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(08/31/06 4:00am)
House may be the only show I have ever watched that actually makes me want to catch a rare deadly disease just so I can be abused by a morally ballast self loathing cripple. Sometimes I get so caught up in the fantasy, I forget that if I do come down with a bitchin' case of lupus and get sent to Princeton Plainsborough Hospital, Dr. House isn't going to be there to cure me of my disease and what ever lingering feelings of self worth I may have.\nTruth be told, House is possibly the only watch-able show left on Fox (sorry Simpsons), and through the second season it just seems to get better and better. If you are unfamiliar with the show, the basic premise is someone comes down with a mysterious deadly illness, a team of doctors lead by the cynical and physically/emotionally crippled Dr. House try to figure out what it is, Dr. House makes everyone feel like crap while figuring out what is wrong with the patient, patient is cured, roll credits. \nIn today's television marketplace, medical dramas are a dime a dozen, and with a new version of "CSI" or "Law and Order" hitting the schedule every season, shows centered on investigation are even more common. What sets "House" apart from the rest of the rabble is its unique sense of humor. Patients aren't treated with reverence. They are mocked and degraded. It is almost refreshing that you are expected to laugh at the person dying of cancer instead of cry with them.\nThis DVD set has made some vast improvements over the first season set. For example, this collection includes six single-sided discs as opposed to the three double-sided discs from last season. The double sided DVD is one of the worst ideas in the history of the home entertainment industry. It is up there with the laser disc and Beta. Also, there is the inclusion of watch-able special features. The best you could hope for on the first season was tour of the studio. This season is still light on the special features but at least now there are a couple of commentaries and a blooper reel. Then again, in the end the draw to this show isn't 45 minute character explanations by the executive producers. It is Hugh Laurie and his brilliant portrayal of the main character, which is just as good this season as it was last season, and hopefully will be next season.
(08/31/06 2:44am)
House may be the only show I have ever watched that actually makes me want to catch a rare deadly disease just so I can be abused by a morally ballast self loathing cripple. Sometimes I get so caught up in the fantasy, I forget that if I do come down with a bitchin' case of lupus and get sent to Princeton Plainsborough Hospital, Dr. House isn't going to be there to cure me of my disease and what ever lingering feelings of self worth I may have.\nTruth be told, House is possibly the only watch-able show left on Fox (sorry Simpsons), and through the second season it just seems to get better and better. If you are unfamiliar with the show, the basic premise is someone comes down with a mysterious deadly illness, a team of doctors lead by the cynical and physically/emotionally crippled Dr. House try to figure out what it is, Dr. House makes everyone feel like crap while figuring out what is wrong with the patient, patient is cured, roll credits. \nIn today's television marketplace, medical dramas are a dime a dozen, and with a new version of "CSI" or "Law and Order" hitting the schedule every season, shows centered on investigation are even more common. What sets "House" apart from the rest of the rabble is its unique sense of humor. Patients aren't treated with reverence. They are mocked and degraded. It is almost refreshing that you are expected to laugh at the person dying of cancer instead of cry with them.\nThis DVD set has made some vast improvements over the first season set. For example, this collection includes six single-sided discs as opposed to the three double-sided discs from last season. The double sided DVD is one of the worst ideas in the history of the home entertainment industry. It is up there with the laser disc and Beta. Also, there is the inclusion of watch-able special features. The best you could hope for on the first season was tour of the studio. This season is still light on the special features but at least now there are a couple of commentaries and a blooper reel. Then again, in the end the draw to this show isn't 45 minute character explanations by the executive producers. It is Hugh Laurie and his brilliant portrayal of the main character, which is just as good this season as it was last season, and hopefully will be next season.
(08/09/06 4:26pm)
08.07.2006: "I am far too large and awkward to be crowd surfing." That is first thing that went through my head as a thousand hands held me atop the crowd at Lollapalooza. For some reason it seemed like a good idea at the time, and don't get me wrong it was great fun. I just feel bad for the four people who may have been incidentally drop kicked as I was tossed around like a rag doll. If it makes them feel better I was dropped on my head... twice. \n \nDrop kicking aside, the third and final day of Lollapalooza lived up to my lofty expectations. Affording me an opportunity to see a few bands I had never had the opportunity to make it to in the past. Ben Kweller put on an excellent show. It was good enough that I may have to pick up his upcoming album. \n \nHowever I would say that the smallest name that made the biggest impact for me was Andrew Bird. I got to see about 30 minutes of his show at Bonnaroo, and once again, due to running around from stage to stage I only caught 30 minutes of his performance this time around as well. On the upside, because of some lax security I was able to watch those 30 minutes from back stage. I would highly suggest that anyone check him out. He is an amazingly versatile and talented musician that really puts on an excellent show. \n \nBest of the day was probably Matisyahu who proved once and for all that Hasidim can indeed rock. I think it is safe to say that I have never seen a crowd get so into a traditional Jewish song, well at least not since the last time I saw Phish play Avenu Malkenu. For some reason all day long at the AT&T stage people were crowd surfing, but it was definitely never more prevalent than at the Matisyahu show. At times there were upwards of 15 bodies floating about with the security guards frantically trying to get them all down safely as they reached the front en masse. From my vantage point behind the stage, I could see some of the more unsucessful cases get flung headfirst into angry security guards who would then either escort them back out to the crowd or out of the venue all together based more or less on their own whims from what I could gather. Thankfully, most of the people who went up, came down in relatively good shape except for one very unfortunate girl who was carried out on a stretcher in a neck brace. \n \nI got deep backstage for Wilco and decided to attempt to try and make it to the wings of the actual stage itself for the show. This entailed waiting in a rather long line in the hopes of being one of the 80 people allowed on stage for the show. Unfortunately, Beetle Bob made it, but I missed the cut. If you are unfamiliar with Beetle Bob (as I was until yesterday) he is the apoplectic dancer and generally creepy old man who I saw on stage at The Subways show. So who is he? A promoter? A rock legend perhaps? Nope, he is just some guy from St. Louis that most bands let back stage. I saw him after the show was over as well. He was walking out of the venue with the rest of the festival goers who didn't get the same kind of unmitigated access that he did for no other reason than just being some strange old dude. \n \nBut I digress. The downside to my Wilco experience was that I didn't make it to the stage, the upside would be that I did get to meet the lead singer Jeff Tweedy. As he and the rest of the band arrived backstage he waved and began coming directly over to me. So I of course waved right back and said "Hey man, how's it going?" Turns out he was friends with the people directly behind me and we had an awkward moment where the two of us just kind of stared at each other, him trying to figure out if he knew me, and me trying not to keel over laughing as I realized my mistake. \n \nAfter getting turned down from getting onto the stage I headed out into the crowd for the rest of the show. Wilco was certainly good but to be perfectly honest I was so preoccupied with thoughts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers that I decided to leave Wilco early to try and get good seats for the big final show. \n \nThe Red Hot Chili Peppers put on a great show, I have heard some murmurs about how they didn't play "Under the Bridge" or "Suck my Kiss," or one of their other hits. I think most of that kind of dissent is short sighted. There is no way that they could put the same kind of energy into a show if they played the same exact songs for an entire tour. \n \nIt was at this concert that I decided to give crowd surfing a try. The first attempt ended with me getting launched about 30 feet forward and dropped directly on my back. It hurt but I guess it is like riding a horse, you just have to get right back on, so up I went again. This time I made it very close to the stage before getting dropped on my head, but I was quickly helped up, got a few high fives, then turned around to realise that I was suddenly standing about 20 feet away from center stage... then it was my turn to start giving the high fives. \n \nTo say it was crowded up there is an understatement. We were packed in there so tight that I had to rest my arms on the head of the guy standing in front of me. Every once in a while someone would come floating over the top of us and the 300 or so people packed into the small space would bend and sway as one to support their weight. I could only take about 30 minutes of being up front before I was over come by the shear body heat of all those people. I was pulled from the crowd into the gated median, literally dripping with sweat from myself and those around me. I decided to spend the rest of the show much further back where I wasn't in constant fear of getting crushed or passing out from heat exhaustion. \n \nAfter the show, 70,000 people crowded the streets of Chicago stopping traffic and cheering for blocks. It was obvious that most people were satisfied with their Lollapalooza experience from the cheers of exultation that echoed through the streets of Chicago, and rightfully so. It was truly a great three days of music.
(08/09/06 4:25pm)
08.06.2006:I can't believe that I am being forced to work weekends. I mean this is ridiculous. On Saturdays most people would probably go to a park or see a concert or something. Not me though. I am always on the job. I almost wore my legs out running around from stage to stage, band to band, all so I could come back here to tell you what has been happening at Lollapalooza. Oh well, it is a tough life but someone has to do it.\nSaturday could have possibly been the best collective day of music I have ever seen. Blackalicious, the Flaming Lips, Lyrics Born, Gnarls Barkley, I did not see a bad show yesterday... unless you count that HBO special I watched last night where a porn star had sex while juggling (just because you can doesn't mean you should).\nBlackalicious put on a great show, with special guest R.V. Salters from General Elektriks. Blackalicious front-man Gift of Gab was rapping with such lightning fast speed that it seemed almost impossible that the syllables he was spewing were even words. To say it was impressive is an understatement, try jaw dropping. Plus with R.V. Salters on keyboard and Chief Xcel on the turntables the entire crowd was jumping. After seeing that show I think it is almost insulting that they were relegated to one of the secondary stages as opposed to getting a slot on one of the main ones. The same thing with Lyrics Born who put on an entertaining show in his own right. I guess there is just no love for underground hip hop at Lollapalooza.\nGnarls Barkley put on a crowd pleasing show on the main stage about midday. It was probably the most highly attended show of the festival thus far, eclipsing even Kanye West, who even gave an homage to Gnarls Barkley by briefly playing their seemingly omnipresent pop anthem "Crazy." Adding Gnarls Barkley's own version and the Raconteurs cover yesterday, that was the third time that the song has been played on the same stage in just over 24 hours.\nEveryone was great yesterday even people I wasn't expecting greatness from, like Kanye West and Built to Spill. Still, by far the best concert was Flaming Lips. True, the did play all of their hits which could be seen as pandering, but they packed more entertainment into an hour long concert than one would think possible. After having seen the recent documentary about the Flaming Lips, "Fearless Freaks," I was familiar with a lot of their onstage antics, but there is still something almost awe inspiring about seeing Wayne Coyne run atop the crowd inside a giant balloon that is essentially the human version of those big plastic balls I would put my gerbil in as a kid. Really it is quite unfortunate that they only had an hour to play because I definitely would have enjoyed a second set.\nI think the one hour sets at Lollapalooza are a mixed blessing. On one hand, it is great to get the opportunity to see a lot of new bands and expand my horizons. On the other hand, it seems like just when I am getting into a concert, it abruptly ends. Luckily it looks like they are going to be letting the Red Hot Chili Peppers play to their hearts' content.
(08/09/06 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lollapalooza far surpassed our wildest expectations. After a day of experiencing a day in the life outside of Lolla land, we break down our favorite shows, best and worst memories and more in our wrap-up.
What were the top 5 shows?
Zack
1. Flaming Lips: What a feast for the senses. Every song was a gift from Wayne Coyne, the coolest gray-haired man in rock since Jerry Garcia (Rob reminds me that Neil Young is gray as well, but still…I haven't seen Neil Young signing girls' asses before shows and blowing confetti and smoke machines on a crowd after surfing over them in a plastic bubble.)
2. Matisyahu: He sang from the heart with chutzpah, inciting widespread crowd surfing, Israeli flag waving, and even a Matis-wannabe with a fake beard, top hat, and glasses crowd surfing. When he ran up and down the aisles and his yarmulke fell off he looked like the nerdy kid from Hebrew school, but rapped like he'd have to eat pork if he didn't kick serious ass. L'chaim!
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers: Perry Ferell introduced them as the best rock band in the country, and fresh off the Flaming Lips show and five weeks removed from seeing Radiohead I was reticent to agree. There is no doubt that they rock supremely hard though.
4. Blackalicious: Gift of Gab is my new favorite rapper with his freestyle's so fast I had to close my eyes to focus on the words. When he says, "freestyle?" I suggest you sit back and prepare to have your mind blown. 5. Ben Kweller/Ween: I can't leave either of them off. I loved every second. Ween reminded the crowd why they deserve headliner status and Kweller showed off his awesome piano/guitar skills, even though he looks like a 15 year old muppet.
Rob
1. Flaming Lips: I don't think anyone who saw that performance could deny that the Flaming Lips brought everything they had to Lollapalooza. They have certainly secured a place as one of the best live acts that I have had an opportunity to see.
2. Blackalicious: Seeing Blackalicious was a long time coming for me. Seeing them with RV Salters was like a dream come true.
3. Matisyahu: Matisyahu kicked my ass and made me pay for dinner. Coming into the festival I wasn't that psyched to see him, but after he left the stage I was chanting "one more song" with the rest of the crowd.
4. The Subways: The Subways were for all intents and purposes the first concert of the festival and they did a great job of pumping up the audience, getting them ready for a great weekend.
5. Built to Spill: I went to go see these guys because I vaguely remembered the name from somewhere or another, and there was no one else I wanted to see. It turns out one of my friends has one of their albums but he never played it for me because he didn't think I would like it. Oh, how very wrong he was.
Best moment:
Zack
Crowd surfing during the encore of the Matisyahu show. It was the most fun I've had being lifted over people's heads with people wearing yarmulke's since my Bar Mitzvah.
Honorable mention goes to enjoying free drinks and food backstage, schmoozing with the artists and press backstage as Kanye wrapped up an incredible day and night of music. Rob and I kind of looked at each other, nodded, and without saying anything, realized we had the best job in the world.
Rob
I am going to have to go with Zack on this one. Sitting backstage during Kanye West sipping free alcohol in big comfy chairs is one of those moments that I will never forget. Most Disappointing:
Zack
If you're going to pay homage to Jethro Tull by naming your band "Aqualung" I suggest you not suck as much as they did. Also, "Cursive" is now getting bad reviews in print.
Rob
I was not all that impressed by Wilco. I had honestly never heard any of their music before (or at least don't remember it) and the way people hyped them I was expecting a little more than what I got. It was a pretty static performance. It had its moments but they didn't seem to bring their A game like everyone else at the festival.
Second place goes to Zack's sense of direction since he managed to get lost in his own neighborhood…a lot.
Most Surprising:
Zack
I like hip hop acts!?: Blackalicious, Gnarls Barkley, and Kanye all made me feel less white. And Built to Spill was tenacious.
Rob
I would have to go with Built to Spill on this one. I went from having no idea who they were to wanting to throw down vast amounts of cash to buy their entire catalog.
Worst moment:
Zack
Being dragged away the front row of The Flaming Lips show in a headlock by two 400 pound security guards who tried to rip my pass for the next day off my arm.
Honorable mention: Being lost in a cab in the city, batteries drained on both our cell phones, potentially homeless for the night.
Rob
I am going to have to go with wandering the streets of Chicago, lost and hungry, with no way of contacting anyone and only a vague idea of the address we are supposed to find. Not exactly the best way to cap off the first night.
Ways to improve festival:
Zack
I'll leave this to Rob. I'm more of the glass half-full kind of guy.
Rob
Since Zack is too much of a wussy to do it I will call them out on what went wrong… not much. The only real problem I had with the festival was the one hour sets. It is quite simply not enough time to see some of these bands. Plus, since it takes fifteen minutes to walk from one end of the venue to the other, it makes it even harder to see all the bands you want.
Sad we missed:
Zack
While I in no way regret seeing the mesmerizing Matisyahu show, I was sad I missed The Shins playing on the opposite stage.
Honorable mention: I made a point to see My Morning Jacket, since I missed them at Bonnaroo, but ended up choosing the rare opportunity to see Jack White's side project The Raconteurs.
Rob I really would have liked to have seen the Shins, but Matisyahu was great. My biggest regret is going to Wilco instead of Queens of the Stone Age. I did get to hear the end of their set and it sounded pretty good. And from what I saw on the jumbo-tron Broken Social Scene looked like they just might have put on one of the best concerts that nobody got a chance to hear. Also, I would have liked to have seen Sleater-Kinney's penultimate performance, but I decided to listen to the Violent Femmes and get good seats for Ween instead.
Advice for next year:
Zack
Bring a nice change of clothes. The ones you wear all day will be sweaty (If you do it right) and you'll want to look nice for the after shows.
Which reminds me: go to after shows. We were exhausted by the end of every day, but we should have manned up and drank some red bull to see even more music
Rob
Figure out where the stages are and plan accordingly. You are not going to want to traverse the entire park more than two or three times, so you are going to have to make sacrifices.
Better than Bonnaroo?
Zack
Yes, but it is a tough choice.
Rob
You better believe it.
(08/08/06 3:51am)
08.04.2006: So I have decided that over the course of this weekend I will try and\nkeep track of all of the lame -palooza puns that I see. I am calling\nit punapalooza (that one doesn't count). So far we have the name of\nthis blog, and The Chicago Tribune's groan-worthy centerspread\nfeaturing the lineups for today: Plan-apalooza.\nAnyway, I digress. I kicked off the weekend by using my press\nprivilages to secure a front row spot for Brit-pop newcomers, The\nSubways. It was certainly a great show to be in the front row for with\nthe lead singer/guitarist running around the stage, climbing the\nscafolding, jumping off the drums and even doing a little crowd\nsurfing. Plus I had an unobstructed view of the cute little rock-tart\nplaying bass. The way she was jumping around the stage like a flea one\nwould think there was a giant metal key just back stage that they used\nto wind her up just before the show.\nAll in all it was a great show with the possible exception of the\napopleptic 50-year-old man who was just off stage, stage left. \nEveryone in the crowd on my side of the stage was almost completely\ndistracted by the crazy old man dancing like he was conducting an\ninvisible orchestra in a 23/47 time signature.\nAfter that I caught a little bit of the underwhelming Aqualung and\nCursive shows before heading over to see Panic at the Disco! If you\nhave never seen Panic at the Disco! on stage, immagine your Senior\nprom, if it were organised by Fredrico Fellini. After about two songs\nit became all too clea that I was about five years too old to enjoy\nthis show, and was almost blinded by the sun glistening off of the\nbraces of all the Panic fans as they glowered at me for leaving.
(08/08/06 3:50am)
08.05.2006:Well I have decided to end my pun hunt when it came to my attention\nthat most of the puns on the name of the festival were actually coming\nfrom me. I couldn't feel lamer if I were wearing black socks with\nsandals.\nAfter a full day at the festival there are a few inherent problems that\nhave come to my attention. It is really hard to stage hop at\nLollapalooza. The two main stages are about a mile and a half a part,\nor at least they seem like it (the map they provide isn't to scale...\nwhich would probably explain why I haven't seen any 4 story high\nmusical notes). The upside is that there is no interference in sound\nfrom the other stages, the downside is that the concerts are packed in\nso tight that the only way to get to a concert on the other end of the\nvenue is to leave the one you are at 15 minutes early, or arrive at the\nnext concert 15 minutes late. The point is this. I need a Segway. I\nwant to be the first person to successfully rock on a Segway. Does\nanyone have a spare $3,000 for me?\nSome of the highlights of Fridays concerts were The Raconteurs (there\nis a 45% chance that I will never be able to spell or pronounce that\nname correctly), Ryan Adams, and Ween. Ween probably took the crown on\nthe first day with a high energy show that got everyone moving. I wish\nI could have seen more of it but after running around from stage to\nstage for 12 hours I couldn't help but pass out under a power converter.\nIf Ween wasn't the best concert yesterday then certainly that honor\ngoes to The Raconteurs. They played a more than solid set that\nfeatured most of the songs from their album. I think. To be honest I\nhave never heard The Raconteurs album, but I just may have to give it a\nlisten after the show they put on. The strangest decision they made\nwas playing the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" when the hip hop duo would\nbe playing on the same stage less than 24 hours later. I am still not\nsure weather it is an homage or a slap in the face. Regardless I think\nwe are all getting tired of that song. Of course that doesn't mean\nthat I won't be hitting up the Gnarls Barkley show in about three hours.
(08/04/06 4:00am)
08.06.2006:I can't believe that I am being forced to work weekends. I mean this is ridiculous. On Saturdays most people would probably go to a park or see a concert or something. Not me though. I am always on the job. I almost wore my legs out running around from stage to stage, band to band, all so I could come back here to tell you what has been happening at Lollapalooza. Oh well, it is a tough life but someone has to do it.\nSaturday could have possibly been the best collective day of music I have ever seen. Blackalicious, the Flaming Lips, Lyrics Born, Gnarls Barkley, I did not see a bad show yesterday... unless you count that HBO special I watched last night where a porn star had sex while juggling (just because you can doesn't mean you should).\nBlackalicious put on a great show, with special guest R.V. Salters from General Elektriks. Blackalicious front-man Gift of Gab was rapping with such lightning fast speed that it seemed almost impossible that the syllables he was spewing were even words. To say it was impressive is an understatement, try jaw dropping. Plus with R.V. Salters on keyboard and Chief Xcel on the turntables the entire crowd was jumping. After seeing that show I think it is almost insulting that they were relegated to one of the secondary stages as opposed to getting a slot on one of the main ones. The same thing with Lyrics Born who put on an entertaining show in his own right. I guess there is just no love for underground hip hop at Lollapalooza.\nGnarls Barkley put on a crowd pleasing show on the main stage about midday. It was probably the most highly attended show of the festival thus far, eclipsing even Kanye West, who even gave an homage to Gnarls Barkley by briefly playing their seemingly omnipresent pop anthem "Crazy." Adding Gnarls Barkley's own version and the Raconteurs cover yesterday, that was the third time that the song has been played on the same stage in just over 24 hours.\nEveryone was great yesterday even people I wasn't expecting greatness from, like Kanye West and Built to Spill. Still, by far the best concert was Flaming Lips. True, the did play all of their hits which could be seen as pandering, but they packed more entertainment into an hour long concert than one would think possible. After having seen the recent documentary about the Flaming Lips, "Fearless Freaks," I was familiar with a lot of their onstage antics, but there is still something almost awe inspiring about seeing Wayne Coyne run atop the crowd inside a giant balloon that is essentially the human version of those big plastic balls I would put my gerbil in as a kid. Really it is quite unfortunate that they only had an hour to play because I definitely would have enjoyed a second set.\nI think the one hour sets at Lollapalooza are a mixed blessing. On one hand, it is great to get the opportunity to see a lot of new bands and expand my horizons. On the other hand, it seems like just when I am getting into a concert, it abruptly ends. Luckily it looks like they are going to be letting the Red Hot Chili Peppers play to their hearts' content.
(08/04/06 4:00am)
08.07.2006: "I am far too large and awkward to be crowd surfing." That is first thing that went through my head as a thousand hands held me atop the crowd at Lollapalooza. For some reason it seemed like a good idea at the time, and don't get me wrong it was great fun. I just feel bad for the four people who may have been incidentally drop kicked as I was tossed around like a rag doll. If it makes them feel better I was dropped on my head... twice. \n \nDrop kicking aside, the third and final day of Lollapalooza lived up to my lofty expectations. Affording me an opportunity to see a few bands I had never had the opportunity to make it to in the past. Ben Kweller put on an excellent show. It was good enough that I may have to pick up his upcoming album. \n \nHowever I would say that the smallest name that made the biggest impact for me was Andrew Bird. I got to see about 30 minutes of his show at Bonnaroo, and once again, due to running around from stage to stage I only caught 30 minutes of his performance this time around as well. On the upside, because of some lax security I was able to watch those 30 minutes from back stage. I would highly suggest that anyone check him out. He is an amazingly versatile and talented musician that really puts on an excellent show. \n \nBest of the day was probably Matisyahu who proved once and for all that Hasidim can indeed rock. I think it is safe to say that I have never seen a crowd get so into a traditional Jewish song, well at least not since the last time I saw Phish play Avenu Malkenu. For some reason all day long at the AT&T stage people were crowd surfing, but it was definitely never more prevalent than at the Matisyahu show. At times there were upwards of 15 bodies floating about with the security guards frantically trying to get them all down safely as they reached the front en masse. From my vantage point behind the stage, I could see some of the more unsucessful cases get flung headfirst into angry security guards who would then either escort them back out to the crowd or out of the venue all together based more or less on their own whims from what I could gather. Thankfully, most of the people who went up, came down in relatively good shape except for one very unfortunate girl who was carried out on a stretcher in a neck brace. \n \nI got deep backstage for Wilco and decided to attempt to try and make it to the wings of the actual stage itself for the show. This entailed waiting in a rather long line in the hopes of being one of the 80 people allowed on stage for the show. Unfortunately, Beetle Bob made it, but I missed the cut. If you are unfamiliar with Beetle Bob (as I was until yesterday) he is the apoplectic dancer and generally creepy old man who I saw on stage at The Subways show. So who is he? A promoter? A rock legend perhaps? Nope, he is just some guy from St. Louis that most bands let back stage. I saw him after the show was over as well. He was walking out of the venue with the rest of the festival goers who didn't get the same kind of unmitigated access that he did for no other reason than just being some strange old dude. \n \nBut I digress. The downside to my Wilco experience was that I didn't make it to the stage, the upside would be that I did get to meet the lead singer Jeff Tweedy. As he and the rest of the band arrived backstage he waved and began coming directly over to me. So I of course waved right back and said "Hey man, how's it going?" Turns out he was friends with the people directly behind me and we had an awkward moment where the two of us just kind of stared at each other, him trying to figure out if he knew me, and me trying not to keel over laughing as I realized my mistake. \n \nAfter getting turned down from getting onto the stage I headed out into the crowd for the rest of the show. Wilco was certainly good but to be perfectly honest I was so preoccupied with thoughts of the Red Hot Chili Peppers that I decided to leave Wilco early to try and get good seats for the big final show. \n \nThe Red Hot Chili Peppers put on a great show, I have heard some murmurs about how they didn't play "Under the Bridge" or "Suck my Kiss," or one of their other hits. I think most of that kind of dissent is short sighted. There is no way that they could put the same kind of energy into a show if they played the same exact songs for an entire tour. \n \nIt was at this concert that I decided to give crowd surfing a try. The first attempt ended with me getting launched about 30 feet forward and dropped directly on my back. It hurt but I guess it is like riding a horse, you just have to get right back on, so up I went again. This time I made it very close to the stage before getting dropped on my head, but I was quickly helped up, got a few high fives, then turned around to realise that I was suddenly standing about 20 feet away from center stage... then it was my turn to start giving the high fives. \n \nTo say it was crowded up there is an understatement. We were packed in there so tight that I had to rest my arms on the head of the guy standing in front of me. Every once in a while someone would come floating over the top of us and the 300 or so people packed into the small space would bend and sway as one to support their weight. I could only take about 30 minutes of being up front before I was over come by the shear body heat of all those people. I was pulled from the crowd into the gated median, literally dripping with sweat from myself and those around me. I decided to spend the rest of the show much further back where I wasn't in constant fear of getting crushed or passing out from heat exhaustion. \n \nAfter the show, 70,000 people crowded the streets of Chicago stopping traffic and cheering for blocks. It was obvious that most people were satisfied with their Lollapalooza experience from the cheers of exultation that echoed through the streets of Chicago, and rightfully so. It was truly a great three days of music.
(08/04/06 4:00am)
Lollapalooza far surpassed our wildest expectations. After a day of experiencing a day in the life outside of Lolla land, we break down our favorite shows, best and worst memories and more in our wrap-up.
(08/03/06 4:00am)
One of the summer's biggest concerts is right around the corner and just a short jaunt away.\nThe three day music festival, Lollapalooza, kicks off Aug. 4 in Chicago's Grant Park. This is the second year that the festival has made The Windy City the back drop for their three day party. Last year many people were hesitant to accept the third largest American city as a good location to hold an outdoor music festival, especially one which hopes to host 75,000 concert-goers. However, after last year's success the festival organizers have high hopes for this second time around.\n"We had to prove that not only we were a credible but a quality festival and I think we did that year one in Chicago," said former Jane's Addiction front-man and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. "Everybody's excited about coming back again."\nThis year's festival will showcase over 130 bands on 8 stages. As usual Lollapalooza will offer an eclectic blend of popular musicians from well known rock acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Flaming Lips to R&B and rap acts like Gnarls Barkley and Kanye West. However, those behind the festival hope to turn Lollapalooza into something more than just a musical showcase.\nOne of the more bizarre ways in which they are going to be attempting to do so this year is with Mindfield. A concept which is being presented in conjunction with the famous Chicago based comedy troupe, Second City. If you sign up to take part in the event you will receive text message clues throughout the weekend which will give you an opportunity to win prizes from merchandise to VIP passes and backstage tours.\n"We wanted to make the idea of the music festival more interactive and we created a concept called Mindfield where the entire grounds of lollapalooza are transformed into an interactive playing field using cell phones," Farrell said. "This is the first year we have a whole stage devoted to the games."\nThe Mindfield stage will feature fan competitions, comedy, short films and DJ dance parties all under the credo: "Free your mind and your cell phone will follow."\nThe festival is also attempting to make a greater effort to appeal to families. Children under 10 get in free, and there will be an entire section of the festival grounds specifically targeted towards children called "Kidzapalooza." \nKidzapalooza will include music targeted towards both kids and their parents. Farrell's only scheduled performance at this year's festival is on the Kidzapalooza stage. Along with these performances the festival will also include a myriad of activities for children. There will be an area for kids to record their own hip hop tracks. There will be a rock 'n' roll petting zoo where the chickens and sheep are replaced with Gibson guitars and Remo drum kits. There will even be a rock school where people like Pete DiStefano from Porno for Pyros will be teaching music.\nEven with all of these extra diversions, ultimately people will be coming to the festival this year for the music and there is plenty of it to choose from. Some of the biggest names in music will be attendance like Wilco, Matisyahu, and Death Cab for Cutie, but some of the biggest buzz of the festival is surrounding a band that nobody has heard of. Lollapaloza is giving an unsigned band an opportunity to appear on one of the main stages at the festival in an American Idol-esque contest dubbed "Last Band Standing." Bands from all over the nation have been competing for the slot and it is down to the final four competitors, Everybody Else from Los Angeles, Tonedeff from New York City, Kate Starr from Charlottesville, Va. and the Appleseed Cast from Lawrence, Kan. The winner will be announced two days prior to the festival.\nHopes are high for the second run of Lollapalooza in Chicago. And come rain or come shine, the third coast will be rocking that weekend.
(08/03/06 4:00am)
08.04.2006: So I have decided that over the course of this weekend I will try and\nkeep track of all of the lame -palooza puns that I see. I am calling\nit punapalooza (that one doesn't count). So far we have the name of\nthis blog, and The Chicago Tribune's groan-worthy centerspread\nfeaturing the lineups for today: Plan-apalooza.\nAnyway, I digress. I kicked off the weekend by using my press\nprivilages to secure a front row spot for Brit-pop newcomers, The\nSubways. It was certainly a great show to be in the front row for with\nthe lead singer/guitarist running around the stage, climbing the\nscafolding, jumping off the drums and even doing a little crowd\nsurfing. Plus I had an unobstructed view of the cute little rock-tart\nplaying bass. The way she was jumping around the stage like a flea one\nwould think there was a giant metal key just back stage that they used\nto wind her up just before the show.\nAll in all it was a great show with the possible exception of the\napopleptic 50-year-old man who was just off stage, stage left. \nEveryone in the crowd on my side of the stage was almost completely\ndistracted by the crazy old man dancing like he was conducting an\ninvisible orchestra in a 23/47 time signature.\nAfter that I caught a little bit of the underwhelming Aqualung and\nCursive shows before heading over to see Panic at the Disco! If you\nhave never seen Panic at the Disco! on stage, immagine your Senior\nprom, if it were organised by Fredrico Fellini. After about two songs\nit became all too clea that I was about five years too old to enjoy\nthis show, and was almost blinded by the sun glistening off of the\nbraces of all the Panic fans as they glowered at me for leaving.
(08/03/06 4:00am)
08.05.2006:Well I have decided to end my pun hunt when it came to my attention\nthat most of the puns on the name of the festival were actually coming\nfrom me. I couldn't feel lamer if I were wearing black socks with\nsandals.\nAfter a full day at the festival there are a few inherent problems that\nhave come to my attention. It is really hard to stage hop at\nLollapalooza. The two main stages are about a mile and a half a part,\nor at least they seem like it (the map they provide isn't to scale...\nwhich would probably explain why I haven't seen any 4 story high\nmusical notes). The upside is that there is no interference in sound\nfrom the other stages, the downside is that the concerts are packed in\nso tight that the only way to get to a concert on the other end of the\nvenue is to leave the one you are at 15 minutes early, or arrive at the\nnext concert 15 minutes late. The point is this. I need a Segway. I\nwant to be the first person to successfully rock on a Segway. Does\nanyone have a spare $3,000 for me?\nSome of the highlights of Fridays concerts were The Raconteurs (there\nis a 45% chance that I will never be able to spell or pronounce that\nname correctly), Ryan Adams, and Ween. Ween probably took the crown on\nthe first day with a high energy show that got everyone moving. I wish\nI could have seen more of it but after running around from stage to\nstage for 12 hours I couldn't help but pass out under a power converter.\nIf Ween wasn't the best concert yesterday then certainly that honor\ngoes to The Raconteurs. They played a more than solid set that\nfeatured most of the songs from their album. I think. To be honest I\nhave never heard The Raconteurs album, but I just may have to give it a\nlisten after the show they put on. The strangest decision they made\nwas playing the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy" when the hip hop duo would\nbe playing on the same stage less than 24 hours later. I am still not\nsure weather it is an homage or a slap in the face. Regardless I think\nwe are all getting tired of that song. Of course that doesn't mean\nthat I won't be hitting up the Gnarls Barkley show in about three hours.
(08/02/06 7:50pm)
One of the summer's biggest concerts is right around the corner and just a short jaunt away.\nThe three day music festival, Lollapalooza, kicks off Aug. 4 in Chicago's Grant Park. This is the second year that the festival has made The Windy City the back drop for their three day party. Last year many people were hesitant to accept the third largest American city as a good location to hold an outdoor music festival, especially one which hopes to host 75,000 concert-goers. However, after last year's success the festival organizers have high hopes for this second time around.\n"We had to prove that not only we were a credible but a quality festival and I think we did that year one in Chicago," said former Jane's Addiction front-man and Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell. "Everybody's excited about coming back again."\nThis year's festival will showcase over 130 bands on 8 stages. As usual Lollapalooza will offer an eclectic blend of popular musicians from well known rock acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Flaming Lips to R&B and rap acts like Gnarls Barkley and Kanye West. However, those behind the festival hope to turn Lollapalooza into something more than just a musical showcase.\nOne of the more bizarre ways in which they are going to be attempting to do so this year is with Mindfield. A concept which is being presented in conjunction with the famous Chicago based comedy troupe, Second City. If you sign up to take part in the event you will receive text message clues throughout the weekend which will give you an opportunity to win prizes from merchandise to VIP passes and backstage tours.\n"We wanted to make the idea of the music festival more interactive and we created a concept called Mindfield where the entire grounds of lollapalooza are transformed into an interactive playing field using cell phones," Farrell said. "This is the first year we have a whole stage devoted to the games."\nThe Mindfield stage will feature fan competitions, comedy, short films and DJ dance parties all under the credo: "Free your mind and your cell phone will follow."\nThe festival is also attempting to make a greater effort to appeal to families. Children under 10 get in free, and there will be an entire section of the festival grounds specifically targeted towards children called "Kidzapalooza." \nKidzapalooza will include music targeted towards both kids and their parents. Farrell's only scheduled performance at this year's festival is on the Kidzapalooza stage. Along with these performances the festival will also include a myriad of activities for children. There will be an area for kids to record their own hip hop tracks. There will be a rock 'n' roll petting zoo where the chickens and sheep are replaced with Gibson guitars and Remo drum kits. There will even be a rock school where people like Pete DiStefano from Porno for Pyros will be teaching music.\nEven with all of these extra diversions, ultimately people will be coming to the festival this year for the music and there is plenty of it to choose from. Some of the biggest names in music will be attendance like Wilco, Matisyahu, and Death Cab for Cutie, but some of the biggest buzz of the festival is surrounding a band that nobody has heard of. Lollapaloza is giving an unsigned band an opportunity to appear on one of the main stages at the festival in an American Idol-esque contest dubbed "Last Band Standing." Bands from all over the nation have been competing for the slot and it is down to the final four competitors, Everybody Else from Los Angeles, Tonedeff from New York City, Kate Starr from Charlottesville, Va. and the Appleseed Cast from Lawrence, Kan. The winner will be announced two days prior to the festival.\nHopes are high for the second run of Lollapalooza in Chicago. And come rain or come shine, the third coast will be rocking that weekend.
(07/20/06 4:00am)
"Monster House" is great. It is probably the best animated film to come out since "The Incredibles." There is only one real problem with "Monster House," and I feel that I should address it at the top so that I can spend the rest of this review showering this movie with some much deserved praise. \nThe problem is that it is July and this is very clearly a Halloween movie. It takes place on Halloween, and is about a haunted house with kids going trick or treating in costumes. Obviously they were so proud of this film (and rightfully so) that they felt it deserved summer blockbuster status, but watching kids running around on a crisp fall day talking about trick or treating is quite simply out of place when it is 95 degrees outside.\nAside from this slight anachronism, this movie is quite charming. The voices are perfectly cast, and there are a slew of smaller parts for some big names like Jason Lee, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kathleen Turner, but the movie is carried by the three young actors (the most experienced of which played "sleepover friend" in "Spanglish") who play the kids who are attempting to keep the anthropomorphic house across the street from devouring all of the children who will soon be knocking on the door to trick or treat.\nThere is some truly incredible animation at work here. The same motion capture technique used for Polar Express is used here, only this time it doesn't seem quite so creepy and forced. The end result is that the characters really seem alive.Some scenes are carried by the ability of these characters to emote with subtle facial expressions. It is somewhat ironic that motion capture works better when the characters are much more stylized and cartoony.\nThis movie doesn't have the same level of dependence on comedy that we have come to associate with animated film. It relies more on an engaging story than wacky one liners, which is a welcome departure from the convention. It is somewhat refreshing not to have to sit through some manic character zipping around the screen in search of the cheapest laughs possible (see Robin Williams in "Robots" or Larry the Cable Guy in "Cars"). Of course that is not to say that there are no laughs to be had in "Monster House." Kevin James is particularly funny in his role as the sheriff. \n"Monster House" is well worth watching, and as of right now it looks like the front runner in the animated film Oscar race, which means it could end up handing Pixar its first loss since "Shrek" beat out "Monster's Inc"
(07/19/06 5:13pm)
"Monster House" is great. It is probably the best animated film to come out since "The Incredibles." There is only one real problem with "Monster House," and I feel that I should address it at the top so that I can spend the rest of this review showering this movie with some much deserved praise. \nThe problem is that it is July and this is very clearly a Halloween movie. It takes place on Halloween, and is about a haunted house with kids going trick or treating in costumes. Obviously they were so proud of this film (and rightfully so) that they felt it deserved summer blockbuster status, but watching kids running around on a crisp fall day talking about trick or treating is quite simply out of place when it is 95 degrees outside.\nAside from this slight anachronism, this movie is quite charming. The voices are perfectly cast, and there are a slew of smaller parts for some big names like Jason Lee, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Kathleen Turner, but the movie is carried by the three young actors (the most experienced of which played "sleepover friend" in "Spanglish") who play the kids who are attempting to keep the anthropomorphic house across the street from devouring all of the children who will soon be knocking on the door to trick or treat.\nThere is some truly incredible animation at work here. The same motion capture technique used for Polar Express is used here, only this time it doesn't seem quite so creepy and forced. The end result is that the characters really seem alive.Some scenes are carried by the ability of these characters to emote with subtle facial expressions. It is somewhat ironic that motion capture works better when the characters are much more stylized and cartoony.\nThis movie doesn't have the same level of dependence on comedy that we have come to associate with animated film. It relies more on an engaging story than wacky one liners, which is a welcome departure from the convention. It is somewhat refreshing not to have to sit through some manic character zipping around the screen in search of the cheapest laughs possible (see Robin Williams in "Robots" or Larry the Cable Guy in "Cars"). Of course that is not to say that there are no laughs to be had in "Monster House." Kevin James is particularly funny in his role as the sheriff. \n"Monster House" is well worth watching, and as of right now it looks like the front runner in the animated film Oscar race, which means it could end up handing Pixar its first loss since "Shrek" beat out "Monster's Inc"
(07/13/06 4:00am)
This summer could certainly be considered a transitional period for Brendon Small. The fourth and final season of his first series, "Home Movies," came to DVD in June. And on August 6, his newest series, "Metalocalypse," will premiere on the Cartoon Network programing block [adult swim]. Brendon agreed to an interview with the Weekend to discuss the end of Brendon, Jason and Melissa, and the beginning of Dethklok.
(07/12/06 4:06pm)
This summer could certainly be considered a transitional period for Brendon Small. The fourth and final season of his first series, "Home Movies," came to DVD in June. And on August 6, his newest series, "Metalocalypse," will premiere on the Cartoon Network programing block [adult swim]. Brendon agreed to an interview with the Weekend to discuss the end of Brendon, Jason and Melissa, and the beginning of Dethklok.
(07/08/06 5:46am)
Why Johnny? Why? Why would you attach your name to this pixilated abomination? Why would you lend your voice to a game which can quite literally be played blindfolded (trust me, I tried it). I mean we all make mistakes (cough "The Libertine"), but you should have known better than to get involved in a game whose real function is as part of a corporate marketing strategy. The only possible defense would be if Disney some how snuck it into your contract in the fine print when you hopped on board for the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels.\n"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow" is the kind of game that could only be made by people who have never played a video game in their entire lives. They left out all of the things that make a game fun and left something basically amounts to a $40 commercial. Honestly, putting a $40 price tag on this game might be the most insulting thing done to the American consumer since Abercrombie & Fitch started selling pre-torn jeans (if you own a pair, I hate you).\nThere are some serious problems with this game. The plot makes no sense whatsoever. It is told as a flashback as Jack tells the story of his life just before he is hanged, but then in the middle of the flash back he starts telling another story which then flashes back again. This flashback apparently takes place in China or something which (although my geography isn't what it used to be) I don't believe is actually located in the Caribbean. My favorite plot moment was when, just after saving Keira Knightley's character from a mansion full of evil pirates, the cut scene was Captain Jack saying that now he and his partner Will Turner had to head off to save her from the clutches of evil pirates.\nProbably the most irksome thing about this game is the horrible AI. There is no excuse for a Playstation 2 game to have such bad AI. Both opponents and allies are so poorly programmed that they will just run around in circles for no apparent reason or else just run up to an opponent and wait to get hit. One of my favorite things to do in the game is to stand still in the middle of the battle field and watch seven guys running around like chickens with their heads cut off while my computer controlled partner stands in the middle of the action, sword drawn, just staring like a lobotomized mental patient. \nThis is the kind of game that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but then again it is still better than… um… beating yourself about the head with a frozen banana I guess.
(07/06/06 4:00am)
Finally. Finally, Bloomington residents have an opportunity to see the movie that shattered every major box office record in Russia. Finally, we get to see the film that has become a sort of underground cult hit as it hopped around through film festivals and art houses until finally gaining enough support to receive a wide release (but not wide enough to make it to Bloomington). Two years after its initial release in Russia, finally "Night Watch" has come to DVD.\n"Night Watch," is the first installment in a Russian horror trilogy about the eternal battle between the supernatural forces of good and evil. Powerful supernatural beings called Others are all around us. Some have chosen to fight for the forces of light, and some have chosen to fight for the forces of darkness. The two sides are too evenly matched for a direct fight, so they formed a truce to maintain a delicate balance between the two sides. The forces of light formed the Night Watch and the forces of darkness formed the Day Watch to make sure that each side lives up to its end of the bargain. One day a very powerful Other is born who will supposedly alter the balance depending on which side he chooses. \nI know what you are thinking, that is basically the plot for the Star Wars prequels. While watching "Night Watch" I began to realize that this is what the Star Wars Trilogy could have been, or should have been if George Lucas still had an ounce of talent in his body. It is dark, well written, well acted, brilliantly conceived and actually entertaining... and no Jar Jar.\nThe DVD is, for some reason, two sided. One side (side A) has only dubbed versions of the movie (English and Spanish), while the second side has the original Russian version that was released in the theaters. Watching the dubbed version of this movie is like looking at Dali's "Persistence of Memory" while wearing 3D glasses, pointless and disruptive. One of the best parts about this movie was the clever way which they used subtitles. They don't just sit at the bottom of the screen, they interact with the characters and moods of the film in a way which I have simply never seen before. \nThere are some worthwhile special features on the DVD. There is an alternate ending, two commentary tracks and then a bunch of previews, but that is all. It may be a bit meager but the commentary provides some good insight about how the film was conceived and the direction that the series will be taking in the future.\nAll things considered, this DVD is well worth buying or at the very least renting. The sequel "Day Watch," is already out on DVD in Russia, lord only knows when it will finally make it here. All I know is that after seeing "Night Watch" I will be first in line at the theaters if it ever makes it here.