Lolla Atcha

In the staggering heat and giant crowds, we were still Rockin in the Free World!

This Sunday, my sister, her friends, my girlfriend and I were at Lollapalooza. It was muggy and 90+ even on the edge of the Lake, but the crowds were still amazingly polite, the food was delicious and the bands... well - many of them were very good.

As we got into Grant Park, we were amazed at just how large the festival grounds were. We wandered from one end of the festival to the other, knowing that we were going to get cooked if we stayed in the sunlight too long, but found great locations of refuge among the art scene, picnic tables in the food alleys, and the excellent Kids-a-Palooza stage.

Early show highlights included: Ben Harper playing two acoustic songs at the Kids stage and Amy Winehouse on one of the two main stages looking disaffected by the heat as she belted out her songs with that distinctive voice of hers. The Chicago-based School of Rock All Stars played the Kids stage too. Though none of these School of Rock performers appeared in the Jack Black movie, many of them have developed amazing talents, particularly two guitarists and a violinist who were all girls under the age of 19. There, they performed with Perry Farrel and a few other featured guest performers for a crowd greatful for the shade and the bleachers.

Disappointing us were Iggy Pop and the Stooges, whose patter was more than lightly seasoned with unnecessary obscenities, whose stage was swarmed by frat kiddies shouting out on the mic as though they were on TRL, and whose music struck us as flat and uninteresting.

After that performance, we passed up a fairly tranquil crowd at the Yo La Tengo stage, a cloud of blue smoke hovering over the crowd jamming along with The Wailers and stumbled upon the best surprise of the day - a band called !!! (pronounced chk chk chk). This mostly acoustic ambient-techno band was fronted by Nic Offer, a whirling dervish in a powder blue polo and 80s era gym shorts. The crowd was transfixed, dancing and clapping along as though they knew every song. It was an insanely fun set.

We enjoyed the My Morning Jacket set featuring the Chicago Youth Symphony and watched the crowds stream in to the sounds of TV on the Radio as the excitement for Pearl Jam built steadily among the onlookers.

Pearl Jam's set included two encores, including one song performed as an acoustic duet with Eddie Vedder and Ben Harper titled "No More War" for a disabled Iraqi veteran who was protesting the ongoing war. Vedder also worked his political muscle playing a protest song about the BP Amoco-Lake Michigan pollution debacle that brought the crowd to an angry chant. Mostly, though, the set was filled with crowd pleasers that induced singalongs with songs like "Elderly Woman..." and "Betterman". Rarities like "State of Love and Trust", "Crazy Mary" and new songs from the album like "World Wide Suicide" whipped the throngs into a frenzy, but as the set ended with the Neil Young classic "Rockin in the Free World," surprise guests playing tamborines gathered on the stage and as the final chords hung in the air, Eddie Vedder was hoisted high on the shoulders of Bulls legend Dennis Rodman in triumph.

Despite the heat, despite the humidity, the sore feet and the sunburns, Lollapalooza was an amazing show. I'll definitely seek out !!! again and can't wait for the chance to see Pearl Jam play live in our area sometime soon.