Lollapalooza Day 1 (no pictures, sorry)

After a volunteer shift of "standing" from 9:30-1:50, I headed out to see some shows with fellow MINDsetters Kelly and Riley.

Ted Leo kicked off my lineup, and after taking an early spill in his set (not sure which song it happened during), he rocked a set consisting of mostly Living material. While Ted has a tendency to speed up even his faster songs live, some of the tempos increased ridiculously in the Chicago heat--notably "Timorous Me," perhaps the only song in every set I've seen him play.

early but unknown order (any help welcome): Me and Mia, Bomb Repeat Bomb, Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?, Army Bound, Sons of Cain

6. Colleen.
7. Unwanted Things
8. Heart Problems
9. Timorous Me
10. C.I.A.

The big disappointment was that Ted ended the set 15 minutes early. Not sure if there was a misunderstanding in the schedule or if there was another factor. But 2-3 more songs were what the crowd wanted to hear, and instead he just ended with C.I.A. "Rappaport's Testament?" "High Party?" "Under the Hedge?" "Dial Up?" Bueller? Bueller?

After Ted and a lunch at the Billy Goat Tavern, Riley and I caught the tail end of Against Me!'s set on a sidestage. The crowd was way more into Against Me! at 3:30 on a sunny and humid day. Crowdsurfing and moshing in the front, anarchy onstage, and fans of all ages climbing to get a glimpse of Gainesville, Florida's finest. Really rough on the setlist, but I know for certain they played "Pints of Guinness Make You Strong" and plenty of stuff from their latest album, New Wave.

After a short break from the punkest show of the day, we met up with Kelly to catch a spot for The Rapture. I had seen them at Curiosa Festival a few years ago and was really unimpressed. Guitar effects and vocals were weak, and they didn't have much stage presence the first time around. First things first:

1. Down For So Long
2. Get Myself Into It
3. Sister Saviour
4. The Devil
5. Pieces of the People We Love
6. Killing
7. Whoo! Alright Yeah Uh Huh
8. House of Jealous Lovers
9. Don Gon Do It
10. First Gear
11. Olio

Opened with "Down For So Long?" They would have been more successful just skipping that and going straight to "Get Myself Into It." Maybe the sax wasn't ready. But there was a strong faction of shirtless Filipino men tearing it up next to me. Then a series of crowd surfers toward the middle of the set.

On a sidenote, if someone crowd surfed at a festival, would they mind sharing what happened when they reached security? If they got booted or just sent back in?

Anyway, the guitars were off (intentionally or not) for "House of Jealous Lovers," but everything else was really strong, and probably the best crowd on the day. The bass was exceptional, especially on "The Devil" and "House of Jealous Lovers."

That's it for now. Totally exhausted. Reviews and discussion of LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk will follow. For now, here is Murphy's set:

1. Us v Them
2. Daft Punk Is Playing At My House
3. Time to Get Away
4. North American Scum
5. All My Friends
6. Tribulations
7. Movement
8. Yeah (extended, non-crass version)
9. wtf? not sure if this was a recorded song or not, any help welcome


Goodnight!

Tomorrow's picks: Matt & Kim, Ludo, Sam Roberts Band, Cold War Kids, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Hold Steady, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, wait there (I'll see Spoon when they play a longer set), MUSE