Post date: Aug 12, 2011 4:14:3 PM
(★★★★ out of ★★★★★)
The first day of Lollapalooza was a great start to the three day festival. With a high of 82 degrees, the weather was phenomenal, and (oh yeah) the music was great too. After sitting on the 28X bus in traffic for what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at Grant Park at around 3:45 P.M. Unlike my previous experience at Lollapalooza in 2007, we never made it to Grant Park early enough to listen to some of the more up-and-coming bands, but I don't think my experience was any less enjoyable as a result.
Feed Me (★★★★ out of ★★★★★) – The first act I saw, Feed Me, actually marked my second time seeing him in less than 24 hours (and third time in 3 months, but who’s counting?)[1]. As always, the music (electronic/dubstep) and light show were fantastic.
Bloody Beatroots Death Crew 77 (★★ and a half out of ★★★★★) – I remained at Perry’s Tent (the excellent electronic music stage of Lollapalooza) to watch the beginning of The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77. While their music (electronic) was entertaining, it came across as fairly derivative and forgettable. Consequently, I decided to duck out early and explore some of the other stages that were at the festival.
Black Cards (★★ out of ★★★★★) – The first act I caught after leaving Perry’s was the Black Cards (featuring Pete Wentz of Fallout Boy fame). My initial impression of the band was surprisingly positive, as their music has a little bit of a dancehall feel that was actually kind of entertaining. Unfortunately, once I got past the reggae beats, I noticed the band was actually just performing fairly lackluster pop music, so I decided to set out again.
Tinie Tempah (★★ and a half out of ★★★★★) – Following the Black Cards I ventured to the Google+ Stage[2] where I saw Tinie Tempah, a British grime/hip hop artist who is apparently quite big overseas despite being relatively unheard of in the States. After watching him perform several unmemorable tracks, I could see why his music has yet to achieve significant attention in the U.S.
Skrillex (★★★★ out of ★★★★★) – Following Tinie Tempah, I ventured back to Perry’s Tent to have my heart whomped out of my chest by Skrillex. It was about at this point that the entire group finally reassembled to grab a quick bite from the food vendors and chat about the day before splitting up again to catch the last shows of the night.
Ratatat (★★★ out of ★★★★★) – Hannah and I decided to close the night out with Ratatat, which ended up being my favorite performance from a band that I was not previously aware of. The duo, which consisted of a guitar and keys, was able to create fairly immersive electronic/rock grooves, not to mention the highly entertaining stage visualizations that added to my enjoyment of the show.
[1] A group of us had gone to a Lollapalooza pre-party the night before, which featured Feed Me as the headliner.
[2] The Google+ Tent was handing out those spray fans that are common swag at music festivals, yet, despite all that money Google has, the spray fans were probably some of the shoddiest made objects I have ever encountered. Poor form, Google!