Plenty of guitar rawk to go around, but Lolla Day One was a dancer’s delight: Ghostland Observatory, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Daft Punk … bodies were moved and clothes were drenched. But of course there was plenty of fun from the six-stringers, like Silversun Pickups who were surprisingly awesome, making up for a lame showing at our last night with ‘em, providing grungy goodness in the height of yesterday afternoon’s sun. SSPU dedicated “Three Seeds” to Blonde Redhead (cross-park at the MySpace stage) and questioned why people were watching them when such a great band was on at the same time. Didn’t deter anyone from sticking around, though.
That said, as was to be expected, the band getting the most onstage props was Daft Punk; Tapes ‘N Tapes raved about the French robots’ set, Ted Leo soundchecked with Daft covers, and of course, James Murphy made the obligatory acknowledgment prior to playing you-know-what: “So we’re gonna play this song about a band that’s playing over there (*points* … *shrugs*). Well, it’s not exactly ironic, but it is sorta funny.” Can always count on LCD for breezy cool, pomo banter. “I don’t have anything to say. Bands at these big festival things usually say ‘Are you reaaaaady!’ But what do you guys have to be ready for? We’re the ones who are playing. The question is, are we ready?’”
They certainly seemed it; we ran into Mr. Murphy earlier in the day and he didn’t seem too concerned with talking music. Instead we chatted about cameras, phones, and camera phones. Now you know what to get him for his birthday.
But yeah, it was all about Daft Punk. The stage setup was no surprise after their classic Coachella set: interstellar pyramid, stunning visuals, and Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo disguised as machines with inhuman abilities to shake asses. “One More Time,” “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” and Stardust‘s “Music Sounds Better With You” made the career-spanning setlist, capping the night perfectly for the better part of the fest’s attendees. Unless you liked Ben Harper. In which case, you were over at the Bud Light stage, taking in a surprise appearance from Pearl Jam‘s Eddie Vedder. Sorry no photos, but don’t think you’ll blame us for hanging with the robots.
We’ve got a spread of pics from the acts we managed to catch. Providing ace photographic assistance is our good friend Abbey Braden, with us all weekend long. We’re off to check in with the Clap kids (Muse/Interpol tonight!). And to buy sunscreen.
THE FRATELLIS
GHOSTLAND OBSERVATORY
TED LEO AND THE PHARMACISTS
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE
SPARKLEHORSE
THE RAPTURE
SILVERSUN PICKUPS
BLONDE REDHEAD
SATELLITE PARTY
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM
DAFT PUNK
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mannn, the daft punk performance looks mega. wish i could’ve seen it! guess i’ll just have to watch interstella 555 again.
Man. Daft Punk made me Orgasm.
I as at the very front for LCD. It was pretty much…awesome. Yeah…amazing.
Daft Punk was hands down the best performance of the weekend. I don’t care that we have Sunday left (since I’m not a huge Pearl Jam fan) but I’m calling it now. The only band with a better show I’ve seen was Flaming Lips. Daft Punk was just seriously so fucking amazing!
i remember their set at coachella last year, and I still say it was one of the best i’ve ever seen… with the same setup, I can imagine they once again left people with blown minds.
i agree with all the above comments, daft punk was amazing. i love those robots.
saw muse last night, methinks i wouldve enjoyed it more if i hadn’t chosen to be on the walkway rail…ugh…
i just saw the robots @ red rocks a few days ago and am certain i have not seen a better show than that ever. they create such a wonderful environment for having fun and dancing with friends, especially within such an beautiful venue with flawless acoustics, i was like reeling for days afterward
I felt bad for Blonde Redhead when nobody was getting into them. Silversun Pickups were right in saying that, I saw half of them but I had to see all of Blonde Redhead at a good spot.
This looks like it was SO MUCH BETTER than the Virgin Fest in Baltimore! If only Blonde Redhead could have been there instead of Three fucking Eleven.
Quick question for anyone who went to the Daft Punk set. How close was it to being the exact same set as Coachella? When I watch the YouTube videos, the opening is the same, some of the mixes are identical… Did they just throw in Stardust or was it totally new?
The Daft Punk set at Lollapalooza was similar to Coachella, but not exactly the same. They did some things different that actually made it better than Coachella. Stardust was not the only thing that they added. They mixed stuff up differently to make it better.
I believe Aerodynamic was extended a bit from what their normal rendition of that song is.
I’ve watched a bunch of videos from Lolla and the rest of this tour, and it looks like they mixed things up (and even improvised a bit) on the Lolla set, compared to the others on the tour.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tVwEsrejmJM
They really need to release a live CD or DVD. The shows rock compared to their recorded stuff. The bootleg from Coachella is probably the single most played album in my iTunes library.
(I’m not all together too happy that I’m missing them completely this time around…)
Yeah, I agree that they need to release their live stuff on CD and or DVD. I’m hoping they do after this tour is over with. The way they mix their stuff is just dope. No other way to put it. The Stardust with One More Time remix they did at the end of Lollapalooza was the $hit. I did video tape the whole thing with my digital camera. Sorry for the audio quality at certain points, but my camera could not handle all the bass. Haha. Here you go:
Part 1:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1521233571821075016&hl=en
Part 2:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8854893447964882823&hl=en
Part 3:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7234966889003810258&hl=en
Daft Punk was hands down the best set of the festival. I am still in awe. My top shows were:
1. Daft Punk/LCD Soundsystem back-to-back combo
2. The Hold Steady
3. Muse
4. The Rapture
5. Pearl Jam (the Worm on stage!?!? Wish i still had my old black no. 91 Rodman Bulls jersey)
6. My Morning Jacket
7. The Black Keys
8. Cold War Kids
p.s. – Motion City Soundtrack are garbage…had to listen to them while i was waiting to get a good spot for the Hold Steady
Daft appears to be doing some kind of dvd…
They asked for a grip of fans to document their NY show,
so they are probably going to do some kind of “Alive” media collage…
http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2007/08/daft_punk_wants.html
Wow, awesome photos. I wrote a review of Day 1 and it goes something like this:
http://fightingtheyouth.blogspot.com/2007/08/lollapalooza-2007-day-1.html
Day 2 is also up w/ Day 3 and an “other musings” posting on their way.
This is pretty great: The only 10 Things That Could Have Made Daft Punk’s Show Better.
http://www.the-iss.com/2007/08/daft_punk.php
WHAT A CRAZY WEEKEND WITH LOLLAPALOOZA IN CHICAGO! CHECK OUT FOOTAGE FROM THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH PARTY with Perry Ferrell, Satellite Party, Mickey Avalon, Simon Rex and another night with KANYE WEST and MICHELLE WILLIAMS from DESTINYS CHILD and others at the underground!!
http://www.theundergroundchicago.com
I’m suprised nobody posted pictures of the Polyphonic Spree after they put on their white robes (and appeared out of the back of the crowd). Speaking of which, I think they should be given an award for playing the best Nirvana cover EVER.
Daft Punk was so legit!!!!! Can’t wait to hear the bootleg of it.