note: this post turned kind of ridiculous about halfway through friday. for a synopsis, check out an email i sent to dan. he also posted some links to pics and vids i posted on flickr and youtube, respectively. warning: the vids are not high quality - they were shot with my little digital camera and the sound is somewhat distorted. its not as good as some youtube postings, especially of daft punk, but it's still pretty cool...
friday highlights summary: ghostland observatory, polyphonic spree, black keys, ben harper (specifically ground on down, with my own two hands, burn one down, and forgiven).
jen and i arrived on a picture perfect day to start the fest. first band we saw was the fratellis. she had heard about them, and they delivered. not the best band ive ever seen, but they reminded me of oasis without the irritating attitude (i know, it's hard to imagine). when they were through we started heading to the north stages to see soulive when we heard this crazy ruckus coming from the southern-most stage. we couldnt tell what was being said, or who was saying it, but we had to check it out. turns out it was ghostland observatory doing what they do best - ripping shit up. we only stayed for a few songs as i wanted to see soulive (stoopid mike, STOOPID), but ghostland is one of 3 or 4 bands whose bandwagon i'm definitely on - they were really really good. soulive - terrible. we wandered around a bit and checked out the tents, and then settled in for polyphonic spree. they were nothing short of amazing. super high energy, great hooks, and a very eclectic and diverse makeup. they covered nirvana's lithium - one of the highlights of day 1. next came the first real dilemma - electric six or slightly stoopid. for logistical reasons we went for stoopid first. they sounded like a bad version of sublime. i didnt not like them, but it sounded more like noise and less like music. definitely influenced by and from the same school as sublime, but not nearly as good. electric six were solid if not spectacular. from there it was on to m.i.a. she started off really well and i, and most of the crowd, was really into it. at some point the energy kind of dropped and it became a mediocre set. g love followed m.i.a. and he didnt disappoint. i always love some good g love. the black keys were the next stop and they tore the joint up. tots really loves the black keys, and they came through. band #2 im all about after this weekend. next femi kuti, son of fela kuti, and his band/group came on. they were good, but not what i was looking for, so we went down and checked out lcd soundsystem. i really liked them - somewhat outside the box for me, but i was feeling them friday night. finally we headed back for ben harper. i feel like sometimes he plays too many of his slower, softer songs. friday night was not one of those nights. he was great from start to finish. to cap it off, eddie vedder (hereinafter "eddie") came out and played masters of war with BH. pretty sweet, and a nice cap to the day. big miss #1: upon reflection, i really wish i had skipped part of ben harper to see daft punk. nothing but raves for their set, and after seeing a few clips on youtube i think i would have really liked them...
saturday highlights summary: tapes n tapes, the roots, snow patrol, patti smith
jen was off doing bachelorette things, so i headed down by myself around noon. i caught the end of sherwood - relatively new band, pretty good though. as i was watching them i noticed streams of people walking past them toward the main at&t stage, so i headed down there too. tokyo police club was the reason - canadian band with a rabid following. im not sure they were ready for the biggest stage at lolla, but they were definitely solid - theyd be great to see in a small club. tapes n tapes was next, another band recommended by tots. and tots came through again - band #3 im all about. even though it was early afternoon and much of the crowd was still hungover, they tore it up. ive since listened to some studio stuff and while it's good, it doesnt come close to the live show energy-wise. definitely check them out if you get a chance. silverchair was next on the list. i never really got into them back in the day, but theyre very solid and polished. it's hard to believe they were teenagers when they made it big. after a few songs we headed to see this artist named lady gaga, as in the sound a baby makes. when the program describes someone like this, you just have to see them: "together with her DJ/go-go dancer, lady starlight, lady gaga is a retro-pop-rock tour de force. in fishnets." she was pretty decent, but lady starlight was terrible - she seemed incapable of flowing seamlessly from one song to another, and every record she put on skipped. cold war kids and rhymefest were next, playing simulaneously. i knew nothing of cold war kids, and they did nothing to keep me entertained. i knew next to nothing about rhymefest, but he kept me entertained. we would have stayed longer but for the smell of tasty foods and the grumbling of our stomachs. after a quick bite we settled in for the roots. i last saw them in the fall of '96 at tufts. they were good then, and theyre great now. no weak spots in the set. one of the highlights for me was the old school medley they broke into (just a friend by biz markie into shimmy shimmy ya by odb into this is why im hot into 2 other songs that escape me). they were polished and great showmen - love black thought and questlove - they rule. regina speckor went on next and was, in a word, bad. snow patrol is band that friends have been telling me for years i'd like, but i never gave them a listen. turns out my friends were right - i do like them! they're sort of pre-packaged cheesy pop from
sunday highlights summary: rodrigo y gabriela, my morning jacket, pearl jam
we got down there a little late after we discovered our front passenger tire was flat. and we were moving a little slower than normal because the dew point was 74 (for you non-weather geeks, anything above 68 is considered "oppressive" - 74 is "damn, it's sticky!"). when we arrived jen and i immediately headed south to check out the crowds and see if anyone was already camping for PJ. naturally, there were a few hundred people who already staked out spots (at 1pm, a full 7 hours before the show). aware, but unconcerned, we set off for food and then rodrigo y gabriela. again, i never heard of r y g, but they were great. i spent part of their set sitting under my umbrella, and the second part standing and clapping. im always amazed at what 2 acoustics can do with nothing else. after a 10 min delay, amy winehouse made her way to the stage. jen thought for sure she'd bail, but i knew if she valued her future as an american star she'd be there. the girl can sing, coked up or not, but it seemed like her manager or whomever forced her on stage. her energy was hit or miss, mostly miss. this, together with a text message that read "this show's good", i headed down to lupe fiasco. i only caught the last 2 songs, but he was as advertised. as the crowd dispersed, i became slightly concerned and decided to forego the rest of my plans (iggy and the stooges, yo la tengo, !!! and tv on the radio) in favor of camping for pearl jam. jen, sarah and beth joined me shortly before kings of leon came on, and by then it was officially crowded. kings of leon were ok, not as bad as sarah and beth had advertised, nor as good as iggy and the stooges were on the other end of the fest. the highlight was when eddie came on to play a song with the KOL, as the shirts say. big miss #2 - apparently while KOL were playing, iggy was playing an amazing set. word on the street is about 300 fans rushed the stage, at his urging, during the second to last song. after KOL wrapped up, the real crowd arrived. apparently my morning jacket is huge. i saw them open for PJ last year and wasnt impressed. they were awesome yesterday though. part rock part jam band, i thought they were pretty solid throughout. it was during this set, however, that i first realized i was old. not only do i not want to be drunk all day, but i dont like being around people who are drunk all day - it's past the point of amusing and moved into annoying. so after mmj was done, people methodically moved their way toward the front of the stage. by the time PJ came on, it was simply packed. we had a great spot, but it came with a price - we had to keep people from standing in front of us and tripping over our bags all night, and we had to keep our heads on a swivel after a crowd surfer landed on sarah and i. pearl jam's set was good, but not great. the only songs that arent usually played every show were state of love and trust and lukin, two of my all time favorites. i was sadder that they didnt play songs i wanted to hear (down, leash, black, footsteps, baba o'riley) than i was psyched about songs they did play. for this reason, and the annoying crowd, i only gave them a b+. they sounded great, and eddie had as much energy and zeal as ive ever seen, but the set was just unspectacular. for the final encore set ben harper came out and he and eddie sang no more, followed by a vicious rockin in the free world (which included appearances by dennis rodman and, ive heard, lance armstrong (saw dennis, didnt see lance)).
all in all it was a great weekend, definitely worth the price of admission. if i could do it all over again, i would have seen at least part of daft punk and iggy and the stooges, and i wouldnt have camped out so early or close for PJ. lesson learned. and this is officially the longest blog ever. sorry.
MO
