I’ve gotta say...

...that I really like this Daily Swarm commentary even though I disagree with quite a bit of it. I agree with the spirit, though I dispute the facts. Or something like that.

Jane’s Addiction was one of the great bands of our lifetime.

No, it wasn’t.

Lollapalooza, at least in its first few years as a touring festival, was a musical and organizational revolution that inspired a generation. Porno for Pyros had some great songs, great shows, great moments.

No, they didn’t. Well...I guess I can't say that for sure...all I know is "We'll Make Great Pets" was awful. Horrible.

The Jane’s reunion was unsentimental and glam. But, as the fallout from Lollapalooza continues, its gotten really hard to take him seriously about anything, and his once stellar reputation as a cultural voice worth listening to is more and more diminished every time he opens his mouth. WTF?

Agreed. As we were saying all weekend in Chicago...thanks for the festival, Perry...now shut up.

[Lollapalooza] is and remains his baby (if not his company). Its a nonsense word that he personally instilled with meaning; a brand name bigger than himself that, despite some late-era missteps, could have lived on in the dictionary and many people’s memories as a lasting symbol of a wonderful time in rock and roll history when boundaries were dissolving, intensity was celebrated, and friends new and old coming together under the banner of great music could cut through the crap and collectively speak out.

But the destination festival in Chicago that is Lollapalooza’s rebirth – and that Perry remains an active front for (if not a financial partner) – is not only the disaster that critics have rightfully and unanimously skewered.

I’ll discuss this link in a moment.

The new Lollapalooza is quickly becoming a visible, singular representation of the failure of Perry’s own original ideals to take root. The Lollapalooza that once was the place where society’s outsiders could congregate to fly their freak flags and rage against the machine while being exposed to a brilliantly programmed lineup of diverse and challenging music has devolved into a slick, by-the-numbers, marketing juggernaut that caters almost exclusively to its advertisers, sponsors, and VIP high-rollers at the expense of the kids on the field. It was gross, and under any other banner, easily forgotten. But as “Lollapalooza,” it was a painful assault on whatever shred of purity music for the masses may still hold.

I can kinda see his point here. I really, really enjoyed myself at Lolla, and I thought there was an overriding energetic spirit throughout many of the performances, from Ted Leo & The Pharmacists to Ben Harper to The Roots to The Hold Steady to My Morning Jacket to Pearl Jam. However, that spirit had nothing to do with Perry Farrell or Lollapalooza. It was a spirit unto itself...pretty much the spirit of fantastic, relevant music and nothing more. It was a good festival, but I guess it wasn't "Lollapalooza".

To make matters even worse, at the moment when Perry’s voice was most desperately needed – the week after Lollapalooza when the AT&T censorship of Pearl Jam’s anti-Bush lyrics was coming to light – he was notably silent. His headliner – and the only act on the bill who could legitimately share some of the credit for giving the festival its cultural cache – had its mouth taped shut by people who were, at least conceptually, working for, or at least with, Perry to produce his mega-event. It happened at his party, and not a peep from him about it

I agree somewhat, though his speaking up wouldn’t have even remotely helped the cause. As mentioned earlier, his voice has lost its resonance, and honestly...he just doesn’t really make sense half the time.

Now, to the article linked above. It focuses on a lot of criticism from Chicago music critics Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot, and both have pretty legit points. DeRogatis focuses a lot on the corporatization of the event, with VIP boxes cluttering things up...things like that. I actually didn’t think his points were all that brutal in their criticism, though honestly, the corporatization could have been a lot worse—I think I set my standards pretty low, but I was beyond pleased with the food (Pad Thai for $5!) and drink (water bottle = $2) prices...plus, I was able for the most part to just ignore the VIP boxes and things like that. They weren’t right in front of the stage, so I was okay. However, after an interview with DeRogatis, Farrell was, well, stupid.

“You guys want me to come back next year, don’t you?” Farrell asked the crowd of about 20,000 in between songs. “The Sun-Times doesn’t want me back! They don’t think we have good manners.”

Never mind that he equates himself with Lollapalooza (“you guys want me to come back”), and never mind the stupid “manners” comment (WTF?)...DeRogatis prefaced his whole idea as ways to “improve” the festival...not get rid of it, and Farrell tried to rile the crowd up for no reason.

Also from the article:

The Chicago Tribune’s Greg Kot was only slightly more charitable, repeatedly hammering the lineup as “lacking a drop-everything-to-see-it headliner;” “lacking diversity;” having “few collaborations;” and some great performances “amid lots of filler.”

Kot wrote a wonderful book about Wilco a while back, so I know he has good taste, but...at this point, Pearl Jam is the very definition of a “drop-everything-to-see-it headliner”...though I’ll admit two things. First, they could have done far better in their selections for Saturday night closer. Muse might have been fantastic, but not a lot of people knew about them. Second, hip hop was pretty underrepresented, and there could have been a couple token country(ish) acts. But as far as the rock spectrum goes, there was a strong amount of diversity.

And he’s also probably right when it comes to the collaborations thing...at least aside from Eddie Vedder’s attempt to perform with every artist/band at the festival.

Bottom line for me is, no matter what name it went by, the festival that took place two weeks ago in Chicago was wonderful for my taste in music. There were bands I was really curious about early in the day (Ted Leo, Tapes ‘n Tapes), there were bands I knew and loved (Pearl Jam, Ben Harper, The Roots), and there were bands I was starting to love and was dying to see (My Morning Jacket, Hold Steady). Add the Flaming Lips and a couple more hip hop acts, and it would have pretty much been the perfect weekend.

And while I'm defending the festival, I should mention that the scheduling was, for a festival, fantastic.

The first thing my buddy Walsh did when he got back to Dallas after Lolla was check out the Austin City Limits Festival schedule to see if he wanted to go (he assumed he would). When you look at the lineup (similar to Lolla only with Wilco, White Stripes, and Bob Dylan), it appears to outshine Lolla. However...the scheduling is horrid. None of the big names play in the afternoon (unlike Lolla, where you could catch The Roots or Iggy Pop in the 4pm range), so you end up having to make choices between LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A. on Friday (my choice would be neither, but if you like dance/electronica, you’re probably pretty pissed that you have to choose one or the other), Arctic Monkeys or Muse and Arcade Fire or White Stripes on Saturday (how unfair is that??), Wilco and My Morning Jacket on Sunday (?!?!?!?!?!?!), etc., and by the time you’ve made your choices, half the great acts you wanted to see are off the lineup. The people who drew up the Lolla schedule did a great job of making sure that, if you liked a certain type of music, you'd see just about everybody you wanted to see. Really, only the Modest Mouse vs My Morning Jacket decision was an unfair one.

In the end, I find myself pretty much in the middle here. I did not think Lollapalooza was nearly as corporatized as others did, and I thought the lineup was almost as good as I'd ever seen for my tastes. Plus, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I love that it makes Chicago the main hub for great music for at least a weekend each year. The city has embraced the festival, and I hope it remains there for years to come.

However, when Perry Farrell defends himself, I almost instinctively want to take the other side. Thanks for the festival, Perry. I really mean it. Now shut up.

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Serves me right...

...I decide that it AT&T's censoring of Pearl Jam wasn't totally intentional, and somebody digs up the fact that they did the same thing to the Flaming Lips and John Butler Trio. And Lilly Allen. And Lupe Fiasco. And...

- A fan emails reporters:

They did the same thing on the webcasts from Bonnaroo in June during the John Butler Trio show when he was talking about the lack of response from our government during Katrina, and also during the Flaming Lips show when the lead singer was talking about how much George Bush had screwed up. I was at both of those live shows and saw the webcasts later. The sound did not cut out at any other time – only when someone was talking about George Bush or the goverment in a negative way.

Now, according the the Sun Times:

- The Flaming Lips are not aware of the cuts, and are reviewing the tapes.

- Jon Butler Trio are unavailable for comment.

- AT&T issues a new statement admitting that political speech has been censored in the past:

“It’s not our intent to edit political comments in Webcasts on the Blue Room,” Tiffany O’Brien Nels, AT&T’s Austin, Texas-based spokeswoman, said Friday in a prepared statement. “Unfortunately, it has happened in the past in a handful of cases. We have taken steps to insure that it will not happen again.”

...

Alleged: Lupe Fiasco @ Lollpalooza 2007 (Pearl Jam message board)

I actually missed the Pearl Jam set, but I saw Lupe Fiasco’s performance earlier in the day. He has a song called “American Terrorist”, and while the song itself seemed to go by untouched… Lupe’s lead in to the song was. It went something along the lines of “Some of you might know him as George W. Bush… The President. I know him as George W. Bush ___________ (dead air)”. Having seen Lupe in concert before, I know that muted out section was a “American Terrorist”. He pretty much yells it into the mic before launching into the song.

Alleged: Lily Allen @ Bonnaroo 2007 (Lollapalooza message boards)

They were definately censoring what Lily Allen was saying in between songs. When there are technical problems, the picture will stop and sometimes the word playlist above the buttons on the video screen will change to buffering. During Lily Allen my picture would keep playing fine and the sound was gone. The sound while the Roots were talking in between songs just cut out for the first time.

And so on. I'll never doubt the conspiracy again. My bad. And I'd sure like to know what "steps" AT&T has taken...in the meantime, here's some info about the contracts artists sign to participate with The Blue Room (via Daily Swarm)...

The release sent to bands participating in AT&T's Lollapalooza webcast contains no reference to the company's policy of deleting political speech from artists' performances. The section of the release that talks about the equipment used by C3 Presents (which produces live recordings of Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits) to capture audio and video footage, but did not divulge to artists that their political comments would be redacted from webcasts

Busted...

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Iggy on YouTube...

...because I can't seem to stop posting about Lolla...this pretty accurately describes the chaos that ensues when you decide to invite half the crowd on-stage...the last 30 seconds, when he's trying to get the folks off the stage, are good listening...

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My Verdict: Slightly unintentional, but...

So I guess something strange happened during the Pearl Jam webcast the other night:

After concluding our Sunday night show at Lollapalooza, fans informed us that portions of that performance were missing and may have been censored by AT&T during the "Blue Room" Live Lollapalooza Webcast.

When asked about the missing performance, AT&T informed Lollapalooza that portions of the show were in fact missing from the webcast, and that their content monitor had made a mistake in cutting them.

During the performance of "Daughter" the following lyrics were sung to the tune of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" but were cut from the webcast:

- "George Bush, leave this world alone." (the second time it was sung); and

- "George Bush find yourself another home.

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media.

Whitney from EW’s PopWatch called the spokesperson for AT&T’s “Blue Room”:

[T]he company's spokesperson told me that the editing at Lollapalooza was not intentional, and was the decision of an "overzealous" web editor at a company AT&T subcontracted to handle the event. "We have policies for profanity and other actions," the spokesperson continued, "but this was a mistake, and we are working with the band to resolve it." They hope to have an un-edited performance online soon, and, naturally, they regret the situation.

That's nice. But the first question here, obviously, is how to keep something like this from happening in the future. One can't help but wonder how Joe Webcasteditorguy determined that Vedder's remarks were somehow inappropriate — according to the spokesperson, the Blue Room's only policy regarding editing is to remove "excessive profanity" from webcasts, based on the fact that they have no age restriction for the website. What I found interesting is the fact that all Blue Room transmissions are running on a two-minute delay, which, unlike your more standard SNL-and-news-broadcasts seven-second delay, must be an agonizingly long time for any editor to stew over a snap judgment — especially if they're engaged in a fierce internal debate about whether allowing the liberal rock star's anti-Bush comment through the filter might get them fired, or, worse, added to some sort of list that could lead to phone monitoring and/or the inability to get on a plane next time they want to visit grandma. And yes, that is a slight exaggeration. But throw in paranoia involving the giant corporation for whom they are working, the opinions/beliefs of shareholders, the chance that you might be providing the dreaded "succor" to the damn terrorists.... Well, one can see where Joe Webcasteditorguy was, maybe, just trying to do what's right.

Art Brodsky at HuffPo had some questions as well.

The larger question is, why do they have a "content monitor?" This isn't TV, where the Federal Cussing Commission is looking over everyone's shoulder. There isn't a rule about what content can get streamed over the Internet, at least not yet.

AT&T is really getting into its role as content nanny in a big way. First, it starts monitoring all sorts of conversations for the National Security Agency. Then it promises to work with the movie studios and NBC to come up with some super software to tag copyrighted material that flows through its network, regardless of how that content is used. Now it puts "content monitors" on its Webcasts.

We must ask: This is the company that want to be left alone to run the Internet as it sees fit? The corporate officials of AT&T like to give speeches and to tell the FCC and Congress that they won't block people's access to content. They made that promise when they bought BellSouth for $80 billion last year. Former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre made it in a speech last March.

They protest too much. Despite the denials from Whitacre and others in the telecom industry, this incident is just one more count in the indictment. Millions of people all over the country have signed petitions and told the government that they don't want companies like AT&T to have control over what goes over the Internet. If you have to ask why, this is why.

As the band said on its Web page: "AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media."

Pearl Jam has had a lot of hits, but it couldn't write anything more striking than this: "What happened to us this weekend was a wake up call, and it's about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band."

Despite my reflexive “DON’T YOU DARE MESS WITH MY PEARL JAM” instinct, I'm willing to at least slightly believe the "Mistakes were made...just not by us" excuse that this was something of an accident, and I’m glad that AT&T’s working with the band to fix the problem. That said, I hope this issue doesn’t go away after it’s fixed.

The whole ‘webcasting’ idea has been so fresh and neat (“You mean I can watch the closing set from Bonnaroo in my underwear at home?? That’s awesome!!”) that I don’t think consumers have felt like they have a right to expect more just yet.

If AT&T is going to have basically a monopoly over this type of service, then it’s indeed time to start making some demands. The biggest one of all to me is that there really is absolutely, positively no need for removing “excessive profanity” on this sort of thing, being that a) you can find any cussword you want on YouTube and anywhere else, and b) you should probably know what you’re getting into if you let your young child watch a rock concert (HELLLLO, McFly). Plenty of parents brought their children to the concert, and I bet they knew what they were getting into. Besides, if you’re allowing your child to play on the Internet without your supervision, the last thing you have to worry about is them hearing some curse words on a concert webcast. If you take profanity off the table, then some "overzealous web editor" won't have decisions to make other than hitting 'Start' and 'Stop', and this kind of crap won't happen.

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Lollapalooza Afterthoughts...

It’s hard to go to a festival like this and not leave pretty optimistic about the current state of music—maybe not popular music, but music—as long as you see the right bands, anyway. One of my favorite music writers, Jim DeRogatis, blogged his way through all three days of the festival, and I swear...I’m not sure we saw more than about five of the same bands all weekend. Let’s compare notes. I’m going to sample liberally from his blog, but trust me...I’m leaving plenty behind to read for yourself, including his testy jab exchange with Perry Farrell.

Yes, it was odd to see heartfelt political punk Ted Leo and his rip-roaring band the Pharmacists hammering out their smart, galvanizing call-to-arms anthems in the couldn’t be more apolitical, oh-so-middle-of-the-road setting of Lolla. But it’s a testament to the strength of songs such as “Bomb. Repeat. Bomb.” and “Army Bound" and a credit to the fact that Leo never fails to give less than 110 percent on any stage he takes that his set lost none of the power it had two years ago at the Pitchfork Music Festival.

...

The high of Leo’s performance was soon dissipated by the next two acts in Hutchinson Field: Jack’s Mannequin and Slightly Stoopid, both of which were about as low as Lolla’s lowest points have ever gotten.

You should have been watching Polyphonic Spree (entertainment value) and Electric Six (strangeness value), Jim!

Following in Yawn's [Pete Yorn] spirit on the Jackson Street stage was the Montreal-based Sam Roberts Band. I've been searching all weekend for a name for the gently lilting, vaguely rootsy genre that they represent, and "Sound Opinions" producer Jason Saldanha finally provided one: "One Tree Hill" acoustic rock.

Looking over the list of what I've seen so far in the fest, Anders' accounts of what I've missed and what's still to come at Lolla's half-way point, I have to say that more than a third of the acts booked this year can easily be lumped into one of three thoroughly generic and instantly forgettable sounds: this sort of "One Tree Hill" acoustic rock; pointless jam-band wankery or pleasantly jangley indie-rock. Enough already!

Yes, but they’re Canadian. And they’re crowd was fantastic. I’m worried that I’ll pick up their latest album and come to the realization that I didn’t actually enjoy their music at all last Saturday, only the atmosphere. We’ll see.

Although the start of his set was delayed 20 minutes by sound problems, and the rain that had been threatening all day finally started gently falling just as he began to perform, South Side rapper Rhymefest took the stage with his usual high-energy assault.

The rapper, whose mom calls him Che Smith, proceeded to spin his gruff-voiced rhymes about working-class life, including a new and still-unnamed track recently recorded with Just Blaze and another with Kanye West, over the accomplished but under-amplified and poorly mixed backing of a big band that included a hype man, a DJ, two keyboardists, bass, drums and a four-piece horn section.

Though his gig didn't quite match the intensity of last year's turn at the Intonation Festival, it still had a large and enthusiastic crowd shouting and clapping along as Rhymefest pulled out all the stops, rocking up some of his material for the occasion, free-styling with no musical backing at one point and taking a quick jog through the crowd at another.

I really hope his talent catches up to his enthusiasm and performance. He hit every right note on Saturday, but the songs themselves came up a little short for me.

All in all, Lolla left me encouraged about the state of rock music—what with the enthusiastic response garnered for bands like The Hold Steady, Ted Leo & The Pharma, and Tapes ‘n Tapes—but I’m no more optimistic about the state of hip hop than I was before the week began. The week started with Common releasing what is probably pretty easily the hip hop album of the year...and it still left me a bit disappointed. But that's just probably because I worship Com's 2002 album, Electric Circus. It's possibly the most musically interesting, adventurous hip hop album ever, and after he caught flak for going a little overboard on EC he stripped everything down to simple beats for 2005’s Be. Well, his new album, Finding Forever, doesn’t really break any new ground either. It’s obviously solid, very good in fact, but it didn’t move hip hop forward any.

Meanwhile, basically the only hip hop Lolla had to offer were Rhymefest, The Roots (who were obviously amazing...but they’ve been amazing for a long time, and they obviously haven’t had an effect on how the rest of hip hop is doing), and Lupe Fiasco, who’s unique and interesting, but not amazing. I’m ready to be blown away by hip hop...it’s been a while.

Anyway.

Finally, day two ended in Hutchinson Field with the weekend's most mediocre headliner (though Interpol in the north was barely more worthy), the English quartet Muse.

The inferior English answer to America's similarly theatrical, atmospheric but much more clever My Chemical Romance, core band members Matthew Bellamy, the group's philosophically minded guitarist-vocalist, bassist Chris Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard attempt an unlikely merger of radio-friendly alternative, vintage symphonic/pomp-rock (heavy on the imitation Queen), funk, electronica and hair metal. Live at Lolla as on the group's most recent album, last year's "Black Holes and Revelations," the whole mess just falls flat, toppling under the weight of its own bombast and pretensions.

The band kicked things off with a bit of taped oratory by John F. Kennedy, and that was the most coherent and eloquent part of its show. Keyboards tinkled, Bellamy trilled, a synthesized orchestra swelled, drums boomed and guitars laid useless, flashy filigrees atop it all, making my head hurt, my ears ring and my second day at Lolla end with a pompous whimper rather than the bang I really could have used.

Okay, that balances out the “Dude, it was like Radiohead” review we heard Saturday night at a bar. I regret our decision to leave the rain early a bit less...though we did apparently drop the ball by missing out on Spoon.

"Hello, motherf---ers!" Iggy shouted after opening with "Loose," which was followed by "1969," "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "TV Eye," making for four of the most incendiary rock songs ever written in row. "We are very happy to be here at f---ing Lolla-pop-apalooza!"

While families straggling over from Kidzapalooza may have cringed at all of the cussing, I for one was glad to have the Stooges in all of their vulgar, deliciously dirty, incredibly ugly, blood pressure-raising power, and even the songs from their lame comeback album, "The Weirdness," sounded good live, especially "My Idea of Fun (Is Killing Everyone)," which Iggy sang from the midst of the stunned, somewhat frightened but nonetheless energized crowd. All oldies/nostalgia acts should be this good — and for that matter, so should many of the current up-and-comers a quarter the Stooges' age who polluted the park throughout the weekend.

The climax of the band's set: "No Fun," during which Iggy invited the crowd onstage, and hundreds of fans jumped the security fences and climbed up to dance beside him in a wild frenzy, thoroughly freaking out security and the promoters, just like great rock 'n' roll should. No fun? No way; quite the opposite! Though I couldn't help but wonder what the Stooges' No. 1 fan and original champion of punk rock, rock critic Lester Bangs, would have thought about seeing his heroes here, at this time and in this most corporate-rock of settings. It would probably have killed him, if he wasn't dead already.

I’m an optimist, so I’m looking at it from the other direction: the Stooges’ appearance legitimized Lolla instead of degrading the Stooges. Lord knows the festival was better off for their having been there. Their performance pretty much told another 20 or so hard rock bands at the festival to go back to the minor leagues.

Next up were the Louisville, Ky., alt-country cult favorites My Morning Jacket, who churned out their ersatz Neil Young grooves and in the process impressed only those who had never heard that giant himself. Then the group promised to offer something a bit more than its ordinary musical Xerox act by joining forces midway through its set with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Unfortunately, the young classical musicians were very poorly amplified, and band leader Jim James hadn't really thought out beforehand how to utilize them to best effect — a problem he shared with the Decemberists when they joined forces with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra at Millennium Park a few weeks ago. But the band almost redeemed itself with its final song when it covered Kanye West's "Touch the Sky," an appropriate and fitting tribute to Chicago, and the sort of simple but moving effort to acknowledge the festival's home that too few bands made this weekend.

For the record, I’ve seen Neil Young perform, and while he was fantastic, I still enjoyed the crap out of MMJ. I do agree that some of the CYSO’s parts were quiet (though the fact that the band plays such a full sound and drowned them out half the time had something to do with that) and thrown together, but...I was okay with that. It was a noble attempt, and it really did succeed 3-4 times throughout the 40 or so minutes the CYSO was on stage.

(And it was a cover of the song Kanye sampled for “Touch the Sky”, “Move on Up.” Respect Curtis Mayfield!!)

Although I get grief from fans complaining that I'm holding them up to an impossibly high standard (even though it's a standard they set) whenever I mention this, my benchmarks for a great Pearl Jam show are the two I caught at the Blossom Arts Center outside Cleveland and what was then the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park when the group performed as part of Lollapalooza 1992, and Evanston native Eddie Vedder literally climbed the rafters of those outdoor venues during the shows as a very physical expression of how exciting the band's music was back then.

I will forever compare Pearl Jam shows to the nearly 3.5-hour show I saw at Alpine Valley (East Troy, WI) on my wife’s birthday in 2003 (She was there too...though we weren’t yet married at the time...PJ’s the only band she would ever care to see live.)

It's a different Pearl Jam 15 years later, better in some ways — the band is certainly more subtle and varied in the differing textures it brings to its songs — but not nearly as good in others. There was a time when Vedder was as exciting to watch and listen to as Iggy Pop, at age 20 or at age 60. I won't apologize for saying I miss that.

I agree with this...Eddie was much more physical in the past, though he still carries that intense, earnest mystique. He doesn’t have to climb on the rafters for you to know how intense he is. He earned a lifetime’s worth of cred with his early-‘90s antics.

To its credit, though, Pearl Jam delivered one of the most intense and hard-rocking shows I've seen it deliver since Soldier Field in 1995, when everything seemed to be on the line for the band as it played one of the few American gigs it was able to during the midst of its battle with Ticketmaster.

...

Other magical and inspiring moments during Pearl Jam's set:

* The fireworks show in Soldier Field that erupted in the midst of "Evenflow."

* Vedder urging concertgoers to boycott BP/Amaco until it abandons its plans to further pollute Lake Michigan: "Think of it like a girlfriend or boyfriend who never brushes their teeth: You wouldn't kiss them. So don't show BP/Amaco any love until it cleans up its act!" (Tens of thousands responded by chanting "No BP!" as Vedder proceeded to improvise a short song with that lyric on the spot.)

* A gorgeous, acoustic-guitar-driven version of "Daughter" that merged after a while into Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II," with Vedder segueing from the massive, crowd-aided sing-along chant of "We don't need no education / We don't need no thought control" into "George Bush, leave this world alone!"

* The blast from the past that was "Alive," which Vedder introduced by saying how much its appearance on Lollapalooza 1992 meant to the band.

By far the best version of this song I’ve seen.

* And the group's moving cover of Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary." Pretty great stuff, all of it.

This song has advanced light years thanks to Boom (BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM) Gaspar.

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Other random thoughts and links:

I think it’s absolutely fantastic what Lolla has done here, recording setlists (for nerds like me) and photo galleries and linking to iTunes downloads of performances. A very convenient, very welcome tool. It’s taking all I have not to download the sets of PJ, The Roots, MMJ, Hold Steady, Stooges, Ted Leo, and Tapes ‘n Tapes. Seriously, my hands are shaking a little bit.

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Here’s a photo gallery from the Roots’ performance.

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“Now this one was a Lollapalooza to remember”

Amen.

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Props to Ted Leo and other Day One performers.

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How Lollapalooza helps the Music Industry

The North American concert business has been particularly strong in 2007, according to first-half numbers reported on Billboard Boxscore. Attendance was 20.4 million from January through June, generating box office revenues of $1.05 billion from the 6,886 reported shows. Last year, major tours from the Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2 and Bon Jovi set record highs.

Meanwhile, despite the surge in digital sales, the recording industry continued its downward spiral last year. Retail dollar value of digital and physical recordings dropped 6.2 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

“The recording business is dead, but the music business is healthy,” Farrell said at the festival. “It’s an ideal time for musicians.”

Normally I would just say "Thanks for the festival, Perry, but please stop talking." In this case, he might just be right. Now stop thinking "We'll Make Great Pets" is actually a good song, and we might be getting somewhere...

Finally, I should also mention how great it is that Lolla is making Chicago the focus of the music world once a year. Chicago is as proud a city as there is, and it makes me happy how the city has embraced the festival and vice versa.

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Lollapalooza Day 3 (Part Two): The Most Important Band in the World...

A rock world that tries to align itself with Pearl Jam is one with hope.

No offense to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who closed Lollapalooza last year—they’re the ultimate Professional Festival Closer, and they’re good at what they do. But while RHCP have energy, Pearl Jam has passion, be it political or emotional, and music is getting more passionate and relevant by the day. In a festival where bands were taking political stands starting almost first thing Friday morning, Pearl Jam was the only band who could have been chosen to finish things right. And they did so.

When I was in 9th grade, I was in a typing class (oh baby) with some upperclassmen, and Pearl Jam was on its way to play Oklahoma City, an hour away from my hometown. This was a huge deal. There was no way in hell my parents would let me go—I didn’t even ask—but a few juniors and seniors went to the show and couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks afterward (their trip to the show also led to the fantastic moment of one of the upperclassmen falling asleep in class and having his head actually hit the typewriter...phenomenal stuff).

This was 1993.

For whatever the reason— the political vibe in the air, the success of “World Wide Suicide”, or simply an outbreak of nostalgia, there’s no questioning that almost 14 years later, seeing Pearl Jam is an even bigger deal. And unlike 14 years ago, Eddie Vedder seems happy to accept the role of being the guy that almost 200,000 people want to hear from. He gets increasingly more comfortable in his skin with each passing year, and while he’s played to big crowds for the last 16 years or so, he seemed genuinely touched by the number of people watching, cheering, and singing along to songs from every era of the band’s career to date, from Ten’s “Why Go” and Vs’ “Rearviewmirror” to Riot Act’s “Save You” and Pearl Jam’s “World Wide Suicide.” Add extra adrenaline and passion to what has always been earnest, loose-but-intense, emotional live show, and that made for an amazing way to finish up Day Three of Lolla ’07.

I’ve got to admit something. For a millisecond, I was torn about letting people back on the bandwagon. Though 1995-2005 was supposed to resemble something of a ‘dark period’ for Pearl Jam, they continued to sell out amphitheatres and arenas and put out interesting, emotional works for the enjoyment of their ever-loyal fanbase, and as a member of that ever-loyal fanbase, part of me resented everybody trying to reclaim their seat on the train—I’m a music snob, that’s what we do. However, as the weekend progressed and I heard more and more about how “I’m so looking forward to Pearl Jam” and “They’re gonna be so awesome”, I started realizing that Pearl Jam is a band that people want to say they’ve seen—in the best way possible—and I found the music snob in me starting to get drowned out by the side of me that wants as many people as possible to realize how fantastic this band really is. And anybody who saw them Sunday night would have had trouble coming up with a different adjective than that. Fantastic.

Pearl Jam took control of the weekend from the very first note. At a majority of shows, Pearl Jam has historically started with a slow-burning song—something like “Release” or “Sometimes” or “Long Road”—before jumping into a long series of hard rockers. Not Sunday. Sunday started with one of the band’s first hard rockers, “Why Go.” Be it a reference to Eddie being in Chicago—a childhood home—or a statement of “Why go home yet, festivalgoers? We’re going to be here a while” (my guess is the former), it kickstarted the festivities beautifully. Things didn’t slow down for a while, nor did PJ’s propensity to jump from album to album, as “Corduroy” (Vitalogy), “Save You” (Riot Act), and an insane “Do the Evolution” (Yield) followed. The momentum finally took a breath with “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” (Vs), one of the better sing-alongs in the PJ catalog. Every fan knows all the words, and the “I just wanna scream...HELLO!” part is always fun to sing. The band then hit the gas again for a murderous “Severed Hand” (Pearl Jam), and six songs into the show, six different albums had been represented.

One reason PJ has maintained the almost-religious fanbase that they have is the way they nod to those fans by breaking out unexpected rarities on an almost show-by-show basis. They play so many different songs over the course of a tour, and they do so even when they’re playing for almost 200,000 fans who are expecting to hear the hits. You’ll get most of the hits, but when some might have been expecting “Jeremy,” instead they god “Education”, a rarity from the B-sides album, Lost Dogs, that had only been played in a show twice before.

With the rarities mission accomplished, it was back to the hits. "Evenflow" would have gotten tired years ago if not for Mike McCready. I said on Saturday that The Roots had the best guitarist at the festival--Captain Kirk. Sorry, Kirk...that was a silly thing to say. There's no problem with being #2 (and for the record, I guess the Black Keys' Daniel Auerbach would have to be #3). McCready would be #1 at any festival in the world. He is an absolute powerhouse, both in talent and showmanship. Pete Townsend wind-up? He does that. Solo behind his head? That too. Duel with everybody on stage at some point? Yup. Until seeing PJ live, Walsh thought of Pearl Jam as the Eddie Vedder Band. As powerful a figure as Eddie is, when he's on stage, he's only one-sixth of the band. Stone Gossard is just about the perfect rhythm/co-lead guitarist. Jeff Ament is all kinetic energy at bass. Since taking over drum duties in the late-'90s, Matt Cameron has taken PJ's performances to a new level. Even Boom Gaspar, the old surfer dude that Eddie met surfing in Hawaii, holds his own on songs like "Love Boat Captain" and "Crazy Mary." They are a complete band, but really...McCready is a step above the others.

After McCready's typical perfect solo, Cameron got his chance to shine on "Evenflow" with a solo of his own...one that coincided so well with a fireworks display starting south of the park that I thought it was planned.

Next up were “Given to Fly” and a killer “World Wide Suicide” before the band unveiled a new ‘song’ in response to BP/Amoco’s decision to—in the name of “expansion”—dump more waste into Lake Michigan, one entitled “Don’t Go BP/Amoco.” Things wound down during the main set with a fun “Lukin”, loud singalongs in “Not for You” (fans always love having an excuse to scream “F--- you!”) and Daughter (complete with an “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II” tag at the end) and “State of Love and Trust” (from the Singles soundtrack) before closing with “Alive.”

Last year, Pearl Jam recorded an episode of VH1 Storytellers, and he discussed how fans completely changed the meaning of “Alive” for him. From Billboard:

"In the original story, a teenager is being made aware of a shocking truth that leaves him plenty confused," he said of the tale, based on his own teenage discovery that the man he believed to be his biological father was actually not. "It was a curse -- 'I'm still alive.'" But as fans quickly turned the title phrase into a self-empowering anthem, particularly at Pearl Jam concerts, Vedder said, "they lifted the curse. The audience changed the meaning for me."

Lord knows that the “Alive” performed at Lolla was the ultimate celebratory moment. Eddie is still alive, the band is still alive, hope is still alive for the future, et cetera. It was a pitch-perfect way to end the pre-encore set.

I told Walsh beforehand about my favorite Pearl Jam moment (before last weekend, anyway): Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI, 6/21/2003. The crowd was fantastic—singing along to everything and having a grand old time. The euphoric memory of the crowd singing all of “Better Man” to Eddie was something I’ll always keep with me. Well, Alpine Valley holds 20K-30K people. Multiply that by about 6, and you get the Lolla version of that memory. Another way that fans have somehow changed the meaning of songs: “Better Man,” a song about an abusive relationship, has become the only song more celebratory than “Alive,” a song with the refrain of “I’m still alive, but do I deserve to be?” It’s such a happy moment in a Pearl Jam show, and it lived up to all expectations in Chicago.

Encore #1 wrapped up with “Crazy Mary,” a song featuring an envigorating solos duel between McCready and organ player Boom Gaspar, a rousing “Life Wasted”, and the always-epic “Rearviewmirror.” But Pearl Jam doesn’t just play one encore.

Another of the more endearing things about Eddie Vedder is how is emotion and passion don’t prevent him from straying into cheesiness sometimes. He’s not part of the ‘ironic’ generation. This became clear during the first song of Encore #2. A documentary called Body of War will be finding its way into theatres soon. It's the story of an Iraq veteran named Tomas Young, bound to a wheelchair and speaking out against the Iraq war. Vedder had written music for the movie, and he brought Young out to greet the crowd and call them to action. It was an inspiring moment. Then Vedder brought Ben Harper out to perform a song from the soundtrack, entitled "No More." For better or worse, it is a cheesy, folky, anti-war song by any stretch of the definition.

What he has seen is hard to believe
And it does no good to just pray
He asks of us to stand
And we must end this war today

With his mind, he's saying, "No more!"
With his heart, he's saying, "No more!"
With his life he's saying, "No more war!"

With his eyes, he's saying, "No more!"
With his body, he's saying, "No more!"
With his voice, he's saying, "No more war!"

Yeah, nothing's too good for a veteran
Yeah, this is what they say
So nothing is what they will get
In this new American way

The lies we were told to get us to go
are criminal, let us be straight
Let's get to the point where our voices get heard
Behind the White House gate

Cheesy lyrics or no, hearing Vedder and Harper cry out the chorus and seeing Young smiling, moved by the moment, was really cool. Eddie, however, did milk the moment a bit much, however, getting the crowd to sing along to the chorus for a bit too long and seemingly losing some of the crowd. As a fan of music, it was maybe a slight misstep. However, as a fan of imperfections, I loved how it showed Eddie's inner idealism and vulnerability. During the 2003 tour, he spoke out on Bush and the Iraq War on a nightly basis. Four years later, this grizzled rock star still wants to do everything in his power to change things.

There was one more song on the docket for Encore #2, and it wasn't "Yellow Ledbetter," the song that has closed a majority of PJ shows over the last decade-plus. It might have been on the setlist, but it wasn't necessary, not after the brilliant debacle that was "Rockin' in the Free World."

Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" is the greatest protest song of the last 25 years, and Pearl Jam has pretty much made it their own. However, Eddie had been watching Iggy Pop earlier in the day, and he turned this into one of the most unique renditions. Ben Harper was already on stage, as was Tomas Young. So why not invite everybody else who was watching from backstage? It's not quite Iggy's "invite the entire crowd up" or anything, but...yeah, it was chaos nonetheless. Apparently Eddie happened to have like 75 tambourines backstage, so every new temporary PJ member had an instrument.

So the camera's panning across the people on stage...they come in all shapes and sizes, but there's only one 6'6 black man with nose rings on-stage. Everybody in our group has the same thought at the same time: "Was that Dennis Rodman??" Yes, yes it was.

I guess the randomness of seeing Dennis Rodman picking Eddie Vedder up on his shoulders was a relatively fitting way to end the evening. If the perfect Pearl Jam show has great performances, rarities, crowd interaction, emotion emotion emotion, politics, and complete unpredictability, I guess Sunday was the perfect Pearl Jam show.

So as I was saying...a rock world that tries to align itself with Pearl Jam is one with hope. They are students of classic rock who try to use their celebrity as they most earnestly see it, and after a weekend of Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Electric Six, Against Me!, the Polyphonic Spree, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals, The Wailers, Femi Kuti & The Positive Force, The Roots, Patti Smith, TV on the Radio, and every other band striving to make a positive social impact in their music, giving them Pearl Jam as a template was the least Lollapalooza's organizers could do. And I'm really glad I was there to see it. Walsh and I have all but already bought our 2008 tickets.

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Lollapalooza Day 3 (Part One): "I Would Thank God, but He Didn't Come on Stage..."

It's funny how seeing a band live totally affects what you think about songs and artists you've heard many times before. I'm back from Chicago--didn't finish this post last night, due to either total exhaustion or dehydration, not sure which. Walsh and I drove home today (actually, he's still driving...all the way back to Dallas tonight), and as I was listening to my Lolla playlist of bands like Ted Leo & The Pharmacists and The Hold Steady and Yo La Tengo, I found myself upgrading their star ratings on the iPod, almost across the board. 3-star songs are now 4; 4-star songs are now 5. Having faces and mannerisms (and displays of ridiculous talent) in my head while listening to a band, I start liking them quite a bit more. Guess that means I like live music, huh? Anyway.

Looking at the schedule when it was initially released, you could tell that Sunday was the money day for Lollapalooza 2007. As is usually the case with festivals, the best stuff was saved for last, and Lolla was no exception...which is good because otherwise folks exhausted from Days 1-2 wouldn't come back, right? No matter what, Sunday was just an unbelievable day of performances from top to bottom.

Amy Winehouse

We got to the park on Sunday even later than our allotted 15-minute tardiness. The subway near Hear No Evil's apartment was insanely packed, and we couldn't fit on the train the first time around. By the time we rolled up, we had already missed Smoosh--three teenage girls from Seattle (sorry, one is pre-teen...born in NINETEEN NINETY-FREAKING-SIX), one of whom apparently raps occasionally. Walsh had heard some of their music and said it was delightful in a novelty sort of way. They released their first album as a duo, She Like Electric, when they were 10 and 12; they are now wisened veterans at the ripe old ages of 13 and 15 (and 11). When Walsh told me about wanting to see them, we had this awkward exchange:

Walsh: They're pretty cool when you realize just how young they were when they made this album.
Me: (long pause) I really hope they're not hot.
Walsh: Yeah, that'd be really weird. Maybe we shouldn't see them.

I probably shouldn't have shared that. Anyway, when we showed up at Grant Park five minutes after their set ended, we had missed out on our chance to say, when in 15 years they're the biggest names in rock music, that we saw them play at Lollapalooza before they could even drive. Oh well. Put that regret right up there next to missing Spoon and Muse on Night Two.

As we approached the park, we could hear Amy Winehouse, who was apparently 10 minutes late to her set as well, belting out some of Lauryn Hill's "Doo Wap (That Thing)" before heading into her own "Back to Black." We found our place in the crowd, and...well, I don't remember much after that because it was just devastatingly hot. The ground was wet from Day Two's rain, and it almost felt like steam rising from the ground. Just disgusting.

Anyway, after seeing Amy Winehouse perform in person, all I can say is, whoever thought to provide her with two huge, dancing male backup singers would be commended. First of all, without their presence, the stage would be devoid of all kinetic energy--Winehouse wiggled her hips a bit but pretty much stood in the same 2-foot radius the entire show. And second of all, without them the stage would be basically empty. She takes up less room than one of the mic stands.

That's not to say Winehouse isn't a strong performer, though. She slurs a bit in the typical R&B fashion (not the "in need of rehab" fashion...well, maybe a little), and she looks at the ground when she sings, but she delivered the goods in Chicago. The set closed with "You Know I'm No Good," "Me & Mr. Jones" (Walsh loved the "You made me miss the Slick Rick gig" line), "Rehab," and "Valerie", quite the foursome.

I also got the added bonus of hearing Hear No Evil say "Jesus Christ!" when she turned her head and her profile revealed just how much hair she has in that beehive. That hair's the only thing keeping her above 80 pounds, I think. Walsh says she'll probably go crazy and shave her head in less than three years. We'll see.

Paolo Nutini

Paolo Nutini is an entirely unique creature. His name sounds Italian, his complexion looks Spanish, and his bio says he's from Scotland. Maybe that's why his accent and cadence are something none of us had ever heard. His music is a bit too "for the ladies" for my tastes (not Enrique Iglesias Level or anything, though), but it was unique enough to keep my attention. He opened with the one song of his I'd heard, "Alloway Grove", a catchy tune with the hook of "However much you want me, I swear I'll make you want me more." He followed with "New Shoes", a song that, as far as I can tell, is his biggest hit in the states. It was decent, but between the growing stink of the mud pit that had formed near where we were standing from Night Two's rain and the fact that there was another act I wanted to catch (not to mention the pad thai calling my name once again), that was about all of Nutini I caught.

I could see this guy hitting it pretty big overall. The ladies find him attractive, and he writes catchy songs. In general, that's a pretty good formula for success.

Apostle of Hustle

On the Playstation Stage, we caught quite a bit of the Canadian group, Apostle of Hustle. I was looking forward to them simply because of their fantastic name. They grew on Walsh and me slowly as the show wore on, breaking into a strange skit about a Pony Express rider and George Bush's head...or something like that, and honestly I was intrigued by the weird variety in their music, but it was hard to come up with an opinion of such a weird band in the 20 or so minutes we saw them. They might have to be an emusic download or something.

Iggy and the Stooges

Ten minutes into The Stooges' set, they had already obliterated Walsh's eardrums (it only took one note), set fire to early songs like "Loose" and "1969", and Iggy had already humped an amp and announced "We are...the f---ing...Stooges." They didn't waste time making an impression.

On the drive up to Chicago, I mentioned to Walsh that I was very impressed with how well The Stooges' early albums had aged over the years. Well, when performed live, it sounds like it was written yesterday (other than the fact that it's talking about 1969, 1970, et cetera). With Mike Watt of the Minutemen on bass, Ron Asheton on guitar, and Scott Asheton on drums (with a cameo from saxophonist Steve Mackay), The Stooges sounded amazing. They laid down the groove and let Iggy be Iggy.

And oh, was Iggy Iggy. Jumping on amps, executing his only-slightly-more-varied-than-Beatle-Bob's dance moves, high fiving the crowd, et cetera. He was in rare form (well...it might not have been rare at all), but I at least hope he warned the band before inviting half the crowd up on stage. During "No Fun", he decided it was no fun to be alone and opened the gates. At least 100 members of the crowd flooded the stage, and chaos reigned. No way was this ending well. After "No Fun," the band escaped to the back of the stage, and somehow everybody left in a more-or-less orderly fashion as Iggy emceed the proceedings, thanking almost everyone ("I would thank God, but he didn't come on stage...").

And then the band rolled on, closing with "1970," an amazing "Fun House," and "Skull King." I couldn't have been more impressed, though the volume almost left me dizzy a couple times. Iggy is as nuts as I could have possibly imagined, but these guys put on a frickin' show.

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo followed across the field from the Stooges, an odd transition considering this band looks like they belong as much on the Kidzapalooza stage or at a Bar Mistvah than on the Adidas stage. Oh, but they can rock. Every song sounds totally different, pulled together only by the falsetto and the gorgeous ringing organ serving as an undercurrent. All the band's qualities and talents were on display during the epic "Pass the Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind" (the fact that the 10+ minute version of this song was the opener for their last album, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass, tells you everything you need to know about this creative, interesting band) and the amusing, double-falsetto "Mr. Tough." The band's put out about 75 albums (okay, 16) since their 1986 formation, and I'm thinking I'll be hopping on emusic to pick up a few more.

!!!

A very aptly-titled band, as every lyric I heard from the singer was basically "!!!" They're an exciteable bunch, though I can't say I heard enough to make an impression beyond that.

My Morning Jacket

As a band, you hope to improve with each recording. In your wildest dreams, you can barely hope to make the album-to-album leap of My Morning Jacket and the songwriting of Jim James. Hear No Evil had only heard 2001's At Dawn leading up to Lolla and couldn't really figure out why I'd been giddy all weekend about seeing this group. He actually stuck around to watch most of the apparently lackluster Modest Mouse set before catching the last few songs and figuring everything out.

While At Dawn and its predecessor The Tennessee Fire are decent listens, the quantum leap from those two to It Still Moves to the unparalleled Z is the biggest album-to-album-to-album leap since Radiohead going from Pablo Honey to The Bends to OK Computer. This band has always been good live (or so the live recordings tell me), but not surprisingly, when you have much better songs to perform, you become a much better performer.

In other words, MMJ blew my mind. Leading off with three tracks from Z--"Anytime," "What a Wonderful Man," and "Off the Record"--they put on a display of enthusiasm, talent, and unrivaled team chemistry. Jim James throws himself around the stage (at one point, he did an almost Chuck Berry-like slide across the stage on his knees), and the others aren't any less boisterous.

After three songs, MMJ introduced a special guest: the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra. They knocked out "Gideon," "Wordless Chorus" (my personal favorite), and "Dancefloors", almost overpowering the CYSO at times with their already-full live sound. However, it was on "Just One Thing" and "Golden" when the harmony between the band and youths (my buddy Joe: "All those kids up there are first-chair band nerds, but right now they're way cooler than I'll ever be.") kicked in. The rawkus performance continued with "Lay Low," "One Big Holiday," and "Run Thru," and I thought that was going to be it for them. Only they did something every other band visiting Chicago should be required to do: they finished with a Curtis Mayfield cover. As if they didn't already have my heart. The CYSO was loud and clear playing the main hook to "Move On Up," an absolutely perfect close to the show. Not surprisingly, they ran over a bit (though as my buddy Joe said, "you wouldnt ask a top chef to cook your filet well done and you dont ask MMJ to play for only 60 minutes"), but it was well worth it...for everybody not involved with TV on the Radio anyway.

TV on the Radio

For some reason, all sets on Sunday started at :15 after the hour instead of :00. This became pretty silly when TV on the Radio was given a 45-minute set (7:15 to 8:00) instead of the hour that everybody else on the main stages were given. Plus, unlike other acts throughout the day, they couldn't bleed over their limit by a few minutes because they were preceding the festival's closer, Pearl Jam. They had to cut it off right at 8:00.

In other words, when MMJ bled over by 6 minutes or so, TVOTR's set was cut to about 39 minutes long. Very unfortunate. Also unfortunate was the fact that I couldn't hear them very well because there were so many people in the crowd by this point that we were pretty much stuck where we'd been for MMJ, about two softball fields away. I did hear enough, however, to answer the major question that had been stuck in my head for a while: how in the hell does TVOTR duplicate their studio sound on stage? It's got so many different parts to it, and there are so many industrial sounds, that I couldn't figure it out.

The answer? They don't try to duplicate that sound. They create a new one. They don't bring 1,000 different instruments with them on stage (though they've got quite a few), they just locate the essence of the song and figure out how to duplicate that with the typical indie band setup. The reworked versions of songs like "The Wrong Way" and "Dreams" were perfect, and in a completely different way than I'd imagined.

Pearl Jam

For now, I'm going to skip Pearl Jam's performance. That's a post to itself. If they weren't before, they are certainly now the most important band of my generation.

Anyway, for now...a quick rundown of Day Three.

Biggest surprise: Honestly, it was probably the musical punch of The Stooges. Iggy lived up to all expectations (and then some), but the guitar-bass combination of the incomparable Mike Watt and the Asheton brothers just dominated...they made those 40-year old songs sound like they were written today. Plus they managed to play competently with 200 fans on the stage. Much respect to The Stooges.

Best beard: We'll go with Jim James of My Morning Jacket.

Best cover: We'll go with two...one was predictable (Pearl Jam's "Rockin' in the Free World", which I will discuss at length tomorrow) and one was very much not (MMJ's "Move On Up").

Best T-shirt: A male of obvious Indian complexion wearing a shirt that said "No, I will not fix your computer." I giggled about that all night. Runner-up: "PC Load Letter??" You either don't get that shirt at all, or you think it's genius.

Most Frustrating Part of Lollapalooza: I was going to say the oppressive humidity of Chicago in August, then I was going to say the random people throwing empty bottles and glow sticks in the crowd, but hey...the festival's over now. No need to complain about anything.

Number of Mizzou Shirts in the Crowd: 2. One a generic gray T-shirt, and one mid-'90s #33 basketball jersey (Mizzou hero Kelly Thames). That was fantastic to see.

Top Three Acts of Day Three: When The Stooges ended, I thought "Wow...MMJ and Pearl Jam have their work cut out for them if they want to snag the #1 spot." When MMJ ended, I thought "Wow...Pearl Jam has their work cut out for them if they want to snag the #1 spot." Yeah, Pearl Jam came through, as you'll see tomorrow. 1) Pearl Jam, 2) My Morning Jacket, 3) Iggy & The Stooges.

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Lollapalooza Day 2: Weather, T-shirts, and It's Just Not Fair...

Two days into Lollapalooza, I know three things for sure: 1) the first thing to cramp up when you're out of concert shape and you've seen 12 bands in 26 hours is your right calf, 2) it's going to be disgustingly humid today, and 3) it's not fair for anybody to have to follow The Roots. It's just not. It sprinkled on and off for most of the shows we attended on Day Two, negatively affecting the overall number of bands we saw, but not the performances of the bands themselves. Whereas Day One was dominated by a theme of political anger and action, Day Two was simply the day for fantastic music interspersed amongst raindrops.

Tapes 'n Tapes

As will apparently have been our custom all weekend, we showed up about 10-15 minutes into the set of the first band we wanted to see. But I dare say we didn't miss much showing up late for Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes...and not because it wasn't worth seeing. Quite the contrary. It's just that, as we made our way to the Myspace stage, they began their masterpiece from 2006's The Loon, "10 Dollar Ascots," a quiet-loud-quiet-loud song where lead singer Josh Grier ranges from The Shins' James Mercer to Kurt Cobain in one quick step. I don't know how their set started, but this was the perfect way to start the part that I saw. After a tuning break that saw Grier lecture us motherly on reapplying sunscreen "even on an overcast day...it's like when you go skiing and it's cloudy all day, and then you get back to the hotel and you look like a tomato," T'nT plowed through a set featuring both songs from The Loon and new, as-yet-unreleased songs that I really enjoyed. They had witty banter and a great stage presence, and they aren't afraid to experiment in their music.

In the abbreviated set that we saw, Matt Kretzman played everything from tambourine to keys to baritone (the fastest way to my heart: feature a multi-instrumentalist in your band...oh, and cover Curtis Mayfield), and they varied the tones from the rocking "Ascots" to the toned-down, baritone-laden "Omaha". In all, color me impressed. I really enjoyed The Loon, but I wasn't sure it would translate to a solid live show. It did.

Kevin Michael

As we were walking from the Kevin Michael set over to the Playstation Stage to watch Sam Roberts Band, Walsh and I came to an agreement: a) Kevin Michael can sing his ass off, b) he has no idea how to write a song yet, c) he showed that having a 'fro doesn't automatically equal greatness, d) if he's 20-21 years old, he's got a bright future ahead of him, and e) if he's 29-30 years old, he's screwed.

The verdict? He's 22. There's still hope. Dude really can sing.

Sam Roberts Band

As we were walking down Jackson Street toward the park, Walsh, Hear No Evil, HNE's girlfriend, and I were reviewing our plan of action for the day. I mentioned that I was thinking about checking out the Sam Roberts Band because I'd heard good things...even though I couldn't remember where I'd heard good things. A 16-year old female walking by responded with the following: "OHMIGOD, YOU HAVE TO SEE THEM...THEY'RE SOOOOOO GOOD...YOU'LL LOVE THEM...PROMISE ME YOU'LL SEE THEM...OHMIGOD, THEY'RE SOOOOOO GOOD." So we had to go see them. After all, if 16-year old girls like them, how can they be bad? Oh wait...

To our surprise, the girls were right! The pride of Montreal, Quebec, didn't let us down. They had an overtly enthusiastic audience (complete with Canadian flags), a strong, radio-friendly rock sound, and Beatle Bob in their corner. Which reminds me...as great as Beatle Bob is, his repertoire really only consists of four major moves and an occasional fifth: 1) shake the marimbas, 2) right cross, 3) left hook, 4) occasional kick with the right foot, and 5) the twist, saved for special occasions. I guess it's a sign of his sheer genius that he achieves greatness with a limited repertoire. He's like The Ramones of revered old fans who get to dance onstage whenever they want.

Anyway, at the end, after a set highlighted by songs like "The Resistance" and "Dead End", Beatle Bob took the mic and reached an agreement with the crowd that SRB should be invited back to every Lollapalooza between now and the end of time. Consider it done!

Stephen Marley

One hour of "Hey, wasn't my dad frickin' awesome?!" He completed the best Bob Marley cover set I've ever heard, but...yeah, I hoped he'd bring more to the table other than strong covers of "Iron Lion Zion" and "Could You Be Loved" (among about 18 other Bob covers). Oh well.

Rhymefest

After a quick lunch--word has spread about the fantastic food at the Star of Siam booth, by the way...there were a good 12-15 people standing in line between me and the tempura chicken & vegetables that awaited--we weren't sure which act we were going to check out while killing time for the 4:30 Roots performance. I saw horns soundchecking on the stage that was to hold Rhymefest, and I was totally sold. Hip hop + horns? Are you freaking kidding me? That's like crack to me. It didn't stop at the horns--he had a full band, breakdancers, a hype man (I can't wait for the day that rock music begins to incorporate the hype man...the sky's the limit), he crowd-surfed, the audience was fantastic (Rhymefest's a Chicago guy, and there were plenty of familiar faces in the crowd), the band broke out Zeppelin and James Brown riffs...

...and yet it wasn't as good overall as I thought it would be. No matter what else you've got going for you--and this guy had a lot--your songs still have to be top-notch. Dude's head is in the right place, though...and he's somebody worth keeping track of.

Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9)

The Bee Gees for the 21st Century. Okay, that's not fair. It's just not my thing.

The Roots

Some bands just know what they’re doing. It doesn’t matter whether they have a 30-minute slot or three full hours, you know what you’re getting from them, and when the show’s over, you’re going to know all about what they have to offer. The next two Lolla bands we saw—The Roots and The Hold Steady—fall directly into this category. Fans of some bands come to a show thinking, “I hope they play (a specific song).” But that’s not the case for these two bands. Their shows are more like paintings—no specific memories of the process, just one singular, outstanding memory of the show as a whole.

In 2002, as I’ve mentioned before, I attended a Smokin’ Grooves Tour stop at Nissan Pavilion outside DC. The tour had a stellar lineup—Jurassic 5, Lauryn Hill, Outkast—but The Roots outshone everybody, and they do so at every given opportunity. Halfway through the band’s set, my girlfriend-at-the-time turned to me and said, “I had no idea!” I don’t even remember what song they were playing at the time, and I’m sure she couldn’t tell you either. It was just that, after 30-45 minutes of hearing them perform, her amazement overflowed.

The Roots were the single band that sold Walsh on coming (granted, he said okay to going to Chicago before actually knowing why he was going--he's just that cool--but The Roots actually got him excited about it), and they almost managed to exceed his lofty expectations. It's just really not fair what they bring to the table. It's one thing to be the best live hip hop band in the world, it's another to have basically the best drummer, best keyboardist, best horn section (with sousaphone!), best bass player, and even best guitarist at the festival. It's just an impossible act to follow.

Starting with a drum-and-vocals only version of "Web", lyrically one of Black Thought's best efforts, and rolling through a chaotic "Here I Come", the band then introduced one of the more crowd-pleasing aspects of a Roots Show--the random covers. It assures that even if you don't know a single Roots song, you're going to recognize something, and you're guaranteed to enjoy yourself. First up on the random covers list? A nice "Ironman" riff.

A killer version of "Star", one of the funkier cuts from The Tipping Point, followed, before the band went back in time with Do You Want More?!!!??!'s "Mellow My Man", breaking it down into a big jazz mess before bringing it back.

At this point, about halfway through their allotted hour, they broke out the cover medley and won over any lingering hold outs. Everything from "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" to Talib Kweli's "Get By" (which was a bit of tease because I thought Kweli might actually be making a guest appearance...alas, no) to Biz Markie to O.D.B. (that one made Walsh giddy) was fair game, and considering this band can take anything and make it sound like they've rehearsed it 250,000 times (maybe they actually have), they owned every song.

Having an all-encompassing live reputation and not an audience dying to hear the latest single does mean one does thing: you’re probably not on the radio much. This is definitely the case with these two bands. The Roots have been critcial favorites for a decade now, yet their most successful single came almost a decade ago, when Things Fall Apart’s “You Got Me” reached #39 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their relationship with Geffen Records became strained when nothing on 2002’s amazing Phrenology or 2004’s The Tipping Point came anywhere near that level of success. Live reputations don’t matter to record labels if that doesn’t translate into album sales, after all.

However, their tight relationship with Jay-Z paid off with a switch to Def Jam for 2006’s Game Theory. Jay-Z told them not to focus on radio play--just to focus on being the best band in the world. This is probably a good thing because even their biggest hit, “You Got Me,” isn’t given the hit treatment at shows. If you've heard versions from The Roots Come Alive or the soundtrack from Chappelle's Block Party, you know that they'll sometimes bring out a Jill Scott or Erykah Badu and take it into some strange, jazzy places. No guests on this set--Captain Kirk OWNED this song. He sang the female part and ripped off the best solo of the festival to date. Kirk has seemingly become a bigger and bigger part of the Roots' live act with each progressing year, and he absolutely dominated. He's a master of rock, R&B, and gospel, and with The Roots he gets the space to show off his entire repertoire.

"You Got Me" turned into my favorite Roots song, Phrenology's "The Seed"--once again owned by Captain Kirk--and the set came to a close with an R&B jam that allowed each band member to show off on the way off the stage. Not only was it unfair to other bands who had to follow The Roots, it was unfair that I only got an hour of them. They should have been headlining the night--that would have solved both problems.

The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady has been on the radio far less than The Roots, but they're starting to build the same type of live reputation. And they're so unbelievably grateful for it. You can just tell that these guys--all seemingly music dorks in their mid-30s--can't believe their luck at finding this life and career. Most of the fans near the Myspace stage knew all the words to all the songs, and Craig Finn (in his jersey of Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, of all people) was having such a great time with them. After a wonderful rock set (we missed the first 15 minutes getting across the park after The Roots), Finn talked to the crowd during the closer, "Killer Parties," thanked them for coming and almost welled up in disbelief over his good fortune when talking about how they're opening for the Stones later this month. "There's so much joy in what we do." Amen to that. You see one Hold Steady show, and you're hooked, both musically and emotionally.

Another emotional connection came when Finn pointed out how they're from Minnesota, and seemingly every other song has a reference to the Mississippi River. He gave a genuine display of sympathy and condolences to those who'd suffered due to last week's bridge collapse.

Oh, and for Michael Atchison, here's the set we saw: Party Pit, Hot Soft Light, Stevie Nix (my personal favorite...love the "You remind me of Rod Stewart when he was young/You've got passion, you think you're sexy, and all the punks think you're dumb" lyric), You Can Make Him Like You, Your Little Hoodrat Friend, Southtown Girls, How a Resurrection Really Feels, Killer Parties.

Yeah Yeah Yeah's

They're another band on Rolling Stone's "Top Live Acts" list, and after seeing them live, I think I get it. The music's not really for me--and the glowing Perry Farrell introduction didn't do anything to sway me (Thanks for the festival, Perry, but I don't really think we have the same tastes). Then again, The Roots might have just destroyed my ability to appreciate anybody new. Either way, Karen O. owns the stage. The fishnets, the masks, the screaming...it's pretty easy to see how some folks get pretty captivated.

After the YYY's set we met up with Hear No Evil and HNE's girlfriend to determine how the rest of the evening would shake down. There was more rain (supposedly) on the way, and we had a decision to make...no matter what, we'd make the wrong one. We decided to skip out on Spoon and Muse (despite the fabulous live reputation Muse has been building), and of course...it never did rain hard. And of course...a friend of the group met up later and raved about how amazing and "almost Radiohead-like" Muse was. Sigh.

And now, a quick rundown of Day Two (coming directly after the long rundown of Day Two):

Biggest surprise: Honestly, the joy in Craig Finn's face. Can't overstate how happy they are to be where they are.

Best beard: Nobody (on-stage, at least) had a dominant beard--Tapes 'n Tapes' Josh Grier, Sam Roberts, and The Roots' Black Thought all have beards, but they're too well-groomed to qualify as a killer beard, so I'm changing this category to...

Best T-shirt: Fans bring their T-shirt 'A' games to music festivals. A retro "Bo Don't Know Diddley" shirt, a nice "Suits Suck," a creative "Paul Pozsluzny Poops His Pants" or "F--- Michigan", or maybe just a shirt of the band you're most wanting to see (we saw quite a few Sam Roberts shirts, but Daft Punk has the most loyal shirt-buying fans by far...and the highest percentage of fan mohawks, as well, but that's a separate story)...you get a nice variety. I have no 'A' game, which is why I showed up with just a random smattering of shirts from which to choose (though I am breaking out my "Kansas City Loves the Royals: Share the Wealth" shirt today...that should make Walsh sufficiently giddy and get him to forgive me for the Kurt Warner reference on Thursday).

Anyway, I have to give Saturday's award to the dude wearing the "Make Awkward Sexual Advances, Not War" shirt. Kudos.

Best cover: Not a lot of covers today, so I'll have to choose one of The Roots' 18 mini-covers. We'll go with ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya."

Most Frustrating Part of Lollapalooza: Who thought it was a good idea to put Regina Spektor on right after The Roots? And who told her it was a good idea to do an almost entirely piano-and-vocals set at a festival? Just wondering. Didn't work.

Number of Mizzou Shirts in the Crowd: 1, but the dude made it count--it was a full-on Brad Smith #16 jersey. Oh yeah.

Top Three Acts of Day Two: As if you couldn't tell...1) The Roots, 2) The Hold Steady, 3T) Sam Roberts Band and Tapes 'n Tapes.

And finally, Walsh's Lolla Beard:

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Lollapalooza Day 1: War, Beards, and...Lithium

Well, if our plans hold together (and I'm pretty sure they will), a few things about Sunday night are pretty certain: a) I will be sneezing about every 45 seconds, b) Walsh will have skin cancer, c) we'll have seen between 25 and 30 bands, d) everyone's legs will have entirely given out, e) I'll be addicted to Benadryl (okay, I am already), and f) we'll have been part of a simply unbelievable music festival.

There was a distinct vibe in the air on Day One of Lollapalooza 2007. From Ted Leo & the Pharmacists singing "only you know what you've done," to the Polyphonic Spree's "When the Fool Becomes a King" (subtle), to Against Me! singing a refrain of "CONDOLEEZA! CONDOLEEZA!" to the strange political ramblings of Electric Six's Dick Valentine, to Ben Harper and Eddie Vedder trading verses on "Masters of War", the smell of politics was in the air. More specifically, it was the scent of political anger, righteousness, passion, and action. It's not an "I voted for the other guy" kind of energy--it's something deeper. And the crowd feels it too. There's an energy to political songwriting and performance that I haven't seen before, and it seems to grow with each passing year as more bands give political writing a try...and often succeed.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

At 1:30, Ted Leo and his band appeared on the Myspace stage, and apparently Leo slipped and fell early in the set, cutting his hand. We showed up directly thereafter, in time to see TL&P rip through “Where Have All the Good Boys Gone?” and "Annunciation Day/Born on Christmas Day." TL&P are, to me, a band with a lot of potential over the coming years, combining pointed, interesting lyrics with a somewhat modern rock sound. Leo's voice and melodies are mostly generic Fall-Out-Boy-esque high, but he takes tools he's been given and uses it the most creative, innovative ways possible. The guitar progressions are assertive, and each diversion from typical rock--particularly the smooth R&B of "The Unwanted Things"--works. TL&P wrapped up a relatively quick 40-minute set (they were allotted 60...maybe they came back for an encore...wouldn't know because we were hauling ass across the park to see Polyphonic Spree) by absolutely destroying (in a good way) "C.I.A.", a song as good as anything I've heard this year. Really good way to start the festival.

The Polyphonic Spree

There's really no unique way to describe this weird, weird band at this point...everything's already been said. They do indeed have about 12-14 musical instruments playing at any one time, they do indeed have a choir of about 9 backup singers, they do indeed wear matching uniforms (though for the first 3/4 of Friday's performance, they ditched the white robes for an all-black getup), and they do indeed strike you as something significantly resembling a cult. Walsh said he had the opportunity to see them in Dallas a while back, but he'd have had to go by himself, and he was worried he'd be singled out for being by himself and end up drugged and in the back of the Spree bus.

That said, I'm sure the novelty has somewhat worn off with what they're doing here, but they do put on one helluva show. I can't imagine watching them for 2-3 straight hours, but honestly...it should be a requirement that all U.S. music festivals allot an hour to The Spree (and the Flaming Lips for that matter, but I digress). They're the perfect festival band, and they pulled out all the stops for Chicago. After the legendary Beetle Bob made an appearance, out came the Chicago Tap Theatre to dance, and suddenly there were about 40 people on stage. They wrapped up the set resplendent in the white robes I'd expected all along, pulling off a strikingly solid "Lithium" (yes, that "Lithium") and finishing with "When the Fool Becomes a King". They certainly made the most of their hour.

Electric Six

My buddy Walsh requested watching this band--he described him in the following way: "Every song of theirs is about either sex, nuclear war, or dancing." Needless to say, I was sold. What else do I know about them now? Well...they're the self-proclaimed "premiere party band" of Chicago, which is impressive considering what a collection of dorks this band appears to be. Oh, and they're also "Chicago's premiere political band," so keep that in mind next time you find yourself looking for such a thing in the Upper Midwest. Mid-set, lead singer Dick Valentine unleashed a rambling rant about politics and Bush and bad sound and--in a move reminding me of Guster's epic Oldsmobile rant (scroll down to the “Expensive Words” portion of the article), stage sponsor Playstation, while sarcastically thanking Perry Farrell (Lolla's founder) about 18 times. This is not a band out to make friends with peers. Oh, and Valentine dances like I would...if I danced in public, anyway (there are rumors that I danced at my wedding, but there is no photographic evidence...I made sure of it). As for the songs themselves? Quite interesting. Walsh's aforementioned description was dead on, as Bush material quickly turned into a "Dance Epidemic".

Honestly, Electric Six comes across as a cross between the MC5 and No Doubt. Seriously. And despite that statement, I highly recommend checking them out. There’s a shamelessness to their strange postures that is quite refreshing. I'm not saying you'll love them--but I strive to find unique bands, and...yeah...they definitely fit that bill, especially in a live setting.

moe.

Jam band checklist!

* Hackysack circle (replete with old guy in a "Pink Floyd 1987 World Tour" shirt, tights, and Bud Light beer kozies fashioned into gloves and stuck on his hands, and a bunch of high-school age dudes absolutely worshipping the ground he walks on)? Check!

* Long, rambling (sometimes too rambling) songs? Check!

* 18 contact highs? Check!

* Skill and quality solos? Check!

I wondered aloud when moe. started if they were physically capable of playing less than 60 minutes (their allotted time). They were not, bleeding several minutes over and cutting short Blonde Redhead's set. (Quick note: Blonde redhead's lead singer is neither blonde nor a redhead. Tawlk amongst yourselves.)

G. Love and the Special Sauce

G. Love's an institution at this point. Not just anyone can pull off his eclectic mix of jazz, funk, R&B, funk, blues, funk, crooning to the ladies (who outnumbered males in the front row about 4-to-1), funk, and improvised hip hop verses--not to mention pulling off a cover of Snoop's "Gin and Juice"--while remaining unashamedly, unabashedly white. Power to him. I can't really say much more than that. G. Love is G. Love...though I did love Walsh's comment, "I wonder what it would be like to actually have a conversation with this guy. I'd probably hate it."

The Black Keys

The first true discovery of the festival. I'd heard good things about this 2-man band from Akron, OH, but I hadn't ever actually heard their music. That is no longer the case. The Black Keys--guitarist/lead singer Daniel Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney--took the Bud Light Stage at 6:30 and overloaded the speakers even more than The Polyphonic Spree, who outnumbered them almost literally 20-to-1. Auerbach is a guitar powerhouse, knocking out both rhythm and lead guitar parts at once. Plus he's got a fantastic rock beard.

I didn't know any of the songs they played--though I plan to remedy that soon by diving into their catalog--but they sound like a cross between the Allman Brothers, Son Volt, and (of course) the White Stripes. They had a pretty hardcore, knowledgeable fanbase in attendance, as well (for a while, it seemed like the entire city of Akron was there in support), which helped with the overall experience.

LCD Soundsystem

After partaking in the best pad thai of my life--in a music festival of all places...seriously, if you come to Lolla, be sure to check out the hundreds (okay, tens) of cheap food choices from the Taste of Chicago festival--I headed across the park once again to check out Rolling Stone's #20 current live band. What did I think? If you dance, you'll love this band. Strong beats, lots of percussion...problem is, as I mentioned before, I don't dance. So what I'm left with is a pulsating beat and repetitious vocals. Not necessarily a bad thing by any means--a lot of people were enjoying themselves--but it's just really not my thing. So after a couple songs, we headed back across the park (ggh) for the last half of Femi Kuti's set.

(Hear No Evil stayed for the entire set and said it got better and better as the set wore on. So there you go.)

Femi Kuti and the Positive Force

Earlier in the day, on the way over to watch G. Love, we ran into a friend of ours from school--he's the one who introduced me to Jurassic 5 and Guster...I owe him big, I would say. Anyway, he's big into the Afrobeat stuff, and Fela Kuti is one of the kings of Afrobeat. He was telling me which Fela Kuti albums I should buy, and I was discussing the benefits of Hugh Masekela (it was the music nerd moment of the weekend so far!), and we both agreed that Femi Kuti could not be missed. They were precisely what one would expect from the Son of Afrobeat. Lots of folks onstage, those beautiful hopping basslines, horns, backups singers, et cetera. Unfortunately Walsh and I were absolutely exhausted by this point, so we sat on the grass a long way away in instead of fighting the crowd to groove (i.e. nod my head and bend my knees in somewhat rhythmic motion) up close. Really, it's pretty good sitting-on-the-grass-and-relaxing music too.

Ben Harper

While the younger half of the crowd was on the other end of the park watching Daft Punk--I had no idea they were as big with the youngsters (yeah, I just said youngsters) as they apparently are, though the rumored Kanye guest appearanace was not to be--Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals took the stage directly after Femi Kuti and lit a fire into the probably 20,000-30,000 fans watching (I'm horrid at guessing the size of crowds...as far as I know, it could have been 10,000 or 50,000 too). They didn't mess around, starting their set with the incendiary Katrina response, "Black Rain", seguing in and out of Marvin's "Make Me Wanna Holler", giving bassist Juan Nelson lots of room for solos, and after about 12-14 minutes, moving into "With My Own Two Hands."

In the past, Harper performed almost entirely from his 'throne', sitting and playing variations of lap slide guitars for most of the show. Well he doesn't sit much anymore, and giving himself the freedom to move around and dance and cheer on the rest of the band has upped his charisma and intensity levels (never a deficiency before, by any means) tenfold. Leaning toward the crowd and singing (to the government, not the crowd) "Don't you dare speak to us like we work for you", was a mighty intense way to start the show.

Pot anthem "Burn One Down"--complete with an ungodly percussion solo from Leon Mobley--was third on the setlist, then after 3 songs and almost 35 minutes, the tone changed. Mixed into passionate performances of "Please Bleed" and "Forgiven" were three songs with an almost country vibe. First up was "In the Colors", the first single from BH&IC's upcoming album, Lifeline. It has a laid-back, loving set of lyrics and a country/R&B feel, and it works (though it'll work even more when the band is more comfortable with it and adds some solos). This is where their versatility as a band stands out. After spending the first third of the concert singing R&B/funk/rock-laced protest anthems, BH&IC's were able to switch styles almost completely without losing credibility. Next was another new song, "Say You Will", an uptempo number with the same vibe (and solos), followed finally by "Diamonds on the Inside", from the 2002 album with the same name. This is a country song that Harper took on an almost gospel detour toward the end, and like everything else, it worked.

Next up, Harper said he was going to welcome a friend of his to the stage..."you'll probably recognize him".

Me: Ooh, I bet this is Eddie.
Walsh: Who? (crowd goes bonkers) Oh, THAT Eddie.

They both had a seat and started strumming acoustic guitars, and I could see it coming. A few weeks ago, to get Walsh pumped up about going to Lolla (not that he actually needed any help in that regard), I sent him a copy of The Roots covering Dylan's "Masters of War" to the tune of the National Anthem. It's insanely good, and Walsh was hoping to hear it today during their performance. Well...this is no knock on The Roots' version of it--it really is amazing--but I'm not sure there's any way to top watching Ben Harper and Eddie Vedder close their eyes and belt this one out. Vedder is the only performer more intense than Harper, and they kept one-upping each other as the verses progressed. The TV screen to the side of the stage had close-ups of them while they were performing, and I swear...if I didn't know for a fact that my legs were shaking due simply to exhaustion, I'd have sworn the raw intensity of their performance had made me weak in the knees (and I'm comfortable enough in my masculinity to say that). It was the perfect way to cap off a day of politically-tinged performances, right down to the last verse--you know the one...the "And I hope that you die/And your death will come soon" verse--which got an almost frighteningly intense cheer from the crowd.

A rousing version of Both Sides of the Gun's "Better Way" finished the set and sent us scattering onto the streets of Chicago, looking for a cab. We failed, and after an hour of walking around and searching, the subway had thinned out enough for us to take that back to Hear No Evil's neighborhood for a beer, a bite to eat, and a bed. In an hour or so, we leave for Day Two.

And now, a quick rundown of Day One (coming directly after the long rundown of Day One):

Biggest surprise: I was about to say the Black Keys, but they were one-upped...by pad thai. The food choices at Lollapalooza are fantastic and cheap. I was expecting the typical burger-and-brat fare, and those are definitely options, but the Lolla Food Court features lots of local Chicago treats, including an amazing Star of Siam stand with pad thai, potstickers, tempura, and cool-looking chicken satay, all for $5-6. I might eat there all weekend.

Best beard: Apparently in 2007, the cool look for bands is to look like...The Band. I was already preparing myself to compare My Morning Jacket to The Band on Sunday, but looks-wise, everybody's imitating them nowadays. Two members of Ted Leo's Pharmacists--bassist Dave Lerner and drummer Chris Wilson--had some killer growth (Lerner took the look further with the ratty long hair to go with the beard), but the main competition was between Wilson and the Black Keys' ­­Auerbach. I'm going to give the edge on Day One to Wilson, who ended up looking like a cross between Nirvana's Krist Novocelic and...Christ. With maybe a little Bronson Pinchot thrown in. Walsh should have him beat by the end of the weekend, but for now I give the edge to Wilson.

Worst hair: G. Love’s bassist, Jimmy Jazz (of course G. Love's bassist would be named Jimmy Jazz). Just gross.

Best cover: G. Love's "Gin and Juice" was enjoyable in a "shake your head and pretend that this sucks" kind of way, and I was more than prepared to give this award to Polyphonic Spree's "Lithium", but all was trumped with about 20 minutes left in Day One when Eddie Vedder joined Ben Harper on stage. They show up at each other's shows a lot, it seems, and I've heard phenomenal renditions of PJ's "Indifference" (which they apparently played at Pearl Jam's secret Vic Theatre show Thursday night), but...watching the faces of these two while they were performing the most intense song of all-time was something that was, well, worth the $195 price of the festival in and of itself.

Best contact high: I assumed moe. would dominate the scorecard on this one, but I'd say they only scored about an 8 on a 10-point scale. Polyphonic Spree, on the other hand, scored about a 12. Ben Harper followed with about a 6, and everybody else hovered around the 3 range.

Most Frustrating Part of Lollapalooza: The dirt. As more people fill the park on Days Two and Three, I'm pretty sure the future winner will be the crowds (unless the weather trumps it), but for now...I love the Buckingham Fountain that welcomes you at the Lolla entrance. It's cool, it gives off a nice, much-appreciated breeze, it reminds me of Married...With Children. But it's also surrounded by dirt and gravel, and to get from one end of the park to the other (it seemed like we had to cross the park after every act yesterday), you have to cross it and inhale an alley's worth of dust. Needless to say, the Benadryl is going to be out in full-force for me this weekend. Ugh.

Number of Mizzou Shirts in the Crowd: 3 (2 not including my own).

Best Incomplete Praise: The dude in the torn-up (on purpose) 1987 Pink Floyd shirt really was a hackysack badass.

Top Three Acts of Day One: 1) Ben Harper, 2) Polyphonic Spree, 3) Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. No surprise there.

And finally, Walsh's Lolla Beard:

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