Tuesday Top Ten: Lollapalooza 2014

Another year, another great time at Lollapalooza.  Last weekend (8/1-8/3) marked the tenth year Lollapalooza has been in Grant Park here in Chicago, and it was my tenth Lollapalooza overall and ninth in the last ten years.  Also, this year was a special one, as Lolla and I had our twentieth anniversary.  Sure, she didn't bring me the Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, or George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars, but Eminem, Outkast, Arctic Monkeys, and Kings of Leon were suitable fill-ins.

Before getting into the nitty gritty of the weekend, I have to take a minute of your time to give a shout-out to my lovely wife.  Jester -– who will now be known as Saint Jesterio the Magnificent –- attained canonization by virtue of the three miracles she performed this weekend:  (1) taking all three of our kids to Cincinnati to visit her sister Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon, thereby allowing me to go to Lolla without the usual "I'm home with the kids and you're going to Lolla all three days, you rat-dicked son of a bitch.  If you get home so much a second after midnight, I will literally cut you tonight while you sleep, so enjoy those 16 ounce Bud Lights and alternative rock and roll bands." text messages; (2) while in Cincy, she got our three kids and her sister's two kids (all five kids between the ages of 4 months and 4.5 years) to nap at all the same time; and (3) on the car ride back to Chicago, she did not lose her cool when our middle child, the ever-mouthy almost-3-year-old Lollipop, told Jester, "I don't need a fucking nap."

But I digress.  Little more than an hour after Saint Jesterio the Magnificent left Thursday night, I headed to Schuba's for what is called a Lollapalooza "after show," even though technically it was before Lolla started.  The band was J. Roddy Walston & The Business, and if you haven't seen them before, do it.  They are one of my favorite newer bands, and in the six or seven times I've seen them, they have never put on a bad show.  Opening for them was a band called Pujol from Nashville, Tennessee, not to be confused with Albert Pujols from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.  They were pretty good too, although they were not playing Lolla –- not this year, anyway.  And yeah, that's called foreshadowing.

Here are a couple shots of Pujol, J. Roddy, and The Business, as well as the first verse of "Brave Man's Death," which I record every time I see J. Roddy Walston & The Business so that I can send it to a friend of mine who also likes the band and rub it in that I'm here and he's not.

Friday morning, I dropped Harley off at the kennel because who needs the responsibility of a dog when your wife and kids are already gone?  I was waiting for my brother-in-law Will to show up, but his arrival from Indiana via motorcar was delayed, so unfortunately, I missed a couple of the earlier bands on Friday who I wanted to see.  No worries, though.  Over the next three days, I saw dozens of bands, walked 26 miles, drank 15 liters of water, and witnessed one arrest for public urination.

Here are some observations.

• It's a marathon, not a sprint.  Friday at about 2 p.m., as Will and I were walking to Grant Park, we passed a Corner Bakery with some outdoor seating.  A girl who appeared to be somewhere between 16 and 19 was lying with her head down on a table while she splattered vomit on Corner Bakery's otherwise pristine sidewalk.  Her friends didn't seem terribly concerned and vowed to give her water and take her back to the hotel.  So you –- or probably your parents -- spent $250 (at least) on a 3-day pass, probably just as much on a hotel room, and potentially much more on a flight, and you didn't make it two hours into Lollapalooza without getting so fucked up that you're puking and unable to hold your head up.  Thanks, mom and dad!
• High-waisted shorts are out of control. Seriously, women, this is not a good look.  Stop.  Just please stop.  Unless, of course, you like shorts that make your ass look like the broadside of a barn, no matter how small your ass might actually be.
• EDM:  still horrible.
• Teenagers and poppers who listen to EDM:  still annoying.
• I saw that one hipster with the floppy hair and gigantic beard.
• Security was a bit tighter this year than in years' past, which meant longer delays getting in.  I don't really need a dick pat by a guy who can't spell his own name, but takes his job way too seriously.  Moooon river!
• As the father of two girls, I can tell all you females out there that your dad doesn't want you flashing your vag while you squat to pee in front of several thousand strangers.
• It rained for a good chunk of Sunday, but fear not, I didn't lose my flip flops this time.

Okay, now to the music.  Here are the bands and artists for which I saw or heard at least two of their songs:

Friday:  J. Roddy Walston & The Business; Hozier; Johnnyswim; Warpaint; Portugal. The Man; Chvrches; Broken Bells; Lykke Li; Eminem; Arctic Monkeys

Saturday:  Benjamin Booker; Vance Joy; Parquet Courts; So So Glos; Kate Nash; The Last Internationale; John Butler Trio; Fitz & The Tantrums; Manchester Orchestra; Nas; Foster the People; OutKast

Sunday:  Kongos; Space Capone; Bleachers; White Denim; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; Cage the Elephant; Glen Hansard; The Avett Brothers; Young the Giant; Kings of Leon

Here are my ten favorite performances from the weekend:

10 (tie).  Eminem

He was great, although I only stayed for the first half of his show because he was playing at the same time as Arctic Monkeys, so I wanted to see the second half of their set.  As I was leaving, Rihanna made a guest appearance, so that was something that the kids can hang their hats on.

10 (tie).  Benjamin Booker

He opened up for Jack White a couple weeks ago, but I got there too late to see his set.  Thankfully, he played Lolla a week later.  For some reason, I thought he was a blues guy, but it's definitely more garage rock and punk.  I really liked what I heard, although he unfortunately was having some issues with his guitar, so the show was a little disjointed.

9.  The Last Internationale

These guys have their debut album coming out soon, produced by Tom Morello.  Their drummer is none other than Rage's drummer, Brad Wilk, and the band is, as you might imagine, a little politically charged.  No matter your politics, their music was good.  I did think it was funny when the guitarist proclaimed that "all political prisoners" should be freed and that we need to "put the people on top" in jails.  That seems like a bad idea.

8.  Space Capone

These guys were kind of a '70s funk and disco outfit, with a horn section and a guy that just plays tambourine and sings back up.  I want his job.  Anyway, they were really entertaining, and the music was great for making love or just standing under a tree in the rain on a Sunday afternoon.  I would definitely check them out again when they come to town.

7.  J. Roddy Walston & The Business

They would probably be higher on this list had I not seen them the night before in a venue that holds a few hundred people, as opposed to an outdoor festival with tens of thousands of people.  Nonetheless, they were still awesome.  Here is the first verse of "Brave Man's Death."  And yes, I sent this to my buddy the day after sending the video of the same song the night before to him.

6.  Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue

This was another pleasant surprise.  We saw the second half of their set, and I wish I would have been there for all of it.  I'm not even sure how to describe their music –- maybe a combination of rock, funk, soul, and jazz.  They rocked, and Trombone Shorty not only plays a hell of a trombone, but also a hell of a trumpet.  The highlight was when they covered "Brain Stew" by Green Day:

5.  Fitz & The Tantrums

I have liked these guys since I first heard them, and their stage show matches the energy of their songs.  They definitely seemed right at home in front of a giant crowd, as well, and were pretty much running around the whole show.  In addition to their own songs, they had a pretty good cover of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," which I did not record.  I would definitely see them again.

4.  The Avett Brothers

Apparently, I underestimated the Avett Brothers' ability to rock out.  I always thought they were a little more mellow than what their performance showed.  They kicked ass, which was needed because it was Sunday afternoon, and the rain had been coming down for a couple hours at that point.  Here's an excerpt of their last song, which was a cover of Harry Belafonte's "Jump in the Line":

3.  So So Glos

These guys played at noon on Friday, so I missed their regular show, which I was pretty bummed about.  Then, on Saturday afternoon, we happened to be walking by this little promotional tent sponsored by Toyota and Spin off to the side in a thicket of trees, and there was a sign saying the So So Glos were going to be playing at this tent at approximately the exact same time we were there.  So, we walked right in as the band was warming up and taking requests from the crowd.  They then played for 15 ear-bleeding minutes to about 50 people, and it was awesome, even if I couldn't hear anything after I left.

2.  Cage the Elephant

There must be something about Cage the Elephant and rain at Lollapalooza because they were performing a few years ago when dark clouds came rolling in and it poured, resulting in me losing my flip flops trying to walk through mud.  This year, they played during the middle of the rain, but that didn't stop them from delivering a hell of a performance.  Lead singer Matt Shultz did a fair bit of crowd surfing, turning his white pants brown with what I hope was just mud.

1.  OutKast

Hands down, this was the highlight of this year's Lollapalooza. I've never seen OutKast before, so that in itself was exciting for me, but they also put on a great show.  Here's an excerpt of "Hey Ya!":