Lollapalooza Day 2 (no pictures, sorry)

Never has sitting down felt so good. That was a good sit.

The final four hours of the second day of Lollapalooza turned my legs to wax, standing, jumping, pushing, and fistpumping to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Muse.

But before we get to that, my day started with an impressive performance from Tapes 'n' Tapes, one of three scheduled Twin Cities bands on the day (c'mon Hold Steady, you're not really from New York--yet). Playing a satisfying set of tunes from The Loon and a handful of new, unidentifiable tracks, they blew away a strong showing at the Myspace stage, the third biggest stage at the festival.

Afterwards, lunch was in order, and I urged Kelly and Riley to hurry back for Cold War Kids.

Most disappointing performance of the day and probably most disappointing showing of the whole event.

The set was really mellow for a hyped up-and-coming rock band. They were scheduled on far too small of a stage, causing the crowd to block walkways and hang from trees. But the worst part was it wasn't even worth it. Sound quality was really weak, as the guitar had virtually no color to it, and the vocals were nowhere near as loud as they ought to have been.

They played "Hang Me Up to Dry" second to last and then complained when people left. Dude, most of the people watching you were only there to hear that song. Deal with it. Considering it was the highlight of their set, it wasn't even that great. It's two notes back and forth, they could have jammed it up a little, improv-ed, done something different. For a band that has been lucky thus far and had at least 2000-3000 people watching them, they failed. The rest of the set was really unimpressive, and the seemed like a band that didn't even belong there.

It didn't ruin the day though. After CWC, I saw a few tunes from the Roots--a pleasant contrast to the Cold Bore Kids set. Probably the best instrumental performances of the day and one of the most fun atmospheres, even though we hung out towards the back for what we saw. But they definitely convinced me I should catch them another time. The highlight was a hip hop medley (with a subtle dig at Nas for his latest declaration that hip hop is dead) with tunes from Salt 'n' Pepa, Sugar Hill Gang, ODB, Vanilla Ice (debatable), Nas, and about four more I can't remember.

From there, it was time for Hold Steady to rock from the same stage Tapes 'n' Tapes worked it. Craig Finn sported a Twins jersey, and they played a fair amount of material from both Boys and Girls in America and Separation Sunday, as expected. But I didn't see much of it because Kelly, Riley, and I planned to get in position for a good spot for Muse three hours in advance. It paid off, but wait two more paragraphs for me to get there.

Karen O was terrific. I was a little nervous she wouldn't put on as much of a show because this wasn't a club gig, but she came out in a big silver gown, a strange leather zip-up half-sleeve corset, and black stockings. Jumping around for every song, singing with the microphone in her mouth, and screaming her brains out, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs rocked it.

They mostly played tunes from their latest EP and Show Your Bones, but they made room for the hits from Fever to Tell: Maps, Pin, and they closed with Date With the Night. Not sure if they performed any of their pre-Fever material.

Then came the big push forward to get to the front for Muse. Even though they weren't starting for at least another 60 minutes, there were easily 1000 people at the front of the lawn ready to go. Interpol was playing at the same time, and manipulation of all types came into play. Fans at the front spread rumors that Muse cancelled and this was Interpol's stage, all in an effort to get rid of some of the people. But to be honest, I don't think I would have wanted it any less crowded. Crowd surfing almost every song, jumping around, screaming, and the audience was louder than Bellamy on stage for most of the set. Easily the best experience of the festival so far. Hands down. Multiple balloon presentations, a light show probably more advanced than Daft Punk (which is saying a lot), and really great song selection and order. The set is from memory, so let me know of any inaccuracies.

JFK Intro/Take a Bow
Map of the Problematique
Hysteria
Supermassive Black Hole
Time Is Running Out
Butterflies and Hurricanes
Feelin' Good
Sunburn
Invincible
New Born
Starlight
Apocalypse Please
Stockholm Syndrome

Encore:
Plug-In Baby
Knights of Cydonia

The new songs sounded terrific live, and some mechanical problems between songs didn't hurt the experience at all. I even got to hear Dominic Howard's voice for the first time after seeing the band play several times.

I can't see Sunday topping this, but anything is possible with My Morning Jacket, Pearl Jam, and plenty more on the horizon.

P.S. For those of you who like the tune, Knights of Cydonia, I want to plug my friend's film project. If you like the song and have decent film taste, you'll enjoy this: