Just north of Wicker Park, at the vibrant nightlife trisect of Milwaukee, North and Damen Avenues, Friday night was just beginning. TV On The Radio’s bearded guitar guru Kyp Malone coolly strolls by with a generous posse of publicists and friends, greeting fans as he passed (dually noted — Malone still carried his own bags). Electro-pop front man Michael Angelakos of Passion Pit was wide-eyed and taking in the sights with lovely lady in tow as the late night Mexican eatery Flash Taco turns drunken grubbing into a visceral performance piece. And inside Debonair Social Club, whose décor borders between raw basement hangout and sophisticated dance club, Chairlift’s Aaron Pfenning is manning the decks (read: shredding the dance floor) fresh from the multi-instrumentalist’s band’s opening set for TV On The Radio’s “healthcare benefit show” for Malone’s sister, Colleen, across the street at legendary Double Door. Lollapalooza truly knows no limits … and Pfenning is amazed it happened at all.
“It’s more exciting than frightening,” laughs Pfenning, “because we’re not afraid of anything.” Considering the weight of the show, “it meant a lot for them to ask us to do that. I mean, [TV On The Radio] has been doing music for a while. [We] saw them in Boulder, Colorado in 2003, and [Chairlift] moved to New York in 2006 … so it’s this really great spiral of finally meeting them.” Seconds after that sentimental moment, a piercing scream of excitement — fellow band member Caroline Polachek had arrived on the scene (rife with energy, ripe with loveliness, a bit tipsy on free booze) along with the mysterious Ricky, the interim bass player for Of Montreal. “We reached our peak today when the performers rode an inflatable dolphin into the crowd,” says Ricky, commenting on Of Montreal’s earlier performance at Lollapalooza. We reached our peak when this tireless group of young and up-and-coming musicians invaded Debonair … and this was only day one.
Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper, photos by Dustin Downing
