[concerts] Lollapalooza Day 3 (8/5/2007)

The forecast called for rain, so I'm at the ready with my hiking boots and a jacket. Naturally, this means it ends up sunny and hot all day.

The Graduate. I managed to let myself get distracted on my way over to Juliette & The Licks, and I'm kind of glad I did. This baby band from downstate sounded very current, in that they had lots of guitar and synth textures, but the tunes were solid. I'd say I have to catch them the next time they're in town, except that they're here on Friday at House of Blues, and that's too soon and at the wrong venue.

Juliette & The Licks. I could dismiss Juliette Lewis' role in the proceedings as this year's Jared Leto, but that wouldn't be fair to her band. She was a bundle of energy despite wearing a fair amount of black leather at noon in the summer, and the totally random comparison that struck me was that Lewis has a much stronger backing band than, say, Chris Cornell does right now. I liked them better when they went a little new wave over the straight-up punk vibe, especially the Donna Summer cover. The pictures of her crowd-surfing didn't turn out so good, not that I've posted any of them yet.

The Cribs. Compared to The Fratellis on Friday, these guys had no edge whatsoever. Just very bland three-piece pop-rock.

Rodrigo y Gabriela. If Paco De Lucia had kids, and they listened to Led Zeppelin, you would end up with Rodrigo y Gabriela. The guitar duo is fundamentally Spanish-style guitar -- engaging enough in its own right when done this well -- but they've hooked in a bit of a mainstream audience by dropping in Metallica licks and playing Pink Floyd. And anyone who can play "Stairway to Heaven" and have it sound fresh deserves a ton of credit. This set gives Polyphonic Spree a run for its money as best in show, and both were wonderfully uplifting performances in their own ways.

Amy Winehouse. Bored me to tears. I never got a sense that she had some kind of fantastic pipes, or that she was doing anything other than a retro retread.

School Of Rock All-Stars. We decided to stray off the beaten path and see what happens when Perry Farrell sits in with a bunch of teenagers. Farrell only played one song with the group, but overall, it was fun. I actually enjoyed watching them make some rookie mistakes up there, like the bass player getting way ahead of the drummer when he had to sing. And some of these kids had chops to burn, too.

Iggy and The Stooges. Didn't get close for this one, which meant not being a part of the great stage rush of '07. Most of the reports I saw put the number of fans getting up on stage around 250, but I'd say it was nearly double that. Then again, I'm a horrible judge of crowds. There was one hilarious comment from an audience member to the effect of "you're Iggy Pop and I'm not, so I'm going to give you back the microphone." The whole episode changed the tone of the set, I think, and the second half fed on that and the addition of tenor sax to the mix.

!!!. As near as I could tell, this band was built on maniacal, ironic energy, and that just wasn't enough to cut it for me. Didn't dig them at all, so we decided to get in position at the south end for the rest of the evening's proceedings.

My Morning Jacket. I actually like the band, but wasn't too engaged with their set. I did notice that they were wearing tuxedos, and that they had the Chicago Youth Orchestra joining them, but other than that, I don't recall too much.

Pearl Jam. Thursday night's fan club show was for the rarities. This one was for the better known songs, which is fine with me. Any show that you watch from several hundred feet away isn't really going to move you one way or the other. I thought they were good. Not as fun to watch as the two shirtless Polish guys in front of us, but still good. The solo section of "Evenflow" was way too long, and I'm surprised that a band from the grunge era would indulge in a drum solo, even if Matt Cameron is one of my favorite rock drummers. The BP Amoco soapbox was handled pretty well, and I'm surprised more hasn't been made of that since. We got out before the stage filled up for the encore, but after Iggy, only having 30 or so people that the band actually knew would be anticlimactic.

Bands I would have liked to have seen, but didn't get to: Modest Mouse, TV On The Radio.

SIDENOTE: Afterwards we headed up to the Blender/Metromix afterparty, but I was way too tired to even try fitting in with socialites in fashionable clothes, having been standing and sweating for the past ten hours or so. A song and a half from Plain White T's and we were out of there.