Tuesday Top Ten: Shows I Saw at Lollapalooza

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the first Lollapalooza, and it was my seventh (and sixth since it's been in Grant Park). As usual, it did not disappoint. Daniel, Chandler, and I went all three days, while Lisa went the first two days, and Chris joined us Sunday.

Here are the bands whose shows I saw at least a portion of: The Naked and Famous, Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, White Lies, The Kills, A Perfect Circle, Crystal Castles, Muse, Coldplay, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Disappears, An Horse, Friendly Fires, Maps & Atlases, Black Lips, Dom, Death From Above 1979, The Drums, Local Natives, Cee Lo, Atmospher, Eminem, The Cool Kids, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Cars, Flogging Molly, Cage The Elephant, Arctic Monkeys, Explosions in the Sky, and Foo Fighters. And that wasn't even a fourth of the bands that were there!

Other than the bands, here are some of the highlights:

-On Saturday afternoon, Daniel and I were getting something to eat. Thankfully, I wanted a burger from Kuma's because ?uestlove was hanging out in front of the booth next to Kuma's, getting interviewed. Of course, the 17-year-old girl next to me in line thought it was Afroman.
-Daniel had signed up to get tweets from Lollapalooza, which would announce giveaways at random places throughout the grounds. While we were watching The Drums, out of nowhere and without saying a word, Daniel bolts. He showed up five minutes later with tickets to Pearl Jam's 20th anniversary show at Alpine Valley in September.

-Some guy was dressed like a living version of Mr. Slave from South Park, and he was carrying around a giant inflatable dong.
-Sunday, at the insistence of Jester, I didn't bring my poncho. This turned out to be a huge mistake, as a torrential downpour hit for about 20-30 minutes right around 5:45.
The result was that I got soaked, which wasn't too terrible. Worse was that it filled the fields with mud puddles. On the walk out after the Foo Fighters show Sunday night, I lost both of my flip flops in some deep puddles. Thus, I had the pleasure of walking to the train and riding the train in my bare feet. I'm a father, by the way.
Here are my top ten shows from the weekend:

10. The Cars
They don't really move at all, but it was still good to hear them play live, especially since I missed them when they played in Chicago in May.

9. Muse
These guys co-headlined Friday night. I only know a few of their songs, but they definitely put on a good show. Having seen them, I'm not sure how they ever play to a crowd of less than 40,000.

8. Cage The Elephant
This was the last band we saw before the downpour on Sunday, and their show was all energy. The lead singer was in the audience by the end of the first verse, and they kept it going the whole time.

7. Foo Fighters
Last time I saw Foo Fighters was in 2000 at the Little 500 concert at IU. They were good then, and they are even better now. They headlined Sunday night, and the rain certainly cut into their crowd (and even made a return appearance during their set), but that didn't stop them from rocking. I'm just pissed Daniel wasn't in the right place at the right time to win tickets to their after-hours show at the Metro Saturday night. Nonetheless, we had no problem rocking out while soaked on Sunday.
6. Arctic Monkeys
These guys are one of my favorite bands from the past five years. They were supposed to go on at 6 Sunday evening, but the rain was hard enough that their show got pushed back a half hour, which meant they only played for 45 minutes instead of an hour (and the band across the field had to do the same). Their show may have been short, but it was definitely sweet. They took the crowd's mind off of the wetness.

5. Friendly Fires
I had never heard of this band before Saturday, but thankfully Chandler had. They play what I guess I would describe as dance rock, and the crowd was going crazy the entire show. The lead singer came into the crowd at several points, which is always the sign of a good live band.

4. Flogging Molly
Unfortunately, The Cars and Flogging Molly were given nearly identical timeslots on opposite ends of Lolla, so I only saw the first half of The Cars and the second half of Flogging Molly. These guys are just awesome. I don't know how else to put it. I don't think I could ever get tired of seeing them live. Their songs are all full of energy, and the crowd is always bouncing. Notice the crowd surfer.

3. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
This was one of the bands I wanted to see most at Lolla this year, and they didn't disappoint. While their slow songs aren't my favorite, when they play their faster songs, they rock out. Grace Potter does her best Tina Turner impression. As far as I can tell, there is no Ike. They also had two giant stuffed tigers on stage, which they threw into the audience in a frenzy during the last song. Even better, during their song "Paris (Ooh La La)," where they usually say "ooh la la la-la la la laa," they said "ooh la la la-la-pa-loo-za." I like a good word combination.

2. Eminem
I wasn't sure what to expect from Eminem, but he blew the doors off Lolla Saturday night. There's something infinitely awesome about 60,000 people waving their hands in the air in unison, which happened a lot.

1. J. Roddy Walston & The Business
Like American Bang last year, J. Roddy Walston & The Business are my find of the year (or, I should say, Daniel's find of the year). They played the first show on Saturday, which meant that I was able to get right next to the stage. You know I love the rock and roll, and these guys played it how I like it – straight up, with no nonsense. It was like Led Zeppelin meets Jerry Lee Lewis. Walston is a hirsute piano-playing madman, and the rest of the band follows suit. Among the highlights was a rollicking cover of Little Richard's "Lucille." I will definitely be buying their album and subscribing to their email newsletter.