The first thing that strikes you about Lollapalooza is how fucking organized it is. As you approach the gates-with its massive inflatable lettering and masthead-you hear a sanitized voice-over letting you know which gate to approach and what you will need when you get there. It reassures you that 'emergency providers will be available first aid tents' in several locations. It reminds you of what you are-and what you are not-allowed to bring into Lollapalooza.
After you are through the gate, that initial 50 feet where there is a thinned herd of people who have made it through bag check and wristband redemption is gawking around trying to figure out which way they should head, people are offering to check ID's and give you your wristbands now. Such a good use of that initial few moments, rather than the standard 2 lines at the beer tent.
I catch the tail end of the Fratellis, who are playing on the MySpace stage. I had heard a bit of their music before, but I hadn't really noticed how great their sound was-a bit British Invasion. I liked them more than I had anticipated. I was able to head over to the food court and get a gyro while still listening to them. I particularly liked that.
As would happen many times throughout the event, as they finished their closing chords, a voice from the opposing stage introduced the next act. It was quite beautiful choreographing.
The next act, on the AT&T stage, was, for me, the big find of the first day. Ghostland Observatory. A big, chewy Cabernet of a funk rock act. I have embedded a video of them performing live at an other venue:
Wow. I really got sunburned watching them. Here is a dramatic before and after recreation:
When they were done Ted Leo and the Pharmacists started. I thought most of his songs were Thin Lizzy or Uriah Heep covers until he was halfway though them. Flipping back between the AT&T and the Myspace stage, which faced each other on the same field was remarkably easy and enjoyable. So when Leo was done, I started watching Jack's Mannequin. This is one of those suddenly ubiquitous rock bands led by a guy on a piano. A rock-band-led-by-a-guy-on-a-piano is the new blond-teenage-southern-girl-singer. If you are familiar with Jack's Mannequin and were wondering what their songs were about, he told us the backstory before each song. They are about, in order, 'a girl,' 'a girl I liked a lot,' 'a girl I used to know,' 'a girl who broke my heart,' and 'a girl.' (I wonder if he's gay?) The other unfortunate thing about Jack's Mannequin is that every time I hear the word mannequin, I think of Meshach Taylor as Hollywood Montrose from movie Mannequin.
By this point the sunburn I sustained from Ghostland Observatory's performance was now starting to bother me, so I headed to the shade, then decided to head to the north stages. I got a loose meat sandwich. The girl serving me asked who I was hear to see while we waited for my sandwich to be handed up to her.
'There's a bunch of bands I'm happy to see,' I said, 'but there isn't one in particular I'm here for.' I smiled and asked her who she was here to see.
She thought for just a beat and then smiled earnestly as she handed me my sandwich and said, 'I'm here to see you.'
I thought that was very sweet and I told her so.
I ate my sandwich and then fell asleep under a tree for about a half hour.
I woke up in time to head to the Bud Light stage and watch M.I.A., who surprised me by having some of the most inaccessible music of the entire festival. This surprised me because I originally thought her hit Bucky Done Gun was just a fun dance number. She mixes tons of styles and sings notes that should be considered blue, but when she sings them, they're orange. She sounds like what world music would sound like, if world music wasn't targeted toward the NPR set.
G Love and Special Sauce followed her on the opposing adidas stage. G Love is a blues band with hip-hop style vocals, which sounds promising. Unfortunately, their songs are largely a Jack Johnson style of boring. When you're 22, singing about cold beverages and your baby having sauce is great. At 34, singing about the cool kids hanging in the back of the bus is staid and retread.
But, in fairness, I was standing on hot pavement and fighting off the beginnings of heat exhaustion when I saw them. I left after about 5 or 6 songs. I wasn't really excited about seeing either Satellite Party or The Black Keys, so I was trying to figure out if I wanted to pass the time until LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk came one. But I knew I was fading and Daft Punk wouldn't even be going on for nearly two and a half hours.
I decided to head home and cool down. There would be lots more to see over the next two days.
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