Chicagoist Presents: Great Lollapalooza Moments Over The Years (Part 2)

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 31, 2012 7:15PM

(Thousands of concertgoers from around the world will descend on Chicago for Lollapalooza this weekend. All week, Chicagoist will look at some of our favorite Lollapalooza moments over the years.)

By the time of the inaugural Lollapalooza the Butthole Surfers had a well-earned reputation for chaotic and sometimes disturbing live shows, often inspired and influenced by their love of recreational drugs. The Surfers were relegated to a midday set in the lineup, but that didn’t stop singer Gibby Haynes from standing out. Haynes sang through anything that could manipulate his voice and incorporated a shotgun as part of the band’s stage show. Haynes would toss toilet paper tubes and other objects into the air above the audience and attempt to shoot at them like skeet. This put a fright into more than a few people.

Remember when Lady Gaga was a brunette and received a lukewarm reception at Lollapalooza 2007 performing with Lady Starlight? We do.

Three years later she made a triumphant return to the festival and provided one of the scarier moments by diving into the crowd during Semi Precious Weapons' set clad in one of her signature "you're dressed like that in public" outfits.

For pure musical bliss, Explosions in the Sky's 2008 performance will go down as one of our favorites. Here's their set closer.

Finally, Lou Reed earned the ire of concertgoers at Lollapalooza 2009 for starting and ending his set late, his closer of "Sweet Jane" bleeding over into the beginning Band of Horses' set and earning "Fuck Lou Reed" chants.

Band of Horses wound up being a highlight, even though it was marred by Reed overlapping at the start and Jane's Addiction nearly drowning them out at the end.

Check out Part 1 if you haven't already.