Tuesday Top Ten: Lollapalooza Shows I Saw

For the seventh time in eight years, I went to Lollapalooza -– all three days, as usual.  Daniel joined me for all three days, Chandler was there for Friday, and my brother-in-law Will was there part of Friday and the rest of the weekend.  My goal for the weekend was to be flirty, fun, and fearless.  And so help me God, I killed it.

Here are the bands whose shows I saw at least a portion of (in chronological order):  Animal Kingdom, O Rappa, Anamanaguchi, Michael Kiwanuka, The Black Angels, Tame Impala, Metric, Die Antwoord, Band of Skulls, Passion Pit, DJ Zebo, Black Sabbath, JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound, FIDLAR, JEFF the Brotherhood, Delta Spirit, FUN., The Tallest Man on Earth, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, Red Hot Chili Peppers, White Rabbits, Gary Clark, Jr., The Gaslight Anthem, At the Drive In, Miike Snow, and Jack White.

Other than the bands, here are some highlights:

-During one of the shows Friday afternoon, there was this couple standing in front of us that couldn't take their hands off each other.  I'm sorry, but there is no need for neck kissing and taint touching during a Black Angels show.

-On Saturday at about 3:30, we were waiting for a band to start, when someone came on the mic and said something like, "The National Weather Service has advised us that severe storms are approaching Grant Park.  Everyone must evacuate the park immediately.  Please proceed to the nearest exit."  That's a new one, but in the wake of last year's Indiana State Fair tragedy, it was completely understandable.  Amazingly, it was about as smooth of an evacuation of 90,000 people as you could imagine.  We went to Kasey's, a bar a few blocks away, but Lolla had thought ahead for others and rented out an underground parking garage.  Around 4:15, it started to rain in Biblical proportions.  Here's a time-lapse video of the storm from an apartment overlooking Grant Park (notice the boats tossing about in the harbor):

Lollapalooza Storm Timelapse (Aug. 4, 2012) from Angus Finlay on Vimeo.

[video]

At that time, Will, Daniel, and I were enjoying $17 buckets of Bud Light.

At about 5:30, we got word through Tweets and the Lolla app that it was opening back up at 6, so we made our way back and that was that.  Unfortunately, this meant that the Alabama Shakes were canceled, which was a bummer.

-During the Red Hot Chili Peppers, a reverse centaur made an appearance

Here are the top ten shows I saw:

10.  O Rappa

This was the second band I saw.  They are from Brazil, and I guess I would describe them as a mixture of rap, hip hop, dub, funk, and rock.  It was a fun show, even if I don't understand Portuguese.

9.  Band of Skulls

I have one of their albums, and I like it, so I decided to check them out.  I'm glad I did.  They put on a good live show.

8.  The Gaslight Anthem

One of my favorite bands from the last few years, and they are great live.  I'm just pissed that their slot was only 45 minutes and some dickhole ten feet in front of me had an inflatable palm tree.

7.  Gary Clark, Jr.

Clark brought the blues to Lolla.  Every now and then, you need a guitar hero to remind you why the blues are awesome.  The guy can play.  Sadly, he probably drew more people here than he would at Blues Fest.

6.  Franz Ferdinand

I've never seen Franz Ferdinand, so I was excited.  This was the first big band to play after the Great Evacuation, and they, like Arctic Monkeys last year, reenergized the crowd.  Plus, I love a good Scottish accent.

5.  JC Brooks and The Uptown Sound

I saw these guys last December at Schuba's, and they were great.  They didn't disappoint at Lolla.  It's a neoclassical soul band, with a Stax and James Brown kind of feel.  While I was watching them, I questioned why I wasn't on their email list.  That has been remedied.

4.  Delta Spirit

This was the last band we saw before the Great Evacuation, and they kicked ass.  I bought their album earlier this year, and I was a little disappointed, but that might also be because I bought it at the same time I bought the Alabama Shakes album, which I really liked.  Anyway, Delta Spirit played a great show.  The lead singer even dumped buckets of water on the crowd, which was a nice gesture given the 95-degree temperatures.

3.  Jack White

I'm still bitter that the White Stripes canceled their tour date at the Aragon back in 2007, since they never came back to Chicago after that.  So, if I can't get Jack and Meg, Jack will do.  He was excellent.  Oddly enough, he had two bands.  When he first came out, his backing band was all dudes.  Then at some point, it became all women.  No matter the backers, it was all good.  He played mostly White Stripes songs, which I loved, as well as a few songs from his new solo album and one Raconteurs song.  Here's a video I took of "Seven Nation Army" (it may not be fully loaded for a few more hours).  Notice the hippies dancing in the foreground. [NOTE: The video didn't upload. Apparently, it takes five hours to upload a 4-minute iPhone video to YouTube. Once it's uploaded, I will post it here, and then redemption will be my concubine.]

2.  Red Hot Chili Peppers

After the evacuation, a lot of shows got pushed back, so the Chili Peppers went on from 9 to 10:45, rather than 8:15-10.  This meant there was more time to drink, which added to the experience.  I haven't seen them since 2000, and they still bring it.  They played a nice mix of old and new.

1.  Black Sabbath

This was the band I was most excited to see, since I've never seen Sabbath before.  It was the original lineup, except for drummer Bill Ward.  The remaining originals were phenomenal.  Ozzy sounded great, even if he had to prop himself up with the mic stand.  It's amazing how clear he sounds when he sings and when he talks to a crowd, as opposed to the bumbling we're used to seeing from The Osbournes.  Tony Iommi was amazing.  He played every riff and solo like it was 40 years ago.  Geezer Butler was just as good on the bass.  Plus, they played some less popular songs that I wasn't expecting them to play, like "The Wizard" (which is one of my favorites) and "Electric Funeral."  Also, two 50-year-old middle-class men in front of me were, I kid you not, smoking hash.  Unfortunately, my phone died long before the show started, so I have no pictures of Sabbath or the hash.