Lollapalooza 2007
Day 2
Saturday August 4th
Grant Park, Chicago, IL
Words by Cameron Cook
Photos by Abbey Braden
Aqueduct, 2:15PM, Citi Stage
What we love most about Aqueduct, besides the music, is that it's basically a rather big-boned gentleman crooning his heart out to the indie masses about heartbreak, with a wicked soft rock vibe: basically Hall & Oates for the Death Cab massive. Not only that, but Aqueduct TOTALLY repped Chi-town with a fucking insane cover of R. Kelly's latest hit "I'm A Flirt", which promptly rose to become the Best Cover Version of the entire festival (and there were many, many cover versions). Other highlights included anything off of Give Me Aqueduct Or Give Me Death, the 'Duct's latest release on the almighty indie powerhouse Barsuk.
Cold War Kids, 3:30PM, Citi Stage
We've always had a soft spot for CWK's preppy indie yacht rock, but their Citi Stage set was slightly tarnished by them having to announce the DEVASTATING news that CSS HAD MISSED THEIR FLIGHT TO CHICAGO AND WEREN'T GOING TO PERFORM after them. Blinking back the stinging tears, we contented oursleves with the Kids' "We Used To Vacation" and the heartstring-tugging "Hospital Beds". If we weren't dead tired and completely at the end of our very, very long tether, we'd have felt like we were in a Miranda July movie. Thanks Cold War Kids!
Roky Erickson & The Explosives, 5:00PM, Playstation Stage
Every cloud does indeed have a silver lining, and while we missed out on Lovefoxxx and co's disco-pop jams, we were glad we were given the opportunity to check out the legendary Roky Erickson (at the Playstation Stage--oh, sweet irony...). If you're not in the know, Mr. Erickson was the front man of '60s psychedelic stalwarts The 13th Floor Elevators (John Cusack mix-tape in High Fidelity, holla!), was subjected to electroshock therapy, believed he was an alien for a while, and wrote some of the brilliant experimental rock 'n' roll of our time. His set (with new band The Explosives) confirmed why so many bands are influenced by him, from The Ramones to The Stooges.
Regina Spektor, 5:30PM, Adidas Stage
We don't know whose bright idea it was to put Regina, in all her quirky glory, on a stage next to Roky Erickson wailing on his blues guitar, but the primary effect was YOU COULDN'T HEAR A GODDAMN THING. A shame, because Regina never fails to impress, belting out her witty songwriting from behind flashy grin and a twinkling eye ("Hey remember that time you OD'd?/Hey remember that other time you OD'd/For the second time?"). "On The Radio" flourished early on in the set, bringing the ginormous crowd to its collective knee. A triumph.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 6:30PM, AT&T Stage
Oh, Yeah Yeah Yeahs. We remember, sometime in late 2001, you seemed to be rock 'n' roll's greatest hopes: something new, something fresh, something so viscerally exciting it could not be contained. But we can't get behind your new album. Try as we might. Karen O is still utterly gorgeous and the most fantastic frontwoman the world has seen in quite sometime, and the musical trifecta completed by Nick Zinner and Brian Chase still amazes but... the catchy, damaged art pop of the Fever To Tell era just isn't there anymore. "Y Control", "Maps", "Pin" and "Date With the Night" made the set worthwhile, as did a glorious "Gold Lion", but we really wish they'd go back to writing songs as colorful as Karen's stage get-ups.
PISSED WE MISSED:
Godmother of Punk Patti Smith at the Adidas Stage, Interpol at the Bud Light Stage