Lollapalooza celebrated its twentieth anniversary in Chicago over the weekend with headline performances by Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, and Muse. It was the support acts, however, that really excited us. So like he did at Bonnaroo, our tireless photog/artist wrangler Graeme Flegenheimer (with help from The Impossible Project) distributed Polaroid cameras and film to 23 bands — 24 if you count Eminem, who dropped out at the last minute (I forgive him) — to capture exclusive behind-the-scenes moments. The snaps reveal how our favorite bands passed the hours in Grant Park, from shotgunning beers (Black Lips) to meeting Elijah Wood (Tennis) to dry humping backstage (that first photo of Arctic Monkeys above). Many bands took shots of the audience from the stage so now you’ll know what it feels like to be a Car. Some of these Polaroids include scrawled notes; Grouplove get extra credit for decorating theirs with cartoons. Take a look at each image’s caption to learn from whose vantage point you’re looking. There’s a lot to sift through, though, so you can use this handy list to jump ahead to the band(s) that interest you:
- Arctic Monkeys
- Black Lips
- Cage The Elephant
- Cults
- Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
- Deftones
- DOM
- Ellie Goulding
- Explosions In The Sky
- Foster The People
- Grouplove
- The Joy Formidable
- Lord Huron
- Maps And Atlases
- Mayer Hawthorne
- Noah And The Whale
- The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
- A Perfect Circle
- Tennis
- The Cars
- The Cool Kids
- The Vaccines
- Wye Oak
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deftones did “Elite” at Lolla, I’m officially jelly
I’m holding the flag in Explosions in the Sky
Saw Eminem at Kanrocksas the same weekend as Lollapalooza…love the guy, but it wasn’t his best performance.
We did something like this for our fanzine Thicker back in the ’90′s, and got some unbelievable pics as a result. Here’s a tip: give them disposable cameras with film instead, have them give the camera back, and develop the film. If they can see the pictures before they give them to you, they’re going to chuck the best ones.
Can’t wait to see Foster the People live. Their album “Torches” is great. I love their video for “Helena Beat,” too!! http://vevo.ly/qCFzj7