Does He Still Shit In His Pants?: August 7 Lollapalooza Day One

Saturday, August 8, 2009

August 7 Lollapalooza Day One

Grant Park, Chicago, IL 1:16pm We finally make it to Lollapalooza. Let the fun begin...but wait just one minute. It started raining 10 minutes after this picture was taken and it doesn't stop until 7:30pm. That's not gonna ruin our day. How could it...tens of thousands of young women soaking wet was worth the cost of the ticket by itself. Sorry no pictures of that for you, those images are only for those of us who slogged through the mud all day.

The first band we watched was Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears. The were great and the sound was amazing. Recommended if you like (RIYL) James Brown, old soul music with updated sound and James Brown.

Here I am. I had trouble at the gate on my way in. They wanted me to buy 3 more tickets so I could bring in all of my chins.

This is Gaslight Anthem on stage. They were one of two bands I absolutely had to see today. We never did get close to the stages all day long. RIYL - rock and roll with a touch of punk, Bruce Springsteen mixed with Social Distortion.

This picture has a bit of a back story. I knew the forecast called for rain. I told my brother I had two White Sox panchos that he & Marcy could use. He said they only needed one. Just another quick note on the weather. It was suppose to be 80 degrees, I doubt it made it above 72 degrees. As soon as the drizzle strengthened to rain, Georgie puts on the pancho leaving Marcy standing in the cold rain. So I give Marcy my rain jacket. After about two hours of steady rain, I'm getting cold so Georgie finds a garbage bag on the back of a Chicago Park District cart and gives it to Marcy. Since it is chilly, Marcy decides not to make arm holes to conserve heat. This lead to funny moments throughout the day like the trouble she had in the port o potty, holding and drinking her beers and pictured here trying to 'raise the roof' while dancing in the DJ area.

Here's Perry's DJ area. The DJ's did not have much protection from the weather. We wandered through here to check out several acts like Dark Wave Disco, Hollywood Holt, A-Trak and Simian Mobile Disco. RIYL - Drugs, watching white people dance on drugs, good times

I showed up late for Ben Folds so I watched him on the screens by the Budweiser main stage while standing near the Playstation stage so I could watch Fleet Foxes after Mr. Folds show. Ben was fantastic as usual, I've seen him several times in concert. I wanted to check out Fleet Foxes but they were too mellow for my tastes in such a large setting. I'll admit their fans were really into them and very willing to share their pot with everyone around them. RIYL - Ben Folds, smart ass piano rock. Fleet Foxes - mellow, very mellow rock with very talented but sparse musical arrangements, great vocals from most band members, would be better in smaller venue.

Back to meet Geo & Marcy at the DJ area. They watched Eric Church while I was at Ben Folds & Fleet Foxes.

We walked across the park to check out Peter, Bjorn & John but their stage was drowned out by the heavy bass beats coming from Thievery Corporation. So we listened to that while waiting for Of Montreal to begin. Of Montreal made it worth standing in the mud. They were introduced by a guy wearing a white suit and a tiger head. Then it got strange. Dancers, costumes, gas masks with a Christmas skit. The music was very good too. Couldn't stay for the whole set, Had to cross the entire park to grab a spot for Kings Of Leon. RIYL - Thievery Corporation - world beat club music. Of Montreal - David Bowie & Freddy Mercury if they took even more drugs than they actually did.

Kings Of Leon rocked out to end the day. The huge crowd was completely into them, singing along on all the songs. The band was very humble about their success. Thanking the fans several times and speaking honestly about how lucky they have been. RIYL - great rock'n'roll by a talented band. I was too far away to get any decent pictures but loved the show.