girl Talk 2008).

Passion Pit

After I collected myself, the band rounded out their hour-long set with two of my favorites "Sleepyhead," and a song that proved to be my favorite of the day, "The Reeling." Afterwards, while legions people fled to the South and North sides of the park to catch Snoop Dogg and Lou Reed (another hard decision to skip), I grabbed a good spot for Atlanta group Deerhunter. Technical disturbances (again, Citi stage) became a bit of a problem at the beginning as making out much of what frotman Bradford Cox said became a bit difficult. Half-way through the show Cox came out of his shell, throwing out witty banter discussing his talent, making fun of Tool, and how sick he truly is.

Deerhunter

The set was full of Deerhunter favorites, including; "Nothing Ever Happens," "Little Kids," "Vox Celeste," and the very new "Circulation," off the group's new Rainwater Cassette Exchange EP. One cannot ignore Cox indelable on-stage charisma and humor as he frequently took credit for writing other artists songs. "This is a song we wrote in 1965 called 'Heroin,' " Cox said. "After that we'll play a song we wrote in 1967 called 'What Goes On.' Then we'll play a song we wrote in 1992 called 'Gin n' Juice'" (remarking how the fans elected to skip both Reed and Snoop Dogg to see his band instead). Full of humor and solid songs, Deerhunter's set was another solid show, which makes me regret more and more that I did not go to Deerhunter, No Age, and Dan Deacon's aftershow later that night.

After a short trip over to Perry's Tent to catch MSTRKRFT (and a surprise encounter will Chicago Bull's starting center Joakim Noah) I trecked back to the South side of the park for one of the last shows of the festival from the Killers. As it stands now I was somewhat unaware of how much I actually dislike the Killers music. After only two songs I couldn't take the mediocrity of 80's ideologies and left the show to catch (ironically another 80's band) Jane's Addiction. Again, I choose to leave and instead spent most of my final night at Perry's Tent during Deadmau5's set.

As for Perry's, I have not given the stage a fair assessment yet. For the most part the acts and set-up blew away last year's, proving endless entertainment for electro fanatics. Fans loved it and even fair-weather fans frequented the area. To those who opt to see only main-stage acts you're seriously missing out on one of the festival's shining achievements.

Exhausted yet again, my legs torn from constant walking and dancing, the final night of Lollapalooza 2009 came to an inevitable close. And while it's always so sad to see it go, the amount of joy recieved is hard pressed to be replicated. At this point it is obvious to why I've become such a fan-boy of the annual festival, and I think it goes without question that I'll be doing the same next year.

By the way, the dates have already been set up for 2010; August 6-8. Tickets with be available on the 17th. And to whom is rumored to headline next year? Bjork, The Arcade Fire, and The White Stripes appear to be strong contenders.

Best Performances: Dan Deacon, Deerhunter, Deadmau5, Bat for Lashes

Worst Performances: Killers

Highlight: "Of the Mountains" and "Crystal Cat" by Dan Deacon. "The Reeling" by Passion Pit.

Lowlight: The Killers ending the festival.

Counting down the days until Lollapalooza 2010 ...