Lollapalooza Day 3 Review: Of Monsters and Men, The Devil Makes Three, Sigur Ros, The Walkmen, August 5, Chicago

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Winner of Lollapalooza Sunday: Of Monsters and Men.

Let me explain to you how amazing Of Monsters and Men are: I was bled on, copiously, by a stranger while waiting for this set to start, and yet I ended it with a ginormous grin on my face. They’re that good. Having read Ricky’s post in April about their show at the Phoenix Theater, I knew that I needed to experience the magic. Sure enough, approximately 20 seconds into their set, I already had that warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach. Lead singers Hilmarsdóttir and ÞórhallssonI (the band is Icelandic) have voices that play off each other beautifully, and they’re backed impeccably by horns, drums, accordions and tambourines. Hilmarsdóttir’s vocals shine in particular – she sounds like what I would imagine a nicotine-addicted angel would: throaty and angelic.

I feel impelled to give a shout-out to the crowd at this set as well – best crowd ever (except, of course, for the one losing her life force all over my legs). Everyone was under 5’6’’ so I had a perfect view of the stage, they brought bubbles, streamers, and blow up birthday cakes, which were all tossed in the air at the exact correct moments, and everyone was as appropriately appreciative of this amazing band as they should have been. Well done guys!

Best bluegrass act of Lollapalooza Sunday: The Devil Makes Three.

I had already created this category in my mind before heading to Lolla on Sunday, knowing that Trampled by Turtles would take the prize. Shnope! Just kidding! While Trampled by Turtles was excellent in their own right, The Devils Makes Three came out of nowhere, jammin’ like nobody’s business to snatch that title. The trio hails from Santa Cruz and consists of a guitar, a banjo and a upright bass (if your band has an upright bass you win, but if your band has an enthusiastic, female upright bassist then you double win.) The threesome put on an incredibly high energy show for the crowd, who made up for their small
size by doubling their enthusiasm – I’ve never seen a group of people break out into so many small, simultaneous hoedowns.

Least impressive act of Lollapalooza Sunday: Sigur Ros.

I would give Sigur Ros my “Most ‘meh’ act of Lollapalooza Sunday” category, but as I see it, Sigur Ros doesn’t even make it that far. This band confuses me. I know there’s something I’m missing – I have friends with great taste in music who love them. In my opinion though, Sigur Ros commits the two cardinal sins of band-hood: they make music that is not only unappealing, it’s also boring. (I already feel bad for writing that – for those who disagree, just chalk it up to my heat stroke).

Most pleasant surprise of Lollapalooza Sunday: The Walkmen.

The Walkmen toured with Fleet Foxes back in 2011, which is when the band came to my attention. I’m a big Fleet Foxes fan, so I looked up the Walkmen thinking that I would probably enjoy them as well. I was completely nonplussed with what I found, so when I saw they were coming to Lollapalooza I was unenthusiastic. My plan was to head from Trampled by Turtles to Gary Clark Jr., but when Trampled by Turtles finished their set and I turned to walk towards the Playstation Stage, I found myself facing the Sony Stage, where an impeccably suited-up man with a massive set of lungs was belting out some seriously wiggle-inducing music, and I knew I wasn’t going anywhere. I’m not sure what it is about their live performance that makes it so distinctive from their recorded music for me – I think their recorded material sounds just a little more punk than their live performance, which has a little more finesse to it, which apparently makes all the difference.

Best all female band of Lollapalooza Sunday: Dum Dum Girls.

I constantly bemoan the fact that there aren’t more all female bands out there (it just seems odd to me that there are so many solo female acts – Lady Gaga, Florence and the Machine, Santigold, M.I.A., Azealia Banks, Nicki Minaj – and yet the indie world, as well as most other genres of music, almost completely lacks for female bands.) Which is why I was thrilled that

a) Lollapalooza had an all female band and
b) I super enjoyed them.

Overall winner of Lollapalooza: JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound.

This one was a fight to the death between Of Monsters and Men and JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, but in the end the element of pure surprise and joy that came with showing up 30 minutes early for the set I was planning on seeing, only to find myself faced with the world’s most charismatic front-man of a post-punk, retro, R&B group doing his “weed dance” clinched it for me. You know that when you find yourself laughing with delight multiple times during a concert that the band is doing something right. If you happen to be local to Chicago, get ready to make these guys your hometown sweethearts, and if you’re not local to Chicago, get ready to see these guys when they tour. Awesome.

Summerworks Music Preview: Aline Morales, Evening Hymns, Buck 65

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The beginning of August usually means a few things – heat, Blue Jays being officially eliminated from playoff contention, trips to cottages and Summerworks Performance Festival.

This year marks a bit of a comeback for Summerworks (the largest juried festival in Canada), who had their funding cut in 2011 due to criticism over Catherine Frid’s terrorism-on-home-turf play Homegrown. I guess this was why my nazi-al-queda-tamil-tiger-terrorism-genocidal-spaghetti-western-kung fu play based on the U2 song “A Beautiful Day” got rejected.

The festival originally started out as a theatre only event but has gradually included music elements as well. This year’s festival will feature a host of musical acts and we are here to preview them.

Aline Morales

I’ve always wanted to go to Brazil – gorgeous beaches, gorgeous women, the Amazon rainforest and what is probably amazing food all add up to a pretty wicked trip in my head. However, I am now rather poor and out of vacation days so the only time I can travel to Brazil is in my head. While I am travelling to this exotic locale (in my head), I can’t think of a better accompanying soundtrack then the music of Aline Morales. The Brazillian born singer had a highly revered solo debut record Flores and it’s basically summertime in a box. I hope they serve fruity drinks at the Theatre Centre on Thursday August 16th, because that would be highly appropriate for the tropical flavors of this lady. Buy tickets to this show here

Evening Hymns

In case you come out of the Aline Morales showcase a little too happy, you can always drag that down by attending the Evening Hymns showcase the following night. The Toronto based band has new album Spectral Dusk coming out in late August and by all appearances, it is a devastatingly sad album that lead singer Jonas Bonnetta wrote to deal with the loss of his father three years ago. A decidedly less jovial but equally good show, I suspect. Get tickets here.

Buck 65

Hip Hop artist Buck 65 has probably been fighting the moniker “hip hop artist” for a better part of a decade now, seeing how some of his releases in the mid 2000s incorporated many other genres of music. Whatever musical genre you choose to paint Richard Terfry with, you probably realize that the opportunity to see him in a theatre setting is a rare opportunity. I say seize the day and grab some tickets and see what goes down at the Theatre center on Wednesday. Buy tickets here. I’ve been fond of Buck 65 since I saw him on MTV’s Cribs, and he showed MTV just normal apartment. That, my friend, is keeping it real.

Finally

I took part in the Summerworks Soiree earlier this summer and it was a fundraiser dinner. A good time was had by all and I met both food AND livestyle bloggers. I feel so enriched now. The food was graciously provided by chefs Mark Cutrara (from Cowbell) and Alexandra Feswick, who will soon be opening up the restaurant Samuel J Moore inside the Great Hall later on this fall. It serves food, so you should go eat it. A lot of donations were made to the Summerworks cause and if you feel somewhat left out, you too, can donate to this cause by clicking on this link.

Lollapalooza Day 2 Review: Doomtree, JC Brooks and Uptown Sound, Neon Indian, August 4, Chicago

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Winner of Lollapalooza Saturday: JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound.

Whoa. I got to Lolla early this morning so that I could see Doomtree, my pick for best Midwestern collective hip hop group, and I happened to catch the last half of JC Brooks’ set. Brooks has a fun, funky, retro, post-punk, R&B sound going on, and the leading man has the charisma necessary to pull off this odd mixture in spades. My favorite song of the set was “I Got High” which came complete with Brooks’ “weed dance.” Also, unless I was entirely mistaken, I think his Mom was onstage with him playing the tambourine. Love.

Best Midwestern collective hip hop group of Lollapalooza Saturday: Doomtree

Doomtree is a 7 piece hip hop collective that hails from Minnesota. I like the group entirely based on their song “bangarang” which is a reference to the lost boys in the movie Hook. I’m not really sure what else there is to say.

Most “meh” act of Lollapalooza Saturday: Neon Indian.

Neon Indian is a solid synthpop band with a lot of songs that I really enjoy – Polish Girl and Deadbeat Summer being my favorites – but their sound didn’t come across all that well in the live setting for me, and I think this was true for a lot of fans, as quite a few people left the set about three songs in. Their recorded material is crisp and vibrant but live all the songs sounded muddled and a little vague. To be fair though, things were starting to pick up halfway through when Neon Indian had to leave the stage because of thunderstorm warnings.

Loser of Lollapalooza Saturday: Me.

Really Lollapalooza? Really?? If you evacuate Grant Park for a thunderstorm and then at 6:25 tell us that you’re starting again at 6:30 you know what happens? I end up missing Fun. and my day is ruined. First world problems.

Concert Review: Florence And The Machine, The Walkmen, August 2, Molson Canadian Amphitheatre

Posted on by Paul in Concerts | Leave a comment

Walkmen singer/guitarist Hamilton Leithauser has got to be one of the more unassuming frontmen around. While he and the band certainly perform their songs with a lot of gusto, between songs, he seemed very casual and genial as he addressed the crowd, putting forth an everyman sort of demeanor. For example, instead of bellowing out a “Thank you, goodnight!” at the end of their set, he opted for a simple, “We’re The Walkmen, we’re gonna get out of here now.” Simple and straightforward. They may not have been playing to their usual crowd but let’s hope they converted a few new fans that night. I am a bit disappointed that only about half the band was wearing suits though.

Of course, the performer the crowd was waiting for soon took to the stage. much to the enjoyment of the (largely female) crowd. Yes, Florence And The Machine may be the name of the band, there’s no denying that Florence Welch is the star of this show. And with her increasing popularity and a few big festival gigs under her belt, Welch is certainly looking comfortable with her star status. An assured performer, she definitely knows how to work a crowd. Plus it’s not just any performer who can pull off wearing a cape onstage (though James Brown and Rick Wakeman come to mind), let alone run a full lap around the Amphitheatre while wearing said long, billowing cape. “It is the Olympics after all.” she joked. Despite the many dramatic gestures in her performance, Florence also comes across as fairly down to earth, as evidenced by the moment when she and her keyboard player ran down to the side of the stage to acknowledge a young fan who wore a t-shirt (presumably homemade?) that featured all of her lyrics.

One quibble I do have with this show is that she focused mostly on material from her latest album at the expense of numbers from the band’s debut Lungs. I was disappointed by the absence of “Kiss With a Fist” from the set. Maybe she feels it’s inconsistent with the direction the band’s going in, who knows? Regardless, it was a solid, confident performance, and songs like “Shake It Out” and “Dog Days Are Over” sounded good live and definitely satisfied the packed house at the Amphitheatre.