In a newly expanded Eden-esque setting under perfect skies, contemporary alternative rock renewed its search for meaning amid mindless spectacle at the 14th Lollapalooza festival.
The three-day gathering, featuring 130 acts on eight stages, drew some 80,000 fans for Friday's opener, which was headlined by a reunion of The Strokes and an exhibition by that eye-popping what's-her-name who's been leaving the country gaga recently. Among the highlights of the first 11-hour run:
Pop's power: The squishy ticket sales for some of this summer's major tours and festivals barely caused worry for Lollapalooza founder and majority shareholder Perry Farrell. He says he went out on a limb to sign pop act Lady Gaga as a headliner earlier this year, knowing she'd be controversial, but convinced that she'd draw a crowd. "I did tremble a little bit when I read the responses" to the decision online, he says. "The internet trolls can be so cruel…. But I believed in her and stood by this decision."
The result was 80,000 tickets sold for Friday, making it one of the festival's best-ever days (recent years had seen sales of about 75,000). To soothe the indie crowd, he scheduled The Strokes reunion concert for approximately the same time slot.
Let it all out: What's left for Lady Gaga to reveal? By the end of her two-hour, 18-song, epic performance before one of the largest audiences of her relatively brief career, she had laid it all out on the stage — her beliefs, her multitude of musical influences, her skin, her brazen vulgarity, her athleticism, her soul. During the gaudy, engaging and sometimes messy Wagner-meets-RuPaul extravaganza, she shed (presumably fake) blood, sweat, sparks, a gazillion costume parts and whatever few inhibitions may have remained in her life. She was humble and brazen, stylish and substantive at the core, tireless, and absolutely dedicated to empowering her audience. She was unforgettable.
The staging of the storyline — Lady leads her troupe on a nightmarish, obstacle-strewn journey to a Monster's Ball— was as over-the-top and well-choreographed as expected, and it projected well in the vast outdoor setting. But it was the few quieter moments that surprised the most. Sitting at the keyboard for Speechless and the new You and I from her still-in-the-works album, she revealed a lusty, more-than-serviceable voice reminiscent of the saloon-singing style of Billy Joel. Those who have come late to her party may also have been surprised by the heavy-metal influences that augment the David Bowie-esque glam in songs like Fame and Boys Boys Boys. But by the time of closer Bad Romance, surprise had given way to awe and unflagging devotion.
Stoked for Strokes: Not everyone was caught up in Gaga mania, though it may have seemed that way. New York indie rockers The Strokes, reunited after being on unofficial hiatus since 2006, drew a respectable crowed to the north end of Grant Park at the same time Gaga commanded the south end. Their set drew heavily from their 2001 debut This Is it. They opened with New York City Cops, a song that was pulled from that debut just before its release. "I think they sound great," says Ryan Labery, 31, of Chicago. "I stopped by Gaga to see the spectacle, but I had to come back to The Strokes."
Hometown heroes: South Side resident and gospel titan Mavis Staples welcomed the North Side's favorite son, Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy, onstage twice during her early afternoon set. Tweedy, who produced her forthcoming album You Are Not Alone, played acoustic guitar on the title track (which he wrote) and played and sang on her cover of John Fogerty's Wrote a Song for Everyone. His cameos were rewarded with a huge hug from Staples and a shout out for the 15th wedding anniversary of Tweedy and wife Sue.
Though Staples, 71, is somewhat short of stature and was almost swallowed by the huge stage, her rich, rumbling voice filled up her half of Grant Park, especially when her crack band kicked in. She stuck mostly to songs from the new gospel-centered album, with three glorious exceptions: her cover of The Band classic The Weight, which she made her own long ago; a forceful reading of civil-rights anthem Freedom Highway; and the closing I'll Take You There, from her Staple Singers heyday.
Green acres: The already vast festival site in Grant Park was expanded by 36 acres this year, largely to accommodate a larger, open-air dancing arena where DJs play from open-till-close, and a new farmer's market selling fresh fruit, baked goods and artisanal food products from area farmers. "Last year was starting to feel tight," says Farrell, "and this really helps. This park just gets greener and shadier every year."
Adding color: The Black Keys duo of guitarist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney forged their reputation with a spare but potent Led Zeppelin-meets-White Stripes sound that was tailor-made for their compact blues-rock tunes. Those songs framed the hour set, but the highlight came in the middle when they brought out a bass player and keyboardist to flesh out the material from their terrific new Brothers album. That album embraces elements of R&B and psychedelia in addition to blues-rock, and songs like She's Long Gone, Ten Cent Pistol and Next Girl benefitted from the fuller instrumentation.
World of beats: Just past noon, high-energy, genre-blending Balkan Beat Box kicked off their party, featuring tunes from their recent Blue Eyed Black Boy album. It may have been early for dueling drums, dueling saxophones and electronic beats, much less their exotic mix of hip-hop, gypsy jazz, electronica, punk, reggae and Mediterranean folk — but the crowd didn't seem to mind. Backstage before the set, co-founder and saxophonist Ori Kaplan said "I hope people leave feeling like a big mix of culture can be blended into a coherent aesthetic."
'80s redux: New Wave pioneers and Lollapalooza veterans Devo (they played alongside Snoop Dogg and the Ramones in the '90s when the event was still a touring festival) held their own amidst a sea of newer and younger acts. "We hear from them that we had a big influence on them," said Bob Casale, who plays synthesizer and guitar in the band. Their set, complete with coordinated marching, lightening-fast costume changes and matching blue conical "energy-dome" hats, showed no sign that the band has strayed from the ironic science-fiction imagery and purposeful weirdness that built them a cult following in the 1980s. On stage, in between signature tunes such as Whip It and Mongoloid, the band made several allusions to their theory of the human race's "devolution," which gives them their name. "There is no need to update the philosophy, said Casale before the show. "It has only become more apparent."
Lollapalooza: Fans flock to see Gaga, Strokes, Black Keys - USATODAY.com
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