Music Times reporter Ryan Book works best in his home territory of the Midwest, or at least that's what he told us. Join him every day this weekend for a chronological look at what went down at the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.
10:45: The Chicago Museum of Art is a great place to catch some shade until the gates open at 11:00. Fans of René Magritte look warily at fans of Marshall Mathers.
11:00: The grand opening of the Lollapalooza gates is, as usual, celebrated with the playing of John Williams' Star Wars theme. Lucas Arts hasn't sued yet, so heck. Why not?
12:00: We, a Manhattan-based publication, play the homer card and decided to check out Brooklyn's The So So Glos for our first set. At around a quart after, an impatient group of fans begin to chant "so so late." The band is off the hook however, as organizers have an official rain delay in place, although nothing has fallen up to this point. Fans who attended the Foo Fighters' epic 2011 Lolla set know that rain isn't normally something to hold the festival back. The music eventually kicks off at 12:28.
1:06: Every dude wearing a baseball hat has to be wondering if Francisca Valenzuela is related to Los Angeles Dodger and Cy Young winner Fernando Valenzuela (she isn't). More seriously however, the portion of Latino fans at the Chilean vocalist's set is higher than average, a good reminder to concert organizers and music fans in general that we need to invest more or our time into so-called "world music." X Japan's 2010 Lolla set, and first American show, was excellent. As for Valenzuela, her band rocks pseudo-jazz but she really turns on the slow burn for "Los Que Siempre Arracan."
1:54: The sun is out after an early rain threat, and it's out for revenge as well. Stay hydrated Lolla! Meanwhile, Kodaline has the perfect soundtrack for a summer afternoons thanks to happy moods and mandolins.
2:11: Early numbers indicate Eminem fans will crush Arctic Monkeys fans for total number of noobs wearing T-shirts for the act they're attending Lollapalooza to see.
2:55: Bits of rain spit from the sky, but Bombay Bicycle Club carry on in the face of a daunting cloud hanging overhead. The first true rain begins to fall later in the set, but the BBC is undeterred. After all, as vocalist Jack Steadman points out, the band is up one slot higher than it was for its 2012 appearance at the festival. Got to keep working toward that headlining gig.
3:04: Some early nominees for the "Best T-Shirt Award": A picture of a great white shark that reads "Don't Trip" and a shirt for the Orlando band Dryspell featuring just a mean mug from Muppet Sam The Eagle. The great white-wearer was smoking a full cigar as well, which may score him some points in the long haul.
3:40: Rain proves overrated as it fades away early during Warpaint's set. Which is fortunate as our umbrella has also proven overrated in terms of service quality.
3:52: The "School of Rock" plays a cover of Rush's "Limelight," which is A) awesome and B) ironic, considering that it's happening on the Kidzapalooza stage to an audience of maybe 15.
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