More Lollapalooza: Take a look and listen -- Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Yeasayer, Foals, Broken Social Scene

Lollapalooza pulled it off again this year -- another fun summer music festival in the heart of downtown Chicago. Grant Park is such a cool and unique place for a gathering like this. It’s surrounded by skyscrapers, Lake Michigan and busy Lake Shore Drive are directly to the east and the beautiful Buckingham Fountain is smack dab in the center of it all. And year after year, Lollapalooza has brought in a wide variety of both mainstream acts and up-and-comers. But this year, they may have overdone it with the mainstream. Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West proved to be quite the draw. For the first time since calling Grant Park home, Lollapalooza sold out, and did so all three nights. It was a good time, but the 75,000 people a day was a bit much, especially when it came time for the headliners.

Friday, Aug. 1

The Radiohead show was jam-packed, but the band still impressed musically and visually. (Photo by Jay Otto)

I went into this year's Lollapalooza most excited about the prospect of finally seeing Radiohead live. Guess what -- I still want to see Radiohead live. That’s not to say it wasn't a great show. Thom Yorke and the gang cranked out an amazing setlist of old and new, but the park was so jam-packed it got annoying at times. Constant yakking and non-stop pedestrian traffic made my first Radiohead experience a little more detached than I had hoped for. But on the bright side, hearing songs like "National Anthem" and "All I Need" live was still an amazing experience. And despite the less than ideal atmosphere, it was still the highlight of the weekend. Here's a clip from one their newer classics "Jigsaw Falling Into Place."

I also enjoyed sets by The Black Keys and Black Lips on Friday, but the other band that impressed me most was Yeasayer in the 2:15 p.m. slot.

With a mix of tribal-infused world music and indie rock, Yeasayer has created a sound that’s all their own. Not to mention, a sound that’s perfect for summer festivals. (Photo by Jim Collins)

Tunes like "Wait for the Summer" and "Sunrise" were crowd pleasers, but the high point came mid-set when they unleashed their most popular song "2080." Check it out below.

Saturday, Aug. 2

From top to bottom, Saturday was the best day for music (and weather too). My day began with British electro-rockers Does It Offend You, Yeah? (pretty bad name for a band, yeah?). This raucous quartet was jumping genres like you wouldn’t believe. They played some electronic jams, some hard rockin’ instrumentals, some punk and even some pop. It was entertaining show to say the least.

When not sporting his Flying V guitar, Morgan Quaintance jumped into the crowd to spark some excitement. (Photo by Jim Collins)

And at one point, keyboardist Dan Coop apparently puked on stage, probably due to the afternoon sun beating down on the Bud Light stage.

Up next, another British band, the Foals, provided the most pleasant surprise of the weekend. I knew nothing about these guys going in, but I did like what I was reading about them in all of the Lollapalooza previews. They were often described as math rock, but their punk-inflected vocals and dance-driven grooves reminded me a lot of The Rapture.

And for the second consecutive show, a band member, leadman Yannis Philippakis, left the stage to join us in the crowd with his guitar. (Photo by Jim Collins)

Also, for the second consecutive show, the heat got to one of the band members.

After an intense guitar solo, Jimmy Smith hit the floor in exhaustion. But with a quick pat on the back and a schwill of water, he was good to go for the next song. (Photo by Jim Collins)

Going into Lollapalooza, MGMT was one of the bands I was looking forward to seeing most. But by the time we made it over to the MySpace stage, it was already a zoo. We made an attempt to get close enough to see the stage, but decided to fall back after hitting dead end after dead end.

We ended up being so far away for MGMT, we could barely see the video screen. (Photo by Jim Collins)

So needless to say the audio wasn’t too great either. Booka Shade’s dance-fest next door was creeping in on us, so we had to head further south to escape the temptation to flee to the Citi stage. It was nice to hear MGMT’s hits – “Time To Pretend,” “Kids” and “Electric Feel” –  but we were too far from the stage to fully enjoy it. So I’m really looking forward to seeing these guys at the Aragon when they open for Beck in October.

Aside from the Foals, the weekend’s next best surprise was Spank Rock, a party rap duo from Baltimore comprised of rapper Naeem Juwan and DJ Alex Epton. Juwan’s sex-tinged lyrics are so dirty they’d even make 2 Live Crew blush.

But Spank Rock has also gained critical acclaim with their hybrid of hip-hop and electronic music. (Photo by Jim Collins)

The dirty lyrics kept the crowd chuckling, but the music also kept everybody moving. Early in the set, Juwan took a back seat and handed the reigns over to a scantily clad Amanda Blank.

Blank (far right) was not only nice on the eyes, but also nice on the ears. (Photo by Jim Collins)

Blank appears on Spank Rock’s YoYoYoYoYo album. She is equally as dirty with her lyrics and perhaps even more gifted with the mic. After wrapping up their set, Juwan proclaimed “you ain’t never seen a bitch like this before.” I guess that’s supposed to be a compliment. And judging by Blank’s nasty raps, I’m sure she was flattered. All in all, Spank Rock ended up being one of the best hip-hop shows I’ve seen.

From there, I caught the end of an inspired Okkervil River set.

A devoted fan base sang along as frontman Will Sheff led them through Okkervil River's popular "Unless It's Kicks." (Photo by Jim Collins)

After the last few Okkervil tunes, I headed over to the Bud Light stage for Broken Social Scene. I caught Broken Social Scene earlier this summer at a free show in Detroit, thinking it would allow me to see another act during this highly conflicted time slot (Lupe Fiasco or the Battles). But seeing them in Detroit only made me want to see them again. And Kevin Drew and the large Canadian crew did not disappoint.

The stage is loaded with musicians and instruments, but somehow they make it work. (Photo by Jim Collins)

“Frightening Lives” and “Cause Equal Time” were awesome. Check out the latter below.

And finally, it was Rage Against the Machine. I was torn between seeing Wilco and Rage, but eventually came to the realization that I’d probably never get a chance to see Rage again. It was a good decision.

Aside from the pandemonium that broke out, their angry, hard rockin’ set was a great capper to a day loaded with good music. (Photo by Jay Otto)

My only gripe is that, just like Radiohead, it was way too packed (only Friday’s crowd was much more subdued).

Sunday, Aug. 3

Overall, I thought Sunday was kinda weak. But then again, I was also kinda weak by that point. So my energy level did have a big effect on my enjoyment level.

Brazilian Girls' lead singer Sabina Sciubba was on fire when the band played popular dance songs like "Jique" and "Don't Stop."

I caught some of the Brazilian Girls, who were hit or miss, and then went to the Citi stage for the Black Kids.

The Black Kids created a huge buzz on the Internet with the free release of their debut EP, Wizard of Ahhhs. (Photo by Jim Collins)

I really enjoyed hearing the four songs from their breakout EP. But the rest of the songs, presumably from their new album Partie Traumatic, didn’t knock my socks off. Here’s a clip of the Black Kids performing one of their best songs “Hurricane Jane.”

The next set I was planning for was Girl Talk at 6:30 p.m.. Normally, a laptop DJ like Girl Talk (Greg Gillis) would find himself performing at a smaller stage like Perry’s. But over the past year or so, Girl Talk has established himself as a legit draw, known for inciting a party wherever he goes.

In typical Girl Talk fashion, he surrounded himself on stage with several dancing fans. (Photo by Jim Collins)

The DJ tore through mash-ups that included everything from Notorious B.I.G. and Elton John to Tag Team and Weezer.

Girl Talk ended the show by surfing across the crowd in an inflatable raft. (Photo by Jay Otto)

To cap the weekend off, fans had to choose between Kanye to the south and Trent Reznor to the north. I started with Nine Inch Nails, and was excited to hear “Closer” near the beginning of the set. I’m not as familiar with their new stuff, so it was also great to get a “March of the Pigs” early on. But my legs were dead, so we decided 30 minutes was enough and headed south to Kanye for a quick listen before departing the fest early. Both shows seemed way less crowded than Radiohead and Rage. Maybe there was more of an even split, or maybe more people decided to cut out a little early like me. Check out a clip of “Closer” below.

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Jim Collins
Jim Collins follows Chicago's live music scene for the Windy Citizen with his Live Wire blog. He recently graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a master's degree in new media. Prior to that, he worked as a reporter for one of the Sun Times News Group's suburban newspapers and a small daily in southwestern Michigan. Jim's also a music junkie, who appreciates a wide range of musical tastes. From hipster to hippy, raver to rapper, he likes it all. More