Lollapaloozed.
I could probably write a lot about my experience last weekend at Lollapalooza. I mean, 75,000 people, over 100 bands, 25+ hours all in Grant Park in Chicago? I could do 3,000 words, easily. But alas, it's been almost a week already and I'm running out of time, so I'll just make a few random observations....
-The 90's still looms large. With MTV still locked into showing vapid blonde teens talking about nothing and idiots doing stunts all day, and with rock radio hardly relevant at all these days, the newish bands still don't hold a place in people's hearts like the bands that headlined Lollapalooza - Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Rage Against the Machine, Radiohead, - all bands from the 90's. The only headliner from the current decade (Kanye West) isn't exactly rockin. Rap is a different game.
I think personally I'm a little stuck in the 90's myself, but perhaps that's because I'm getting older myself. That's part of the reason I was excited about going to Lollapalooza (I also got the ticket for only $60) to perhaps discover some new stuff.
When did Trent Reznor get so ripped? It's like all he does is hang out in his basement, light candles, writes brooding songs, and works out on a Bowflex.My favorite shows of the weekend:
-Radiohead. Radioheads fans can basically be broken up into three different camps and I'm firmly in the "Love 'The Bends' and 'OK Computer' but not wild about the last four albums" camp. That said, there was something powerful and hypnotic about last Friday's show...especially when fireworks started shooting into the air right after the title track from 'The Bends'. Radiohead doesn't immediately strike me as a huge festival type band but they certainly seemed up to it, even if Thom Yorke rarely said anything the whole night.
-Chromeo. As much as I shy away from bands that feel too "retro", Chromeo's disco-meets-Hall and Oates 80's synth rock was freaking irresistable. It was a rad Sunday afternoon dance party in the baseball fields.
The Chromeo dance party sometimes got out of control.-The Racentours. It's hard to blame Jack White for new rock's inability to be adored like their aging predecessors. The White Stripes rocks and so does his new band in a rootsy, bluesy way that recalls a almost a combination of Led Zeppelin and Lynard Skynard.
Other random observations:
-It's strange how people will turn their backs to a band playing nearby to watch an empty stage in anticipation of another band coming soon. I can't tell you how many people were staring straight ahead at the barren Bud Light stage for NIN when The National was playing a great set right there.
-Hipsters often annoy me and there were plenty of them on display. Why exactly did they adopt the style of wearing huge, cheap ass plastic pastel sunglasses circa 1988? Or hipster girls wearing circlet headbands with feathers in them like they're all little Pocohantas? I'm lost on that. I saw a guy during the "Battles" show wearing purple framed glasses, he had a long mullet with the side of his head shaved, he had a working man's utility vest, Doc Martins, and skinny black jeans. If I was a blue collar guy and I saw this skinny idiot, I'd hit him with a tire iron.
When Irony Attacks!-The Iron and Wine show put me (and many others) to sleep. Count me amongst those mystified by all this new boring indie jam band folk that's been popular lately. Long beards and 8 minute songs are not cool.
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