Good morning, PopWatchers, and greetings from Grant Park in beautiful, sunny, mothereffing HOT Chicago, where Perry Farrell’s Lollapalooza is now in its fourth year as a stationary object. As those of you who follow this blog are well aware, I’ve visited the majority of America’s large rock n’ roll festivals this summer — Lolla makes 6, to be precise — and I can honestly say I’ve never lost as much water weight as I did yesterday. How a festival held in the middle of a major urban center directly adjacent to a breezy lake with sailboats floating upon it manages to be hotter than the deserts of Coachella is a scientific mystery we’ll ponder later, but for now I’d like to just thank the nice people of the MySpace corporation for giving me a tent and a couch and a place to write up all of Friday’s musical wonderment while listening to the best band you’ve never heard of, Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos, play my favorite song, "Skeleton Key." Life, she is good.
The big headliner for your first day of Paloozaing was Radiohead (led by Thom Yorke, pictured), and your Aunt Whittlz was thrilled. I’d never seen them live before, not in all my many years, and I’d get to start the show in the photo pit, all up and snuggly with the boys from Oxfordshire. They opened strong with "15 Step" and "Airbag," and I was totally digging it, if you’ll excuse the lameness of that expression. But once I got spat out into the field, things turned a bit dodgy. After a long day of schvitzing in the humid Illinois air, the endless quiet arpeggios of their Kid A/Amnesiac/Hail to the Thief/In Rainbows period lulled me into a state of half-consciousness, interrupted only by the yakking of drunks wearing free MySpace bandanas. There’s nothing wrong with half-consciousness, per se… but after the jump, we’ll talk a bit about this band’s future, i.e. The U2 Question, and dissect the set a little more closely.
Also in this post’s great beyond: Rogue Wave, Black Keys, Duffy (no, for real), Go! Team, and the band I’ve seen more times this year than one would think possible, Jack White and his Raconteurs. Come along, won’t you?
Grant Park is surrounded by skyscrapers and backs right up to Lake Michigan, which is why it was ever so fitting that my buddies Rogue Wave were called upon, yet again, to open this thing up: Hey, whaddaya know, "Lake Michigan" is the name of their big breakthrough Microsoft-selling single! I’ve now seen these guys play in the 1-2 p.m. slot at four separate fests this year alone, which I think is just cruel (to them and their fans), but they’ve learned to bear up under the sun and heat well. Songs like "Love’s Lost Guarantee" — now moved to the start of the set — and "California" play well in the glare, and Zach, as usual, was more than willing to lend a dry perspective in all the humidity. "Thanks for selling out the day today," he told the sizeable crowd. (One benefit to playing early: Everyone in the field is unlikely to have anything better to do, so they shuffle over to your stage.) "I know it’s because of us, I can feel it." Pause. "And Radiohead." Then they swung into their other geographically-appropriate song, "Chicago x 12." Rogue Wave wins the Friday gold star for later going on to play the Kidzapalooza stage AND a midnight show at a club in Wrigleyville called Schubas. Catch ‘em on tour with Jack Johnson if you can — they deserve an audience in the nighttime.
Next, it was time to hoof it to the other end of the park, and PopWatchers, believe me when I say that Lollapalooza is no place you want to be with a foot or leg injury. That shizz be far. It’s at least a 15 minute walk from one mainstage to the other, and the best strategy is really to pick one end of the park and stay in it, just shuttling between adjacent stages all day, never crossing the center with that fountain from Married With Children. But I don’t have that privilege, so walkapalooza I went, past paintings from students at the Art Institute and Wayne Coyne’s Christmas on Mars tent (remember, kids, the brown popcorn is made of acid!), past the fountain, past small children with pink hair, past packs of girls wearing those irritatingly non-functional halo headbands someone’s decided are stylish. I like Lollapalooza. Everyone seems happy, and since they go home to hotels at night, they smell nice. There’s none of that feeling of us-against-the-world post-apocalyptic survival remoteness you get at Bonnaroo, and none of the L.A. rock poser scene you get in the VIP area at Coachella. The VIP area behind Lolla’s Bud Light stage — where I’d finally arrived for the Go! Team — has shady trees, and couches, and giant plasma screens set up so you can watch the feed from the stage. This, friends, is my idea of bliss: Beer, couches, shade, concerts on the big screen. Not that I sat back there to watch anything. That, friendly friends, would have been wrong. (Seriously. I’m not being sarcastic for a change.)
It’s a testament to the energy levels of the Go! Team’s Ninja (née Nkechi Ka Egenamba) that even in the day’s hottest hour, she was able to pogo around the stage in rainbow knee-highs for a straight hour and get a large portion of the shirtless crowd to join her. This is a great live band– two drummers, a rotating cast of vocalists, the occasional toy megaphone — and Ninja’s really its fiery center, alternating personalities between sassy 60’s girl group and Zach de la Rocha in heart-shaped sunglasses. After demanding we all dance during "Ladyflash" and getting everyone to holler the obligatory "Do it! Do it! All right!" chorus I learned at Coachella two years ago, she sprinted off stage and collapsed on a platform, long arms splayed over her head. Meanwhile, across the way, her polar opposite was emerging to a chorus of 15 year old girls chanting her name: It’s Duffy, everyone, that nouveau-Winehouse soul singer from Wales! Standing rather poised and still in a red, white, and blue romper, after an hour of Ninja, she looked more televangelist’s wife than rising star, and I’ll be quite honest and say that her Dusty Springfield-on-helium caterwauling is rather not my bag. She covered "Cry To Me," which would have been cool if I hadn’t seen Solomon Burke do it a month ago at Bonnaroo, and there was mild pandemonium once someone pushed play on the thunking backing track to current radio smash "Mercy." That is a very good song, I will admit, and from what I heard, nothing in the rest of her canon even approaches it. "She needs to play that for 10 minutes," said a girl I passed on my way back to Bud Light land, and I heartily agreed.
Bookending the always-frisky and loveable Mates of State — who’ve brought violin and cello in to make songs like "Like U Crazy" gloriously rich — are your next set of dichotomies: Black Keys vs. Raconteurs. The former, I’ve not seen enough, and a too-brief stop at the Akron duo’s set just confirmed that fact. Though I still love the oldies best — "10 AM Automatic," "Set You Free" — when they slowed their ongoing, circular jam down after some crashing breaks and emerged into "Strange Times" (off their newest, Attack and Release), my little heart soared. So, too, did that of Perry Farrell. I was wondering when I’d have my first sighting, and there he was, sidestage for the Keys, bobbing along. Meanwhile, we learned a fun fact: Dan Auerbach’s never been in a mosh pit. Jeez, just jump off the stage some night, dude. It’s fun.
Aaaand, the latter. I gotta take some time off from the Raconteurs, I’ve decided. The set was excellent, of course, it always is, but you know you’ve seen a band too many times when you start noticing the way they’ve constructed their first three songs– "Consoler of the Loney," "Level," and "You Don’t Understand Me"– to confound photographers: Song one, Jack White’s got his back to the crowd half the time, song three he’s at the piano; see ya later. Grr. They’ve also moved "Steady As She Goes" into the middle of the set. Why is this interesting? Because I have problems. So let’s talk instead about how Mark Ronson was sidestage mouthing every word, or the stretched-out beauty of "Rich Kid Blues" and its terrific tempo transition into "Hold Up." Let’s laud the way Brendan Benson stands on monitors like a gorgeous stork, and the balls they’ve got to take an encore break, even though they’re not headliners. And then let’s take one final second to celebrate the great Patrick Keeler and his good-natured drumming, and the spectacular hair of young bassist Jack Lawrence, flat as a board even in the humidity. Hey, when’s that new Greenhornes album coming out, anyway?
Couldn’t stay for the end of the Rac set — had to run off for Radiohead photo pit assembly — but as I speed-walked down Columbus Drive, I grinned at the people gathered outside the fence to catch drips and drabs of "Many Shades of Black." Another unsung benefit of hosting this festival smack in the middle of town: drop by after work and stand on a street corner to listen, ticket-free! Wait. Is that like stealing music? Nevermind. Forget I brought it up…
Okay. So, Radiohead. I really wish my colleague Simon Vozick-Levinson was here to assess this show, cause he’s our resident ‘Head expert, and he might know better what to make of what I saw last night. But to this casual observer — who, for the record, grew up on the mother’s milk of Pablo Honey and The Bends and thus has not much cared for the band’s latter-day output — the set was somnambulant, and not just because I was physically wiped. Albums like Kid A were designed to be listened to as a piece, not as singles, and thus do all the songs sort of bleed into one long, quiet meditation. As I picked my way through the pot smoke and dusty blankets in the crowd, I heard two separate people yell, "Play the hits!" Of course, I’m not one to advocate for pandering, but 75,000 people need to be entertained, not wonder whether they’re listening to "The Gloaming" or "Dollars and Cents." The In Rainbows stuff was newer and fresher — "Bodysnatchers," especially, and "Weird Fishes" — and at precisely 9 o’clock I gave up on professionalism and went to get a beer. Suddenly, the show came alive. "The Bends," first, and "Everything In Its Right Place." Then, a terrific build to "Fake Plastic Trees" as fireworks set off behind the stage, and "Bodysnatchers" to close out the opening set. I felt exhilarated, and not just because of the alcohol rushing through my underfed blood.
But just as soon as it came, the rush was over, and the two encores — despite containing "Paranoid Android" — sort of petered off into the nothing ending of "Idioteque." I let my dream of closing the night out with a triumphant version of "Stop Whispering" drift into the night on the ominous cloud that was racing across the sky, and I trekked home with The U2 Question on my mind. That is to say: What kind of band do Radiohead want to be? They’ve got the chance to blow it up huge for the masses, or stick right where they are — worshipped by a goodly number of folks, but confounding just as many. It’s gonna be their live show that ultimately makes the difference, and last night’s performance — complete with artsy, grainy big-screen footage that rendered it near impossible for anyone out in the field to see the faces of the band members — told me they’re aiming squarely for artistic integrity and all that crap. Which is, I suppose, their choice. I don’t know that I’ll be on board. But the girl that climbed a speaker tower and merrily waved her arms in the air throughout the show clearly is of a different opinion, and yay for her. Also, yay that she didn’t appear to get arrested for doing that. Kids, don’t climb speaker towers, okay?
And that’s it for Friday. This post has carried me through to the end of Dierks Bentley’s crossover set — oh, the little white tank top girls are squeeing their heads off out there! — and now I’m off to see Perry Farrell DJ, because I’ve been told to expect a special guest whose name may or may not rhyme with "Democratic Presidential Nominee Shmarack Momama." Were you out in Grant Park yesterday, PopWatchers? Weigh in with your favorites, or just use the space to yell at me for not appreciating Radiohead’s genius sufficiently. It’s okay. I can take it.
Comments (1-30) of 32 Add your comment
Aunt Whittlz, I agree 100% with your assessment of Radiohead. The U2 question has been has been foremost in my mind since “OK Computer.” I spent all of college trying to defend “Pablo Honey” to all my druggie friends. It was a losing battle.
And bless you for enduring Lolla. Good luck!
Hey, Whittlz, thanks for your honest assessment of Radiohead. As a rabid fan, I don’t feel the same way but I understand why many people do. They’ve had the talent and the chances to get “U2 big” for the last 15 years and they’ve decided to take a different path. As I get older I find myself more and more drawn to the new directions in their music while finding the showboating and sameness of Bono & Co increasingly uninteresting. But I can see how Radiohead could cause some somnambulence in a live show, especially with certain songs. That said, I’m still looking forward to seeing them in Boston in a week or two. Have fun at the festival!
By Radiohead standards, any single show that includes “Airbag”, “No Surprises”, “Lucky”, “Fake Plastic Trees”, “Paranoid Android” and “The Bends” is pretty much them “playing the hits”.
They probably like their current situation: enough success to do what they want and sound off on some of their favorite causes, yet enough anonymity to maintain a certain level of privacy.
totally agree with the radiohead assessment. the first three albums rank among my all time top 100s along with Zep, Floyd, AC/DC, Jane’s. they seem like theyd be a drag live tho. as for the U2 question…if they wanted that they couldve had it already. leave that wannabe crap for coldplay.(cuz they’re already there) maybe radiohead will find a way to do something great again later. love racontuers too! yer alright
please tell us how Office is tomorrow? really wish i was there, so thanks for the posts!
“they’re aiming squarely for artistic integrity and all that crap”? Yeah cause artistic integrity is so lame right, all that matters is how poplar and non-challenging you are right. Admittedly Radiohead’s post OK Computer stuff might not be best suited for live venues, but as for Radiohead, I am pretty are they are exactly the band they want to be. If they really wanted U2 level fame they certianly wouldn’t have followed up the successful and reasonably listener-friendly OK Computer with the deliberatly ailienating soundscapes of Kid A. It’s refreshing to see a band constantly willing to pursue new sound a decade and a half into their career and not settle into a comfortable stylistic rut a la U2.
“What kind of band do Radiohead want to be? They’ve got the chance to blow it up huge for the masses, or stick right where they are — worshipped by a goodly number of folks, but confounding just as many.”
Um, I believe they answered this question back in 2000 when they released Kid A. They’re never going to blow it up for the masses, nor do they want to, having seen where that road leads. You’re reprising a debate that was settled years ago. They’d rather continue following their own path; we’re just lucky enough to be in on the ride.
“What kind of band do Radiohead want to be? They’ve got the chance to blow it up huge for the masses, or stick right where they are — worshipped by a goodly number of folks, but confounding just as many.”
Um, I believe they answered this question back in 2000 when they released Kid A. They’re never going to blow it up for the masses, nor do they want to, having seen where that road leads. You’re reprising a debate that was settled years ago. They’d rather continue following their own path; we’re just lucky enough to be in on the ride.
Whitney, you’re starting to sound like Lisa Schwartzbaum, i.e. too much in love with the sound of your own voice. Leave Radiohead alone. They’re the only band I can think of who really is into “artistic integrity and all that crap” and I love ‘em for it. If you want a band that lusts after U2 level success, go listen to Coldplay. Leave the rest of us in peace.
you need to pick another job.
I have to agree completely with the writer’s assessment of Radiohead. Hell, even Thom Yorke asked why everyone was so sleepy… it’s because every songs you played with the exception of 3 or 4 lacked any punch. I’m cool with Radiohead doing their thing, just don’t bring it to a show like Lolla. Leave those shows for people who give out enough energy to power 75,000 people. Bands like Rage.
Nah, Anton, I love my job. Plus, those 20 minutes of Bends/Everything/Trees/Bodysnatchers bliss were worth the two hours of ambling that surrounded them. Plus, who doesn’t love fireworks!
But oh, how I cannot wait to write about Rage Against the Machine. That, friends, was a festival set to remember. Wow.
I’m in the ‘boy Radiohead sure were good for the first 3 albums’ crowd. The set was technically proficient and after struggling a little early, Thom found his stride and was able to hit all the notes, but the song selection was dreadful. Some of that may be just because I don’t enjoy the songs, but I felt the entire time like “wow, this isn’t appropriate for a huge freaking festival.” Oh well, what can ya do?
…and Rage were good, but the whole keep moving back bits were horribly obnoxious. I know they didn’t have a choice, but if you’re at the front of the crowd at a Rage show, you absolutely know what you’re getting yourself into.
Ooh, anonymous person. I’m gonna write about that terrifying aspect of the show for sure, but I want to be clear about something: the people in the front may know what they’re getting into… but there’s a chance for that crush to be quite literally life-threatening. Pearl Jam’s Roskilde tragedy taught us that with frightening clarity. I’m very proud of Zach for being responsible enough to stop the show and take care of the situation. He probably saved lives.
I know it was responsible, but it was just frustrating because we kept moving back and back and back and yet the people in front of us apparently didn’t do much of it.
Anyhow, Rage was a blast…Radiohead, not so much. I hope you experienced Booka Shade though — WOW! Highlight of the fest so far perhaps.
Whitney, I always look forward to your fest reviews and am so glad you came to Lolla this year. I wish there were five of you because I’ve been there for two days and, save for ‘Head and Rage, saw none of the bands you did! Looking forward to what you have to say about the Rage set, since you couldn’t have paid me to be in that pit up front, even though the sound in the back sucked.(If you can carry on a normal conversation at a concert, it ain’t loud enough.) Have a great Sunday.
I really wish people would get over the whole “I love Radiohead’s first 3 albums”. The last 4 albums have made it very clear who they want to be. If you don’t like it that’s fine but stop looking for them to return of days of old because they aren’t going to! They know who they are and what they want to be. It’s everyone else who is still holding on to the past.
What an amazing summer of music for us here in Chicago. Plant, Radiohead, Amos Lee, Vedder, Black Keys, RATM, Lamontagne (in Oct.) and my favorite guilty pleasure Coldplay. I’ve pumped more than my share of lifeblood into the suckling sow of Ticketmaster, but I’ve been able to see some of the best artists in the world.
Haha, I think the girl waving her arms you’re referring to was the sign language interpreter. It tripped me out a bit when I saw her too.
THANK YOU Rose Tyler! I totally and completely agree.
And also a THANK YOU to bootsycolumbia and Juliet – I totally and completely agree with you as well. I couldn’t have said it better.
Yay Radiohead!!
why do people ( mostly americans ) moan when bands such as radiohead try and do something interesting and evole their sound so as not to sound like u2, if they did want to go that route they could of ages ago and be bland and plain, instead they are creative to a fault and always deliver songs that no one else could make only imitate. be glad that there is a band willing to go their own way and not conform, look at u2, achtung baby, zooropa and pop when they started to bust out of their mould but instead of being true to themselves went back to their old ways when fans of old and more likely their record company started to complain even though they were collecting new fans through their new sound. so if you want dull buy coldplay u2 etc, just dont expect radiohead to be the same as thats why we love them. i saw radiohead at manchester u.k. and loved every minute as did everyone else old songs and new songs. as for their albums everyone takes their sound somwhere new and exciting.
Haha. Every major act out of the UK that doesn’t have a heavy rock sound eventually gets that U2 label. Coldplay I can see, but not Radiohead. I think Radiohead should be compared to Pink Floyd more than U2, given the eclectic, textured music and concept album style.
However, she is right about the heat at the show making it tough to enjoy. I was there and it was horrible. I saw a girl pass out from heat stroke in front of me. Not to mention being shoulder to shoulder with 75,000 fans.
Can’t blame the band for the heat or the crowd. They put on a great show. Not every song they have is uptempo and it would be a disservice to the audience to not play a wide range of songs from their albums. They sounded fantastic. Crisp, in tune and polished. If you want to see a show that’s almost all uptempo, why not wait for the next Green Day tour?
best live show I’ve ever seen. I believe Thom’s mentioning of the crowd being so quiet was kind of a joke. This is a show you need to just take in and watch, or sing along. The silence told me that the crowd was just waiting for whichever beautiful song would come up next. Best live performance, and stage setup(lighting was amazing, no possible way you could disagree) i’ve ever seen. people need to stop thinking about what they’re not playing and just fu%&ing listen. I’m not a radiohead snob either by the way. My other favorite bands are Beck, Deftones, PearlJam if that says anything. Black Keys are climbing that ladder now though, they rocked.
It is clear in the time between Ok Computer and Kid A Radiohead made the decision that they were not going to follow U2. They have chosen not to make the more formulaic music that other bands like U2 and Coldplay are famous for. If they had, they just might have become the biggest thing since the Beatles. They don’t want to follow the lead of any other band. They just want to be themselves. They don’t want the spotlight. Did you notice how they rarely addressed the crowd during their show at Lollapalooza? All they want to do is play THEIR music THEIR way.
In response to you hoping for Radiohead to have “played the hits,” I’d just like to know exactly what you mean. Outside of “Creep,” what hits do Radiohead really have? They focus on making strong collections of music, not singles surrounded by filler.
I’m not going to lie, OK Computer is my favorite album ever. But it is only after that album that they would become something better, something greater than U2 ever could be
Is the issue here that because Radiohead so clearly DON’T wanna be U2 that there must be something wrong with them? They are exactly the band they wanna be and don’t have any pre-existing aspirations to fulfill. That setlist reads like a dream (really, anything with Fake Plastic Trees, The Bends, AIRBAG and Lucky has hit written all over it – in a uniquely Radiohead way of course) and if you were looking forward to hearing anything from Pablo Honey then I’m afraid you’re about 10 yrs too late for any of that!
I love Radiohead for what they are now. They don’t have to answer to anyone but themselves. They’re very successful, selling out shows in minutes and they don’t need to be like U2 or Coldplay. If they wanted to, they could have kept the same sound from the first 2 albums. OK Computer is my favorite album of theirs, it’s so beautiful and haunting.
Not everyone band/singer wants that kind of fame.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!
superhonkey is totally right to say that if Radiohead wanted that U2 popularity status they would rehash their first fame over and over again like Coldplay but that’s not what good bands do. they evolve and are actually creative and relevant in a way that DOES NOT apply to “hits of today and yesterday” radio stations.
if i’m not mistaken some people were not fond of the direction The Beatles were taking with Sgt. Pepper’s but i think that worked out OK to say the least. but y’know, maybe they should’ve just rehashed Please Please Me a few dozen times. because that’s what good bands do; they cling to their popularity and album sales even if it means losing artistic integrity.
I have to heartily disagree with the review – I found the concert amazing, moving, visually and aurally striking. Now, I happen to like Radiohead’s post-OK records (which now outnumber their predecessor’s) but I found the set actually changed my mind about some of my least favorite songs from those albums. The cameras and the LED poles were incredibly well-used. And ending with 2+2=5 and Idioteque was perfect. Given the upcoming election I wanted so badly to hear “Hail To The Thief.”