I posted a brief bit about Lollapalooza this morning on the TOC blog. Specifically, how the fest is getting less and less local, even as the folks behind Lolla are expanding their reach in the city.
As of now, that’s about all I have to say about the issue. But there’s a story there that deserves more reporting.
My final post on SXSW went up Sunday night, complete with my top five acts and bottom four (hint: I will not be picking up the Juno soundtrack). While I did see some middling shows, I was unable to name more than four bands that I thought were really lousy, which says a lot about this year’s SXSW.
Also, in this week’s issue, you can read my top five picks of SXSW acts that will be touring here soon. Clare and the Reasons aren’t coming here so they got bumped, and if I had to do it over again, I’d swap Saul Williams out of there for Fleet Foxes, who I just learned are opening a Schubas show for Blitzen Trapper – I’m afraid they’ll be overshadowed by their much-buzzed opener – on April 6th. If I were you, I’d get tickets right now as that sucker’s gonna sell out fast. I will personally refund your money if you don’t dig that show.
…definitely a huge highlight: Kate Nash with Billy Bragg.
Setlist and more here, along with the rest of my SXSW dispatches on the TOC blog.
A few notes before I head out of town:
* Lots of people have been asking which band I have most been looking forward to seeing, and my first response is Sons & Daughters, but that’s only because I probably won’t be able to see my first choice: a teenage metal band called Black Tide – out of Miami, of all places – whose sole show conflicts with a few acts I really need to see to make sure I know what all the indie-nerd music sites will be talking about this year. I will probably regret it, but there you go. In any case, Sons & Daughters will probably be great, too.
* Speaking of metal, I already mentioned this in my Twitter stream but I wish Tragedy : A Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees had a show prior to my departure on Sunday. Because this just looks awesome.
* Last SXSW note: all my Twitter updates through Sunday will be here.
* The whole selling out thing has been on my mind again recently because of this article in AdAge and because a local musician I know on a personal and professional level is selling a song to a national chain for – one assumes – some big bucks. Much as think his music is fantastic, and deserving of a wider listenership, I haven’t changed my mind since I wrote about this originally or in one of the many follow-ups: licensing songs to commercials is good for a quick infusion of cash, not for gaining the kinds of fans that make for a long-term career. It certainly can be an indirect way of boosting one’s career (that commercial might mean more money to spend on the next album or a longer tour, to name two examples) but anyone who hears it for 30 seconds while they’re watching The Office isn’t going to be a person who sticks around for much longer than that.
This is the last installment of the first in a series of letters between myself and Matt Wood, proprietor of Wood-Tang.com. A discussion that began as a review of Kanye West’s Graduation has morphed into the question of Mr. West’s social responsibility. You can see part 1 at Matt’s site, part 2 here at OMIC and part 3 back at the W-T.
Wood-Tang:
I’m with you in that I’m not looking for Kanye to be the next Public Enemy. And the most interested artists are those that revel in contradictions, so I’d have no problem with a song about social commentary juxtaposed with a song celebrating the trappings of money and fame (a song other that “Drunk and Hot Girls” which – I think we have both made clear – is the foulest thing unleashed on an unsuspecting person or persons since the time my friends and I were riding home in the car after I had consumed a large plate of jamabalaya at the House of Blues.
I think one of the reasons we ended up on this topic is because there’s little on the album to distract us from it. There’s nothing to get me fired up with anger or sputtering in disbelief, and there are no revelations about the man himself. So in exchange I’d expect some hot beats or stunning musicality, though it’s a much more efficient album that his previous works, stripped of the skits and pointless collabos (and I think the score on the ones that are here ends in a 2-2-1 decision with “Good Life” neither gaining nor losing him any fans).
So perhaps we can consider Graduation as Kanye’s rebuilding year. While it’s not taking things all the way to the big game, it’s certainly accomplishing something by highlighting the need for some change and put some distance between the “international asshole” and the man who wants to be the king of all music awards shows, even the shitty ones.
One of the aspects of the manufactured contest between Kanye and 50 Cent that’s been overlooked is how both men managed to steal a little of the other’s thunder to burnish their weak points. With Kanye’s success (and all the shout-outs he gives to white indie rockers), he’s got to know that the ludicrous criticism that he’s losing touch with real hip-hop will result. And since 50’s movie career was DOA, resulting in lackluster sales for his previous album, he needed to get back on the radar of those who just stick with the big releases. So it helps 50 to look like someone who is a viable candidate to sell as many albums as Kanye even though he isn’t, and Kanye looks more like a traditional hip-hop artist, rather than someone who seems to be leaving the trappings behind for a more mainstream career.
To me, it seems like the cat is still trying to figure out his own identity. Once he does, I think he’s going to end up producing the best album of his career.
Sincerely,
Mr. Smith
I’m still in a bit of a follow-up mode this week so bear with the retreads.
First, whatever. I can’t take all this back and forth. In fact, this line from the Reuters report says it all about the Van Halen reunion:
“The band’s luck ran out a decade later when Hagar and Van Halen acrimoniously parted ways, and a new album with a third singer tanked.”
Man, if REUTERS gets that, why doesn’t Eddie?
Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, Wizard World hits Chicago this weekend, which was a reminder to me to pick up this month’s comics, including All-Flash #1, a stop-gap between the end of the previous Flash series and the resumption of the Wally West-led series, which also resumes its previous numbering at #231. I mentioned last month the reasons why I felt DC bollixed up this most recent series, but after reading All-Flash, I realized something else that felt off to me several issues ago.
When Wally’s Aunt Iris arrived on the scene, she pulled a gun on Bart. While this made for a nice, tidy cliffhanger at the end of one issue, it felt wrong, even though it turned out to be a stun gun or some such nonsense. Instead of allowing Iris Allen to remain the heart of the Flash comics – as she’s been since she met Barry Allen, the Golden Age Flash – she was turned into an amoral Jack Bauer-type, willing to do Whatever It Takes. Sure, she was doing it for Bart’s own good, etc. etc. but it was yet another example of how the cores of the individual characters were missing, and this moment from the current issue made me think that maybe they were right to bring a full stop to the proceedings (click the image for a larger view):
If DC had Wally’s return as an end game all along, they’d have had more moments like this in the previous issues of the book to demonstrate that they weren’t making things up as they went along. Sometimes when you’re really lost, the best thing to do is to pick a new destination.
Nice to have you back, Mark Waid.
Lollapalooza was a long weekend. You can see TOC’s reports – including write-ups from me about The Hold Steady, the 1900s, Sam Roberts Band and Silversun Pickups on our blog. Plus, we’ve got loads of pictures on our Flickr site.
I know this is an overused cliche, but for me, it felt a bit like Groundhog Day: wake up, check schedule, get laptops, walk to Lolla, set up, walk to show, sweat, walk back to tents, check the blog, walk to next show, sweat, squeeze in two minutes to talk to friends you haven’t seen in a year, check blog, walk, sweat, write, walk, sweat, watch, pass out.
Every time I bitched about having to work at Lolla, people would say “Oh yeah, that’s a lot of work to be outside and watch music.” Except, that’s not what I did. Because I was working, I missed the massive audience participation of Iggy Pop’s set (easily the most talked-about event in a weekend sorely lacking in them) and Daft Punk’s reportedly mind-blowing performance (though I overheard it whilst in the press tent uploading photos). I missed more than I saw due to all the running back and forth, and blog editing.
But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have any fun. Like at the Hard Rock after-party on Friday.
As I mentioned, Lolla is usually a chance to catch up with people I’ve met at previous fests, like Abbey at PunkPhoto, Scott at Stereogum, Whitney from Pop Candy and Rachel from Rachelandthecity. Friday night, I was on the list for the Hard Rock party and knew a couple other folks were going to be there so I headed over around 11:30 after a long, sweaty day. As expected, I was met with a line, but it was short so I queued up.
Now, I have two hard-and-fast rules about bar-going: no bar is worth waiting in line for and no bar is worth paying a cover charge if there’s no live band. (I retain a $5 and under exception for the latter if there is a DJ and/or it’s past midnight.) But Friday night, I broke my first rule and waited in line for 45 minutes as barely anyone from the press line was let in. I figured this would be the one time when I’d be in the mood to tolerate the kind of manufactured cool that events like this create. Plus, I wanted free booze.
At around the 40-minte mark, Whitney showed up with her friend Mariah, and we chatted for a bit as even she and her fancy laminated pass weren’t being let in. Suddenly, bouncers started ushering folks in, and I – along with two guys I was talking with in line, one of whom was wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt – were swept in, and up the stairs. Moving with the momentum of the situation, I stuck close to Whitney as we neared the VIP Lounge and she told Mr. Clipboard that I was with her. In the span of about two minutes, I went from standing on the street to potentially rubbing elbows with celebrities (and Danny Masterson). This was going to be the one time I played this game, and I intended to win, so I scanned the crowd for potential famous people.
Sure enough, standing next to me was a short, dark-haired, woman with heavy eye makeup who was being fawned over by someone else. “Ah ha,” I thought. “Amy Winehouse, my first sighting.” Despite the “no-that’s-not-her” protestations of my fellow partygoers, I decided to open with a question that would get me an easy “yes” and go from there. “Excuse me,” I said, “are you still touring with the Dap Kings?” She looked me dead in the eye, smiled – with suddenly worrying perfect teeth – and said:
Amy Winehouse: “I’ve never toured with the Dap Kings.”
Me: “…”
Totally Not Amy Winehouse: “I’m Lady GaGa.”
Me: “Ohhh. Um, hi. I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
Lady GaGa: “Who did you think I was?”
Me: “You know, I….it doesn’t matter. Say, you’re from New York, right?”
Lady GaGa: “Yes, I’m from Man-haht-tan.” (in the thickest New Yawk accent ever)
Me: (determined to salvage this opportunity) “And you’re playing the MySpace stage tomorrow, right?”
Lady GaGa: “BMI.”
Me: “Oh-KAY! Well, it was nice meeting you, have a nice night.”
I turn back to Whitney and her friend, who are looking at me as if they’ve just witnessed someone willingly throw themselves through a plate-glass window. “So, that wasn’t her,” I said, confirming the obvious.
Later we met up again with Iron Maiden t-shirt guy who said he ran into Iron Maiden’s manager at the party, and he promised him free tickets next time they came to town. He also took the kid around the party, and helped him pick up hot girls (“I didn’t really have much to say to them except for ‘How’s it going?'”). Raise your hand if that totally sounds like what you’d expect from Iron Maiden’s manager.
Sadly, the night mostly lacked for celeb-spotting, but I did see:
* A great show by Polyphonic Spree
* Rachel and her friend standing onstage during said show
* A woman get a tattoo of a musical note behind her ear
* Another woman getting a makeover
* A flat-out trashed bathroom, rock-star style
I ended up having a really good time. I don’t think I would have had I not known people there. But it wasn’t as douchebaggy as I thought either. And, like I said, the booze was free.
I couldn’t help myself. A friend of mine asked me who I’d pick to see and this is what I decided on, even if a couple of these overlap:
Friday
Fratellis
Ted Leo
Charlie Musselwhite
Polyphonic Spree
Silversun Pickups
Black Keys
LCD Soundsystem (though Femi Kuti will be awesome)
Daft Punk
Saturday
Helicopters (Last Band Standing at Citi)
I’m From Barcelona
Tapes and Tapes (or Sam Roberts Band if you’ve seen them before)
Rhymefest
The Roots
CSS
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Patti Smith
Muse
Sunday
1900s
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Lupe Fiasco
Iggy and the Stooges
Flosstradamus
My Morning Jacket (even if you don’t like them on record, they’re great live)
Cafe Tacuba
Pearl Jam
That actually makes the weekend seem manageable, but unfortunately it doesn’t include a lot of chilling out time. But if I was an indefatigable robot sent back through time to rock out, that’s how I’d do it.
I had big plans for doing a full-on Lollapalooza post, but to be honest, I’m a bit worn out from planning for it. Plus, I’ve got a quick post going up on the TOC Blog tomorrow, too. I’m almost Lolla’ed out before it begins.
TOC‘s coverage is pretty extensive, with a good hour-by-hour plan for the fest, along with some tips for surviving the weekend, info on the after-parties and lots of other goodies. We’ve already started covering the run-up to the fest on the blog, as well, and we’ll be blogging throughout the weekend. I’ll be pitching in so look for my thoughts there.
My biggest tip is to hit those side stages, people. They’re are plenty of solid acts (Charlie Musselwhite, Chin Up Chin Up, Silversun Pickups, CSS, 1900s, Peter Bjorn and John) and some attractive curiosities (Bang Bang Bang, Satin Peaches, Lady GaGa and locals Helicopters who are playing tomorrow at 11:15 on the Citi stage). Plus, you won’t have to deal with the huge crowds.
My only other tip: bring some Wet-Naps. You’re going to be sweaty, and it’ll feel good.
Lastly, another reminder to tune in to WLUW 88.7 for my call-in appearance on Outside The Loop Radio at 6 pm. I’ll be offering some more thoughts on Lolla’s economic impact and its effects on Chicago.
See folks? I’ve been living this fest all week already!
Initially, I thought I wasn’t going to end up seeing The Police when they came to Chicago. Tickets were too far out of my price range, and attempts to parlay my Time Out employment into a press pass, failed (though I did manage to get us a photo pass). But last night my sister called and said she had an extra ticket in the set her work had been given by a vendor (think about that what you will).
In any case, it was a great show. I’m going to resist going on about it for my usual 1000 words (especially since Greg Kot is pretty dead-on here). But a few thoughts:
* I need to pull out the Live disc from a couple years ago*, but the set (full list after the jump) was pretty similar to what they played on the Synchronicity tour. The difference here was that the horn section and backup singers they brought with them then were left behind. Best I could tell, they weren’t playing to backing tracks, and still kept a full, muscle-y sound. **
* Sting isn’t hitting the high notes anymore, and this has led to new arrangements. Some are good (“Every Little Thing…” and “Roxanne” really cook in a way they don’t on record), but a lot of them rob the originals of all their fire (I would rather have not heard “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” than listened to the run-through here). Some of the song were a bit limp, but almost everything from “Can’t Stand Losing You” until the end of the show was spot-fucking-on. For some reason, I have no memory of hearing “Every Breath You Take” even though my notes say they played it, which leads me to believe it wasn’t very memorable or was lost between the amazing bookends of “So Lonely” and “Next To You.”
* People who say The Police don’t seem to enjoy playing together onstage haven’t looked at old footage recently. They were never particularly chummy as a live act, and the perfectionism that shows up in the studio manifests itself as a stern concentration in a live setting.
* Stern concentration does not mean boredom though. Holy fuck, Andy Summers was on fire. Stu was hot, too, but Summers left both he and Sting in the dust.
* Kudos to The Police for not stretching out the audience applause during encores unlike some bands I could name (Lynyrd Skynyrd in 1991 prior to coming back out and playing “Freebird,” I’m looking at you).
* Seeing a concert at Wrigley is a lot like going to a Cubs game. Same people, same level of interest in what’s going on in the outfield.
* Sting’s son’s band Fiction Plane opened. They led the crowd through a Harry Caray-style version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and that tells you almost everything you need to know about their set except this: if you thought Sting’s voice was annoying, his son Joe will give you a new appreciation for his father’s skill, and you’ll also note that cheesy stage banter is genetic.
Here’s the set list from the July 6th Police show in Chicago:
Message in a Bottle
Synchronicity 2
Walking on the Moon
Voices Inside My Head/When The World Is Running Down
Don’t Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
The Bed’s Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Doo Doo Doo, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can’t Stand Losing You/Regatta De Blanc (best song of the night)
Roxanne
ENCORE:
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
ENCORE 2:
Next To You
* A couple? This disc actually came out 12 years ago. God, I’m old.
** Tankboy notes here that they did use backing tracks. Frankly, the sound wasn’t that great from where I was sitting so I could be wrong about this.
