S1W's - full fatigues, Chuck D - mesh jersey & shorts
It's the time of the year again in Chicago- massive outdoor music festival season. This past weekend was Pitchfork, and next weekend is Lollapalooza. Basically, you get just enough time to recover from one before having to go out and do the whole grueling festival thing again.
It was my first year attending Pitchfork...I was drawn in mostly by the promise of Public Enemy performing "It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back" in its entirety. Having previously expressed reservations about seeing PE live, this sounded perfect- guaranteed classic material. The rest of the artist lineup wasn't that important to me, but three-day passes were reasonable, so I figured I'd tag along with friends and hear the bands they wanted to hear. The festivals really do end up being my annual attempt to listen and be exposed to music that isn't hip-hop.
Lollapalooza is a slightly different story. Since the granddaddy of festivals resurrected itself in downtown Chicago in 2005, I've been lucky enough to obtain the ridiculously cheap pre-lineup announcement tickets each and every year. I'm not sure I'd pay full price to attend, but $60 a ticket isn't really a tough decision, even without knowing the lineup. The promoters would have to work pretty hard to fill 3 full days up with crappy & uninteresting acts.
This years headliners are a very solid group- Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Wilco, & Radiohead. I'm a bit disappointed by the rest of the lineup- there are a lot of repeat artists who played Lolla in the last few years. It just feels like there should be a little more effort to bring in new blood. My list of must-sees is pretty slim and it looks like I'll be attending alone again this year- so if you feel like taking a look at the lineups and making some suggestions, please do so.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, but I'm most eagerly anticipating Radiohead. They play on Friday, August 1st...on the exact same field in Grant Park that they played exactly 7 years prior. That concert still ranks as the best I've ever seen...it was a truly magical night in a perfect setting. Thom began the third encore by saying "Thanks very much, Chicago, for letting us play here...it's a pretty cool place to play. I think we should do it again Chicago." The stage will be facing the opposite direction this time, and the crowd won't be made up solely of Radiohead fans...but I'm still optimistic that it will be a memorable night, though probably not anywhere near the 2001 concert.
A few scans from the film camera I used that evening (click to view uncropped versions):
By the way, here's my favorite attendee photo from this year's Pitchfork Festival:
And what better time to repost this favorite from Lollapalooza 2005:.
To bring this post back to the top...PE started off slow (Chuck's mic was too low, Flavor Flav was late), but ended up killing it on Friday evening. The sound was phenomenal, Chuck & Flav bounded around the stage as if they were 20 years younger than they really are, and it was a really cool experience to hear the entire album. The show wasn't over after Party For Your Write To Fight concluded either, as the crew launched into a few of their biggest tracks from other releases- Welcome To The Terrordome, Shut 'Em Down, 911 Is A Joke, He Got Game, & of course, Fight The Power. While I would have loved to have seen the band in their primes, this was an inspired performance, and I'm happy to now be able to say I've seen Public Enemy perform. And hey, 15 years ago I wouldn't have gotten the bonus irony of Flav spitting "You're blind, baby, you're blind from the facts on who you are 'cause you're watchin' that garbage."
Lollapalooza is a slightly different story. Since the granddaddy of festivals resurrected itself in downtown Chicago in 2005, I've been lucky enough to obtain the ridiculously cheap pre-lineup announcement tickets each and every year. I'm not sure I'd pay full price to attend, but $60 a ticket isn't really a tough decision, even without knowing the lineup. The promoters would have to work pretty hard to fill 3 full days up with crappy & uninteresting acts.
This years headliners are a very solid group- Kanye West, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Wilco, & Radiohead. I'm a bit disappointed by the rest of the lineup- there are a lot of repeat artists who played Lolla in the last few years. It just feels like there should be a little more effort to bring in new blood. My list of must-sees is pretty slim and it looks like I'll be attending alone again this year- so if you feel like taking a look at the lineups and making some suggestions, please do so.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that knows me, but I'm most eagerly anticipating Radiohead. They play on Friday, August 1st...on the exact same field in Grant Park that they played exactly 7 years prior. That concert still ranks as the best I've ever seen...it was a truly magical night in a perfect setting. Thom began the third encore by saying "Thanks very much, Chicago, for letting us play here...it's a pretty cool place to play. I think we should do it again Chicago." The stage will be facing the opposite direction this time, and the crowd won't be made up solely of Radiohead fans...but I'm still optimistic that it will be a memorable night, though probably not anywhere near the 2001 concert.
A few scans from the film camera I used that evening (click to view uncropped versions):
By the way, here's my favorite attendee photo from this year's Pitchfork Festival:
And what better time to repost this favorite from Lollapalooza 2005:.
To bring this post back to the top...PE started off slow (Chuck's mic was too low, Flavor Flav was late), but ended up killing it on Friday evening. The sound was phenomenal, Chuck & Flav bounded around the stage as if they were 20 years younger than they really are, and it was a really cool experience to hear the entire album. The show wasn't over after Party For Your Write To Fight concluded either, as the crew launched into a few of their biggest tracks from other releases- Welcome To The Terrordome, Shut 'Em Down, 911 Is A Joke, He Got Game, & of course, Fight The Power. While I would have loved to have seen the band in their primes, this was an inspired performance, and I'm happy to now be able to say I've seen Public Enemy perform. And hey, 15 years ago I wouldn't have gotten the bonus irony of Flav spitting "You're blind, baby, you're blind from the facts on who you are 'cause you're watchin' that garbage."