Lollapalooza | ChinaShop

Music Band of Horses and The Battle for Grant Park

by Ryan Patrick Hooper and Dustin Downing

August 13, 2009 - 11:46 am

On Sunday night, the headliners were set to collide and split Lollapalooza patrons straight down the middle — some would venture over to Jane’s Addiction for Perry Farrell’s flashy arrival in a helicopter (never happened, but a helicopter did awkwardly hover over the audience during the band’s opening song) while others would kick it with The Killers. What wasn’t expected was Lou Reed’s piss-poor performance (reading lyrics from the monitors, relishing in his drawn out 3-minute, dad-rock intros, generally sounding more geriatric than grabbing) would run a solid 20 minutes over the allotted time, leaving Band Of Horses to endure the heat off stage, waiting for their turn. Eventually, Reed had to empty his colostomy bag and Band Of Horses quickly took the reigns, launching into organ-soaked versions of fan favorites “First Song” and “The Great Salt Lake” from 2006 debut Everything All The Time.

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Music Animal Collective: The Lollapalooza Zoo

by Max Herman

August 12, 2009 - 12:39 pm

The funny thing about Animal Collective is that even some of its fans have trouble describing what they think of this Baltimore-bred band. After stepping out of the photo pit and into the crowd at their Lollapalooza set at the PlayStation stage, I ran into listeners of Animal Collective that I know, and the most they could say is that they have to be in a certain mood for the music. Is it mood music? Maybe. Of course, the die-hard fans in the front row, with the multi-colored paw tracks painted on their faces might argue otherwise.

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Music Santigold at Lollapalooza

by Max Herman

August 11, 2009 - 10:04 am

Santi White a.k.a. Santigold is all smiles on stage. This Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter has enough charisma to hold a crowd for hours. Watching her on stage, there’s no mistaking her love of making and ultimately sharing music. The chorus of Santi’s massively popular grime-meets-dancehall single “Creator” sums it up well: “Me, I’m a creator / thrill is to make it up.”

With Santi’s performance at Lollapalooza’s PlayStation stage she gave us plenty to look at, from her and her band’s golden gear to her and her back-up vocalists’ occasional throwback dance moves. The visual stimulation though worked hand-in-hand with her vivid, genre-hopping sonics, which feature a consistent bass-beavy foundation.

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Music Chairlift Going Up

by Dustin Downing and Ryan Patrick Hooper

August 11, 2009 - 9:59 am

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.

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Music Depeche Mode: Chicago Style

by Dustin Downing

August 11, 2009 - 9:53 am

New wave/synth pop pioneers and innovators Depeche Mode lured an impressive crowd as one of the headliners at the first day of Lollapalooza. And standing amongst so many loyal fans was no doubt a great experience. After a long day of nagging rain, the baseball diamonds on the festival grounds were a muddy mess, but that didn’t stop DM’s multi-cultural fan-base from sinking their feet into any spot they could find and I’m glad I joined them.

Having walked around the outskirts of the crowd towards the end of the set, I can say that it was a lot more enjoyable to be standing next to the couples, groups of friends, and loners alike who were eagerly awaiting their favorite Depeche Mode material. Lead vocalist Dave Gahan along with multi-instrumentalists Martin Gore and Andrew Fletcher gave the people what they wanted, but they did so gradually, saving hits like “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy The Silence” for the second half of the set.

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