Lollapalooza Day 3: Time at Fest 12:30pm-10pm

Here it is. Day 3. Always a day of mixed emotions. Exhaustion from the previous 2 days. Excitement at the prospect of seeing acts that top what I have already seen. Sadness that the greatest weekend every year is coming to a close. Sigh. Guess we will dive in.

1:15pm – The Weakerthans: N/A

Um… they didn’t show up. Apparently they had travel problems? Or something… I dunno, I’m not gonna hold it against them because they are one of my favorite bands.

What sucked is they had this crappy timeslot that made me get to the fest 3 hours before Iron & Wine (the next band I wanted to see) when I was still extremely tired and hungover from the day/night before. And it was 100 degrees outside. Let’s just say I was a little grumpy.

This is what I could have enjoyed


The Weakerthans sez: “It’s hard to get to the states from Canada. You know what we’re talking about… You don’t?... But aren’t you?... You’re not Canadian?... But BSS said… Now we don’t know what to think.”

2pm – The nap I took on a park bench in the shade: B

I’ve had better naps. Even better naps in public. The thing that saved this nap from a lower grade is that it probably salvaged the rest of my day. I felt good enough afterwards that I was able to enjoy the rest of my day.

Nap sez: “I’m always here to help.”

4:15pm – Iron & Wine: A+

I love Sam Beam. Beard and all. He is probably the most underrated guitarist out there. He gets so much sound from just himself and the guitar. I saw Iron & Wine a couple years ago at Lolla and couldn’t make it through 2 songs. Not because he was bad. He was playing basically an acoustic song not far from a DJ stage and you could barely hear and enjoy him.

My hopes weren’t high going in.

And boy was I wrong! They were great. Super great. He played electric and they basically had a full band as opposed to just playing the acoustic.

Here is what impressed me the most. He played my favorite song (which by the way, I had amazing luck with hearing my favorite song by all the bands I knew), which is “Upward over the Mountain”.

The recorded version is super mellow and very acoustic.



This is the version they played


Just oozed awesome and talent. Go see it.

Iron & Wine sez: “Hey John. I like your beard. Keep up the good work.”

Yes, sir!

6:15pm – Gnarls Barkley: B+

Don’t own any of their albums but always enjoy watching them perform live. They wear fun outfits and just have a good time on stage. A couple years ago they wore tennis outfits. This year they looked like college professors with sweater vests and khakis. I heard they dressed like Jedis one time.

I also love them because they do covers of songs. Here is a Radiohead cover they have been doing lately.


Real quick side note: Why doesn’t Microsoft Word recognize the word Jedi? Wait. Apparently it does, just not the plural version. Sorry about that.

To get us back on track, I will share a story from Lollapalooza 2006. I was watching Gnarls Barkley and Cee Lo (lead singer) was talking to the crowd between songs and said “Now ladies, don’t be shy about whipping out them titties.” Right after saying that they cut to a crowd shot on the jumbotron and there were a couple girls who were not entertained at all. One comment lost half the crowd. It was awesome.

Gnarls Barkley sez: “We dressed as Star Wars character for the MTV awards. Unfortunately because of corporations you can’t watch the video on youtube. Now let’s see those titties.” (John lifts shirt slowly while crying quietly)

7:15pm – The National: B-

I only saw a couple of their songs. Amazingly I still got to hear Fake Empire (my favorite of theirs) even though I only saw the last 15 minutes of their set. I really like this band. I really like their album. But nothing really jumped out for me in their live show. They sounded great but their music doesn’t lend itself to a full spectacle.



The National sez: “It must have been hard to judge our set since you were in a beer line on the opposite side of the field we were playing to.”

8:15pm – Nine Inch Nails: C

In all reality it probably isn’t fair to review them. I only saw 2 of their songs from one of the worst vantage points possible. From what I heard from other people, they were awesome. I just saw them kinda standing around and playing. Again, only saw a couple songs of theirs.

This is actually just an excuse to call out one of the biggest douchebags I have ever seen. Ya see, I was in the lolla lounge and I found a nice little spot I could watch some show. Near me is a dude in a polo and khaki shorts, clearly was in a frat in 1995 and probably thought all the kids who listened to NIN at the time were a “bunch of freaked out queers” but at the same time “would love to lay the wood to those slutted out chicks they’re rolling with even though they probably drink blood and cut themselves and other weird freak shit”.

Back to the topic. This preppy douchebag, who is clearly drunk, is calling over to a friend of his sitting by the fence. Next to his friend is a woman (late 20’s, maybe early 30’s) who thought he was talking to her for a second. Now, this lady, who was definitely there with a dude, was very normal. I mean she wasn’t sauced, clearly wasn’t looking to bang anyone. Just there for the concert.

After this woman thought prepdouche was talking to her, he turned into a shark and he smelled blood. He clarified he wasn’t talking to her, but could. Then said she should drink more because then he gets cuter. Then he said it again. Then a third time. Possibly a fourth. She made it pretty clear she wasn’t looking to make friends. Just kept saying no thanks, etc. Never one to quit or take a clue, he walked up to her with a beer which she politely declined. He came back and probably started thinking about the list of baby names for their future children.

I’m really not doing this story justice. Just believe me when I tell you that a total chode proved he was a total chode. I also appreciated how often he gave me dirty looks as if to say “Who let you in here?” Man, there was a whole group of these people. It was unbelievable. Also, the sound sucked in the lounge on that side and one of his buddies (Moose or Chet or something) kept yelling “Turn it up!” Um, they can’t hear you. You’re just ruining this for all of us. Also, if you were that concerned, why not actually go into the crowd with the normal folk.

OK enough of that.



NIN sez: “We hate that preppy guy. You did a bad job capturing what a dipshit he was.”

Prepdouche sez: “That chick was into me, bro! She was all like, ‘do me.’ And I was like ‘no way skank!’”

8:30pm – Kanye West: A+

Sunday was a huge letdown. Outside of Iron & Wine and Gnarls Barkley, nothing really stood out. Plus it was so crowded that it was hard to enjoy the fest. I couldn’t even see Girl Talk because they were on a small stage and the crowd was too thick. I thought about leaving at 6:30.

Thankfully I didn’t. Kanye was awesome and cleansed a crappy day with an awesome show. The thing that surprised and disappointed me was he didn’t have any special guests. What with all the other bands that played over the three days I thought maybe someone would pop by.

I probably got my hopes up thinking that Pharrell might fly in and Lupe and Thom Yorke stuck around for a couple days so this could happen.


Alas, no luck. However, to cap off my favorite song streak they did do Flashing Lights. Which isn’t much of a surprise.

While looking for clips I realized he played a lot of my favorites. I think New Workout Plan was the only one he didn’t do for me. Thanks Kanye.


Surprised there was no encore. He just went straight til 10pm. Really good show.

Kanye West sez: “That’s all you have to say? That’s it? You barely even complimented me. And what’s this I hear about you saying Lupe is the best MC out there? Don’t run away from me, I’m talking to you!”

Well, that’s the recap. See below for the closing thoughts.