FRIDAY (8.7.09)
So to be completely honest, Friday was my least favorite day of Lollapalooza I have ever been a part of. It was cold, rainy and didn't really get to rockin' very late in the day. That's not to say I didn't see some great performances by some great bands, but ya know...I like sunshine.
White Lies
The first band I saw was the Interpol wannabes White Lies. I accidentaly saw them last year when someone (I can't remember who) canceled and they filled in. I was fairly impressed last year, and they sounded even better this year. But as you can tell from the picture, the weather was pretty miserable. And like I said, I'd rather just listen to Interpol. But still, they played a solid set. Not a band kick off to the weekend.
I brought a sweatshirt to the festival and I always have an emergency poncho in my bag but I was trying to hold out as long as I could. I lasted about an hour before I ponchoed it up. Look how happy I am about the conditions:
Bon Iver
Of all the bands I saw on the wet and rainy Friday, Bon Iver fit the mood best. His music is so soft, and dark sound it feels as if its almost meant to be played on rainy days. Not a particularly high energy set, but beautiful none the less.
Ben Folds
I've liked Ben Folds for a while, although I've never explored far beyond his live solo album Ben Folds Live. Unfortunately, the rain was at its heaviest during his set and I was feeling particularly wet, cold and grumpy while he was playing so I wasn't in the mood to fight for a good view and just hung back a bit. However, he did play "Bitches Ain't Shit" to great effect and that made for one of the highlights of the festival.
Also, while watching his set I may have been standing next to a celeb. Eric (Kevin Connolly) from Entourage? You decide:
Fleet Foxes
I was pretty damn excited to see Fleet Foxes play. When I picked up their album early this spring, I had that thing on repeat for weeks. It was the first time since 2005 (Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise) that I actually really really liked Pitchfork's #1 Album of the Year (Person Pitch and Silent Shout were decent, but I never fell in love with either of them). Unfortunately, I didn't know a single song the entire first half of their set. I found this very odd considering the band only has one album. Judging from the reactions of the crowd, I don't think I was alone. But once they started playing stuff from their self-titled debut, the show really picked up. I was pleasantly surprised at how polished their harmonies sounded live. I was expecting them to lose something in the translation to live performance, but their voices really are that good. Way to go Fleet Foxes. Also, they are such folkies. From their outfits to their outrageous beards, these dudes are indie-folk-poppers through and through.
The Decemberists
By the time The Decemberists took the stage around 6pm, I was very very sick of the rain but just minutes into their set, the downpour finally let up. Whether it was because I was finally starting to dry out or because they played their entire Hazards of Love album start to finish, this was easily one of the best performances of the weekend. I especially loved that Shara Warden of My Brightest Diamond was there to sing her part on "Wanting Comes In Waves" and its reprises. I've now seen the band three times, once on their Picaresque tour in 2005, once on their The Crane Wife tour at Coachella in 2007 and although they always deliver the goods, this was by far their most rockin' show. It was also their least gimmicky (no giant whale costumes, or marching through the crowd), and this really allowed the music to speak for itself. It's equal parts funny, embarrassing and awesome that The Decemberists were one of the hardest rocking bands of the festival, but I loved every single second of it.
Kings of Leon
Seeing Kings of Leon headline a massive festival was a pretty special experience for me. I know this is so snobby of me, but I've been listening to these guys since way back in the Youth & Young Manhood days, long before "Use Somebody" stormed the radio waves earlier this year. They were one of the first indie bands I ever got into and to see them go from nothing to one of the biggest live stages in the biz was pretty damn cool. The Kings have come a long way even since I saw them last at Lollapalooza 2007 when the legendary Eddie Vedder sang a few songs with the band. They were clearly still very new to an audience of this scope, but their humility only made the band's performance feel that much more honest and endearing. About an hour deep into their show, lead singer Caleb Followill delivered a heartfelt speech about how grateful they are to be given such an incredible opportunity and dedicated the show to some random, lucky fan. Although it wasn't the most epic headlining set I've seen at the festival, it was easily one the more emotional. The show reached it's zenith when they finally performed their big summer single. There are some songs that just sound like they were meant to have a chorus of 30,000 people singing along and believe me when I say "Use Somebody" is one of those songs. My only complaint is with the brevity of the set and the lack of an encore. We liked what we heard and we wanted more, why leave us hanging? Still, the first day of Lollapalooza ended a thousand times better than it started.
Whew, I'm exhausted. Check back tomorrow for my recap of Satruday.
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