The Lollapalooza Report, Part 1

I had another awesome music weekend in Chicago.  The weather was perfect all three days, I wasn't completely overwhelmed by choice as feared, and I obviously heard some great music.  I will now write WAY too much about it!    I'll start with the bands I was most psyched to see:  Wilco, Amadou and Mariam, Spank Rock, Iron & Wine, and The National.

Wilco topped my list.  They came on stage Saturday night in lovely sequined suits reminiscent of Gram Parsons and the Old Elvis, and they sounded awesome. Though the Wilco faithful seemed pretty unexcited by Sky Blue Sky, I liked it and Impossible Germany and Hate It Here were sooooo good live.  The Being There stuff, Misunderstood, Monday, and Outtasite (Outta Mind), were definitely my highlights, though.  They also played a new song, One Wing, which didn't get me super-excited, but kept the extremely drunk and horny couple next to me going strong. 

I also caught Jeff Tweedy at the Kids stage on Friday, and it was hilarious to hear him try to be kid-friendly.  At one point he asked for requests, but a kid asked for "On and On and On," and he said that song was too serious and played Hummingbird instead.  At another point he said something to the effect of "This guitar sounds like hell.  Oops.  I mean H-E-double toothpicks."  He introduced Heavy Metal Drummer by saying he had changed the lyrics to be more kid-appropriate.  He tried, singing "...playing Kiss covers beautiful and unknown" the first time, but slipped back into "...beautiful and stoned," saying it sounded better anyway, and left in "she lifted up her shirt at the Battle of the Bands."

Amadou and Mariam sounded great.  Amadou rocked a gold-plated guitar, and the band was high-energy.  Mariam sometimes looked a little bored, but smiles would creep up, and she playfully rubbed Amadou's head on the last song.

 
Though I didn't get to hear as much Spank Rock himself as I would have liked, he and talented sidekick Amanda Blank entertained.  I got to hear fav Bump, and they dedicated a song called "Hoochie Mama" to me (...she ain't nothin but a Hoochie Mama.  Hoodrat, hoodrat, hoochie mama...), which I've since learned was a 2 Live Crew cover.  

Iron, Wine, and Sam Beam's beard's set started off promising with some of their more uptempo stuff off Shepherd's Dog, but they lost me pretty quickly.  I think they'd be way better in a more intimate setting. 

The National had some frustrating sound problems, so I'm glad I got to see their great show at the 400 last summer.  But they played all of my favorites from Boxer (Mistaken for Strangers, Fake Empire, Apartment Story, Slow Show, Ada) the guitars sounded great, and they had brass with them, all of which helped make up some for the sound issues.