Who: Lollapalooza Day 3
When: August 4, 2013
Where: Grant Park/ Chicago, IL
With: Dude-Bros, "Water Guy", Dancing Girls #22 & 35, some actual grown-ups
Of Note: Day 3 is a hard day to be your most packed
Want to skip around?
Emotional Horseshit
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Jake Bugg, Alex Clare, The Mowgli's, Two Door Cinema Club, The Vaccines, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix
Jake Bugg is totally a thing - he's been blowing up all over England and starting to catch on here. The best description I've heard, from a guy standing next to me, was, "He's like Britain's answer to country music." Live, he was great - all strong stage presence and classic rock/ rockabilly inspired sound, but clearly from the UK, if that makes sense. The set closing 'Lightning Bolt' was a highlight, as was the crowd, who were there to get down - even given the early set time and bright sunshine. My favorite guy in the crowd was "Water Guy", who had a tank strapped to his back and would hydrate or cool you down, depending on your preferences. He had quite a few fans.
Next up was Alex Clare. Based on the smash hit 'Too Close', I was expecting a super slick dude in a suit to perform some dance-y music. I was not expecting a bearded dude in a plaid shirt giving me his best blue eyed soul. His voice was incredible; the lack of production that you hear on the album really lent itself to feeling all the feelings. He closed with 'Too Close' and, predictably, the crowd went insane.
I was SO excited to see The Mowgli's; their break-out 'San Francisco' has become a bit of a rallying cry as I work on west coast adaptation. I expected them to be playing a bigger stage (again, because I have no sense of scale) but was pleasantly surprised to find that I could get a spot pretty close to the stage and in the shade! I made friends with some older folks who had amazing can topper things for their beers. So, here's the thing about The Mowgli's...I wasn't expecting them to be quite so California, you know? Like, they reminded me of a big, old Edward Sharpe style 20 person "way of life" band rather than the smaller, poppy ensemble I was expecting. Additionally, they talked about "doing your one act of kindness of the day" with one of the lady members noting that she was going to pick up recyclables. Later, they had everyone put their arms around each other for "the world's largest group hug". Which...just so, very California.
No matter though, the music was awesome. Set opening 'Waiting For the Dawn' got things started in a good and proper party manner. It was fun to watch, throughout the set, the various members trade off n lyrics, instruments, leads, etc. They were also fun to watch because everyone looked like they were having so much fun - band members and crowd alike. It was just a super feel good set. The penultimate song of the set, 'The Great Divide' is now their second single, and deservedly so. Then, after building much anticipation, they closed with 'San Francisco' and things got crazy. The band brought out extra family members to jam on the stage and the crowd sang along so loudly - on the verses! not even the chorus - that the band turned it over to us. One of my favorite sets of the festival.
Two Door Cinema Club is one of those "hey, it's that song!" bands. (I also always get their name mixed up with Bombay Bicycle Club.) They were fun, dance-y, and electro-poppy.
I also didn't know a lot about The Vaccines and had no idea how much I'd be into the Vaccines Brit-punk sound, but I thought they were awesome. The stage right guitar player was my surprise rock & roll boyfriend of the day. The set was loud, energetic, a bit in your face, and featured some of the most fired up crowd members of the week-end. I mean, shirtless dudes in Mexican wrestling masks being hoisted by other shirtless dudes? Then jumping around? A tree of a red-headed guy who looked like he was bringing back the late 90s dance craze skanking? I mean, it was kind of amazing. Set highlights included 'Teenage Icon' - the refrain of "I'm no Frankie Avalon" cracked my shit right up. Everyone went nuts at 'Post Break-Up Sex', with some choreographed singing along. These guys are totally not my usual jam, but this set was definitely another highlight.
Vampire Weekend is probably the happiest band I've ever heard. They sound like cotton candy tastes, only without the gross, sugary aftertaste.
I seriously thought about going to see The Cure, because, well, that seems like it's a thing you should do? And then I thought about standing around for two hours just waiting to hear 'Friday, I'm in Love' and decided against it. Many apologies to my freshman year of college roommate who I know would be aghast.
So, I checked out the other headliner, Phoenix. Their album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix spent a lot of time on heavy rotation a few years back. I am SO glad I saw this set! First, I made friends with some hilarious dude-bros who helped me finish up the last of my contraband whiskey. Then, we got to talking with the angriest guy at the festival - he was so bitchy about letting people through, cussed out some "helpless" girls, and was generally just really hilarious. (I'm sure if I'd done something to piss him off, I would not have found him so funny. But, I don't think he was actually a dick - just Day 3 tired and annoyed by the constant whines of, "But, my friends are right there." His response? "Well then, you should have gotten here earlier to stand with them." I mean, it's usually not worth picking fights with people, but I thought this guy was hilarious.)
Anyway, Phoenix's set was all high production and rock swagger. You totally forget these guys are French. The lead singer jumped into the chasm between the stage & the crowd, climbed on the barrier, and let himself be mauled by the crowd while singing. The set was maybe a little heavy on their newest album, but all their hits - 'Lasso', '1901', 'Listzomania', etc. were absolute crowd-bangers. It's like the crowd decided, en masse, to get over their end of festival fatigue and rock the eff out. Seriously, so fun. During the last song, the lead singer jumped off the stage, ran through the sound equipment partition to some point in the middle of the crowd then crowd-surfed his way back to the stage, where he finished the concert. For a floppy haired French guy in a button down shirt, that was super bad ass and an amazing way to end my time at Grant Park.
When: August 4, 2013
Where: Grant Park/ Chicago, IL
With: Dude-Bros, "Water Guy", Dancing Girls #22 & 35, some actual grown-ups
Of Note: Day 3 is a hard day to be your most packed
Want to skip around?
Emotional Horseshit
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Jake Bugg, Alex Clare, The Mowgli's, Two Door Cinema Club, The Vaccines, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix
Jake Bugg is totally a thing - he's been blowing up all over England and starting to catch on here. The best description I've heard, from a guy standing next to me, was, "He's like Britain's answer to country music." Live, he was great - all strong stage presence and classic rock/ rockabilly inspired sound, but clearly from the UK, if that makes sense. The set closing 'Lightning Bolt' was a highlight, as was the crowd, who were there to get down - even given the early set time and bright sunshine. My favorite guy in the crowd was "Water Guy", who had a tank strapped to his back and would hydrate or cool you down, depending on your preferences. He had quite a few fans.
Next up was Alex Clare. Based on the smash hit 'Too Close', I was expecting a super slick dude in a suit to perform some dance-y music. I was not expecting a bearded dude in a plaid shirt giving me his best blue eyed soul. His voice was incredible; the lack of production that you hear on the album really lent itself to feeling all the feelings. He closed with 'Too Close' and, predictably, the crowd went insane.
I was SO excited to see The Mowgli's; their break-out 'San Francisco' has become a bit of a rallying cry as I work on west coast adaptation. I expected them to be playing a bigger stage (again, because I have no sense of scale) but was pleasantly surprised to find that I could get a spot pretty close to the stage and in the shade! I made friends with some older folks who had amazing can topper things for their beers. So, here's the thing about The Mowgli's...I wasn't expecting them to be quite so California, you know? Like, they reminded me of a big, old Edward Sharpe style 20 person "way of life" band rather than the smaller, poppy ensemble I was expecting. Additionally, they talked about "doing your one act of kindness of the day" with one of the lady members noting that she was going to pick up recyclables. Later, they had everyone put their arms around each other for "the world's largest group hug". Which...just so, very California.
No matter though, the music was awesome. Set opening 'Waiting For the Dawn' got things started in a good and proper party manner. It was fun to watch, throughout the set, the various members trade off n lyrics, instruments, leads, etc. They were also fun to watch because everyone looked like they were having so much fun - band members and crowd alike. It was just a super feel good set. The penultimate song of the set, 'The Great Divide' is now their second single, and deservedly so. Then, after building much anticipation, they closed with 'San Francisco' and things got crazy. The band brought out extra family members to jam on the stage and the crowd sang along so loudly - on the verses! not even the chorus - that the band turned it over to us. One of my favorite sets of the festival.
Two Door Cinema Club is one of those "hey, it's that song!" bands. (I also always get their name mixed up with Bombay Bicycle Club.) They were fun, dance-y, and electro-poppy.
I also didn't know a lot about The Vaccines and had no idea how much I'd be into the Vaccines Brit-punk sound, but I thought they were awesome. The stage right guitar player was my surprise rock & roll boyfriend of the day. The set was loud, energetic, a bit in your face, and featured some of the most fired up crowd members of the week-end. I mean, shirtless dudes in Mexican wrestling masks being hoisted by other shirtless dudes? Then jumping around? A tree of a red-headed guy who looked like he was bringing back the late 90s dance craze skanking? I mean, it was kind of amazing. Set highlights included 'Teenage Icon' - the refrain of "I'm no Frankie Avalon" cracked my shit right up. Everyone went nuts at 'Post Break-Up Sex', with some choreographed singing along. These guys are totally not my usual jam, but this set was definitely another highlight.
Vampire Weekend is probably the happiest band I've ever heard. They sound like cotton candy tastes, only without the gross, sugary aftertaste.
I seriously thought about going to see The Cure, because, well, that seems like it's a thing you should do? And then I thought about standing around for two hours just waiting to hear 'Friday, I'm in Love' and decided against it. Many apologies to my freshman year of college roommate who I know would be aghast.
So, I checked out the other headliner, Phoenix. Their album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix spent a lot of time on heavy rotation a few years back. I am SO glad I saw this set! First, I made friends with some hilarious dude-bros who helped me finish up the last of my contraband whiskey. Then, we got to talking with the angriest guy at the festival - he was so bitchy about letting people through, cussed out some "helpless" girls, and was generally just really hilarious. (I'm sure if I'd done something to piss him off, I would not have found him so funny. But, I don't think he was actually a dick - just Day 3 tired and annoyed by the constant whines of, "But, my friends are right there." His response? "Well then, you should have gotten here earlier to stand with them." I mean, it's usually not worth picking fights with people, but I thought this guy was hilarious.)
Anyway, Phoenix's set was all high production and rock swagger. You totally forget these guys are French. The lead singer jumped into the chasm between the stage & the crowd, climbed on the barrier, and let himself be mauled by the crowd while singing. The set was maybe a little heavy on their newest album, but all their hits - 'Lasso', '1901', 'Listzomania', etc. were absolute crowd-bangers. It's like the crowd decided, en masse, to get over their end of festival fatigue and rock the eff out. Seriously, so fun. During the last song, the lead singer jumped off the stage, ran through the sound equipment partition to some point in the middle of the crowd then crowd-surfed his way back to the stage, where he finished the concert. For a floppy haired French guy in a button down shirt, that was super bad ass and an amazing way to end my time at Grant Park.
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