Monday, August 17, 2009

If This Ain't Nice...


DAY 2


... Then what the fuck is?


Delays at the gate make me irritable. Actually, it's the hangover that is making me most irritable, but this isn't helping. Shit starts at 11:15 SHARP, I need a beer in one hand and my bone in the other.

Band of Skulls - Well, it's pretty obvious that I was excited about this one. Not only was it a band that I wanted to see, but they were playing my Hometown, so it couldn't really get any better. They rock. Drummer and guitarist are mad men. Bassist sort of looks like Joan Jett (Hot!). Deuce leaves during the first song to get my pampered ass a beer and misses the showstopper. I feel like they did me proud.




A Close Friend dispenses with the notion that they sound like the White Stripes. I'm in love.

We pack some green, but we're all geeked out even though there is probably no reason to be. So we walk over to the Shiti stage because well, I guess because there are even more cops over there. Anyway, The NewNo2 is on and they sound all right. But before I get into it too deep, I have to run down the hill to V Dub where I need to show some local support.

Low Anthem - I was really nervous about this set. I mean, these guys play smaller shows generally, and then King Lolla decrees that they shall be placed on one of the bigger stages. They probably don't deserve to be there, but they played as best as they possibly could. However, these guys like to keep the decibels to a minimum with their hushed melodies, and the NewNo2 crashed their party a little bit.



Quote from a Low Anthem attendee: This right here is fantastic.

Look at the time! One of the bigger debates pre-Lolla was how we would handle the Dirty Sweet-Delta Spirit conflict. Opinion generally leaned in the direction of the Delta boys, and with good reason. But I decided to give Dirty a whirl. Why? Well, because they were playing on the Homefront.

And because they were pretty awesome.

Dirty Sweet - I caught about 4 of their songs. My attention was preoccupied with getting over to the Mud stage for the other act, but I decided to give these guys my full attention as well as my body convulsions for at least two of those songs. With the exception of the Depeche Mode, no one stood out in terms of appearance more than these cats. Tight black jeans and shaggy, long hair, but less than in the "I don't have an ass" kind of black jeans and more in the "Yes, I listen to Foghat" kind of shaggy hair. Great blues and hard rock. Gotta run...

Delta Spirit - I've seen these dudes 3 times this year prior to the festival, and they seem to just keep getting better. They appeared to be very comfortable on this massive stage, the frontman (Vasquez) even taking time to call and wish his brother the best on his wedding day (Like he's gonna miss Lolla for some bullshit wedding?). This is body shaking music. This is great music.



And at the halfway point of the festival, I feel about as good as possible.

Federico Aubele - Takes the stage over at the Arcade and begins to perform his own brand of exotic goodness. You want to just call it Spanish guitar, and he certainly does that, but there seemed to be a lot more going on. The beer line provides me a good opportunity to listen to a few songs, but then my Hometown begins to call once again... Heaven.

Langhorne Slim - I just bought his latest album and I was semi-impressed with it. Maybe slightly overworked in the studio, but an honest effort. But Slim thrives in the live setting. It's energetic and laid back all at once, like getting all amped up to sit on the couch. I'm into this set more than I ever imagined I would be, and yet for several songs, I'm sitting down, in the shade of the beautiful oak (or not oak) canopy that shrouds My Favorite Stage. Slim rocked me.



A Close Friend is enjoying Miike Snow over at V Dub during Slim's set. She says it was one of the best shows all weekend.

Atmosphere - So how to follow up some rambunctious Americana? How bout some White Hop? This was very similar to the way that Hey Champ felt. I'm certainly not loving it, but it's still doing the job, and the way I'm feeling right now, I'd probably even listen to Gang Gang Dance.

During Delta Spirit was the first time that I noticed the cameras getting in the way. Atmosphere noticed almost immediately, and in what would become one of the more entertaining encounters of the weekend, told the cameraman to get away from him.

This dude done yet? Who gives a shit. Brother Gomes is coming on over at V Dub.

Gomez - They're a band that I've probably seen too much of at this point. Maybe I should have been at Robert Earl Keen, or have made the mistake of seeing Charlift. Point is, I didn't,
and I was okay with that. Questionable Zeppelin cover aside, these guys always bring me to Good Times (not Bad Times), and at the moment, I'm not missing an opportunity to hear Airstream Driver. Dancing my pants damn near straight down to my ankles.



And in my blissful haze, things begin to get a little fuzzy... I know that TV On the Radio is the next big thing, but I'm not sure what occurred between now and then. Aside from drugs and alcohol consumption.

Arctic Monkeys maybe?

Blind Pilot kinda?

Santi?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

Anyway, the Mud Pit beckons.

TV On the Radio - With the exception of the Decemberists, no band benefited more from the High-Def visuals more than these guys. Adebimpe cemented his status as a primetime frontman, and the band at large demonstrated that their magic is not confined strictly to the studio. And, they were playing with a horn section! How fucking cool was that? Horns give Deuce a chub which makes grinding with him rather uncomfortable. They could play all day as far as I'm concerned at this point.




I'm sort of emerging from my cognitive amnesia and shifting back into the joyful awareness of what an awesome day this has been so far.

And then Animal Collective tries to ruin my whole day. What a fucking disaster. I am not judging these cats based on this one performance, but let's just say I'm no rush to taste that dish again.

Word that described the sound being produced: DIN.

Blissful awareness devolves into confused clumsiness. I'm dropping full beers, laughing at my own farts, and openly (and obliviously!) gawking at any woman that walks passed.

You know what this place needs more of? Nihilism.

Holy shit! Just in time, Tool shows up to grant my wish!




Maynard is trying as hard as possible to show that he has a sense of humor. I was just expecting him to come out quoting Heidegger... in German. So, I take what I can get.

But aside from the distracting claymation (trademarked!) productions they threw up on the big screens, they rocked. Danny Carey adds to an already percussion-heavy festival, but he just does better than anyone else could, or probably even should. Whatever that means.

I'm headbanging as much as possible, but it begins to feel as if my brain is beginning to slam through my cerebrospinal fluid and into my skull and I have to reel it in.

Besides, we got 6 hours of drinking to attend to outside the Grant Park gates.


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Omissions and shared stories in the comments, if you would be so kind

2 comments:

  1. did we see any of the same shows? it appears not. i think i need to start my own ancillary comment blog...

    ReplyDelete
  2. By all means... We can get you some access.

    Even if I've already talked about all the good shows.

    ;-)

    ReplyDelete