Lollapalooza

What a weekend.  We’ve got to hand it to the fans who easily turned in the best performance of the entire festival with a fun-loving resilience that helped everything come together.  Sunday turned out to be an admirable reward, with an unbelievable sequence of great performances of their own from giants in every genre.  You could have gone the entire day without one minute of downtime, and each set was on like Tron.  Hopefully, our iPhone App helped a bit.  At any rate, this morning, everyone’s buzzing about their faves.  And this guy.

Early in the day, an adorable Ra Ra Riot set a mellow pace, one that was quickly done away with by Bat For Lashes, who spent her songs jumping from instrument to instrument, wooing the crowd through the demonstration of her various talents.  The Airborne Toxic Event built out huge climaxes to match the scope of their band’s name, impressing their ecstatic fans and drawing in some new converts (catch an interview with them, White Lies, and The Raveonettes here!)  Dan Deacon had tongues wagging with his enormous ensemble of musicians, keeping the audience involved and making sure everyone stayed bouncing to songs like “Crystal Cat”.  If they were out to prove something, Vampire Weekend didn’t look like it, laid-back in shorts and wayfarers.  Dedicating “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” to the late filmmaker John Hughes, they played out with class and confidence, pleasing the thousands who flocked to catch their peppy indie.  Neko Case and Passion Pit were equally acclaimed, nailing down a growing respect for their very different sounds, keeping it real in the late afternoon.

Rock and roll living legend Lou Reed took over Lolla with a swagger and a sneer that barely concealed an obvious pleasure to be in the thick of things.  His setlist included tracks from all over his storied career, opening with “Sweet Jane” and moving on to hits like “Walk on the Wild Side”.  Band of Horses, by all accounts, were having the time of their life, and it showed.  After their set there was barely time to take a breath before The Killers and a reunited Jane’s Addiction (who brought along a helicopter) engaged in an awesome sonic battle royale, impressing and satisfying the tired, happy masses at both ends of Grant Park.  Good show, everyone.

Our friends over at LP33.tv posted a final video recap from Day 3.  Oh, the memories…