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July 24, 2005

Lollapalooza '05

Reviews are coming in from this weekend's Lollapalooza fest in Chicago. The major gripe (aside from the crazy heat) seems to be the close proximity of the main stages, which made it difficult to hear. Imagine Brian Jonestown Massacre's psychedelic jams drowned out by the emo power ballads of Dashboard Confessional. Predictably Anton Newcombe was not pleased. USA Today's Whitney Matheson reports...

As for the Brian Jonestown Massacre, lead singer Anton Newcombe had a few choice words for Dashboard Confessional, who could be heard playing across the field. "You can go (expletive) yourself," he said. "Party over here, (expletive) you over there."
More of USA Today's favorite moments from BJM's set:
  • Anton Newcombe raised his beercan to toast the mothers of the world.
  • Newcombe continued to criticize Dashboard Confessional, saying he would use the band's photo as "birth control" and promised to start his next song "as soon as Jon Bon Jovi shuts the (expletive) up."
  • Newcombe paused to tell a "dirty joke" to the crowd. (The joke in its entirety: "The white horse fell in the mud.")
  • The group constantly debated how long to play but ended up fulfilling its hourlong promise with several songs and two 10+ minute jams.
  • Such pros. Good thing Clapton didn't play.

    Anyone go to the fest? Let's hear about it in the commentz...

    Posted at 6:40 PM
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    41 Comments

    you can watch it steam live. spoon is up next then the killers...

    http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/sbc/mainstage/mainstage.html

    Posted by: x at 07/24/05 7:27 PM  | Reply
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    The Clapton thing was a bit much but man if he isn't right on about Dashboard. "Bon Jovi" absolutely brilliant!

    Posted by: Fake Janine at 07/24/05 7:47 PM  | Reply
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    god, do i ever love anton.

    Posted by: simone. at 07/24/05 8:05 PM  | Reply
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    anton, oh boy. what a wreck, but i would be craking up if i was there and dashboard came on during wasting away. i could just see him going crazy.

    Posted by: josephayden at 07/24/05 8:56 PM  | Reply
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    "party over here, f*** you over there" is an anton original, as he told me. and hes far from a wreck. hes charming and intelligent and overall chill for what he has to go through. but please, continue to base your opinions of him on the talking heads from that TOTALLY AWESOME ROCKUMENTARY!

    Posted by: marie at 07/24/05 9:54 PM  | Reply
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    funny, he could like tell dashboard confessional guy to fuck a goat and no one would care, except to think it's funny. because well, that guy should fuck a big goat. the point is, he is hardly the nutcase on parade when he is attacking the loser mopey emo dude that everyone hates. I'll give this a cursory east german score of 8.6.

    Posted by: matthew at 07/24/05 10:18 PM  | Reply
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    Anyone who says "Anton original" in reference to themselves... is well... a tool.

    Posted by: Beth at 07/24/05 10:23 PM  | Reply
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    Anton and Matt Hollywood joined the Dandy Warhols on stage. After the birth control comment Anton said something to the sorts of if "You did have children, I'd raise those Wolfcubs." Wolfcubs. Too funny

    Posted by: mauricio at 07/24/05 10:27 PM  | Reply
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    Today's Whitney Matheson is a moron. Read the article, he can't even get the song names right by The Dandy Warhols. It's exactly people like him that should not be covering this stuff. Unreal.

    Posted by: angie at 07/24/05 10:38 PM  | Reply
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    Personally, I think live music is way too loud anyways. Why does it have to be so loud? They need to lower the decibels in live music, even outside. People blocks away don't need to hear it.

    Posted by: Well at 07/24/05 11:38 PM  | Reply
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    "On their own, the Dandy Warhols got the crowd jumping with hits like Feel So Bohemian and Boys You Better Beware."

    0 for 2, USA Today. 0 for 2.

    Posted by: Kyle at 07/24/05 11:48 PM  | Reply
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    god damn i love me some drugged out anton, i wanna see the BJM just to see if i can witness a fight :) anyone see dig?! that documentary was intense that mans a genius :)

    Posted by: tokincarebear at 07/25/05 12:24 AM  | Reply
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    i gotta see anton live dood

    Posted by: Satisfied '75 at 07/25/05 12:53 AM  | Reply
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    i heard the pixies were horrible, weezer played a lot of shit from blue/pinkerton, and otherwise a pretty fucking hot day with a beautiful chicago skyline in the background.

    apparently all the yuppies showed up for weezer in suits and left after the set, thinking it was still 1994.

    Posted by: shc at 07/25/05 1:14 AM  | Reply
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    The Dandys were terrible, terrible. Brought Matt Hollywood and Anton out for two songs and then concluded their set with a 10-minute plus two-chord jam. Their sound was shit, too. "Boys You Better Beware" sounded all right, but "Feel So Bohemian," "Friends A Long Time Ago" and the rest were all drowned out by the bass. And, of course, you could sporadically hear The Killers.

    Posted by: roberton at 07/25/05 1:33 AM  | Reply
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    I had the distinct displeasure of watching anton and the his band of rejects try to play in sacramento about a week and a half ago. it amazes me how whiney he was, and what a weak act he put on yelling and berating his band, total jerry springer b.s.. lame. the guy would stop in the middle of a song to go and adjust some other band members instrument, which I could maybe understand if the drum along with the other guitars (including antons) weren't also totally off. All of his/BJMs cds are brilliant, and their recorded music is inspired, however if he didn't recycle through so many band members (think the tally is upto 50+ now) they might sound half way decent live. rock on anton.

    Posted by: delicious at 07/25/05 3:59 AM  | Reply
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    Lollapalooza had an amazing lineup, and I wish I could have been there. If only I didn't live in the cultural exile known as Canada. (Kidding.) (Well, sort of.)

    Oh and Roberton, are you getting those song titles wrong on purpose because you have a terrible sense of humour, or because you were repeatedly clubbed in the head as a baby? (Oh, the choices.) Also, what kind of a name is Roberton? Aren't you missing an 's'? Please tell me you can at least spell your own name.

    Posted by: Sarah at 07/25/05 8:25 AM  | Reply
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    I find Brian Jonestown Massacre boring, personally, but jeez do I find Anton's antics entertaining. Funniest line from "DiG!": "You fucking broke my sitar, motherfucker!"

    Posted by: Shannon at 07/25/05 8:26 AM  | Reply
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    Angie, Whitney Matheson is a woman.

    Posted by: Ken at 07/25/05 8:45 AM  | Reply
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    ANTON NUKE 'EM!!

    Posted by: Pistol Opera at 07/25/05 9:17 AM  | Reply
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    Dear God how does Weezer keep getting booked at these things?

    Posted by: Huggy Bear at 07/25/05 11:01 AM  | Reply
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    "apparently all the yuppies showed up for weezer in suits and left after the set, thinking it was still 1994."

    umm... weezer played last on saturday so EVERYONE left after the set.

    it was a good 2 days. sunday was way too hot but it was still worth it to see dinosaur jr.

    Posted by: angie at 07/25/05 11:18 AM  | Reply
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    Idol stole the show. Pixies were good. Saw Kelley Deal watching from the vip area.

    Posted by: nelson at 07/25/05 12:06 PM  | Reply
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    Arcade Fire was amazing...I never thought they could sound so good in a large open area. I was wrong. When they were done, Win just got off the stage and walked through the crowd. He walked right by me and the first thing I thought was "he's tall".

    Posted by: mikec at 07/25/05 12:45 PM  | Reply
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    Oh, Gotta Love ANTON!!!
    That crazy mothersucker never fails to entertain me. I raise a glass to Duke Nuke'Em! And well, yeah, Marie is somewhat right...DIG! is a great piece of artistry but it does futz with the truth pretty badly. Example: Anton does not smoke pot, never has, never will. So Ondi's intimation in that infamous scene that he tried to sell her down the river and pretend it was her joint...well, it WAS her joint. She got two clever by half editing that section. Oh well. Anton is the kind of celebrity I love, man: like Courtney Love. With a great sense of humor, wit, and an exquisite sense of circus, failure and disaster.

    Posted by: babyblue at 07/25/05 2:24 PM  | Reply
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    i don't know if that's completely true about the anton/pot thing. as far as ondi editing it to look like anton was responsible, definitely true. but i'm skeptical about anton never smoking pot in his life, especially since in the documentary his own mother recalls turning him into the police on several occasions for growing his own stash as a teenager. besides, someone doing heroin but never having tried pot in his life? a bit far-fetched.

    oh well.

    Posted by: kate at 07/25/05 3:35 PM  | Reply
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    The show was all around kind of blah. No one really got a chance to do anything special. I would have liked to see some bands join up and rock out (except for BJM and Dandys, which was nice) It just seemed kind of lackluster - but downtown chicago was great and it was a sweet setup and ran like clockwork (even if the bands did bleed together.)

    highlights: arcade fire, spoon, black keys, big-ass balloons, being able to leave and come back in. lowlights: douchbags in the audience, short sets, liz phair.

    Posted by: rev dave at 07/25/05 3:50 PM  | Reply
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    I saw the Sat show. A few bands seemed to bitch about this or that, but the Pixies just played their set with no banter and sounded as excellent as they ever have. Dead 60s were good, but not much buzz about them. Kaiser Chiefs were fun and when the frontman's voice left him, he invited a girl on stage to sing. Black Keys were good as well.

    Posted by: Dan at 07/25/05 3:55 PM  | Reply
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    Posted by: rob at 07/25/05 5:01 PM  | Reply
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    Pixies & Arcade Fire were AMAZING! The only two bands worth writing home about...
    I think I was the only one in the crowd that didn't know all the lyrics to all the Dashboard Confessional songs. That band kind of sucks (SO annoying).
    Tegan & Sara cut their set short due to heat stroke or something. Whatever. They talk to much in between songs so I was kind of glad they were done. I'd stick to just listening to their album instead of live performances.
    Tons & tons of pale assed people with cancer potential moles & freckles. Sends a shiver up & down my spine everytime I close my eyes.

    Posted by: pesky808 at 07/25/05 6:12 PM  | Reply
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    I dunno if Anton smokes weed, but I've watched that motherfucker snort rails the size of a sharpie marker!

    Posted by: Pistol Opera at 07/25/05 7:37 PM  | Reply
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    Most of the non-US groups were having problems with the heat. My favorite take on it was from Ricky Wilson (Kaiser Chiefs):

    "We're from England, so we're not accustomed to weather of any sort."

    (pause)

    "It's fucking HOT!"

    Their set got cut short because he lost his voice. He was really animated during their set, though, at one point climbing up the side of the stage about halfway (probably 20-30 feet up). Kasabian commented on the heat after pretty much every song, the Arcade Fire mentioned it (though their lead guy wasn't bothered so much by it since he's from Houston--dude was out there in long sleeves and a vest!) and Tegan and Sara had to cash it in when Sara got heat exhaustion. I overheard Anton's hissy fit, but I didn't get it in context, so I just chalked it up to heat at the time.

    I intended to watch The Bravery instead of Cake on the grounds that I've seen Cake several times and have never seen the Bravery, but they weren't that exciting and I wandered over to Cake after about four songs.

    Redwalls were good, Killers sounded just like their album, Liz Phair sucked.

    Posted by: Geoff at 07/25/05 7:52 PM  | Reply
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    The bleed from other stages wasn't consistently bad. I could hear Arcade Fire and Spoon just fine, which was lucky because--God help us--G Love was playing at the same time as AF.

    From what I could tell, it was mainly a problem for bands playing opposite the (sort-of) headliners. I don't know how deliberate that was, though.

    It was pretty bad during the Dandies' set--the mix was about 2/3 Dandies and 1/3 Killers. After one song, Courtney Taylor said, 'Ladies and Gentleman... the Killers. [Towards the Killers' stage] Hey guys--how's it going? Can you hear us? No?'

    Whining aside, I had a good time, and I thought it was pretty well-run overall. I'd go again if they have it next year.

    Posted by: bh at 07/25/05 9:29 PM  | Reply
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    anton actually seemed quite tame from what i saw. trail of dead's antics upstaged everyone else by far. it's hard to top real blood, shattered guitars, overturned amps, and repeated forays out into the crowd.

    Posted by: katy at 07/26/05 1:35 AM  | Reply
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    yeah, especially because with all of the antics, they remain one of the most boring, songless and overhyped-without-merit groups on the planet earth

    Posted by: lady leda at 07/26/05 4:25 PM  | Reply
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    I went. Photo & commentary recap here: MOKB.

    Chris from GvB went with: Photo and commentary here: GvB.

    Posted by: Dodge at 07/26/05 5:17 PM  | Reply
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    Overall, the crowd at Lollapaloooza got to me. I did love seeing BJM, and I thought that Anton was in pretty good form, and all of his comments were right on! Dashboard Confessionals were hideous, and that is being kind. It's much more refreshing to see true artists rather than the crap that is played on the radio today.

    Posted by: sheleighcakes at 07/27/05 1:52 PM  | Reply
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    After the Dandy's set on Sunday, we hauled ass to see Anton play at a small club called the Dark Room. The best show I've ever seen. Though he stood behind a post most of the show. IT KILLED!!

    And he absolutely DOES SMOKE POT, in a euphoric state of disbelief I smoked a joint with him and his guitarist (Ricky) back at the hotel. A little after-after party......

    Posted by: serren at 07/29/05 3:44 PM  | Reply
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    I heard there's a bittorent of the BJM show on Dime, but I can't log on and am feeling profoundly deprived! Anyone know anything about it? BJM may not be for everyone, but live they are stunning, antics or no. Obviously, they are a band you either love or hate, but most certainly have an opinion about. Peace.

    Posted by: Superinkygirl at 07/29/05 6:21 PM  | Reply
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    I'am sorry, but being a hugefan of dashboard, Anton can go fuck himself.

    Posted by: sam at 07/30/05 5:18 AM  | Reply
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    Dan, whilst I am relly happy that you remember the girl on stage with the Kaiser Chiefs (my missus), I am not best pleased that you didn't seem to remember the bloke.

    T'was me! If anyone has photos I would greatly appreciate them!

    Carl

    Posted by: Mr Tangallio at 08/04/05 6:03 AM  | Reply
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