Lollapalooza, Chicago 2006
So my friend Liz, from New York, tells me she’s going to fly Lollapalooza in Chicago, specifically to see one artist, and asks if I might be around… it’s only 4 hours away… there’s a chance… and whattaya know? I did have to go to Chicago, because my clarinet repairman lives there, and I needed some things fixed. So, I arranged it so I’d be around the same time. I wasn’t originally planning on going to Lolla, because I shouldn’t have spent the money, and I should have been home doing last minute things to prepare for moving.
Should have.
But somehow I got persuaded into going.
Was it worth the money and extra time spent there? Well…
When we first got there, we heard a bit of The Go! Team…. not too impressed. Actually, not at all. They were just annoying with their cheerleader antics and how that was represented in their music.
After that caught Coheed and Cambria. They were better, had some decent tunes and good melodies, but eventually ended up in the same rut as many indie/emo bands… it just got boring and monotonous. They didn’t delve too far into the whining of most emo, so that was a save for them. But I was reminded of why I’ve stopped listening to mainstream radio and much of current rock music in general recently.
Caught a bit of Lyrics Born next. I’d seen him play a couple years ago and wasn’t too impressed at the time… that tour was put on by my favorite record label, Ropeadope Records, and I have a hard time believing they’d make a mistake pertaining to quality, plus Lyrics Born has worked with some other really great producers and artists in the past, so maybe I just caught a bad show before. I do think it was better this time. Last show he just used a DJ, but here there was a live band, an element I appreciate when seeing a hip-hop show. He flows really well, and can spit rapid-fire rhymes, but sometimes at the expense of comprehensibility. And, he did too much with crowd hollas. I don’t like it to begin with, and I think it’s extremely played out now. I really wish it would just go away. Overall, not a bad performance… but could be better.
Saw the Dresden Dolls after them. This was interesting. Just a two piece, piano and drums, playing cabaret punk rock. It may not be listener friendly for everyone, but it’s definitely fresh. They have a unique sound, and were still able to rock Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs” with just the two of them, and no guitar… There was definitely energy in their performance, as well as a comic political awareness.
The Flaming Lips went on the stage across the field next. We were able to hear and see the side stage screen from where we were, and didn’t feel like moving, so just listened from there. I’m not all that familiar with the Lips’ tunes, but it looked like they were putting on a good stage show… lots of things being shot into the air from the stage, random people dressed in costumes, light shows, giant hands, and all around general zaniness that you’d expect from weirdos like the Flaming Lips.
Thievery Corporation went on next, and were the first to really impress me. I wasn’t expecting to see a live band in addition to the synths and drums machines, but they had one… complete with horns and a sitar. They kept towards Indian influenced tracks for the evening, and were able to get the crowd to get their groove on pretty well. They kept it more uptempo than a lot of their trip-hop tracks, which is key to playing an event like Lollapalooza. They have some great albums out, and put on a great performance to back them up.
Then, finally, the act we were waiting all day to see, Manu Chao. His albums have been in regular rotation for me for a while now, and after hearing a live album, I knew I had to see him perform. He played while I was in Amsterdam last month, and I only found out about it 2 days afterwards. I’m definitely glad I saw him here. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because outside of other travellers, I don’t really know any other Americans that listen to him, or have even heard of him for that matter. I wasn’t sure what kind of a crowd would stick around to check him out, rather than go to the other stage to see Kanye West. We headed over to the stage about a half hour before he went on to try to get as close as possible…
Then the madness began… We found a spot near a large group of Latinos. I have a feeling this may have been a large portion of the crowd, though. This added an awesome element to the show. They were nuts about Manu Chao. Like psychotically nuts. They were cheering and chanting in Spanish and waving Che banners and Mexican flags. It was almost like seeing the show in another country. The energetic atmosphere they created before he even took the stage kept the excitement building. And then.. holy hell… an hour and a half straight of pure energy. He never stopped and never let it up. The music kept going the whole time, from one song right to another. And they are fucking tight with their playing… going from blazing punk rock to half time reggae and dub, turning on a dime… instantaneous. One second everyone’s doin the pogo and the next it’s all groove, and then right back to bouncing. I haven’t been to a good rock show like that in a while. It was good shit. And the whole vibe of the festival completely turned around… There seemed to be lacking something earlier in the day that a festival should have… some sense of community or bond. All day had just kind of been.. eh… but after Manu played, it was there in full effect. Well worth it. High on my list of best live shows ever.
Tags: Chicago, Music, North America, United States
nerokerr1
Great review!
the Manu Chao sounds intense and Theivery with a band?!? dag they just dj’d when I saw them. Lyrics Born is good to me; maybe he was having an off day lol? but c’mon now, you cant take the crowd participation out of hiphop!
More music reviews in the future please! Let us know what we are missing =)