Lollapalooza’d

My strategy for most of Lollapalooza was simply to see as many bands as possible; I don’t get out to shows that often anymore, so this seemed a good opportunity to filter out what might be worthwhile seeing in the future. Like, say, at Austin City Limits Festival next month. That meant cutting a lot of shows short in order to walk the 3/4 mile across Grant Park to see another band. Over the course of the last three days, I saw at least part of the following sets:

Mates of State (yes, two people really can make that much sound, and yes, they really are that cute together)
Iron & Wine
The Raconteurs
My Morning Jacket
Sleater-Kinney (second-to-last show ever!)
Death Cab for Cutie (sadly, very boring)
Feist
Built to Spill (meh. never really liked them much.)
Calexico (who, as far as I’m concerned, stole the festival; they were all very comfortable on stage, but nobody was trying to be a rock star. They played a selection of their infectious, mariachi-tinged rock, bringing an accordion out for a few songs. The whole crowd was just happy afterwards.)
Sonic Youth
Gnarls Barkley (I don’t understand all the hype, but “Crazy” was covered live by both Kanye West and The Raconteurs)
The Dresden Dolls (great voice, terrible music, goth-clown fans)
The Flaming Lips (featuring dancing Santas and purple and silver space stewardesses)
Thievery Corporation
Manu Chao (between Thievery Corporation and Manu Chao, an important stereotype was confirmed: white people can’t dance)
The New Pornographers (sans Neko; what fun is that?)
Kanye West
The Shins (would have been great if the sound hadn’t been completely fucked up)
Of Montreal
Wilco

I’ll spare you the full reviews because I’m sure you can find better ones if you spend five seconds on Google. It was fun, exhausting, and worth every penny of my hard-borrowed $120. There were a handful of other bands I wanted to see, but I just couldn’t do the full 10 hour days. I’m looking forward to catching two of the missed bands, Stars and Nada Surf, at ACL. And hopefully The Shins will have better sound there, although I’m a bit concerned about how I’ll see the full Shins show and the full Calexico show (they’re back-to-back on separate stages). Also looking forward to Kings of Leon, Cat Power, Son Volt, Kasey Chambers, The Stills, KT Tunstall, Willie Nelson, Massive Attack…

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current book: got back into Dybek today. It feels like it’s been weeks since I’ve read.

current music: Calexico! Their new album, Garden Ruin, is pretty good, with a couple of outstanding singles. I also listened to a few of their older, more mariachi-influenced albums, which range from atmospheric to party-on-the-border. I’ve always enjoyed their music, but after seeing them live, I might have a full-fledged crush on them. I mean, if Neko Case isn’t going to show up, somebody’s gotta get my lovin’.

current socks: Thanks to super-sturdy (and super-expensive) band-aids, I managed to get through the entire weekend without developing any more blisters. My current wounds seem to be healing, so I am no longer wearing so many band-aids that I look like I have socks on. Won’t you be happy when winter hits and you can actually read about socks instead of gruesome descriptions of my feet?