Well readers, its seems like only yesterday that I was typing about this very event, yet it has been one entire year. This one will include a special bonus of the Ween & Flaming Lips concert I attended (along with my little brother and friends) at Red Rocks, near Denver, Colorado. (if you already knew that, well I apologize) I like to be specific.
This has been quite a summer. There have been numerous activities to combat the increasingly predictable repetition of the Chicago workweek. Concerts and music festivals have been frequent here lately. Intonation Fest earlier this summer was a great time, and I saw a couple interesting bands like The Boredoms. (pretty fucking out there) But this did not compare to the back-to-back weekends that brought Red Rocks and Lollapalooza. These weekends also served as the buns to the hamburger whose ground-beef patty was a week-long visit from my little brother.
RED ROCKS:
As will be evident from the photos, we all had an awesome time. I flew in to Denver on a Friday night and met my little brother in the Denver airport. We then joined a larger group of friends at my buddy Pete’s house, where we all crashed. The next day we got some breakfast and went to a weird old junk shop where we bought costumes for the show. We headed out to Red Rocks equipped with coolers of delicious microbrewery beer in our trunks for the pre-show parking lot activities. The weather was sunny and perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and the bands filled the air with a high-spirited blanket of sound.
THE FLAMING LIPS:
This was the third time for me to witness them, and any of you who’ve seen them know that there’s no other show like it. Its basically a mammoth-scale psychedelic birthday party thrown for thousands of people instead of one, complete with costumed dancers, ten-foot balloons bounding through the crowd, and one metric ton of confetti. All that and some of the best music you’ve ever heard. They threw some nice musical treats in there too, like Bohemian Rhapsody, an awesome version of My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion where Wayne held a bird in his hand as he sang, and a confetti drenched closer of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs capped it off, as images of Bush and Cheney strobed on the big screen. To put in one more step beyond insane, fireworks exploded in the distance as they concluded.
Score: 9 (If you haven’t seen them, do. And get close.)
WEEN:
These aging spazzes are notorious for rocking for five hours straight, and finishing a bottle of Jack Daniel’s each on stage during the course of the show. They’ve clearly settled down a bit, more for survival than anything else apparently, as one member has recently returned from rehabilitation. They came through as always, though the duration of their set had to remain reasonable, due to the curfew that has been enforced at Red Rocks. Sure, lyrically they’re silly and stupid, but these mutherfuckers can play. Still, I had seen them twice before and liked the longer, more raw shows I’d seen them put on before.
Score: 7.5 (At their best, they could near a ten.)
LOLLAPALOOZA:
Sunday morning after Red Rocks, it was back to Chicago. After carefully navigating the workweek while my brother was in town crashing at my apartment, it was time once again for Lollapalooza! It was on an even grander scale this year, expanding from two days to three, and consuming not half but all of enormous Grant Park, whose center is Buckingham Fountain. Negotiating the schedule of 130 plus bands was not easy, and a few conflicts arose between the numerous performances, which took place on a total of ten stages. We ended up seeing some great shows.
DAY ONE:
JEREMY ENIGK
This was a performance by the former front man of Sunny Day Real Estate and company. This guys solo album, Return of the Frog Queen, is so good it makes me jealous. It oozes with style and unique songwriting. However, this didn’t come through as well live. I was surprised to see that there was barely anyone there. That almost made it nice, it felt more like it was my show. As he played, he stared out over the Chicago skyline and seemed to really be taken by the situation. Though his music can be moody and dark, he smiled repeatedly and showed genuine gratitude toward the slowly accumulating audience.
Score: 5.5 (It hurts me to give him that, but his recordings are better.)
IRON & WINE:
I had seen Sam Beam before here in Chicago, but the venue was too big for his whispered, Simon & Garfunkel feel. This could’ve easily been the case here, but he seemed to have anticipated that and gone electric, while still maintaining the soothing sound he’s known for. His head and face are veritable hair-making factories, he’s like a folk-playing Cousin It. Though I didn’t catch all of it, what I heard sounded pretty damn good. The band sounded full and crisp.
Score: 6
MATES OF STATE:
Here is a one-of-a-kind musical act, like them or not. I can see where if you weren’t into it, it would have the potential to sound like liquid shit on a chalkboard, but I happen to really like what they do. The duo is comprised of husband and wife, Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel. Kori plays organ and synthesizer and Jason rocks the thunderbuckets as they engage in some very clean vocal harmonies. What a life they must have, a married couple rocking stages worldwide together. Its all very peppy and sounds like they’re really fucking excited about something. Cool shit though. Doug and I have made some music that sounds kinda like this, minus the vocals. (and come to think of it, we were a married couple in our little home economics class in high school, all the heterosexual marriages were taken) They sounded remarkably crisp and accurate live. The little broseph liked them too.
Score: 7.5
MY MORNING JACKET:
Ok, this was just awesome. Looking around during this show was hilarious, because nearly everyone around had their hands over their ears due to the comically exuberant volume of the guitar and the band as a whole. But this was not empty volume. This band is just plain good, strong music in my opinion, and in their case, this was reinforced by their live performance like rebar through concrete. They blasted a wide variety of songs, ranging from gritty southern-style rock to more of a country sound, to a totally new take on reggae, all soaked in a heavy syrup of reverb. Not to mention the guy’s voice is the kitty’s titties. They got the sunset timeslot too, which bathed the band in a fitting golden light as the sun fell below the skyscrapers. This show was a highlight. This is a newer band that I would suggest not blowing off.
Score: 9
TO BE CONTINUED...
