August 2007

Before I lose my wireless signal, I’m shooting off the best and worst of Sunday at Lollapalooza.

BEST

1. Eddie Vedder pulling Ben Harper up on stage for “Body of War.” Vedder did a lot of politicizing—taking on the war in Iraq and BP Amoco. “Think of it as a boyfriend or girlfriend who never brushes their teeth,” he said, of BP Amoco, and its potential dumping in Lake Michigan. “You wouldn’t kiss them. Don’t show BP any love until they clean up their act."

2. My Morning Jacket pairing with a local children’s chorus...

Keeping with yesterday’s theme, here’s the good, the bad, and the occasionally unfashionable from Saturday. While we’re at it, write in with your bests and from Lolla in the comments box.

THE BEST

1. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Finally, I got to see them live.

2. Finally finding all the 30-somethings. They ARE here! They’re all at Roky Erikson! ...

THE BEST

1. The Black Keys, an Akron, Ohio, duo that’s been touched—no, gifted—with a sound reminiscent of dirty Mississippi blues I heard growing up and unprocessed rock ‘n roll.

2. Daft Punk! My generation’s Peter Frampton

3. The sign language volunteer for the Polyphonic Spree; most of the interpreters just sign and kind of sway, but this lady rocked out, particularly during the “yeah, yeah, yeah” part of the Spree’s cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit."

4. The hipster T-shirts. My favorite: A purple one with a picture of Kurt Vonnegut. It said, “Vonnegut With This?” If you have a shirt like that, then yes. Yes, I do...

With an event the size of Lollapalooza (120 bands; 200,000 attendance expected), there’s sure to be a wealth of pre-parties, after-parties and after-after-parties. After jamming to Dave Specter Thursday night at Millennium Park, good Southern girl that I am, I headed over to Subterranean for Paste magazine’s pre-Lolla party...