Recommended Song and Lollapalooza Day 3 Recap

England, UK

8/9/09: You Want History, by Kaiser Chiefs

Listen to it HERE

I'm a really big fan of Kaiser Chiefs' album Employment, and the only reason I haven't featured a song from it yet is because I can't decide on which song. Well, after seeing Kaiser Chiefs at Lollapalooza, I knew I had to feature them. Their live show was surprisingly fantastic. Their newest album, Off With Their Heads, has been on my list of records I intend to check out since before it was released. I haven't gotten to it just yet, but I have heard several tracks off the album via Pandora or Napster, and today's song caught my attention a while ago.

**Side note - I very honestly, 100% seriously, have no idea what's on the radio right now. I know Lady Gaga, and that's it. I mention this because I have no idea if a recommended song was completely overplayed at some point and everyone's mother knows it, or if it's some random track off an unknown album. I could google it, but I kind of like the objective opinion that not knowing the song's success allows me to have.


Lollapalooza Day 3

I got to the grounds on time to hear most of Sam Roberts Band's (Montreal, Canada) set, but like Day 2 I heard my first band from the side putting on sunscreen in the shade. I liked it, but headed straight to Friendly Fires (St. Albans, UK) after sunscreen to get a good spot. Probably the #4 band on my list of "bands to see at Lolla 09," I previously saw Friendly Fires with White Lies at Double Door this spring. I liked that show and I love their self-titled album, so I was really excited to start Sunday with some dancing at their stage.

Well, dance I did. And so did lead singer Ed Macfarlane, despite the high 90s temperatures during their 12:30 set. I thought he was going to die. Thankfully, he didn't, and the show was one of my top Lolla shows fo sho. Here's a clip:

At this point in my Lollapalooza experience, I have survived nearly freezing to death during Fleet Foxes and nearly being rocked to death in the front rows of Tool. I admit I got lazy on day 3 and easily started settling for "hearing" a band from a distance versus "experiencing" their live show. I half-assed it for such fine artists as Portugal. The Man (Wasilla, AK), Gang Gang Dance (NY, NY), Cold War Kids (Long Beach, CA), Snoop Dogg (Long Beach, CA), and Band of Horses (the Carolinas). I feel OK about "missing" all these shows, because the three shows I DID see were awesome!

(PS Band of Horses, I don't care if the "legend" Lou Reed (Brooklyn, NY) played late into your set all but 3 minutes (much less only 10!), you do not play a second over Jane's Addiction's set! (much less 3 songs!) Booooo. I'm mad at you.)

So the first show I went to after Friendly Fires was Kaiser Chiefs. As I mentioned before, it was awesome. I was very much surprised to see their front man in action. He did a really good job of getting a crowd the size of Lollapalooza's involved. And, they were fun musicians to see live!

(The lead singer is singing in the crowd. And I totally thought that chick in the pink shirt was a fan that got on stage that no one was going after. I then realized she was signing the show...)

Immediately following Kaiser Chiefs I headed to the Citi stage to get good spots for Passion Pit (Cambridge, MA). I got as close to the front as I could and it was PACKED. I had high expectations for their show, as I saw them in January at Schubas in Chicago and it was BEYOND FABULOUS. As soon as they stated playing, everyone went crazy and people were falling over and crowd surfing. I nearly died trying to dance at Passion Pit! So, I moved towards the rear of the crowd and danced with other non-crazies. Nonetheless, Passion Pit was amazing. I love their music, but I REALLY love how much everyone in the crowd dances. I taped a quick 360 view during their set, which you can see below.

Also, I didn't get a good clip of the craziness at Passion Pit, but this person did. I'm for serious people; paramedics were shoving their way through the crowd at one point. Check it out:

Last stand-out act of the night was Jane's Addiction (LA,CA). I can honestly say that I don't think I know a single one of their songs. I have no idea how so many artists can completely slip by me, but Jane's Addiction was one of them. And even so, I thought their live show was FABulous! I suspected I might like it because Perry Ferrall is kind of my hero, with the whole "creating Lollapalooza" thing. And because I love Semi Precious Weapons, who one of my friends used to describe Jane's asthetic. Well, after seeing the show I can say I loved it! Perry's still my hero, and I even liked their music. :) I was able to use my last bit of memory to film the opening few moments of their show.

Here are some random moments of Lollapalooza Day 3:

I would LOVED to have seen Neko Case (Virginia/Canada?), Dan Auerbach (Akron, OH), Cage the Elephant (Bowling Green, KY), and Deerhunter (Atlanta, GA) as well, but that's what makes Lollapalooza bittersweet.

SO- that's my Lollapalooza 2009 recap. I already CAN'T WAIT for 2010. :D

Tracy :)

To hear the artists that played Lollapalooza day 3 that were featured on MY blog, click the links:

Friendly Fires
Ra Ra Riot
Portugal. The Man
Neko Case
Dan Auerbach
Vampire Weekend
Passion Pit