Sunday, August 6
1:50 p.m. – Halfway into The Hold Steady's set, frontman Craig Finn calls it "Definitely the most fun I've ever had before 3 p.m." It's a bit early for Finn's sordid tales of youth gone awry, but the band pulls it off.
2:05 p.m. – Cooler bands greet the throngs with a shrug of ironic detachment, but halfway through an electrifying set marked by sing-alongs and waving Irish flags, The Frames' frontman Glen Hansard can no longer contain his excitement. Before charging into another anthem off his group's stellar Burn The Maps, he puts in an imaginary phone call to his mother in Dublin and describes the experience as "fuckin' brilliant." No kidding.
3:15 p.m. – Needing some peace and quiet, The A.V. Club checks out the virtually abandoned activist area Causeapalooza, as well as a small, not-too-impressive art exhibit called Who Art Thou? The schedules and festival signs reveal its unfortunate original name, "Who Arted?" and visitors to the Bazaar area could see a wooden sign reading simply "Arted" propped up against a pile of debris behind a fence. Clearly, cooler heads prevailed at the last minute.
4:30 p.m. – Hasidic reggae sensation Matisyahu delivers a solid, though less-than-transcendent, set. Overheard: "Well, he played the two songs I wanted to hear, at least." That's the subtext of much of the festival: "Play your fucking hit and get out."
4:33 p.m. – A huge crowd awaits The Shins, but a muddy, too-quiet sound mix leaves the crowd chanting "Turn it up!" A sizeable chunk of the audience then files out. It's a minor disaster.
The A.V. Club engages in the following text-message exchange.
Josh Modell: U guys at shins?
Keith Phipps: Yeah wtf w/ the sound? We r going 2 of montreal.
5:25 p.m. – In the Of Montreal audience, Michelle Murphy, 19, of Geneva, Illinois, and Tyler DeLarm, 16, of Dallas, are wearing signs advertising free hugs (tips appreciated). The pair grew bored while waiting for the band to start, so they decided to make the signs. Business has been brisk, they say. The A.V. Club later sees another man advertising "spiritual healing," but he looks like he could use a few customers.
5:42 p.m. – From a distance, Of Montreal frontman Kevin Barnes looks like The Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe, who played Lollapalooza last year. But the music isn't weird enough, and no fistfights have broken out on stage, so it has to be Barnes.
5:49 p.m. – Yup, She Wants Revenge still sucks. Just checking.
5:50 p.m. – Beastie Boys DJ Mix Master Mike is so dope, he can even make Tears For Fears and Ma$e sound cool. But before his ferociously well-received set, Perry Farrell, the ghost of Lollapalooza past, pours champagne from the stage, introduces his wife and child, sings "Happy Birthday" to a bandmate, debuts a terrible new song, and unironically tells festival-goers to "party on!" Somehow, he can get away with all this, 'cause he's, you know, Perry Farrell.
6:30 p.m. – Weird, hairy, homeless-looking frontman number two: Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, who may have found that coat and hat, and definitely needs to comb that crazy beard. The beginning of the set offers an amazing one-two-three punch: "A Shot In The Arm," a new song possibly called "Impossible Germany," and "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart," which ends (of course) in a jam-fueled freak-out. The guy running video seemed to have fun with it. Later, Tweedy says, "I can't tell you how freaky it is to be home and have it be like this," gesturing to the audience.
6:45 p.m. – Man with bloody head walks by. Five minutes later, he walks by again, all bandaged up.
7 p.m. – A woman on stage right signs the lyrics to "Via Chicago."
7:22 p.m. – Tweedy dedicates the band's final two songs to his wife, Susan Miller, who stands backstage. It's the couple's 11th anniversary. "Suzy, I love you. I can't believe you put up with me."
7:32 p.m. – "We've got 45 minutes to kick your ass!" But Broken Social Scene isn't really about ass-kicking, and the sound is pretty far off the mark, particularly on the fiery "Fire Eye'd Boy." They bring out the full posse (Emily Haines of Metric, Leslie Feist, etc.) for "Anthems For A Seventeen-Year-Old Girl," though.
8:30 p.m. – Red Hot Chili Peppers are rumored to have taken the stage, but The A.V. Club was long gone at that point.
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