Lollapalooza 2005: High temperatures, hot music
By Lisa Wakeland, Staff Writer
August 2, 2005 | 10:54 a.m.
Despite temperatures around 100 degrees, more than 60,000 people converged on Chicago's Grant Park for this year's Lollapalooza.
Grant Park became an alternative Mecca for the two sweltering days of July 23 and 24. Fans were within earshot from multiple concerts as music echoed throughout the festival grounds. The location, accented by the magnificent Chicago skyline, was an ideal choice for Lollapalooza 2005.
The festival, now in its fourteenth year, is a mix of alternative music, art, and culture. It is organized by Jane's Addiction front-man Perry Farrell. The five stages at Lollapalooza, all within 100 yards of each other, were home to everything from hip-hop battles to fashion shows by local designers, in addition to music by artists like Weezer, The Killers, Billy Idol, Primus, The Pixies, Cake and many more. The proximity of the stages meant every second was filled with music and led to competition for volume over other acts. Spectators often heard bits and pieces of a different band playing across the park, and would wander over so they could listen better. Always, the feeling was laid-back.
On the festival's opening day, bands playing great music were everywhere. Many of the acts performing at Lollapalooza were of the increasingly popular retro-punk genre, including The Dead 60s, who played with lots of energy that transferred to the crowd. The Dead 60s reggae-infused performance on the Planet Stage would debut a trend present in many English acts featuring the cowbell and playing the instrument with the fervor of Will Ferrell in a Saturday Night Live sketch. The Kaiser Chiefs rocked the Budweiser Select Stage with their high-energy punk that had bits of 80s synthesizer rock and psychedelic music mixed in. This English five-piece used the cowbell to complement their catchy melodies and songs reminiscent of The Clash.
As the day continued, the sun and musicians kept shining. Cake's set gave the crowd a feel-good vibe perfect for a summer concert. Billy Idol, who appears to have the same anti-aging gene as Dick Clark, followed Cake with his intense and alluring punk show. Idol, whose black tank top and leather pants were perfectly complemented by bleached blond hair, personified punk rock bad-ass during his performance. His set included crowd favorites like "Dancing With Myself," "Rebel Yell," and "White Wedding," as well as new songs from Devil's Playground, his first studio album in 12 years. Idol's intensity brought an intimacy to Grant Park (albeit felt by a few hundred people). After Billy Idol, the eclectic band Primus played on the SBC West stage, accompanied by two large inflatable rubber ducks to enhance the atmosphere.
As night descended on Chicago, Weezer emerged to play the last set of the day. The nerd-rockers played an even mix of songs from their studio albums, but the crowd apparently favored songs from their self-titled debut (the blue album). The songs "Say It Ain't So," "My Name is Jonas," "Surf Wax America," and "Undone" sounded like Weezer hired a backing chorus filled with thousands of people, as everyone sang along.
Also playing on Lollapalooza's opening day were The Bravery, Dashboard Confessional, The Pixies, Liz Phair, and The Black Keys (who are natives of Akron, Ohio).
While Sunday's heat may have discouraged attendance, those who were there packed the stages of bands playing on the second and final day of Lollapalooza. Ben Kweller, who could be the solo counterpart to Weezer, had the crowd singing along to his version of power punk armed with piano and pop melodies. On the Parkways Stage, G Love & Special Sauce displayed their talent in a style that resembles Dave Matthews Band mixed with hip-hop, thanks to G. Love's MC skills. Their grassroots-blues rock flavor had the hippies dancing while the Arcade Fire - a mash-up of indie rock, Irish and dancehall music with vocals fit for an opera - drew a large crowd a short distance across Grant Park at the SBC East stage.
During a mid-afternoon set, festival founder Perry Farrell unveiled his new project, Satellite Party, whose music is every bit eccentric as Farrell himself. It's part classic alternative rock like Jane's Addiction with a little more funk and hints of world music. The band includes No Doubt bassist Tony Kanal, former Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt, percussionist Gabriele Corcos, and the dancing Lolla Girls, and it was hard to focus on any one thing except for Farrell as he strutted and shimmied around the stage. Satellite Party blends various styles - from metal riffs to funk bass lines to a song with the word awesome as its chorus - and makes it work. Their exciting set was complete with upbeat and mellow songs that got half the crowd to dance, and the other half to smoke a joint.
With the evening and end of Lollapalooza drawing near, retro-glam rockers The Killers played a vivacious set filled with hits from their album, Hot Fuss, and had the crowd singing every song. Widespread Panic closed out the festival with the second of their two sets that day.
Kasabian, Drive-By Truckers, Death Cab for Cutie, Dinosaur Jr., and The Dandy Warhols also braved the triple-digit heat to perform on the last day.
Usually a traveling event, this year's festival was the first of its kind in Lollapalooza history. The location on Lake Michigan drew thousands of people to Chicago for an outstanding weekend. Lollapalooza 2005 was truly, in Perry Farrell's words, "the greatest open-air party in the USA.",/p>
Lisa Wakeland attended Lollapalooza 2005 and prepared this article as part of our summer series.