On some level, every music festival is a monumental event. Quite often it’s due to a few particularly momentous performances, instances where an artist produces an unprecedented display of power and purpose that elevates each fest to a for-the-books level of importance.
But sometimes, as with this year’s 20th anniversary of Lollapalooza, history is just the bottom line to begin with. Whether or not the festival’s creator, Jane’s Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell, intended it, this year’s Lolla – held in Chicago’s beautiful Grant Park for the seventh consecutive year – was loaded with bands and sets that placed the bar unbelievably high for similar world-class fests to come.
Click these links for reviews and photos from Day 1 and Day 2 of Lollapalooza 2011.
There were so many bands – Local Natives, Portugal. The Man, Explosions in the Sky – that ranked high on my OH-SNAP! List, but detailing every show would require me to write a novel. So take, for example, Arctic Monkeys’ early evening set on the third and final day. Though their show was delayed 30 minutes while acorn-sized raindrops pelted the masses, effectively transforming the grounds into a slippery, sludgy mud pit, the quartet played with previously unequalled energy and enthusiasm.
Frontman Alex Turner (now sporting an Elvis-y greaser haircut) actually seemed enlivened during the shortened set, whereas others might have grumbled. After the second rollicking tune, “Brianstorm,” he stepped to the front of the stage with fists raised defiantly in the air, as if to say, “No rainstorm is going to steal this band’s thunder.”
But this fest’s wow factor was instantaneous right from Day 1, which featured a titanic battle of Brits (Muse vs. Coldplay). It’s rare that two of the world’s most relevant and enthralling groups should play at the exact same moment, a testament to the pull of Lolla’s past (and future) resumes.
Day 2 was punctuated by My Morning Jacket’s monster of a show. The ranks of their crowd were positively dwarfed by the hordes that descended on the park’s south end for Eminem, but the resulting ample space only made MMJ’s two-hour set feel more intimate and genuine. Unlike Em, whose setlist matched his Bonnaroo appearance song for song, the Nashville quintet opted to throw in a couple lesser-aired tunes, “The Way That He Sings” and “Dondante,” to beef up the show’s midsection.
Even if those watching weren’t keen to these slight but significant alterations, it was impossible not to empathize with wild-maned singer-guitarist Jim James when he paused to gush after blazing through a newer cut, “Outta My System.” “This is so awesome that we’re here,” he said with a slightly sheepish smile. “One of my first concerts was Lollapalooza in 1994 in Cincinnati as a sophomore in high school.”
I mentioned in my Day 1 coverage that it was these artists – those who are both extremely popular now and who, over time, have consistently contributed to the festival scene (like A Perfect Circle’s Maynard James Keenan) – that characterize the unmatched prowess of this 20-year-old shebang.
In this context, it was entirely appropriate – despite anyone’s taste in music – that Foo Fighters should close out the massive event (which set an attendance record of 270,000 total patrons this year), seeing as ferociously talented Dave Grohl was scheduled to play Lollapalooza in 1994 as drummer for Nirvana. The performance was canceled on April 7 that year, exactly one day before Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home.
This performance, then, has been a long time coming for Grohl, and his apparent sense of exultation was plain to see in his fiercer-than-usual stage antics, which ebbed only once, when he stopped to comment during the soft intro of an electric-guitar-only rendition of “Times Like These.”
“Then it f***in’ starts raining, and it feels so f***in’ good that it’s the best show you’ve ever had,” he said, referring to the torrential downpour that broke out seconds into “The Pretender” three songs into the set. “And then we’re standing on stage, smiling at each other, because … you guys are still here, and we’re singing as hard as we can, and you guys are singing back with us, and it’s … a beautiful thing … so I’m glad it rained like f***in crazy during that part of the set.”
His joy seemed to extend to the rest of the band as they tore into an arsenal of increasingly classic rock staples (“My Hero,” “Learn to Fly” and an extended jam through “Stacked Actors” came early on) paired with new, scream- and riff-heavy ragers (“Bridge Burning,” “White Limo” and “Walk” elicited widespread dance parties and sing-a-longs). They may not have the visceral impact of Nirvana in its prime, but Foo Fighters (who return home to Southern California for two shows at the Forum in October) continue to prove they have far surpassed the creative breadth and professional capacities of their grunge progenitors.
From start to finish their earthshaking, mud-splattered set embodied Lollapalooza’s most outstanding quality: endurance. The fest wouldn’t have that without bands like Foos making prints in the sands of time as headliners, but Grohl – in a sort of keynote speech before the final, aptly selected tune, “Everlong” – made it clear that this is a symbiotic relationship. Without musically inclined cities like Chicago and internationally acclaimed festivals like Lolla, there would likewise be no Foo Fighters, nor many of their forerunners.
In Grohl’s words (you can watch it above, though a bit of Explosions in the Sky comes first), here’s why:
“Ladies and gentlemen, I just have to say one thing: Tonight’s a very special occasion for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it was in this city, in 1982, that I saw my first rock band at the f***in’ Cubby Bear, at that place across from Wrigley Field. I was 13 years old, and my cousin Tracy took me to that place to see this punk rock band called Naked Raygun, right? And that show changed my life, and made me wanna become a musician. So, thank you, Chicago. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t f***in’ be here.
“And I’m really happy to be here, at Lollapalooza, on the f***in’ 20th anniversary … it’s a very special thing because I went to the first Lollapalooza in 1991. And I remember, it was in Los Angeles, and I’d come down to Los Angeles to make that record, Nevermind, with the band Nirvana, and we heard there was this big concert with f***in’ Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees and … f***in’ Ice-T’s Body Count, Nine Inch Nails … and it was this big-ass show …”
At this moment, Grohl noticed Farrell standing side-stage, and beckoned him over: “PERRY COME OUT HERE! Get over here right now!”
Farrell obliged, greeting the roaring audience with one of his characteristic, high-pitched wails, and then quickly exited so Grohl could finish.
“And that day,” he said with genuinely excited emphasis, “me and Kurt went down and we sat in the audience and we thought, ‘Oh my God, music is f***ing changing! There’s 20,000 people here to see bands that are actually f***ing cool. What the f***! How did that happen?! So … I’d like to thank Perry for changing music forever. Thank you, Perry,” he concluded, playfully strumming the first few chords of Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” while tens of thousands chanted, “PERRY! PERRY!”
After the shouts subsided, Grohl made his last, most meaningful dedication.
“This one goes out to you, Perry, because if it weren’t for you, I swear to God we wouldn’t f***in’ be here right now. When I say we, I mean f***in’ WE,” he yelped, pointing toward the masses. “Am I right?! Am I right?!”
Indeed, Dave. Like this triumphant Lolla birthday bash, you were spot-on. SPOT. ON.
Setlist: Foo Fighters at Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, Aug. 7, 2011
Bridge Burning / Rope / The Pretender / My Hero / Learn to Fly / White Limo / Arlandria / Breakout / Cold Day in the Sun (dedicated by Taylor Hawkins to Perry Farrell) / Long Road to Ruin / Stacked Actors (extended jam) / Walk / Monkey Wrench / Let It Die / These Days / Times Like These / Young Man Blues (The Who cover) / Best of You / Skin and Bones / Everlong (with opening snippet of Jane’s Addiction’s Mountain Song)
Photo also by David Hall, for The Orange County Register.
More reviews:
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Lollapalooza 2011: Foo Fighters, Arctic Monkeys, Explosions in the Sky rock rain-drenched finale is a post from: Soundcheck
