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…

Now that the smoke from the stage has cleared, the crowds have gone home, and our final headliners Jane’s Addiction and The Killers have taken their bows, we look back wistfully at another great Lolla weekend that was over too soon.  As always, we couldn’t have done it without the support of the fans and artists who came together to have fun and celebrate each other, or the sponsors and media partners that lent their time and effort in support  We really can’t thank everyone enough.

Well, enough mushy stuff.  Here’s to a well-deserved good night’s rest for everybody.  Be sure and check back with us tomorrow for Sunday recaps!

Brandon Flowers of The Killers

Photo by Cambria Harkley from the Lollapalooza 2009 Flickr

Whether or not you were able to catch yesterday’s shows, you can relive those great memories (or live vicariously) through the great coverage of Lolla in the following recap posts we’ve gathered from across the ‘Net:

• Friday’s fest from the perspective of a very appreciative Lolla newbie. – Time Out Chicago
• A rational, level-headed take on choosing between last night’s headliners. – Wall St. Journal
• Smart, strident opinions from several staff bloggers on their experiences at Lolla ’09’s opening day. – Chicagoist
• Diggin’ on Perry’s Stage, MTV liked festival-goers dancing in the dark. – MTV
• When your city is the home of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, you know a good lineup when you see it. – Cleveland Scene
• Video and commentary from one of the most revered music mags in the country. – Rolling Stone

A little precipitation never hurt anybody, at least that’s what the cheerful audiences at Lollapalooza’s opening day seemed to be saying.  With enthusiasm in the cool air, Grant Park vibrated with the energy of tens of thousands of devoted fans who quickly acclimated to the inclement weather, making the best of things and having a lot of fun.  From early this morning into the afternoon, artists such as Kid A-Trak, Ben Folds, Fleet Foxes, and Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears returned the sentiment with stellar performances from each stage.  Now, as the sun sets and evening takes over Grant Park, Depeche Mode and Kings of Leon just finished off Lolla ’09’s first day with rousing sets.  Here’s some snapshots from our headliners:

Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan belts it out

Kings of Leon take the stage

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Thousands of fans poured (no pun intended) into Grant Park this morning for the opening day of Lollapalooza 2009, ready to start catching the artists they’ve been looking forward to seeing.  A little rain wasn’t going to stop them from having a good time and taking advantage of the cool activities that organizers have set up for the crowds.  Here’s a wrap up of what’s been going down:

• If it get’s too hot this weekend or you have any problems with your feet, we’ve got you covered.  Lollapalooza: the festival that cares. – Chicago Tribune
• The WSJ has good things to say about the carefully calibrated mix of music at each stage – The Wall Street Journal
• Staff at MTV have some great info and dependable picks regarding upcoming acts – MTV News
• Looking for an after party to dry off at?  There will be tons. - WSJ/Speakeasy
• It’s a busy weekend for the CTA.  Stay in the know about how to get where you want to go. – ChicagoNOW
• Perfect festival weather?  Maybe, they’ve got a point… – Omaha World-Herald

Image from MTV

You read that correctly.  Country music superstar LeAnn Rimes will perform at Kidzapalooza Friday at 3:30pm with Lollapalooza founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell in what is sure to be an artistic collaboration to remember.  This follows a long tradition of Kidzapalooza special guests that have impressed the young set-as well as their grateful parents-including Jeff Tweedy, Patti Smith, Slash, and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James.  The unprecedented meeting of these two groundbreaking talents promises to leave festival-goers talking throughout the weekend.

Slightly less kid-friendly, yet no less entertaining, is Farrell’s new video for his song “I Like ‘Em Big”.  Debuting in tandem with Lollapalooza 2009’s opening day, the piece features more champagne and lingerie than you can shake a satin scarf at.  Directed by Andrew Bennett, whose work includes videos for Deftones and many others, it captures a side of Perry and his wife Etty that will undoubtedly surprise viewers, reinforcing Farrell’s knack for pushing boundaries and having fun while doing so.

You’ve come to the hot spot for real-time coverage of the festival. Get photos, videos, and all your Lolla news – live from the festival grounds and round the web.

Photos

• Flip through the Flickr Festival Gallery (http://www.flickr.com/photos/lollapaloozafest) featuring images from our talented team of photogs – with fresh shots uploaded every few hours.
• Upload your own Lolla pictures in Flickr and if you tag them just right, they’ll be featured in our Flickr Fan Gallery (http://2009.lollapalooza.com). Tag your shots with “Lollapalooza 2009”, “Band Name”, and “Day 1/Day2/Day3” and we’ll publish them in our daily slideshow.

Setlists

• Sear your favorite bands’ setlists in your brain, type them in and share with us on our message board (http://lollapalooza.com/forum/tt.aspx?forumid=8). Once we’ve got a setlist confirmed, you can view all your favorite Lolla artist sets on their official band pages (http://2009.lollapalooza.com/band/general-day-1/setlist)

All the News

• Look for live blog posts from the festival grounds and fresh news and video coverage from music & news outlets. Check out the latest news coverage here!

Live Webcast

• Watch the live feed all weekend long of select Lolla performers. Check the schedule and tune-in.

When Lollapalooza ends for the day, the party is just beginning.  All across Chi-town you’ll find reasons to grab that second wind.  NBC Chicago has been sniffing out the places to be, from secret shows and exclusive sponsored shindigs to celebrity DJ sets and intimate encore performance by artists fresh from performing the festival.  If you’re still thinking of calling it a night, consider that your wristband can get you special treatment in the form of drink specials and entrance into the best parties.  There’s even a rumor that Dave Grohl is debuting a supergroup consisting of certain former members of Led Zeppelin and Queens of the Stone Age.  Who knows?

As kickoff time approaches, Lollapalooza staff are working hard to bring every element of the festival together.  Here are some more pics from our preparation in Grant Park.

Things will be very different in 24 hours…

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Punky Fresh & DJ Pasha rose to the top of the 2009 Lollapalooza Last Band Standing Remix Competition. Four finalists duked it out at the Double Door last night, and after much deliberation, the winners were crowned. Both winners will be spinning on Perry’s stage at Lollapalooza this weekend. DJ Pasha plays 12 pm-1 pm on Friday and Punky Fresh takes the stage 11:30 am-12:30pm on Saturday.