Thursday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011: Day Two Review

Day one went well, for the most part, but would that trend last through Saturday? My Morning Jacket were set to play later that night, who if you may recall, were my most anticipated act of this year's festival, as were a handful of others earlier in the day. And as far as streaks go, Lollapalooza's second day always turns out well, so the odds were in my favor.

Day Two:

The early afternoon sun was quickly covered by an earthy grey overcast, setting doubts that rain would be at any point avoidable. Through J Roddy Waltson and the Business' noon set on the north side, the rain luckily strayed away. The Baltimore four-piece received a modest crowd on a stage that they're likely not used to, but rampaged through sets of hard-nosed blues. Waltson, the band's lead, mashed his way through Little Richard covers and some of the group's more well-known spins, including "Used to Did," the band's first single. Lollapalooza organizers did good justice to record this themselves, which you can watch below.

J Roddy Waltson and the Business



Unlike Friday, Saturday wasn't totally over-saturated with scheduling conflicts, and the split between J Roddy Waltson and Friendly Fires served a better purpose. The rain unfortunately did amass, but nothing more than a short spray between sets. The Hertfordshire (UK) group were a bit of a surprise to me, despite hearing both of their previous albums and their numerous appearances on BBC, I was unsure of what to expect from a live show.

In the group's second venture to Lollapalooza, the performance was more than what I hopefully expected. Frontman Ed Macfarlane is single-handily enough to see, but the group's power-blast dance rock only fueled one of the weekend's most fun sets. Macfarlane danced through each and every note, while giving the crowd even more incentive to by jumping in a few times. Some bands just don't do well in a festival setting, with wide open air and sunlight - Friendly Fires, on the other hand, excel in this type of setting, and are worth seeing whenever they come around.

Ed Macfarlance of Friendly Fires

A short walk away, I got ready for one of my favorite acts of the year -  Black Lips. I talk about them enough as it is, so a synopsis isn't totally necessary. The band's insane. The stage was covered in puke and beer, while the more "into it" fans found it easier to throw their fists here than at any other show during the weekend.  A large portion of the crowd were just casual onlookers, but I couldn't help myself getting into the fights, which included one for one of the band's broken guitars. I unfortunately lost that fight, but this guy didn't.

We were all winners

Gleefully exhausted, I took the short trek back to the same stage where Friendly Fires performed to catch Death From Above 1979. I've heard that their shows were loud, but the actual thing was ridiculous. Sebastien Granger yells, yells, and yells to ear-cracking extremes while Jesse Keeler's thundering bass makes any guitar sound almost pathetic. The show definitely isn't for everyone, but for a few hundred (or thousand) rabid fans it was exactly what they wanted. The duo is better suited in an enclosed setting, but a lot of the show still proved to be endearing.

Granger from DFA gets around sign language

Much like the day before, the Sony stage on the park's south side for Local Natives was literally choked with far, far too many people. Arriving at any point other than 10 minutes before it started pretty much guaranteed you a less than ideal spot. I took it as a time to relax and just listen nearby, rather than struggle in the mid-day heat.

Live, the band is a total joy, as was their set at Pitchfork in 2010. The limited source material actually served the band surprisingly well, with only a few onlookers not knowing what to expect. Still, the group hasn't released anything since 2009's Gorilla Manor, which is odd a band playing anything but a closing set.

Local Natives

Local Natives - Who Knows Who Cares (Live at Lollapalooza 2011)



Rather than squander my chances by checking over a few other acts, I opted to grab an early spot for My Morning Jacket. Thanks mostly to Eminem, who was playing on the opposite side of the park that night, but there may have never been a smaller crowd for a headlining act in recent Lollapalooza history. Literally getting from the back to the near front is an impossible feat for any closing act, but it was relatively easy that Saturday night. Thankfully, it only enhanced the atmosphere for fans of the band, who would have gladly opted for a more comfortable setting, compared to Eminem's slew of mud-drenched fans.

Live, MMJ are a must, for any and every festival. The band is pitch perfect, masterful instrumentalists who are fully capable of putting on an awe-inspiring show, and Saturday wasn't an exception. Blasting through over 20 songs throughout the band's catalog, the closing "One Big Holiday" became the staple of the entire weekend, which you can watch below (I'm also in the video for a split second).

My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (Live at Lollapalooza 2011)



Again, another success story. Find out tomorrow how the festival's final day turned out.

Best Performances: My Morning Jacket, Black Lips, Friendly Fires
Worst Performances: None

Highlight: "One Big Holiday," "Wordless Chorus," and "Mahgeeta" by My Morning Jacket. "Bad Kids," by Black Lips
Lowlight: Local Natives' all too enormous crowd, missing The Glitch Mob.

Tuesday Bears: Lollapalooza 2011 Headliners Revealed (a bit early)

The official lineup won't be fully released until 1:00 a.m. EST, but Rolling Stone has at least revealed the six main headliners of Lollapalooza 2011.

They are:

Coldplay
Eminem
Foo Fighters
Muse
My Morning Jacket
Deadmau5

We were well aware of Eminem, Muse, and Foo Fighters for months, and we heard of Deadmau5 earlier today, but Coldplay (which aren't playing any other major fest this year) and My Morning Jackets were nice late surprises.

Stay tuned for the whole lineup ...

Bonnaroo 2011 lineup released

Manchester, Tennessee's annual Bonnaroo Music Festival's official lineup was released earlier today. Here are the meaty, dirty details:

• A week after news came out that Eminem would be headlining Lollapalooza 2011, the Detroit rapper surprised again, filling out the top of Bonnaroo's billing.
• After winning Album of the Year (and beating out Eminem), Arcade Fire will also be at Bonnaroo this year.
• My Morning Jacket, Buffalo Springfield (and friends), Lil' Wayne, Robert Plant, The Strokes, Decemberists, and the Black Keys are among the other notable larger acts.
• Bassnectar seems to be this year's big electronic act.
• For the rest of the lineup (Bonnaroo's site is currently stuck in traffic), check here.

Tickets for the festival go on sale this Saturday, Feb. 19.

Monday Bears: Arcade Fire ... wins?

Last night, the 53rd annual Grammy Awards gave one of the most shockingly righteous awards in the show's history. After being nominated for three awards, including Album of the Year, the Arcade Fire seemed more like outsiders thrown into the comical ring for nothing more than pity and forced acknowledgement. A lot of people who know me have heard my on-again off-again verbal detest of the lauded award show. Year after inconsequential year, denominated awards were handed out like peripheral life-time achievement statues, giving awards to Steely Dan, Herbie Hancock, and a dead guy.

Throughout the course of the show, the Grammy's were unsurprisingly Grammy-like: Lady Antebellum seemed to be getting every award they had been nominated for, and "Hey, Soul Sister" actually won something -- so, it didn't look good. To put things in an even wider perspective, Arcade Fire actually lost their first two awards to the Black Keys.

Three years ago, Radiohead was also shockingly nominated for Album of the Year for In Rainbows, only to lose to who-gives-a-fuck Robert Plant and Allison Krauss. I'm basically trying to tell you in a bevy of different ways that The Suburbs had virtually no shot to win Album of the Year.

Well, I was wrong. Happily wrong. Arcade Fire beat out Lady Antebellum, Eminem, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry - four massive mainstream pop acts with legions of followers dwarfing anything the Montreal group has come close to. Barbara Streisand, who announced it, couldn't even seem to get the right words out of her mouth - like she couldn't pronounce the insanely foreign phrase "The Suburbs."

So, what does it all mean? Twitter indie-philes were utterly shocked (just like these people), and dishearteningly concerned that the group would transpose into the mainstream, even though their radio play is few and far between. Will the group actually get radio play now? How will "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" sound between an Usher and the Black Eyed Peas on top 40 radio?

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself, but right now the band isn't just important to those of us who try to pay attention to more than 10 artists - they matter on a global scale. And whether that lasts or not, right now, fans like me feel like we won something.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs

Update: First Lollapalooza 2011 Confirmations!

Importante!

The first official news of Lollapalooza 2011 was released several hours ago. As it is every year, the three primary headlining acts are announced several weeks before the entire official lineup is released. In 2009, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and Beastie Boys (who were forced to cancel) were the first headliners to be announced. Last year, Lady Gaga, Soundgarden, and Green Day were given the top billing of the annual festival. So it's safe to assume that the first three headliners will be the more popular acts of the festival so as to draw an obvious crowd.

Noting that, 2011's three primary headliners will be ...

Eminem
Muse
and Foo Fighters

Surprised? There were probable hints that Muse and Foo Fighters would be two of the six headliners, but Eminem seemed to come out of left field - much like Lady Gaga last year. There has been variable voiced disappointment over the selection, but it seems unmerited. For the past two years, many of the headliners were so-so at best, but were rounded out by terrific middle-tier acts and opposing headliners. So, maybe a knee-jerk reaction by some was a bit forced. And, for the record, I'll take those acts over Depeche Mode, Tool, Kings of Leon, Green Day, Jane's Addiction and a washed up Soundgarden on most days.

Other acts also confirmed were: Best Coast, Girl Talk, Lykke Li, and Crystal Castles.

I'll keep you up to date with more Lollapalooza rumors throughout the next few months leading up to the Chicago festival.

Thursday Bears: 2010-11 Grammy Nominees

Replace Clapton with Jeff Beck this year

Last night, the official list of the 2010-11 (I never get the time-frame right for this) Grammys was released. Now, I have no long-winded rant set in place, but lets see where this goes. You can download the entire pdf of nominees here.

Eminem topped all everyone this year with 10 nominations for Recovery, including Album of the Year, and Record and Song of the Year for "Love the Way You Lied (ft. Rihanna). Among the notables for Record and Song of the year, which are still two different categories for essentially the same thing, is Cee-Lo's (not Gwyneth Paltrow's) "Fuck You." We have a darkhorse.

Among the artists I perpetuate the idea of caring about, or legitimately do care about, Arcade Fire had a few significant nominations of their own for The Suburbs, including (gasp) Album of the Year. They stand a pretty long shot to actually win the award, but it's good to see that they at least got recognition for it. They were also nominated for two other awards, including Best Alternative Music Album, alongside Band of Horses, The Black Keys, Broken Bells, and Vampire Weekend. Surprisingly not nominated amongst them, Gorilliaz, for Plastic Beach. I'm not gonna get too worked up over the Grammys not nominating the right people every year though.

The Best New Artist Category, which sometimes sees a litany of indie acts (like MGMT last year), is a little flat this time around - something Bielebers will contest to. Aside from the Biebs, Drake, Florence & The Machine, Mumford & Sons, and ... Esperanza Spalding were nominated. Because I don't know who Spalding is, or care not to know who she is (i.e. Zach Brown band last year), she'll likely win. Oh, I checked her out, the first photos on Google came up with her next to a jazz bass. This is done.

I won't share the butt-fuckin'-ton of details, but I will declare this: In the Best Rock Performance By a Duo with Group or Vocals category, Jeff Beck's and Joss Stone's cover of "I Put a Spell on You" is nominated alongside songs from Arcade Fire, Muse, Kings of Leon, and The Black Keys. I'm guaranteeing a win for Beck and Stone. Guarantee.

It's just the way it is, and I've reluctantly accepted that the Grammys, despite being labeled as the most prestigious of music awards (if there is such a thing), will do less and less accurate justice as time goes by. I could be wrong, and see what I like (or hope) wins, but I know I won't be.