Date: August 6, 2010
City: Chicago, IL
Venue: Grant Park
Due to being laid off from my job in 2006, I wasn’t able to afford to return to Chicago for Lollapalooza until 2010. A lot had changed in those four years. Lollapalooza was now much bigger than it had been in 2006. It had been extended past Columbus Drive, which made room for more stages and food booths. This expansion also made it easier to get from one end of the park to the other. You no longer had to walk around Buckingham Fountain.
2010 has been the best lineup of the Lollapaloozas I have been to so far. It included a reunited Soundgarden, Lady Gaga doing her Monsters Ball set, Blues Traveler, Devo and Raphael Saadiq. Armed with my digital camera I was able to take a lot more pictures.
I had wanted to see B.o.B., but unfortunately did not make it into the park in time for his set. He was on at 11:30am and I made the mistake of going into the side entrance as opposed to the main entrance on Michigan Avenue. The main entrance has a lot more lines than the side entrance and moves so much quicker. It might take a bit longer to walk there, but at least you don’t feel like cows waiting to be herded through chutes to the milking station as you hear the band you want to see playing so close to you.
FOXY SHAZAM – A rock band from Cincinnati
THE ETTES – A trio originally from Los Angeles but based in Nashville. I really enjoyed their set.
THE WALKMEN – Indie rock band
JUKEBOX THE GHOST – Trio based in Brooklyn
RAPHAEL SAADIQ – Oakland, CA born ‘old school’ R&B artist once part of Tony! Toni! Toné! I loved his style and his music. He really knew how to get a crowd going. The lyrics “Falling in love can be easy / Staying in love is too tricky” from “Staying In Love” immediately struck me when I heard it.
THE BIG PINK – An electronic rock band from London
DEVO – This was my first time seeing Devo live. They put on a great show with a few outfit changes. You could tell that they really enjoy performing. Their energy fed the crowd.
MATT & KIM – An indie pop duo from Brooklyn. Although their audience appeared to be big fans, I didn’t care for their set.
JAMIE LIDELL– An English musician living in Nashville
LADY GAGA – First night headliner
I first saw Lady Gaga when she opened up for New Kids on the Block in 2008 and “Just Dance” was becoming popular. Cut to 2010 and she is headlining the first night of Lollapalooza. It was fascinating to see how much her production had grown in just two years. Lady Gaga brought her Monsters Ball tour to Grant Park and put on a spectacular show with live singing, dancing, costume changes and unplanned fireworks courtesy of the annual Chicago Bears Family Fest.
