One of the best benefits of large festivals is discovering bands that become new favorites. Headliners draw in the crowds but bands you didn't expect to see provide some of the most memorable highlights. One of those was the first band I saw at Lolla, First Aid Kit. How can you resist loving a couple of Swedes who sing about Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons?
Saturday started off right with the soulful J.C. Brooks & the Uptown Sound. The crowd loved their upbeat Stax-style cover of Wilco's I am trying to break your heart. They're a Chicago act so I'll have to catch them again.
I'm not sure how to describe the eclectic Bombay Bicycle Club that started off Sunday morning, but they're much better than those cheesy stores you used to find in malls. Later in the day, I was hoping Dum Dum Girls would sound as good as they look.
I'm still not sure. They sounded best when borrowing from Mazzy Starr.
Shortly thereafter, The Gaslight Anthem sounded best when borrowing lyrics from Ryan Adams.
I saw The Black Angels for the fourth time and they're still one of my favorites. It takes balls to end your Lolla show with a sitar solo. I randomly discovered them on a small stage at Lollapalooza in 2007. Their stages and crowds keep getting bigger. It reminds me of seeing The Black Keys building popularity each year they played festival shows with their own retro sound until finally becoming headliners.
The biggest scheduling conflict of the fest was Black Sabbath and The Black Keys playing at the same time Friday night. As much as that annoyed me, it's fairly impressive that there was only one major heartbreaking dilemma. Bonnaroo has many advantages over Lolla, but scheduling is one thing Lolla does better. Roo has a nasty habit of scheduling the five bands you're dying to see all in the same time slot against each other.
I've seen the Black Keys several times so I had to go with Sabbath. The reality TV show makes it a little difficult to take Ozzy seriously as a performer but Sabbath's stellar show removed all doubt. Even the songs that are played to death on syndicated classic rock radio found new life. War Pigs and Wizard alone made the show so awesomely wizard. And there's no better stage backdrop in the world than Chicago's Loop.
The biggest inconveniences this year were beyond the organizers' control. People who think it's a good idea to smoke a cigarette in the middle of a tightly packed crowd are always fun. The heat was unbearable on Friday and Saturday morning. The storm broke the heat but at the cost of evacuating the grounds. There were a couple of moments when I thought the crowd could turn ugly as they spilled into downtown Chicago. But, I ended up talking to more friendly people as we waited out the rain in a crowded bar than I did outside during the fest.
One of the funnier moments came right before everyone was evacuated for the storm when Neon Indian advised anyone taking psychedelic drugs for the first time that they shouldn't worry and everything was going to be OK. That was thoughtful of them.
No one could have finished the weekend better than Jack White, who continues to prove he's the great rock god of his generation. Most of the set was from his new album, including several country numbers with a fiddle and tabletop slide guitar in the band. He eventually pulled from his entire catalog, including the Raconteurs, and my two favorite White Stripes riffs Ball & a Biscuit and The Hardest Button to Button.
Lolla is a great way to find new bands you'll love, see that big name act you've always wanted to catch, and meet plenty of interesting people without spending thousands of dollars on individual shows. As always, I had a great time.