Lollapalooza 2011: Our “Don’t Miss” List Part I

By: Brady Lavin

Music fans in the Chicago area, hell, even the Midwest in general, have been gearing up for Lollapalooza for the last week or two, and it is no wonder why. This year’s lineup is phenomenal, with Foo Fighters, Muse, Coldplay, Eminem, Deadmau5, Kid Cudi, Pretty Lights and others headlining the three-day destination festival that will be transforming Chicago from August 5th to the 7th (Friday through Sunday).

Lollapalooza, which has been held in Chicago’s beautiful Grant Park since 2005, used to be a traveling one-day festival that toured North America from 1991 to 1997 with a revival in 2003. Since it has settled in the Windy City, Lolla has been host to an incredible variety of artists, big and small, from Lady Gaga to the Violent Femmes to LCD Soundsystem to Kanye West.

This year, there will be four headliners to choose from every night and countless conflicts between really good bands throughout each day. The schedule is almost overwhelming when you just glance at it, with 9-10 hours of music on each of 8 stages on each of the three days, but there is no need to freak out! Guitar International’s got your back with our Lolla “Don’t Miss” List! Once you have a couple bands that you know you don’t want to miss, you can easily build your battle plan. Stay tuned for Saturday and Sunday’s installments!

Friday August 5th:

Don’t miss Foster the People! (3 pm at the Sony stage)

Foster the People, who have been quite accurately described as MGMT meets Peter, Bjorn and John with a little of Maroon 5’s white boy pop/funk, have been raiding the airwaves of any rock-related radio format this whole spring and summer with their incessantly catchy “Pumped Up Kicks.” It’s one of those songs that will not get out your head for days (I have found that the only cure is singing the Proclaimers’ “500 Miles” for five minutes straight), but the thing is, the rest of their songs are just as filled with happy hooks.

Mark Foster, the lead singer and songwriter of the band, has a seemingly-shaky indie pop voice that doesn’t seem like it would translate to a live setting very well, but that is as far from the truth as possible. Foster the People shine brightly on stage, their awkward kid charisma coming out through shoulder dancing and intermittant playing with sound effects. Listen for standout songs, “Helena Beat” and “Houdini.”

Foster the People, Photo: Wikipedia

Don’t miss the Kills! (4:30 pm on the Bud Light stage)

The Kills have developed a huge following since 2000 with their sparse, cathartic brand of stripped down rock. Comprised of only singer Alison Mosshart and guitarist/keyboardist Jamie Hince, they record and play live with just the duo, preferring not to add additional instrumentalists to their live show. Their simple arrangements rely on plenty of looping and drum machine action due to their diluted instrumentation, and Mosshart’s tortured sexiness brings the dark melodies to life.

Alison’s stint as lead singer of the Dead Weather with Jack White has definitely influenced their newest album, this year’s Blood Pressures, but Mosshart and Hince don’t need White’s presence on stage to electrify and disturb. The Kills manage to, at the same time be sexy yet menacing, industrial yet organic, and soulful yet abrasive, their stoic presence on stage captivating without theatrics or wild flailing. Keep your ears open for “Future Starts Slow,” the first song on their new album.

The Kills, Photo: Wikipedia

Don’t miss A Perfect Circle! (6 pm at the Music Unlimited stage)

A Perfect Circle, side project/supergroup that includes Billy Howerdel of Ashes Divide, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan, Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and Nine Inch Nails/Devo/Vandals drummer Josh Freese with Matt McJunkins on bass, is difficult to classify. They have a taste of Tool, obviously, because Keenan sings and writes lyrics for both bands, but their dark, progressive rock style is truly their own.

We all know Maynard James Keenan will put on a great performance, channeling all his demons on stage, but it is the compositions that really make A Perfect Circle so great live. Billy Howerdel writes all the music, and his unique style has spawned some incredible songs on their two studio albums, like “Weak and Powerless,” “Judith,” and “Passive” from the Constantine soundtrack. After their 6-year break, A Perfect Circle has been working on some new material as they tour, and they debuted the new song “By and Down,” a slow, brooding number in 2010. I wouldn’t be surprised if they debuted some more new stuff at Lolla; it would definitely be the right venue for new APC songs.

Billy Howerdel of A Perfect Circle, Photo: Wikipedia

Don’t miss Skrillex! (6:15 pm at Perry’s)

“Wait, how can I not miss Skrillex at 6:15 when you just told me not to miss A Perfect Circle at 6?”

Ok, so you’ll have to miss one, deal with it. It should be an easy choice for most, as the two acts are stylistically on complete opposite sides. Go see APC if you want to just watch/listen to great music, but if you want to get your WOMP! on, Skrillex is the man to see.

After some time as the frontman for post-hardcore act From First to Last, Sonny Moore decided to put more time into his dubstep/electro project, which he named Skrillex. While purists will say that Skrillex is not true dubstep, tell that to his legions of fans that throw down hardcore to his schizophrenic dance mixes, womping until they forget what womping is. (For those unaware, the term “womp womp” comes from the signature sound of dubstep music, a pulsating tone that is sped up/slowed down constantly to make rhythms. The kids are now using it as a verb, meaning “to dance wildly to dubstep music.” School is out. *DING*)

Skrillex, Photo: Wikipedia

As for Friday’s headliners…

Don’t miss… ALL OF THEM

This one is such a tough choice. For all the shit-talking Coldplay has been on the receiving end of, they put on a hell of a live show, ramping up the energy to much higher levels than on their recordings. Ratatat were one of the first of the electronic music with live instruments duos that have popping up all over lately, fusing electronic tableaus with sharp guitar hooks and unending danciness. Muse has an almost unrivaled stage show, complete with an amazing synchronized light show, giant pillars, descending platforms and great sound to match their stadium-sized songs, and Girl Talk is the king of the mash-up dance party. He has no match when it comes to creating hour-long dance mixes that use samples ranging from Nirvana to old soul music to modern rap and hip hop.

You really can’t go wrong with any of the headliners on Friday, so throw darts at your choices or draw straws or something. You’ll probably catch me at Muse, though!