Lollapalooza Day 1
I went to Lollapalooza last weekend. I went all three days with Ryan and we arrived each day before noon - two of the times before 11 - and didn't leave until at least 8 on any given night. I think we might've left around 7:30 on Sunday, but we were, understandably, tired and a little irritable. This meant that we missed Broken Social Scene, the fact of which I was definitely not happy, but Ryan wanted to leave and we'd been together for the whole thing, so I acquiesced.
I took about two hundred pictures over the weekend. I snuck in my Canon Rebel, which was technically not allowed. I snuck it in all three days, too. I even had a pretty huge zoom lens, so I could get really close-up shots of both band members and unsuspecting hot guys. I think I took more pictures of men than of musicians, but I haven't actually counted.
The first band we watched was Dead Boy and the Elephant Men. I'd seen them perform on the Henry Rollins show and thought they were OK. Kind of a spin on The White Stripes, but a little more bluesy. They're from near New Orleans, so that sorta makes sense.
Don't ask me how, but somehow we missed The Subways and Blue October. We might've watched a little of the subways, but obviously it wasn't very memorable. This was around high noon and the sun was at its apex, so we needed little excuse to stay in the shade.
On the way to watch Cursive, here's the first cute boy we saw.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good picture of him. He was SUPER HOT, and had this great back tattoo.
He was standing by the t-shirt sandwich board, so we said, "we need to go look at the shirts," and that became the euphomism for "hot guy" for the rest of the weekend. "Where are all the shirts?" Etc.
So, next was Cursive, whom, I have to say were one of the best performances of the weekend. They played a little from every "era" of their sound. They've gone through a few permutations, being a four-piece and more straight-forward, later adding a cellist, then, on this newest album, adding a lot of horns.
My friend Mike once got really angry with Tim Kasher for putting on a whole set that didn't resemble Cursive's studio stuff at all. He's of the school that the live show should sound like what's produced in the studio. While I enjoy this sound, I also appreciate when bands deviate from said sound and create new stuff right in front of you. This set had a pretty healthy balance of both. One really cool thing was that they utilized the horns and cello in songs that hadn't been recorded using either, which I thought was smart. I mean, they're paying these guys to be there, might as well make them earn their keep.
Notice how damn awesome my camera (and lens) is. I can even get close up pictures of a drummer! Mind you I was not even against the stage for any of these pictures. Probably like 10 - 20 feet back.
The band The Ohmega Watts were playing lollapalooza. They had an autograph signing, but no one was there. And their name was spelled wrong.
The Editors were voted by me as "Best New Discovery Band" for Lollapalooza. They're kind of in the vein of Interpol or some of those other retro 80's type bands. They put on an awesome set. Unfortunately, I was infatuated with the very british-blue-collar-looking bassist and didn't get many pictures of the rest of the band.
I also took one cute guy picture.
And then right after, this boy was being suggestive with a Budweiser.
OK, next was Umphrey's McGee and Ryan Adams, so naturally we went and ate and watched cute boys.
The last band we watched on the first day was Sleater Kinney. I'd never seen them before, only have one album, and knew this was my last chance, so I have to say they were part of the reason I went to Lollapalooza. They did not disappoint.
While we were waiting for the set to start, a girl who was sitting on a blanket, so who was at my calf-level, said to me "What happens 'tomorrow'?"
Now, I have a tattoo on my left calf in binary code, and it's of the word "tomorrow."
I never thought in a million years that someone would be able to decipher my tattoo, but she did. Kudos to her. That was pretty awesome. Here's the girl.
And now here're some sleater kinney pics.
For more sleater kinney pics, you can click here to go to my flickr.
On the train ride home, I experimented with a different lens, with a wider aperture. It was pretty low light, but still took very clear pictures. I was pretty impressed (the night photos from the sleater kinney set were also taken using this lens).
That photo wasn't taken that close up, it's cropped. This particular lens has no zooming capability. Here's another shot with the whole frame.
I also ran into my friend John. I took a picture of him from all the way across the car and it came out totally clear. And then another one up close.
I took about two hundred pictures over the weekend. I snuck in my Canon Rebel, which was technically not allowed. I snuck it in all three days, too. I even had a pretty huge zoom lens, so I could get really close-up shots of both band members and unsuspecting hot guys. I think I took more pictures of men than of musicians, but I haven't actually counted.
The first band we watched was Dead Boy and the Elephant Men. I'd seen them perform on the Henry Rollins show and thought they were OK. Kind of a spin on The White Stripes, but a little more bluesy. They're from near New Orleans, so that sorta makes sense.
Don't ask me how, but somehow we missed The Subways and Blue October. We might've watched a little of the subways, but obviously it wasn't very memorable. This was around high noon and the sun was at its apex, so we needed little excuse to stay in the shade.
On the way to watch Cursive, here's the first cute boy we saw.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a very good picture of him. He was SUPER HOT, and had this great back tattoo.
He was standing by the t-shirt sandwich board, so we said, "we need to go look at the shirts," and that became the euphomism for "hot guy" for the rest of the weekend. "Where are all the shirts?" Etc.
So, next was Cursive, whom, I have to say were one of the best performances of the weekend. They played a little from every "era" of their sound. They've gone through a few permutations, being a four-piece and more straight-forward, later adding a cellist, then, on this newest album, adding a lot of horns.
My friend Mike once got really angry with Tim Kasher for putting on a whole set that didn't resemble Cursive's studio stuff at all. He's of the school that the live show should sound like what's produced in the studio. While I enjoy this sound, I also appreciate when bands deviate from said sound and create new stuff right in front of you. This set had a pretty healthy balance of both. One really cool thing was that they utilized the horns and cello in songs that hadn't been recorded using either, which I thought was smart. I mean, they're paying these guys to be there, might as well make them earn their keep.
Notice how damn awesome my camera (and lens) is. I can even get close up pictures of a drummer! Mind you I was not even against the stage for any of these pictures. Probably like 10 - 20 feet back.
The band The Ohmega Watts were playing lollapalooza. They had an autograph signing, but no one was there. And their name was spelled wrong.
The Editors were voted by me as "Best New Discovery Band" for Lollapalooza. They're kind of in the vein of Interpol or some of those other retro 80's type bands. They put on an awesome set. Unfortunately, I was infatuated with the very british-blue-collar-looking bassist and didn't get many pictures of the rest of the band.
I also took one cute guy picture.
And then right after, this boy was being suggestive with a Budweiser.
OK, next was Umphrey's McGee and Ryan Adams, so naturally we went and ate and watched cute boys.
The last band we watched on the first day was Sleater Kinney. I'd never seen them before, only have one album, and knew this was my last chance, so I have to say they were part of the reason I went to Lollapalooza. They did not disappoint.
While we were waiting for the set to start, a girl who was sitting on a blanket, so who was at my calf-level, said to me "What happens 'tomorrow'?"
Now, I have a tattoo on my left calf in binary code, and it's of the word "tomorrow."
I never thought in a million years that someone would be able to decipher my tattoo, but she did. Kudos to her. That was pretty awesome. Here's the girl.
And now here're some sleater kinney pics.
For more sleater kinney pics, you can click here to go to my flickr.
On the train ride home, I experimented with a different lens, with a wider aperture. It was pretty low light, but still took very clear pictures. I was pretty impressed (the night photos from the sleater kinney set were also taken using this lens).
That photo wasn't taken that close up, it's cropped. This particular lens has no zooming capability. Here's another shot with the whole frame.
I also ran into my friend John. I took a picture of him from all the way across the car and it came out totally clear. And then another one up close.
posted by Brian at
11:20 AM
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