Lollapalooza 2009 Review (Day Two)

While day one of Lollapalooza 2009 proved to be very disappointing for the most part, day two more than made up for it

Day Two:

The weather was perfect, contrary to Friday, with a steady stream of sunlight cascading on Grant Park throughout the day. Along with the much welcomed weather, the line-up picked up the slack significantly with much anticipated acts like Animal Collective, TV on the Radio, Lykke Li, Santigold, and headliners Tool and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, among dozens of other notable acts set to round out the night.

At around 11:45 AM, roughly an hour earlier than the day before, I entered the park with a much more attentive smile on my face. The mud had all but disappeared from the park grounds while lines for concessions and bathrooms were completely absent. In those first few moments it was almost as if I had already had a better time than the day before.

My first venture took me back to the Playstation stage - where Andrew Bird finished the previous night - to check out the quirky New England four-piece Ezra Furman & The Harpoons. The group proved to be one of the best pre-noon acts of the festival as Furman enchanted the crowd in a suggested ironic raincoat as he spouted clever stories with his Gordon Gano-esque voice.

Ezra Furman & The Harpoons

As 12:15 drew near, I made my short walk to the Budweiser stage where I was asked by a grey-bearded older gentlemen for the time. In yet another lapse of deluded ignorance, I had no idea I was talking to Chicago rock poet-laureate Thax Douglas, who introduced the next act on my schedule, Delta Spirit.

The poem (from Thax's Myspace), entitled "Delta Spirit No. 3" went:

"like caramel drizzlings on the skin the brands glow dully whenever the body needs to cook a new version of itself- the fresh new body is vain of the brands which its fingers read as birthmarks tattooed by God, the brands taking a much needed vacation by riding the new body's vanity until their services are needed." -8/7/09 Schuba's.

My bewildered face was quickly erased once Matt Vasquez and the rest of the San Diego rock/blues group took the stage. Although they addressed the fact that they never played such a large crowd before, the group thoroughly impressed. Vasquez stands out as one of those rare true rock frontmen that has such a foregoing attitude that the outstanding music being played behind him almost seems to fulfill his true nature as a traveling bluesman.

Delta Spirit

The set closed with an amazing rendition of "People, Turn Around" as Chicago Cubs super-fan Ronnie Woo Woo (apparently, he's a big Delta Spirit fan) made his way through the crowd. At this time, Lollapalooza promoters sent me a text informing that rock & roll legend Buddy Guy was set to appear at the Kidzapalooza stage to perform alongside child guitar-prodigy Quinn Sullivan at 1:30.

A chance to see Guy enticed me enough to run to the stage, which seemed to be a mistake considering the heat. However, Guy didn't make the appearance on time and I was (almost) forced to listen to Sullivan, a child who's talents are more than admirable, but is still a 12 year-old kid. Needless to say, the child's songs about his guitar, how much he likes guitar, and about how he wishes it was 1973 again, tested my patience.

After an angry departure I decided to get a good spot for Minneapolis rap group Atmosphere at the Chicago 2016 stage. For those familiar with the schedule at this time I elected to pass up Animal Collective's DJ Set at Perry's and British indie-pop group Los Campesinos! on the opposite end of the park. Still, as I may regret missing Campesinos! a little, Atmosphere put on a spectacular show. Slug's rhyme's are chaotically intrinsic, full of challenging imagery and skill that would more than likely put any other MC at this year's festival (mostly Asher Roth) to shame.

Atmosphere

After Atmosphere's extra long 16 song set, I grabbed my first (and last) food of the day, a bratwurst with grilled onions, which proved to be the only good food I bought during the whole festival. I made my way to the Citi stage to catch Ipod friendly group Chairlift as my friends and I accidentally met up. They shortly departed to catch Coheed & Cambria while I waded through the spacey twee of the Brooklyn trio. The short, sweet set was clouded by enormous feedback and tiny technical disturbances that made making out anything Caroline Polachek said a bit of a struggle. Still, fans seemed to enjoy themselves enough, especially during "Bruises," one of the better songs of the day.

Chairlift

Soon after, Dean Spunt and Randy Randall of No Age made their way to the Citi stage, with Randall sitting in a chair for the entire show as the result of a dislocated shoulder from the night before. The Southern California noise-rock duo brought with them a following of musicians including Deerhunter's Bradford Cox and TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Dave Sitek listening on the sidelines, not to mention a group of avid fans (one so avid that he ran on stage, danced, gave Spunt a note, and dove back into the crowd nearly untouched by security). The show, despite Randall's handicap, was vibrant and loud, full of jumpy singles from the band's 2008 album Nouns and 2007's Weirdo Rippers.

No Age

Exhausted and my ears ringing, I filled my water bottles and moved to the opposite side of the park to grab a spot for TV on the Radio. The north side of the park at this time was immensely packed from people seeing Santigold at the Playstation stage and the Arctic Monkeys at the Budweiser stage. Trudging through was difficult, but my efforts were rewarded as I squeezed into a spot on the right side of the stage (same method I use every time).

As Santi's set ended (with a invigorating version of "Creator") TV on the Radio opened up with Dear Science's "Love Dog." The atmosphere surrounding the collective sound was lush with Dave Sitek's acutely organized feedback and backing rhythm section while Adebimpe and Kyp (the beard) Mylone took control of center stage. Adebimpe seemed to fall into his own, commanding stage as a modern Mick Jagger, effortlessly shifting from Dear Science and Return to Cookie Mountain, to the band's earlier work from the group's 2003 Young Liars EP. If I were to be brash I'd say in another couple years there's almost no doubt that TV on the Radio could achieve headline status.

TV on the Radio

The group closed out with a perfect "Staring at the Sun," that still remains possibly the best song of the festival. With the group sending off and Ben Harper and The Relentless 7 starting off close by the hardest decision of my weekend came; do I wait and get a great spot for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (the only headline act I anticipated) or do I venture across the park and get a little of Animal Collective's show (who, for those that regularly read my posts, will note was my most anticipated act of the festival)? I elected the former, passing up what many regarded as a good show from Animal Collective in order to save my spot.

My patience once again was justly rewarded, as I witnessed arguably the best show of the festival with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O., possibly the best frontwoman in music today, graced the stage in an obscure yet fitting Native American headdress, starting the show with "Runaway" from this year's It's Blitz! LP. The show only got better as the group scattered gems from It's Blitz!, 2006's Show Your Bones, and their spectacular 2003 debut Fever to Tell.

Karen frequently addressed the band replacing the originally scheduled Beastie Boys (guitarist Nick Zinner even played a riff from "So What'cha Want" from the Beastie's 1992 album Check Your Head) and how shocked they were to be there. None the less, the show was extraordinary. The trio filled the headline spot easily as jubilation from the fans filled the air when the group performed their hits "Heads Will Roll," "Zero," and a very special "Maps" in which Karen O. cheerily forgot the words to her most famous song.

In all, day two embarrassingly surpassed day one. The music was nearly perfect along with the weather and fans, creating an unforgettable atmosphere in the park. And with my luck still prevailing that trend would continue to day three.

Best Performances: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio, Delta Spirit

Worst Performances: Quinn Sullivan

Highlight: "Staring at the Sun" by TV on the Radio

Lowlight: Skipping Animal Collective.

Day Three Review Tomorrow