jayble's stable | Lollapalooza Aftermath 2006

Lollapalooza Aftermath 2006

August 23, 2006

Prologue: I was really looking forward to Lollapalooza this year. Allegedly, it was going to be even bigger than last year, including three full days, 130 bands, and eight stages. Last year there was a presale and people got tickets for $35 before a single band was announced. The organizers did the same this year and thanks to my friends Brad and Kurt, we got presale tickets for $45. Awesome.

I got my presale tickets in the mail and it included the lineup. This year there were fewer bands I needed to see but as many bands that I wanted to see. After these bands were announced, tickets opened at $130. One ticket was more than the price of two presale tickets. Again, awesome.

The lineup was announced and it looked good for all three days. If everything went as planned, I'd be able to see (in order): The Subways, Aqualung, Panic! At The Disco, The Editors, Ryan Adams, Iron & Wine, The Raconteurs, Sleater-Kinney, Death Cab for Cutie, Rainer Maria, Nada Surf, The Go! Team, Coheed and Cambria, Wolfmother/Calexico, Gnarls Barkley, Blacklicious, Common, Kanye West, The Redwalls, The Frames, Ben Kweller, The New Amsterdams, The Shins, Queens of the Stone Age, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. 25 bands for $55 (after fees). A little over $2 per band. Hallelujah.

I got my wristband and Lolla book the day before the event. I looked at the map and discovered that Lolla would take place in an area almost double that of last year. I could forget any ideas of switching from one corner of the venue to the other to catch bands. Last year I could easily watch 1/2 a set of one band and quickly walk to another stage to catch 1/2 the set of another. Alas, this would not work this year.

Seriously, look at the fucking map above. Last year, Lollapalooza was limited to just the softball fields (the right of Buckingham Fountain). Fuck it, let's just see what happens.

Day 1:


	Blue October

Blue October
I planned to go to the The Subways but after a late lunch and a slow walk, we decided to just listen to Blue October since they were the closest to the entrance. They were okay. I am writing this on Tuesday morning, a full four days later, and I don't remember much of them so they couldn't have been that good. [Grade: B]


	Aqualung

Aqualung
We left Blue October a little early to get a decent spot for Aqualung. We moved in pretty close and I enjoyed what I saw. Now here is where the distance problem began. I really wanted to see Panic! At The Disco and I knew that I had a good 20 minute walk. Additionally (and surprisingly) the heat was much worse when just standing around as opposed to walking around. Anyways, so I could only see a small portion of the Aqualung show. Oh well, let the walk begin. [Grade: B]


	Panic! At The Disco

Panic! At The Disco
Panic marked the first band overlap dilemma. I really wanted to see the Eels who were playing at the same as Panic. In these cases, two things determine which band I see: 1) Would I pay to see the band during a tour and 2) Which band would have a better performance. I couldn't answer the latter, but based on the few songs I've heard, there was a better chance that I would see Eels than Panic. Panic put on a good show but since I didn't know many of the songs, I wasn't as into it as I thought I could have been. [Grade: B+]


	The Editors

The Editors
I bought The Back Room back in March 2006 based on a magazine recommendation and I really enjoyed it. They do sound like a milder Interpol and I was excited to see them at Lollapalooza. I don't know what it was but I think that I started to drag about this time. I saw about half of The Editors set before I just got too hot and too tired to stand out in the sun and listen to music. Plus, since they are milder than Interpol, it's not the best heatwave music. Before long I decided to just wander over to catch the start of Ryan Adams. [Grade: B+]

Ryan Adams
I made a huge mistake. I know nothing of Ryan Adams. I know I would classify him in the same group that I put Jason Mraz and John Mayer in and that I like his cover of Wonderwall. If I thought Editors were not the most fun to see in the hot sun, Adams was one hundred times worse. I made it through one song before I almost fell asleep and I had to leave. I've learned my lesson and bands like this do not work in a Lollapalooza setting because the music is just too mellow. I didn't even take a picture of Adams. [Grade: D]


	Lady Sovereign

Lady Sovereign
I left Adams and my friend wanted to check out Lady Sovereign, who I have never heard before. Apparently she is a female rapper. Blah Blah Blah, she didn't do much for me. She reminded me of Sporty Spice...which is not a good thing. Actually, she reminded me of a bad impersonation of Sporty Spice. Also, during her show there was a guy doing graffiti on a blank canvas. I guess I just didn't understand the point of it all. [Grade: C-]


	The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs
As much as I wanted to see Iron & Wine, I figured that show would be as exciting as Ryan Adams so I skipped out in order to head to the Raconteurs' stage early. The Raconteurs were amazing. Easily the best show of the day. Andy and I got up close for the first half and we had to move back just because it was too loud. One of the best parts was when they did a cover of Gnarls Barkley's crazy. It takes balls to play the hit song of a band who is going to play at the fest the very next day; real big balls. [Grade: A+]

After the Raconteurs we met some friends near the Violent Femmes to talk and discuss the plans for the night. The Femmes were just background music to me so I won't grade them. Then we made our way home, skipping all but the first few seconds of Death Cab For Cutie.

Day 2:


	Nada Surf

Nada Surf
I wanted to see Nada Surf at noon, but after a tiring Friday night, I didn't make it down to Lollapalooza until about half way through Nada Surf. Nada Surf was good but I wasn't in the mindset to listen to them so I really can't grade them. I remember enjoying their show, but I really can't remember much of it. Plus I hadn't eaten much that morning so I was getting hungry. Jayble Hungry!


	Coheed & Cambria

Coheed & Cambria
After getting a bite to eat and relaxing some, we made our way to Coheed and Cambria, passing The Go! Team. C&C put on a great show. They rocked as much as I would expect from any band. I was pleasantly surprised with their performance, enough so that if they came to Chicago, I would probably see them live. If Ryan Adams was this year's Jonestown, then Coheed was this year's Trail of Dead. [Grade: A]


	Wolfmother

Wolfmother
Another great band. I actually know a few Wolfmother songs thanks to Lance. From what I saw, they put on a really good show, but the afternoon lull hit me and I need to lie sit down for a while so we headed to the a little hill where were able to listen to the rest of Wolfmother but were able to sit down. The only problem was that we couldn't see the band. I made the sacrifice considering I knew I had another six hours of standing ahead of me. Hopefully they'll be back to Chicago soon. [Grade: A-]

Gnarls Barkley
After Wolfmother we made our way over to see Gnarls. This was first band that I was really excited to see. I enjoy their CD (not all of it, but at least three songs) and heard that they put on a really good live show. Gnarls played opposite Sonic Youth and using my rule, I decided that there was a better chance that I would see Sonic separately than I would Gnarls. Gnarls was great. The first hip-hop band I saw (I am not counting Lady Sovereign). [Grade: A]


	Common

Common
I had originally planned to leave half way through Gnarls to check out Blacklicious. Common and Kanye were going to play at the same stage where Gnarls played and I decided I'd rather see the full Gnarls set and then get close for both Common and Kanye. I am glad I did because Common was phenomenal. I saw him at the House of Blues earlier this year and bailed before the end of the show (don't ask) so I was really looking forward to seeing him again. He's a great performer and I know I'll see his another of his shows soon. [Grade: A+]


	Kanye West

Kanye West
Another hour wait before Kanye so our group just relaxed and furiously text messaged our other friends so they could meet us up close. The wait went quick and Kanye killed. He was the perfect artist to close Saturday night and really got the crowd pumping. He played songs off both Dropout and Late Registration and even made the (predominantly white) crowd laugh by referring to himself as Carlton. [Grade: A+]

Day 3:


	The Shins

The Shins
Once again, the morning was a rough one. I wanted to see The Redwalls at 12:30, then The Frames, Ben Kweller, and the New Amsterdams. Instead, after a night at Liar's Club, all I felt like doing was staying in bed. After forcing myself out, I decided that the first band I would go see would be The Shins. Earlier this year or sometime last year the Shins played a show in Chicago. I thought I bought tickets to that show but instead bought tickets to their show in Milwaukee. I didn't make it to that show, so after that debacle, I was looking forward to seeing a band that I loved long before I saw Garden State. Unfortunately, I can only say that the Shins were okay. My friend Brad said it best, "Jesus, this could be this year's version of Brian Jonestown Massacre." I couldn't agree more. Hernandez felt the need to ramble between every song and the sound quality (presumably through no fault of the band) was bad and I think Mercer knew it. [Grade: B-]


	Queens of the Stone Age

Queens of the Stone Age
After the Shins we made our way to go see Queens of the Stone Age. We had about 45 minutes before they went on and the big screen was showing She Wants Revenge. I can't believe I liked this band. The lead singer really scares me. I can easily see him circa 1987 dressing like Prince and going to school. Anyways, QotSA were phenomenal. This is the first time I saw them live and I will definitely check them out next time they come to Chicago. After the lackluster Shins performance I was glad that at least one band put on a good show during the last day. [Grade: A]


	Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers
After being close for QotSA, we decided that we couldn't withstand the hour of just standing in order to see RHCP up close. 2 1/2 full days of standing and drinking under the hot sun took its toll so we decided to move to one of the hills and watch RHCP while a little elevated above everyone else. Even though we had to endure at least an hour's worth of stupid people (trying to push through us), it was worth it. RHCP did not disappoint. They played a lot of songs spanning most of their long careers. I am actually pretty surprised that I haven't seen them live up until Lollapalooza 2006. Weird. [Grade: A]


	The Keen

All in all, I had a great time at Lollapalooza. My favorite bands were the Raconteurs, Common, Kanye, Queens of the Stone Age and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The problem is that I didn't have nearly as much fun as last year. Part of the blame belongs to the organizers and part to me. This year just had too much stuff: Too many people, too many stages, too much layout, too many days. While the bands were good, there were too many bands that I didn't know enough about (which is my fault) and as a result, I couldn't get into their shows as much as I would have if I listened to their CDs. Last year I knew the music of a lot of the bands really well, this year, not so much. I had heard of a lot of the bands that played in 2006 and was familiar with a few tracks, but the ones I liked best were the ones I had listened to more. Last year I loved Trail of Dead, Liz Phair, Weezer, Satellite Party, Arcade Fire, Killers, and Death Cab. This year, it was only the 5 I mentioned above. But 5 bands across 3 days is much different than seven bands across 2 days. I also read that this year there were 165 thousand people that attended and last year there were only about 60 thousand. Those extra hundred thousand people were definitely noticeable.

Will I be back next year? Most definitely. Even if I only saw the five bands that I really liked, I paid $11 per band, still a great deal. Next year though, if I don't get in during the presale, the bands that play and the number of days is going to determine whether I go or not. Who am I kidding, I'll be there.

See you at Lollapalooza 2007.