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CHICAGO--Overnight showers and fast-rising temperatures in the Windy City can only mean one thing: thick, swampy, near-coma-inducing humidity, and that's what Day Three at Lollapalooza was all about, at least for the first half of the day.
Arrival at Grant Park revealed grounds that were muddy and marshy in spots, and the humidity seemed to have many attendees moving at a slower pace between stages. It picked up quickly, though, as some of the music was good enough to force people out of their slumber.
MP3.com checked out sets from TV on the Radio; My Morning Jacket; Peter, Bjorn and John; The Wailers; Paolo Nutini; Amy Winehouse; and Lupe Fiasco, covered below in reverse order of appearance.
TV on the Radio/Photo: Jim Welte
Brooklyn's TV on the Radio has received a heap of praise since the release of its Young Liars EP in 2003. During the past four years, the band has ascended from underground art darlings to a global sensation. 2006's Return to Cookie Mountain received extraordinary quantities of critical and audience acclaim, pushing the group out of mass secrecy, as well as closer to the tipping point of mass success.
The momentum of that ascension was written all over TV on the Radio's set here last night, as some 10,000 fans moved as one ecstatic entity. The audience was hypnotically entranced by the group's modern-day spirituals, which managed to transcend the absurd amount of corporate branding and cesspool of musical mediocrity that dominated much of the festival.
TV on the Radio's set began as the sun fell behind the Chicago skyline. The sky filled with various shades of red and orange as dusk gave way to night. Nature's backdrop only intensified "Province," which singer Tunde Adebimpe sang as if possessed by the song's theme of searching through one's psychic darkness for the braveness to find peace and love.
"I Was a Lover" was reworked with drummer Jaleel Bunton playing a melodica over David Sitek's simple bass line. Slowly, guitarist and vocalist Kyp Malone layered in a wall of noise that seemed to inadvertently generate melodies complementing the synthesizer effects of Gerard Smith. Finally, Adebimpe began singing the line, "I was a lover, before this war."
Hopefully the line wasn't lost on the masses strolling by with their $7 beers in search of a prime spot for festival headliner Pearl Jam. Regardless, it clearly wasn't lost on the hundreds of fans that stood screaming for more TV on the Radio some 10 minutes after the group's final song.
Jim James, on the big screen/Photo: Jim Welte
Jim James and company have laid low for most of 2007, and they used their Lollapalooza set as dusk set in last night to show that they can clean up quite nicely. James sported a close-cropped haircut, and he and his bandmates wore some dapper attire, at least in part due to the presence of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra, which joined the band for its set and added some rarified air to the proceedings.
The set used two unexpected covers to bookend their set, opening with a version of Mr. Scruff's "Get a Move On," which is built around a loop of Moondog's "Bird's Lament (In Memory of Charlie Parker)," and closing with an excellent rendition of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up."
But in-between, it was a hefty dose of the Kentucky-based band's well-crafted and often stirring rock, from the soulful "Wordless Chorus" to the epic "Gideon," all of which was made even grander with the symphonic accompaniment. The band has plenty of experience playing with orchestras, including this one for a gig last year in Chicago, and the collaboration sounded easy and unforced.
Photo Credit: Jason Squires, Copyright: C3 Presents/Front Row Center.
Despite the tens of thousands of people, the near-constant feeling of traveling upstream like a salmon, and the ever-growing stench of Porta-Potties, Lollapalooza ran surprisingly smoothly all weekend. That is, until the Swedish combo of Peter, Bjorn and John took the stage. The indie pop group's set started off well enough, with its sepia-toned "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" getting the crowd swaying.
But just a few bars into "The Chills," a stagehand tried to plug in an additional monitor speaker for the band but instead shorted out the entire system, even producing an actual plume of smoke. With the crew hard at work, guitarist Peter Morén decided to jump off the stage and mingle with some fans. In doing so, he nearly put himself in the hospital.
Instead of landing on a platform below the stage about four feet off the ground, Moren missed badly, and ended up falling into a red garbage can filled with ice and water bottles. The garbage can then tipped forward and Moren nearly face-planted in front of the crowd. He quickly jumped up, completely soaked below the waist, and started signing autographs as if nothing had happened.
The sound was eventually restored, and the group performed a rousing version of its most popular song, "Young Folks," joined by Nikki Monninger of Silversun Pickups on vocals and Dean Stone from Apostle of Hustle on percussion.
Photo Credit: Rob Loud, Copyright: C3 Presents/Front Row Center.
One day after a rousing performance from Stephen Marley, the remnants of Bob Marley's Wailers, the other half of reggae's royal family, took the stage. But although original Wailer and reggae legend Aston "Family Man" Barrett--he of the 52 children--was on hand supplying the bottom-heavy bass lines, this sounded more like patchwork cover band.
Elan, the singer who recently rejoined the Wailers after a 7-year hiatus as its frontman, sounds as much like Bob Marley as does Stephen. But the set largely stuck to exact recreations of Marley hits, whereas the iconic singer's children have all tended to push reggae in new directions.
This was a set for the fan whose reggae collection doesn't go much deeper than Bob Marley's Legend, which is nothing to be mad at but also nothing particularly compelling on its own. Elan and Barrett told MP3.com earlier in the day that they are working on a collaborative album, much like the one that vaulted Santana into superstardom in 1999.
Paolo Nutini/Photo: Jim Welte
The ladies sure do love this Scottish crooner with the Italian name. The singer's blue-eyed soul is simple and accessible, leaning heavily on a voice that comes across rawer and raspier in a live setting than on record. Nutini's 2006 debut album, These Streets, is overproduced, poppy soul, but that veneer was torn away by his soulful crooning and demeanor.
Each song seemed designed to let Nutini do his thing vocally, particularly the opener "Alloway Grove," which featured the chorus, "I love you more and more and more..." The most interesting part of the set was his decision to cover Moby's "Natural Blues," which itself is based on a traditional song by folk singer Vera Hall with the well-known chorus, "Oooh, Lordy, troubles so hard, and Don't nobody know my troubles but God."
It was an inspired choice and he absolutely pulled it off, a great sign that Nutini's no flash in the pop pan.
Photo Credit: Rob Loud, Copyright: C3 Presents/Front Row Center.
She has one of the hottest records in the world this year, but one of the best reasons to make it to an Amy Winehouse show is that you never quite know what you're going to get. Depending on her mood and perhaps level of intoxication, you could get feisty Amy, slurring Amy, out-of-it Amy, or if you're lucky, totally on point Amy.
Unfortunately but not tragically, we got adequate but subdued Amy. The set was strong at times, and her backing band, the Dap Kings, is one of the best working bands in music. But Winehouse never quite laid into any of her songs with the bravado you'd hope to get in a live show.
From the hits "Rehab" and "You Know I'm No Good" to the more nuanced but equally brilliant "Me and Mr. Jones" and "Tears Dry On Their Own," she largely stuck to the songs as written, with little added flair. It was disappointing for one of the most hyped and well-attended shows on the entire weekend.
Photo Credit: Barry Brecheisen, Copyright: C3 Presents/Front Row Center.
The protégé of Kanye West had two unenviable tasks on Sunday. First, he had to fire up a crowd that was waiting to see about the hot rumor that Chicago native West would make a surprise appearance. (He didn't.) Secondly, he had to excite diehard Pearl Jam fans who were camped out in front the stage for the veteran rockers' set there a whopping six hours later. (He did.)
Lupe kicked off the set with his verse from West's "Touch the Sky," and then moved on to two excellent mixtape tracks on which he raps over other beats. "Us Placers" was set over Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's "Eraser," while "Happy Industries" saw Fiasco spitting rapid-fire rhymes over the Gorillaz' "Feel Good Inc." It was a good start, and the rapper maintained the momentum throughout, although in spite of and not because of his repeated solicitations of "Can you dig it?" ("Yes we can" was the suggested reply).
Fiasco, who was joined by several guests, including local hero Twista, performed solid versions of songs from his debut, including "Kick Push," and "He Said, She Said," as well as "American Terrorist," which aims his verbal darts squarely at the Commander-in-Chief.
He also debuted some compelling new songs, "Superstardom" and "Paris, Tokyo," which will appear on his next album, Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, tentatively set to hit stores Oct. 31.
Signing out / Photo: Jim Welte
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