The Weakerthans (1:15PM PlayStation 3 Stage)

The Weakerthans were the first band on my hit list. I got there rather early because no other bands really sparked my interest before that point. Then, the worst announcement came when they said White Lies would be playing on the Playstation 3 stage. The reason this was a terrible announcement was that the Weakerthans were suppose to be playing on that same stage in forty-five minutes. Something was wrong. I asked the sound guys and they had informed me the Weakerthans had cancelled. It was a devastating blow to an already weak Sunday line-up. I was furious. People walked around confused wondering what happened. They made no immediate announcement, and that’s what pissed me off the most. So what now?

(looked like the Weakerthans set)

John Butler Trio (2:15PM Bud Light Stage)

I decided to stick around in general area to catch Office, who barely made up for the Weakerthans. But my reason to stay around was because the Australian jam-rock band John Butler, a band that had generated so much hype in the previous weeks. I had heard nothing but positive reviews and was really looking forward to their set. I must admit, I cannot deny the three have talent, but John Bulter Trio just rolled off rather average. They were not my style. A cool/gross tidbit from the set is that John Butler’s nails were natural picks for his lap guitar, banjo, and 12-string guitar (among others). Even so, the crowd loved John Butler Trio, especially the song “Used To Get High For A Living” for obvious reasons. I will quote a fan that said, ‘this is the greatest song ever,’ and before that, I’m sure his favorite song was Afroman’s “Because I Got High” and previous to that was Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints.” John Bulter Trio started what unraveled to be the absolute low moments of the festival.

I began to feel miserable. I wanted to go home or just get out of the festival itself. Brazilian Girls and Chromeo didn’t help the hours go by either. An early afternoon filled with folk/jam-rock/international/Americana/electro-pop crippled my mind and my desire to enjoy Lollapalooza as I had planned. It had been the type of early afternoon that made me think why I even got up before four-o-clock.

Iron & Wine (4:15PM Bud Light Stage)

Oh my God. Up until this point, you already know my state of mind. The Weakerthans had cancelled and the other bands were not my thing. I depended on Sam Beam to change that. As an avid fan of his music, I figured it couldn’t be that bad. But it was. The set was intolerable. I stood through the first ten minutes thinking to myself how dull and uninteresting their set was. The worst part was I actually expected a lively show. It was like they were cardboard cutouts on stage. They had a nice sound, but I was looking for lively more than nice at that point. After Iron & Wine, the only place to go was up.

Flogging Molly (5:15PM Bud Light Stage)

Flogging Molly were the equivalence of a Red Bull at this point. Talk about putting on a show to remember, Flogging Molly’s enthusiastic Irish-punk sound filled the north side of Grant Park. When they were introduced, the announcer said they are one of the best live bands; the man spoke the truth. The seven members provided a much needed boost (personally), especially with front-man Dave King proclaiming, ‘you know what Chicago? These big screens make me look like a bigger dick than I actually am!’ It was statements like this that made everyone simply love the personality gushing from the entire band. But these jokesters still presented themselves as a classy act that deservingly drew the biggest crowd response up until that point on Sunday. I really didn’t have a clue what songs they played at the time, but some of their set included “Salty Dog,” “Float,” “Requiem for a Dying Song,” and “Drunk Lullabies.” Cheers to the boys from Ireland for making my day miles better than it was previous. I just wish I could have sung along.

Girl Talk (6:30PM Citi Stage)

Well, well, well what do we have here? You may remember staff writer Nick Greer’s write-up and interview with Girl Talk (Greg Gillis), but this time around it was a little different. First, it started when the sun was still out. Instant buzz kill. Second, the area for fans was in a confined space, and one of the smaller stages of the festival. This reminded me of Pitchfork Music Festival 2007 where fans had an equally small space allotted and half the sound. Girl Talk started about five minutes late. This was due to the fact he showed up five minutes before his set to plug his laptop in, and then he had to change. While the sound was bumping, the crowd was still cramped and viewing from bad vantage points, whether it was under a tree or too far to even see Gillis. Thankfully for my height, I could see the two huge GT balloons that were blown up by his sidekick ‘cops’ shooting out toilet paper as he came out in a ridiculous outfit, as expected. The antics of a signature Girl Talk show were still there (like when he busted out an inflatable raft to crowd surf in), but with much less comfort. Let it be known, it was the dance party of the year.

The National (7:15PM PlayStation 3 Stage)

I felt bad leaving the Girl Talk party early, but I had to catch the National. In 2007 they enchanted the world with Boxer and finally my chance arrived to catch a live performance. The first recognizable difference with the National’s sound came from the lead singer. His voice sounded less deep and not as defiant, yet more jubilant and an emotionally raw scream. The National must have been in a good mood tonight because they played every worthy memorable track off Alligator and Boxer such as “Mr. November,” “Fake Empires,” “Mistaken For Strangers,” Squalor Victoria,” “Brainy,” and “Abel” to name a few. Like Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, The National weren’t deserving of the set right before the headliner (especially before Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails). I didn’t mind, I loved having more elbow room during their set. And it stayed that way. Finally, it was time for the last two bands for the entire festival.

Nine Inch Nails (8:15PM Bud Light Stage)

Apparently people were really, really tired on Sunday. Both Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails had crowds that were less than I expected and the crowd seemed a little stale (especially in comparison to Rage Against the Machine and Girl Talk). Wasting little time, the opening riff of “1,000,000” surged from the speakers igniting a raucous response. The visual display was stunning. There were lavish landscapes and stunning light effects that created different moods for each song. Trent Reznor went all out with the way his set looked, because every song brought a new color, pattern, or design that mesmerized the crowd. They even had back drops, middle drops, and even front drops creating various silhouettes. The first nine songs were non-stop and action packed. Playing The Downward Spiral songs like “Closer,” “Piggy,” and “March of the Pigs” and The Slip tracks like “Letting You” and “Discipline.” It was a set that Nine Inch Nails can walk away happy from, because they gave their fans a damn good show.

So with that, I can’t say that I’m a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails, even though I have about ninety tracks up for listen. But one truth people should know is that Nine Inch Nails are more palatable live. The crowd loved ever minute, especially the ones who thought they could sing. Clearly, alcohol brings out the best karaoke singers.

Kanye West (8:30PM AT&T Stage)

This biggest decision I made all weekend came midway through the set of Nine Inch Nails. Do I venture a mile

south to catch Kanye West, the same man who treated the Bonnaroo crowd like garbage? It was a risky move, until I rationalized the thought Kanye is playing in his home town, Chicago. He wouldn’t disappoint. After what was barely three hundred yards away from Nine Inch Nails, I heard the sound from Kanye’s set resonating up the festival grounds. Over the horizon I saw a light show waiting.

Kanye West, as you know, is a performer; a great one I may add. With scores of bad press and media, he had a huge window to lose his cool or say something ridiculous, but he kept relatively modest for Kayne West standards. He had told everyone in the crowd to tell their kids and grandkids about how rappers, in the future, were and never will be like Kanye. You know how that goes, ‘back in my day we had so and so’ conversation piece. After his speaking, I had a different, positive, perception of Kanye West. Sure, Kanye is a self-centered man, but he means well. After all, there are worse people in the music business that take a lot less heat for what they say.

Throughout his set, he teased fans with sound clips of “Stronger” which was ultimately his closer. “Touch The Sky,” “Gold Digger,” and “Hey Moma” were incredible. The light show was beautiful and vibrant. Kanye West was on top of the world. Kanye even performed the 3:00AM drunk anthem, “Don’t Stop Believing,” by Journey. Besides the fact I inevitably knew I was going to miss “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails by leaving their set, I was hoping to hear a personal Kanye West favorite, “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.” But I was too late. At that moment though, I didn’t care. I was on top of the world.

Comments/Opinions:

• Best performance on Sunday was Flogging Molly. No other band had the kind of fan support and liveliness that Flogging Molly had. Irish flags waving and literally every person near the stage clapping, it’s hard to deny people didn’t get into their performance. With all due respect to Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West who both had incredible sets, Flogging Molly was it. Their set didn’t need lights or special effects. I came in barely hearing two songs and enjoyed every minute. Bands I missed out on and/or saw very little of their set included: Gnarls Barkley, Black Kids, The Whigs. Band that I heard and loved, but didn’t actually see was The Octopus Project.

• During the day, I saw a woman who appeared to be in her sixties outside, sporting cut off shorts, a Nine Inch Nails shirt and black hat over her ragged appearance. Around noon she looked desperately for tickets to see Trent and company play. After the third song, she appeared with shoes at her side, only a few feet from me. The strangest part of the whole thing was, besides her visual profile, I only recognized one kid twice during the entire festival. And here I was, right by the eldest festival attendee (of the people I saw) ready to rock out as hard as everyone else. It was the definition of the true essence of a fan and feeling young.

• By cutting Nine Inch Nails and Kanye’s set in half, I missed my two favorite tracks by each of them, “Hurt” and “Diamonds From Sierra Leone.”

• Quote of the day: Dave King of Flogging Molly saying in his Irish accent (made it that much better), ‘you know what Chicago? These big screens make me look like a bigger dick than I actually am!’

Best ‘stage’ set:

• AT&T Stage: Rage Against the Machine
• MySpace Stage: Dr. Dog
• Citi Stage: Grizzly Bear
• Kidz Stage: N/A
• BMI Stage: Steel Train
• Perry’s Stage: N/A
• PlayStation 3 Stage: Flogging Molly
• Bud Light Stage: Explosions in the Sky

Fan Feedback:

• Conversing with a good amount of people throughout the festival, most people had not heard of Sputnikmusic. The few that said they remembered it, remembered it vaguely.
  

• The biggest issue fans (only polled a handful) had been the clashing set times. As I said before, the line-up was solid top-to-bottom but the placement turned out to be iffy at times.
  

• Weather was the most common non-festival complaint because it was too hot.

• There were mixed reactions for the best act as expected, but the headliners were primarily the favorite picks.

By the numbers:

225,000 – people attended the event throughout the weekend

75,000 – people attended each day

6000 – approximate words puked out total between the three recaps

1000 – dollars spent including hotel, airfare, and food

25 – bottles of water consumed

20 – miles walked the entire weekend (from hotel included)

4 – extra strength Tylenol taken

3 – Sputnikmusic staff members attended the festival

2 – tickets given away to lucky Sputnikmusic readers

1 – staff member who never showed his face

0 – members of the Weakerthans on the PlayStation 3 Stage at 1:15PM

So there you have it, three days of musical bliss. When all is said and done, people will realize that Lollapalooza 2008 was one of the greatest festivals of our era. Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead were the (mainstream) influential bands of the Nineties. Think about these albums: The Downward Spiral, Rage Against the Machine, and OK Computer. This was a festival that was worth the price of admission, costs to get there, and pain endured. It was more than just three bands that made it what it was.

Lollapalooza was an unforgettable experience. Here I am as a math education major partaking in a dream internship made for music journalists. This was a dream of mine for a hobby I adore. While people were paid for their pretentious, snobby recaps of Lollapalooza, I exchanged my recap for a free ticket. 6,000 words and numerous typos and grammatical mistakes later, I’m just happy people can read a one-man experience trying to cover a festival with approximately one hundred bands. I hope you enjoyed reading

Ryan Flatley

The National and Kanye West photos courtesy of Robert Loerzel: (link)

View Friday's recap of Lollapalooza here: (link)

View Saturday’s recap of Lollapalooza here: (link)

View Dave de Sylvia's interview with Butch Walker here: (link)

Direct any concerns/comments/ questions/inquires to Ryan at: ryanflatley.sputnikmusic(at)gmail.com

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