Oh, man. Sunday morning. I forgot what it felt like to feel
this sore. My legs were covered in bruises, my shins felt like they were about
to implode, and my back was encouraging me to stay in bed for the day. Still,
the sun was shining especially brightly on Chicago (and myself) with the
particular brilliant line-up for Sunday. Throwing on my shoes to meet our travel
companions (at a beautiful high-rise overlooking Navy Pier, it should be noted)
this was the day I had been waiting for. Sunday at Lollapalooza, The Gaslight
Anthem and Florence & the Machine, my two favorite artists performing
back-to-back. Sure, I had to miss the brilliant Sigur Ros, but they shouldn’t
have been playing a mid-day set as is; I’d be happier to catch them play back
in New York.
Stepping into Grant Park this Sunday was bittersweet; the
day was brighter but more comfortable than the others, and the realization that
this was it. I tried to get it out of my mind, but the finality of the day
always lingered in my head. Grabbing a beer and a burger, Lara and I headed to Trampled by Turtles, who were the
absolute perfect way to open a festival. Progressive Bluegrass transcended
being at a music festival- laying in the soft grass with the sun dancing in my
hair, I nestled myself comfortably in their bluegrass sound that made me just
happy to be alive and enjoying the company of a great albeit short-lived
friendship. When their set ended I was a bit lost. Really, I didn’t want it to
end. They did a really solid job.
Originally the plan was to see a bit of Sigur Ros but, being a Gaslight fanatic, I headed to Google Play at
about 3:30 for their 4:45 set. I was able to catch a bit of Gary Clark Jr. tearing it up on the
side stage, his emphatic, blistering guitars compelling the leftover Black Keys
fans from Friday. We met a great group of Gaslight fans before the show, all of
us wondering how much Handwritten we’d
get in the set. When Brian Fallon and the rest of The Gaslight Anthem graced the stage, my heart leaped about three
times over. His bashful swagger only makes him more appealing- a modern day
Romeo, a wordsmith with a gushing heart you can’t help but develop a schoolgirl
crush on. With nothing more than band T-shirts, blue jeans, and guitars
strapped to their backs, the band cut into “Great Expectations” followed by
“45”, the anthemic album openers appropriately executed. There was no
showmanship, as a Gaslight show should be- the music is so riveting, Fallon
& Co. amping up the sympathy 10-fold. Each yelp, wail, and growl roughly
dug into the audience’s skin, making us feel and hurt with this bright-eyed,
blue collar, classic-car driving romantic hurtled into 2012. Sure, the set-list
was too short and entirely missing Sink
or Swim and The Senor and the Queen
EP, but that’s what you get when almost every track you bust out is a
fan-favorite. With the success of Handwritten,
I hope Gaslight Anthem get admired and loved by the public as much as I
love these boys.
Next up was the shoulda-been coulda-been woulda-been
headliner, Florence + The Machine. Despite
having one of the biggest crowds of the day, and the most assertive front-woman
energy, Flo was in the opening slot. She proved you can’t keep a good ginger
down; she still played her heart out, echoing the audacious show I saw earlier
this year without feeling formulaic. She still threw her entire spirit into the
music, breaking free from her bodily confines to become a spiritual, God-like
being on the stage. The show was manipulated a bit for a festival appearance,
with an electro-tinged breakdown during Shake It Out and plenty of crowd
participation. Florence’s rise to Queen of Rock is all but inevitable at this
point-her universal appeal, true rock star persona, and emotionally devastating
vocals set her apart as an anomaly. Despite being my second Florence show of
the summer, I was still moved to tears during the performance. Florence is
engrossing and rapturous; she commands undivided attention. I have yet to see
another performer with such a power.
The problem with having Florence as an opener was knowing
that the best part of the day had been over. She put on such an epic, grandiose
performance that everything that followed felt mundane by comparison. Still, I
moseyed over to catch a seat for the packed Miike Snow who were playing virtually unopposed. With the large
crowd and appreciation for smoke machines, I could barely see the onstage
action. The band sounded awesome though, proving to be one of the few
genre-hoppers who got an enthusiastic response from ravers and hipsters alike.
Unlike the rest of Lollapalooza, even the bystanders couldn’t help but sway as “Animal”
and “Paddling Out” stretched the diamond. They prepped Lollapalooza accordingly
for Kaskade, Jack White, and Justice; not an easy feat by any stretch of the
imagination.
As Miike Snow closed out, I moved over to the forested
confines of Google Play to see Childish
Gambino. Gambino drew easily the worst crowd I had seen for the weekend.
From the hammered 15-year-old couple thrusting into one another before the
music even began to the sloppy, snaggle-toothed girl in an NBA Jersey
screaming, “I’M A GAMBINOOO GIRL! UCLA!” every 25 seconds, my mood was pretty
shot. When Donald Glover took the stage, things got a bit better. Backed by a full band and bounding
enthusiasm, Gambino was a solid way to end the day. Demonstrating his
competence in both aggressive rapping and surprisingly cute song breakdowns,
Gambino truly is a notch above the rest. He has demonstrated true duality with
his career, putting his all into both, including the live show. It’s difficult
to put on a good live show as a moderately successful rapper- we’ve seen this
with Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, B.o.B. amongst others- but once again, Gambino
refuses to be pigeon-holed. The set was relentlessly energetic, reaching its
apex as the crowd screamed the lyrics to “Freaks and Geeks”.
I was able to catch the last 30 minutes of Jack White’s set, stepping in right as
he was switching bands. Interestingly, White travels with two separate bands-
an all-male and an all-female- and has each play a segment of a set. A cool
effect, but it certainly stalled the crowd energy. The time it took to set up
with the new band turned many audience members off, a hefty number spilling
over into Justice. White is by all means a great musician, and it was fun to
hear the blistering guitars and passionate yelps of The White Stripes and The
Raconteurs close out the Red Bull Soundstage…but did he deserve that slot? If
you were to ask me, definitely not. He lacked stage presence or recent
relevance to close out such a phenomenal festival, often wandering the dimmed
stage until a new song cut in. It was a moody, boisterous rock set, but not an
iconic or theatrical one.
As I stood below the blow-up Lollapalooza sign as thousands
gathered to discuss an eventful weekend in Grant Park, I felt an immediate
nostalgia that turned me a bit dour. Sure, there were a few pitfalls- the
closing of the festival, the so-so top billed acts, an overabundance of EDM-
but this weekend was all I had hoped it could be. In short, it was perfect…and
you can bet I’ll be the first person to buy tickets for 2013 come Winter.
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