Jeff Tweedy once publicly wondered why anyone would ever attend a festival. On Sunday afternoon, even the most dedicated festival-goers had such flashes of doubtful thought sweep through their minds — the breeze from Lake Michigan was simply not enough to stop the heat from taking center stage. The musicians performing on Sunday faced a challenge — to convince each and every ticket holder they had made the right choice. Cold War Kids, the California-based band born in the shadow of the blogosphere, overcame the challenges of the day’s agenda by focusing on some very basic, very intimate human elements — passion, emotionalism and heavy drinking.

With beers in hand and booze secretly tucked in their bags, the sun-bathed audience nearly drank in rhythm to the sweetly indulgent lyrics of Cold War Kids. From claim-to-fame fan favorite “Hang Me Up To Dry” and the obsessive “Something Is Not Right With Me” to the sad alcoholic heroics “We Used To Vacation,” never has a band been able to twist such self-destructive narratives into darkly spun dance numbers built around thick bass lines, barroom piano lines and funk-fiddled six-string distortion. Each track was delivered with oozing soul and conviction, the band (at least pretending) to treat their 2009 performance at Lollapalooza as the ultimate proving ground. By the time R&B-tinged “Every Man I Fall For” took command, the bottoms of their beers had been reached and the crowd was convinced — the mixture of emotions and heavy drinking are conquered territory of Cold War Kids and yes, the bar is right over there.

Words by Ryan Patrick Hooper, photos by Dustin Downing