Chicagoist: Lollapalooza 2008: Day 1 Recap

lamgray

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:19:51 -0600

CSS rocked! (as they always do), sorry you guys missed it!

Thunderbelly

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:34:54 -0600

"unfortunately, i wasn't able to make it. but i saw the map and saw there were two extra stages" Smussy there were actually 2 less stages this year than last year.

Bill V

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:20:46 -0600

Loved Radiohead, nice to hear so much from the Bends, probably the best record of the 90's.

Retardo Montalban

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:42:06 -0600

The sound most definitely could've been better. I was also a bit back, stage left and felt it was a little low. I think the general "disinterestedness" may have had a lot to do with the fact that it was so humid/hot/exhausting (a la all the walking) and coupled with the fact that the majority of the crowd was either drunk and/or high. I will say that I was able to tune the crowd out when I really wanted to and while I wish that I had seen and heard better I was still pretty moved by their set. The timing of the climax of Fake Plastic Trees with the climax in fireworks over the Field Museum was enough to stir my soul. The Black Keys, for me, were one of the sets that I was most disappointed in. I began about a hundred feet stage left from the soundboard and the sound was atrocious. Then we moved more back and center and the sound was still really shoddy. At that point we were so disenchanted with it that we checked out two songs of Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears, that was a happy accident. Agree with you on Duffy, though it was really cute when she said something about the heat commenting how "I'm not going to lie to you and pretend this is OK!" Pretty amusing.

Retardo Montalban

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:34:29 -0600

Reckoner not Reckoning.

RalphWiggum

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 08:06:37 -0600

I'm a big fan of Radiohead and thought they put on a great set. The sound could have been better, but then again, I'm not sure how feasible it really is acoustically to fill a field with 75,000 audience members. There are drunken/stoned meatheads at any festival this size. If you let them ruin it for you, it's entirely your fault.

tc3

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 01:23:44 -0600

I'm not hating. All I'm saying is that I haven't heard anyone who actually likes Radiohead say anything bad about the performance. They're not your cup of tea, no big deal.

CL

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:16:02 -0600

tc3, I walked into Lolla knowing that a lot of the bands who were playing were ones I either didn't know well or had never heard of. In Radiohead's case, it's a band I admittedly don't know too well. With the exception of maybe "There There" if you asked me the set list from last night I wouldn't have a clue. But with that said, plenty of people (including myself) know that they were not going to play "Creep". It really just wasn't an engaging show. I can say that after hearing amazing, engaging instrumental sets by Explosions in the Sky and Battles. And fine, I'll get hated on for saying it, but in a fight both of those bands would have taken Radiohead's lunch money. They just didn't bring it.

magikist

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 10:57:15 -0600

tc3 - nicely put, thanks.

Mr_Smith

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:28:16 -0600

Juniper, I wish it was all hippies. All hippies do is sit in the dirt. It's the meathead drunks who want to fuck or fuck with everyone they see that I have a problem with.

magilla gorilla

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 09:23:40 -0600

juniper, it sounds to me like you're the one that needs to be away from other people. anyone who lives downtown and complains about noise, people, etc. is fucking ridiculous

juniper

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 08:57:45 -0600

My 14-year-old flannel-clad self would weep at my saying this, but: I hate how Lollapalooza trashes my neighborhood, and all those drunk puking sunburnt hippies can die in a fire. I wish it were at a venue away from where people live.

tc3

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:10:53 -0600

I don't think Radiohead had an off night at all. I think that, at least the people around me, expected to hear "Karma Police" and "Creep" instead of listening to a band reinvent past songs and experiment with nuance. They're not U2 or Coldplay, who will gladly run through empty anthems-by-number for the masses. I thought Radiohead's energetic re-working of "The Gloaming" was stunning, but people who never heard that song to begin with couldn't care less. That's OK - I understand that the reasons why I love the band are the same reasons some people are apathetic or maddened by them. Nothing wrong with either optinion. Different strokes.

CL

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 00:01:50 -0600

Again, to be clear, I don't hate Radiohead...I just feel neither here nor there about them. And yesterday did kind of convince me that their live show isn't for me (this is after me seeing them play live on TV before and feel not too enthused). I include the quote above as a discussion point about how this band is written about: Why is an audience of 75,000 at a music fest with a variety of bands/artists labeled "weirdly disinterested"? Were they expected to be silent? Are that many people after a day of oven-like heat expected to be thoroughly attentive and awake? How about the obvious: "Not everyone likes the same bands" and/or "Radiohead had an off night." I think it's ok to say that, it has happened to many bands before.

CL

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:06:39 -0600

"you mean that someone who doesn't like radiohead wasn't impressed with their set? that's surprising. thanks for sharing" You're welcome asshole!!!!! And yeah, I did think it was worth sharing. I've been luke warm on this band for a while and this lackluster show was something that swayed me to the negative. My favorite was Pitchfork's review of the performance: "The band is always dependably great, but the weirdly disinterested crowd and somewhat awkward setting made this something a bit less than it should have been." "Weirdly disinterested".....I guess that's the polite phrase for "bored." Lemmings.

mh95149

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 22:05:24 -0600

FWIW, this is not the second Lala.... the first one was in '90 or '91 and toured the country. I was there for #1 and #2 in Chicago and now I'm old and live in the 'burbs... :D

pbmurray

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:57:37 -0600

If I wanted to know about it, I would have gone to the concert. ...Except then I read through this whole article just so I could get down to the bottom here and post a comment about how I didn't want to hear about it, when I could have just not read the article at all. Jeez.

jbud

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:55:04 -0600

if i wanted to know about it i would have gone to the concert.

Albanyparkour

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:35:29 -0600

Clarenceweatherspoon: Actually there was some story in the trib about the Lollapalooza organizers trying to minimize the bleed over from stages, I think that may have had an impact. I've seen radiohead live and they are usually anything but too quiet. I'm not a lolla-fan. Perry ferrell's stench wafts over the thing for me a bit too much. Not to mention the 90 non-compete clause, the lack of local focus and general MADNESS of the crowds. I'd rather got see one or two bands I really like than run about grant park catching dribs and drabs of many bands. But more power to you brave souls.

smussy

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 17:28:41 -0600

unfortunately, i wasn't able to make it. but i saw the map and saw there were two extra stages ... pretty close to some of the main stages. that seemed to me to be a little greedy, and would potentially replicate the first year's sound bleed problems. there's one comment there that is commenting on it. any thoughts from anyone else? i have to live vicariously through y'all.

clarenceweatherspoon

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:03:01 -0600

Yeah, the sound for Radiohead was too quiet, particularly the vocals. Awesome lights/stage set though, and Malkmus' set right before was pretty good. Did the whining neighbors across the street have anything to do with the lowered sound levels?

magikist

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:25:20 -0600

Not everyone has to adore Radiohead, but yelling to each other how they're not as good as Springsteen through their entire set does not make me love you. In fact it really pisses me off, because they are what I paid lolla lots of money to see. Yes, I am cranky.

magilla gorilla

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 13:00:34 -0600

you mean that someone who doesn't like radiohead wasn't impressed with their set? that's surprising. thanks for sharing

CL

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:48:02 -0600

Wasn't too impressed with Radiohead's set (actually, have never been too impressed with Radiohead period). Left early and don't feel too bad about it. Saw Mates of State, The Kills, Yeasayer, Gogol Bordello, Bloc Party, etc. (i.e. I was tied to the South side of the park). Gogol Bordello probably was one of the few bands who really had stage presence. They do riff on one theme a bit, but the energy is infectious.