Live Show Reviews Chicago - Lollapalooza / The Medal Winners | Chicago - Lollapalooza / The Medal Winners |
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| Written by Art Michalski | |
| Wednesday, 08 August 2007 | |
 Three days in muggy heat and the
occasional raindrop here and there can take its toll on just about
anyone, and for nearly 70,000 people, it did just that. Over 130 bands
graced the 8 stages at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago, and at My City
Buzz, we tried to catch them all. But even we knew that was impossible, so we
will give you the rundown on this years best and just average bands that
performed on Grant Park this past weekend. But here at My City Buzz, we are
handling out the medals for the top performances of the weekend. Of course,
these medals are worth nothing and no multi-million deals are waiting for these
bands, but just our admiration and love should be enough. Here are the medal
winners.Gold Medal: Muse- Saturday. Just like last year’s Lollapalooza, the Saturday night headliners steals the show for the weekend. The English trio put on an awe-inspiring 85-minute set. The band has shunned the Brit-pop of their earlier work and gone for more of a epic lush sound. With tracks like the highly infectous and danceable “Supermassive Black Hole” and the highlight “Time Is Running Out,” they easily took the crown Saturday. If you haven’t seen Muse’s set, think of Coldplay if they were more fun and mix it with a little more danceable Radiohead and just a dash of Pink Floyd’s sonic landscape and you'll make an interesting mix. The band’s set translated unbelievably well onto a big stage, this band is arena ready right now. After seeing Interpol, who played at the same time on another stage, last week to mixed emotions, Muse made the decision real easy and well worth it for me.
Silver Medal: Pearl Jam- Sunday. The long time grunge rockers played one of their best that this reviewer has seen in years. Limited to only two hours (past sets have gone almost three hours), the Seattle band made the most of it and cut most of the fat out of their set. Songs like “State of Love and Trust” and “Not For You” got the treatment they deserved. Sure, Eddie Vedder went on his rants about the evils of corporate America, but for the majority of the two hours, Vedder and company let the music do the talking. Ben Harper and others joined the band with a rocking cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World,” which was the next best thing to Young actually there to play the song himself. This reviewer didn’t expect Pearl Jam to get anywhere near the top three bands this weekend, but their hits heavy set definitely proved this guy wrong.
Bronze Medal: Against Me- Friday. Amid the heat and the Polyphonic Spree walking around, Floridian band Against Me has one of the best albums of the year (“New Wave”) and the angriest set of the weekend. Playing older tracks such as “From His Lips to God’s Ears” and new tracks such as “White People for Peace”, Against Me showed what real punk can be like. 99 percent of the so-called punk bands could take a cue from Against Me. |
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