Who: Lollapalooza Day 1
When: August 2, 2013
Where: Grant Park/ Chicago, IL
With: A Random Cast of Festival-Going Characters
Of Note: Denim diapers are not attractive, btw
Okay, so we've discussed my feelings. Let's get on to the music - same format as usual, highlights only, with some special emphasis on the cast of characters I encountered.
Want to skip around?
Emotional Horseshit
Day 2
Day 3
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Day 1
Emeli Sande, Icona Pop, Smith Westerns, Atlas Genius, Imagine Dragons, New Order, The Killers
I caught the tail end of Emeli Sande and homegirl definitely has a voice. Icona Pop was super fun - somehow I ended up next to a million high school kids in some sort of dance off, which was hilarious. Halfway through, the sky opened up and poured for a hot minute, rendering the entire park muddy for the rest of the day. It was also really funny that everyone just kept saying, "Play the song! When are they going to play the song?!" They closed with 'I Love It' and it was pretty awesome. Particularly fun was just before the bridge, the music cut out and they left the stage. Then there was some running around or something and during that silence the whole crowd freaked out that they weren't going to finish it. People were feeling jipped. Then, they came back on and finished it, much to everyone's delight.
I wasn't familiar with the Smith Westerns, but they were convenient to see and I enjoyed them - they play in that slightly dreamy indie with pop influence place that I generally enjoy.
I've had 'If So' stuck in my head for weeks, more than almost anything else I heard at the festival, which is to Atlas Genius' credit. I "made friends" with a large group of people wearing camouflage prior to the set. They looked kind of out of place but were very friendly.
Imagine Dragons was a shit-show disaster - too small a stage so it was impossible to move in any direction. Then, near the start of the set, all their power cut out. People got angry. But it was impossible to get away. There was a super annoying girl who was way more into "peaking perfectly" than she was anything else that was going on. I really wanted her to shut up. The sound eventually came back on and the band played a truncated set - I feel like it would have been a lot better if not for all the logistical issues.
I headed over to the main stage to get a good spot for The Killers and caught the second half of New Order. I'm a bit chagrined to say that I don't know much about them but people were SUPER into them. Some post-show wikipedia-ing has taught me that they're something of legends; I'm glad I had the opportunity to check them out, particularly in light of most of the set being "hey, it's that song!"
Alright, so, The Killers. There were hordes of people standing around between the end of New Order and the beginning of the Killers and as we stood around, crushed together, squishing in the mud, waiting in anticipation. And, at first, it was all fun and games - I fell in with a delightful group of M-named dude-bros from the greater Chicago area who were friendly and personable. One of them and I had a long discussion about live music and both extolled the virtues of the Dave Matthews Band (he was, indeed, a great dude-bro). But then, as it reached past the hour mark of standing around, people started to get cranky. And shove-y. And, just when you thought it was going to get ugly, The Killers took the stage and launched into 'Mr. Brightside'. I tell you what - that song was meant to be played as the opening number of a festival headlining set to a mass horde of people. Everyone jumped and sang along and suddenly, everyone was friends again. There was a weird interlude of 'Human' prior to one of the other songs, just the tinkly piano part and the "Are we human/ or are we dancer" lines repeated where everybody put their arms around each other, swayed, and sang to each other. It was a nice crowd moment.
The set was largely similar to when I saw them in SF in the spring - 'Miss Atomic Bomb' with associated pyrotechnics was again delightful and I love the "put on your dancing shoes" bit prior to 'Here On Out' (which is possibly my favorite song from 'Battle Born').
They there in a cover of 'My Kind of Town' for the Chicago hometown crowd. Then, they lit the place on fire with the 'All These Things That I've Done' and 'When You Were Yong' one-two punch at the end. (Do you know what it's like to hear 100k [?] people scream, "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus"? Because it is pretty fricking awesome.)
Though days 2 & 3 were probably more stacked with things I wanted to see day 1 was super fun and good way to kick off my Lolla experience.
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When: August 2, 2013
Where: Grant Park/ Chicago, IL
With: A Random Cast of Festival-Going Characters
Of Note: Denim diapers are not attractive, btw
Okay, so we've discussed my feelings. Let's get on to the music - same format as usual, highlights only, with some special emphasis on the cast of characters I encountered.
Want to skip around?
Emotional Horseshit
Day 2
Day 3
.JPG)
Day 1
Emeli Sande, Icona Pop, Smith Westerns, Atlas Genius, Imagine Dragons, New Order, The Killers
I caught the tail end of Emeli Sande and homegirl definitely has a voice. Icona Pop was super fun - somehow I ended up next to a million high school kids in some sort of dance off, which was hilarious. Halfway through, the sky opened up and poured for a hot minute, rendering the entire park muddy for the rest of the day. It was also really funny that everyone just kept saying, "Play the song! When are they going to play the song?!" They closed with 'I Love It' and it was pretty awesome. Particularly fun was just before the bridge, the music cut out and they left the stage. Then there was some running around or something and during that silence the whole crowd freaked out that they weren't going to finish it. People were feeling jipped. Then, they came back on and finished it, much to everyone's delight.
I wasn't familiar with the Smith Westerns, but they were convenient to see and I enjoyed them - they play in that slightly dreamy indie with pop influence place that I generally enjoy.
I've had 'If So' stuck in my head for weeks, more than almost anything else I heard at the festival, which is to Atlas Genius' credit. I "made friends" with a large group of people wearing camouflage prior to the set. They looked kind of out of place but were very friendly.
Imagine Dragons was a shit-show disaster - too small a stage so it was impossible to move in any direction. Then, near the start of the set, all their power cut out. People got angry. But it was impossible to get away. There was a super annoying girl who was way more into "peaking perfectly" than she was anything else that was going on. I really wanted her to shut up. The sound eventually came back on and the band played a truncated set - I feel like it would have been a lot better if not for all the logistical issues.
I headed over to the main stage to get a good spot for The Killers and caught the second half of New Order. I'm a bit chagrined to say that I don't know much about them but people were SUPER into them. Some post-show wikipedia-ing has taught me that they're something of legends; I'm glad I had the opportunity to check them out, particularly in light of most of the set being "hey, it's that song!"
Alright, so, The Killers. There were hordes of people standing around between the end of New Order and the beginning of the Killers and as we stood around, crushed together, squishing in the mud, waiting in anticipation. And, at first, it was all fun and games - I fell in with a delightful group of M-named dude-bros from the greater Chicago area who were friendly and personable. One of them and I had a long discussion about live music and both extolled the virtues of the Dave Matthews Band (he was, indeed, a great dude-bro). But then, as it reached past the hour mark of standing around, people started to get cranky. And shove-y. And, just when you thought it was going to get ugly, The Killers took the stage and launched into 'Mr. Brightside'. I tell you what - that song was meant to be played as the opening number of a festival headlining set to a mass horde of people. Everyone jumped and sang along and suddenly, everyone was friends again. There was a weird interlude of 'Human' prior to one of the other songs, just the tinkly piano part and the "Are we human/ or are we dancer" lines repeated where everybody put their arms around each other, swayed, and sang to each other. It was a nice crowd moment.
The set was largely similar to when I saw them in SF in the spring - 'Miss Atomic Bomb' with associated pyrotechnics was again delightful and I love the "put on your dancing shoes" bit prior to 'Here On Out' (which is possibly my favorite song from 'Battle Born').
They there in a cover of 'My Kind of Town' for the Chicago hometown crowd. Then, they lit the place on fire with the 'All These Things That I've Done' and 'When You Were Yong' one-two punch at the end. (Do you know what it's like to hear 100k [?] people scream, "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus"? Because it is pretty fricking awesome.)
Though days 2 & 3 were probably more stacked with things I wanted to see day 1 was super fun and good way to kick off my Lolla experience.
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