Does He Still Shit In His Pants?: August 1, 2015 Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Lyle Lovett at The Chicago Theater & Gogol Bordello at Thalia Hall

I didn't make it to Lolla yesterday because I had to DJ a wedding. Since I missed Paul McCartney last night, I did play "Maybe I'm Amazed" at the same time he was on stage at Lolla.

So I have my wristband and I am finally going to find out if my plan of seeing three different shows over 14 hours today was just a dream or can this old man still rock out like a kid. The plan is to go to Lollapalooza from noon to 6pm, then see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band at the Chicago Theater and end up at Thalia Hall to see Gogol Bordello at midnight. Right now I am waiting for Patty to pick me up for Lolla....and worrying if I will make it through the day.

We made it to Grant Park in time to see Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas. I had high hopes for this band after checking out their videos on You Tube. They weren't bad...but they didn't impress me either.

Squirt Boy was keeping everyone cool with his water tank.

My two favorites were "Sorry I Stole Your Man" and their cover of Le Tigre's "Deceptacon".

Definitely the coolest band banner of the day belonged to Catfish & The Bottlemen.

I love their version of punk / rock and roll. Really good songs and entertaining stage presence.

It took me a few tries to get a decent shot of this tattoo parlor's t-shirt in the crowd...I liked the line "Fresh Tattoos Made From Scratch Daily"

Great background for this festival.

The obligatory Buckingham Fountain shot. We grabbed lunch at Phil Stefani's craft beer area and watched HolyChild on a big screen from the Bud Light stage. They were pretty good...high energy...dance music with a pop and punk twist.

On the way to see The Givers (pictured above), we caught Hippo Campus for a few minutes. Neither band caught my attention enough to keep listening to them. I wanted to like both bands but the music wasn't moving me. Again not bad but not making me feel like I was witnessing something special. I recently read that a majority of Lolla bands are never heard from after their appearance at this festival. At first I thought that was just the nature of young people nowadays...they only know the hit single...so as soon as the band plays it...most people move on to another stage....maybe if I was born 30 years later I wouldn't be the music fan that I am now...who knows? But I do see some kids singing every song so it gives me hope that they will still be attending music festivals when they are my age...and wonder what is wrong with the kids too.

I love this song by The Givers...but they didn't sound like this at Lolla today.

This is Hippo Campus' hit song. They have a little Vampire Weekend in their sound...which is a good thing to me.

Patty noticed this Lithuanian flag flying during Charli XCX's set. I took the picture for my gypsy wife who has family from most of the eastern European countries. As for Charli's music, I really enjoyed her high energy set filled with pop and dance songs.

It was a perfect day for an outdoor party today.

We watched the whole set by Death From Above 1979. It isn't the kind of music I usually listen to but it grew on me with each song they played. The political songs only increased my interest in this band. By the end, I was a fan. Now that is more like it...exactly why I love music festivals.

On the way out we caught a few songs by Walk The Moon. Here's my favorite by them...the Summer of 2015 Pop hit...

We did some shopping at the artist booths too. I bought Nola a new dog collar from the stylish Souldier booth. I own several of their camera straps and dog collars so I wanted to give them a shout out. For all you musicians they made custom guitar straps too.

So I have made it through 6 hours at Lolla...and I feel pretty good. Now I am off to my good friend Debbie's for a quick clean up and wardrobe change.

I saw this giant picture hanging on a building over a parking lot...I have no idea what it means...but I like it.

I love this one...same parking lot.

Now for a brief story. Everybody has people they call friends...you see them, say hello, move on. Then there are those select few people you describe as friends but deep down they mean so much more than that to you....That is my long time friend Debbie. We've known each other since 8th grade...we know all the good and bad things that have happened in each others lives...whenever we say hello...that conversation can last for hours and feel like 20 minutes. Tonight not only did Debbie let me clean up at her place...she had towels with hotel soap & shampoo out for me, she also had dinner out for me too...a cheese and sausage plate, fresh fruit and pork tacos. This was after I told her I would eat at Lolla but on the way out the lines for food were too long...so she put this together in 20 minutes. I tried to convince her to use our extra Gogol Bordello ticket but she declined. So I am thanking her once again...not just for tonight...but for nearly a lifetime of friendship.

This one is for you Deb.

So Christy picked me up at Deb's after she worked all day and we headed to the Chicago Theater to see Lyle Lovett & His Large Band.

We see Lyle Lovett play at least once a year lately but it has been well over 10 years since we have seen Lyle play live with his Large Band.

Here is Francine & Lyle in 1989 both with more hair

We had great seats not far from the stage in the beautiful Chicago Theater. The band came out and played "The Blues Walk", then singer Francine Reed entered the seating area from the lobby singing a stunning version of "Wild Women Don't Get The Blues" as she walked down to the stage. We were ten minutes into this show before Lyle even appeared on stage and I already loved this show. So you might imagine that this review will be a positive one...that is because I believe anyone that says they love music...must see Mr. Lovett perform live in concert...solo or with his band or with John Hiatt or if at all possible with this amazing 14 piece band known as His Large Band. Lyle sang songs, told stories, told jokes, stepped aside for band members to sing their own songs or for numerous solos by extremely talented musicians. Some people would call this show a masterclass in how to put on a concert...I will use Lin Brehmer's words to introduce Lyle Lovett..."He is as gracious as he his cool". I left this show so full of energy that there was no way we were going to miss Gogol Bordello. So we took the CTA Pink Line train to 18th & Ashland and walked the 6 blocks to Thalia Hall on a beautiful night.

(this picture from Gogol Bordello's Facebook Page)

It might seem strange to some people to leave a Lyle Lovett concert and go to a Gogol Bordello concert. Chrissy & I joked that we were definitely the only people to do that tonight. But I have said for years that I love all types of music...when it is played by talented musicians. So after watching meticulous musicians perform every note perfectly, I am ready for the musical mayhem that is a Gogol show. We sang and danced along to every song as Thalia Hall's second story floor bounced up & down with the crowd.

This video isn't perfect but it perfectly shows what it was like at this Gogol Bordello show. Almost two hours of singing along, dancing, pogoing and moshing to the incredible songs and energy of this band.

Chrissy & I are somewhere in this crowd having a great time. We left here with enough musical adrenaline to forget how old we are supposed to be. I was still singing songs as we walked back to the Pink Line. Then at 2:30am we found a hand written sign on the door to the CTA station..."Closed Until 5am". Fucked again by Chicago's horseshit public transportation. I had to chase down a cabbie that got stopped at the light at Ashland...so we finally got back to our car at Lake & Dearborn...then home. I was still jacked up by the incredible day of music I just experienced...didn't get to sleep until after 4am...but I felt good about not bailing on any of the shows...finally fell asleep with the music still ringing in my ears.