Editor’s Note: These are Celeste’s notes as she takes to her annual Lollapalooza trip.
Best swagger of Lollapalooza Saturday: Not even a contest – St Lucia brought the swagger in spades. Frontman Jean-Philip Grobler rocked out in a pair of pink pants and a paintball splattered button-up, and amped up the crowd to the point of frenzy – definitely the most intense dance party of Lolla Saturday. He also had a great rapport with the crowd – getting everyone to holler the “Don’t Go, Don’t Go Away” chorus of We Got it Wrong.
Most distracting backdrop of Lollapalooza Saturday: The National. Why? Why you gotta have something that looks like a screen saver from the 90’s blazing in the background? You all are talented enough that I’m happy to just see you create music – no swirling discs of color needed.
Best sister trio of Lollapalooza Saturday: Haim Haim Haim. Also Haim. This sister trio has so much obvious sibling love going on you can’t help but smile. What’s better than seeing people who look alike having fun? Seeing three talented people who look alike having fun on a stage. Also best crowd interaction: some very enthusiastic girl threw her bra onstage with “I will always support you” written on it.
Overall winner of Lollapalooza Saturday: A fight to the death between Family of the Year and St. Lucia but I’ve got to give this one to Family of the Year for the sole reason that they were an utter surprise. When the bassist of this band boogied (and I don’t use that term lightly) onto the stage with his long hair, his jorts and a beer in hand I thought the group was going to be an absolute mess. They weren’t. They were a surprising refreshing delight. Family of the year had a folk/indie mashup vibe that fit well with the theme of Lolla Saturday (Lumineers and Mumford headlined) and while they played relatively early on, they drew a very enthusiastic crowd to the tucked away Grove Stage, and in the midst of a blazing hot day they created a shady cool refreshing oasis of sound. Their keyboardist also wins for her highlighter yellow hair.