Tuesday Top Ten: Shows I Saw at Lollapalooza

Lollapalooza was this past weekend in Grant Park. Once again, it was three surprisingly well-organized days of peace, love, music, and people dressed like every kind of idiot you could imagine. I mean, seriously, who wears black leggings or a button-up shirt and tie of a Green Man costume to an outdoor music festival in August in Chicago? Idiots, that's who.

Aside from having to walk to House of Blues to get a cab Sunday night – after waiting 25 minutes for a Brown Line that never came – the weekend was fantastic. They expanded the grounds this year (and added 20,000 tickets per day), which made it feel less crowded, offered more shade to relax in, and cut down on bathroom lines. On top of that, Friday and Saturday were under 90 degrees, which is unusual for Lolla and a welcome addition. Thanks, Perry!

They also had added beverage tents and had a ton of local food, including burgers from Kuma's Corner (I suggest the Iron Maiden) and lobster corn dogs from Graham Elliot, in addition to various pizzas, pulled pork, Mexican, Asian, and other options.

But I don't go to Lolla every year to eat food and piss with ease. With over 140 bands playing over three days, there were plenty of musical options to fuel my soul. What I particularly liked about this year is that there weren't a lot of smaller bands that I knew very well, which left me more room to explore bands I wasn't familiar with. Plus, with the way the stages were set up, there were many times where I could see half of one band, then catch the second half of another band playing at the same time.

I saw (or only heard, depending on how tall the people in front of me were) at least 15 minutes of the following bands:

Friday
Los Amigos Invisibles
The Walkmen
American Bang
My Dear Disco
Drive-By Truckers
Cymbals Eat Guitars
New Pornographers
F**k Buttons
NEON TREES
The Black Keys
Jimmy Cliff
The Strokes

Saturday
Harlem
Wild Beasts
Blues Traveler
Stars
The xx
Dawes
Royal Bangs
AFI
Social Distortion
Slightly Stoopid
Green Day

Sunday
Company of Thieves
Band of Heathens
The Ike Reilly Assassination
Mumford & Sons
Hockey
Violent Soho
Frightened Rabbit
Wolfmother
Cypress Hill
Soundgarden
Arcade Fire

Of those, here are my top ten:

10. Los Amigos Invisibles
I saw only a few of their songs when I arrived early Friday afternoon. They are a Venezuelan band, who came highly recommended, oddly enough, by my Venezuelan friend Daniel. They are described as "smooth-groovin' space-funk acid jazz," which somehow makes sense. I would describe their sound as a kind of Latin Jamiroquai. The show was pure energy, and exactly the kind of band I was happy to see as soon as I arrived for the weekend.

9. The Black Keys
I've seen them many times, both at festivals and in proper music venues, and they never disappoint. Dan Auerbach howls and makes his guitar sound all fuzzy, while Patrick Carney punishes his drums for all their misgivings. Apparently since the release of their new album, Brothers, they have been touring with a bassist and keyboardist, but they only came out when the band played three or four songs from Brothers. My only gripe is that I didn't get to hear "10 a.m. Automatic." C'mon!

8. Hockey
I recently bought their album, Mind Chaos, after hearing a couple songs here and there on the radio and thinking they were pretty catchy. It's definitely an '80s-inspired, new wave-type sound. They put on an energetic show. The lead singer has a better voice than fashion sense, but I suppose that could be said for anyone wearing skinny shorts and a tank top. I'm mad I missed "Song Away," which I assume was one of the first couple songs, which I missed.

7. Wolfmother
Last time I saw them was several years ago at Lolla, and they have gone through a line-up change and put out another album since then. I was really far from the stage last time I saw them, so I got up pretty close this time, and enjoyed their brand of Zeppelin and Sabbath-inspired hard rock. Gibson SGs and soaring vocals are always a good thing.

6. Harlem
This is another band I'd never heard of or heard before they stepped on stage. I'm just gonna put it out there that I love it when band members switch instruments throughout a show. It's just cool. These guys did that. Aside from their multitalentedness (and assuming that's a word), these guys played great music. I would describe their sound catchy punky garage rock, inspired by The Ramones, surf rock, and '60s garage rock. They seem like a band that would be on Little Steven's Underground Garage, which is always good thing.

5. Frightened Rabbit
This is yet another band I'd never seen or heard of before I saw them. These guys are from Scotland, so they pretty much just could have talked for an hour and I would have been mesmerized. But they didn't, and I was impressed nonetheless. They played Sunday afternoon, which was hot as hell, and they kept the crowd pumped up. Plus, their most recent album is called The Winter of Mixed Drinks.

4. Company of Thieves
I had only heard one song from this Chicago-based band before Sunday. Jester has "Oscar Wilde" on her iPod, and it's an infectious little song, so I didn't put up a fight when she said she wanted to see them. They put on a great set, and they had a pretty good crowd, considering it was 1 p.m. on Sunday and raining. I would describe the lead singer as a sprite, and I'm pretty sure she was wearing a figure skating outfit with an octopus on it (or, as I called it "squid tits").

3. The Strokes
I have been wanting to see The Strokes for a long time, so I went with them over Lady Gaga (who was apparently more interested in ranting than singing). The decision was a good one, even if The Strokes did end 15 minutes early. They mostly played stuff from their first two albums, which I liked (not that I dislike their third album).

2. American Bang
As you may know, I like the rock and roll, particularly good old-fashioned, shit-kicking rock. That's what American Bang plays -- the kind of rock that makes you want to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes. I had never heard of these guys before I saw them Friday afternoon. I'm glad Chandler and I wandered over to the stage they were playing on because they kicked ass. The sample song on the Lolla website sounds a little Kings of Leon-eqsue (which isn't a bad thing, but not as hard as their other songs), but like I said, they play straight-up hard rock with a little bit of a Southern twang (as they are from Nashville), and better yet, they look like rockers and put on a rocking, energetic show. If you like The Answer or Township, then definitely check these guys out if they roll through your burg.

1. Green Day
I had never seen Green Day before, and they headlined Saturday night. Not that I wasn't expecting a good show, but they were awesome. They're set was what I think is a Lollapalooza record of 2 hours and 15 minutes, and they kept it high-energy the whole time, from pyrotechnics to bringing fans on stage (including one lucky guy who got to sing "Longview"). They also played a mini-medley of "Iron Man," "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love," "Sweet Child O' Mine," and "Highway to Hell," which was pretty sweet.