Lollapalooza 2010 – Day Two; August 7, 2010

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Gogol Bordello served as the rowdy greeters to day two of Lollapalooza 2010.

Describing the band as gypsy punk sells them a bit short, though Ukrainian born bandleader Eugene Hütz has used the same words to describe his world circus ensemble. Racing punk drumbeats serve the backbone for snaky violin and accordion, furious chords and Hütz’s vital yelping vocals. As a testament to the combinations of Romany Gypsy music, punk rock and eastern Europe folk, Hütz introduced all band members by nationality. Those mentioned included Ecuador, Israel and Russia, after a stomp rousing Start Wearing Purple to close their set.

Onward back up north we went through the woods back to the Sony Bloggie Stage to hear Deer Tick and their haunted blues-spiced rock sounding straight from the south. But it’s not. Somehow they are from Providence, R.I. but they sound like anywhere between Memphis and Georgia. Singer John J. McCauley III led the quartet with a high-pitched rasp, and the band keeps pace with clean tones, even with distortion.

Metric greatly aided a clear trend among the Friday and Saturday performances where the women stood out farther than many of their male counterparts, a great feat to see among male-dominated festivals. Taking better parts of dance rock like clear melody lines, dynamic changes in the instrumentation and overall high energy, Metric will likely be remembered as a stand out set from this year. Singer Emily Haines whirled around the stage, capturing the audience with her movements, but then backing it all up with her emotional vocals, especially during Help I’m Alive. Metric performed a deep set with drummer Joules Scott Key, guitarist James Shaw and bassist Joshua Winstead producing equal parts organic beats and distorted synth-inflected noise.

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Something was telling me that the no-bullshit rock level in my blood was getting low, so it was time for Social Distortion. Coming from punk roots, singer/guitarist Mike Ness has led a cavalcade of musicians under the SD moniker, but throughout 30 years of playing he didn’t hold his band to punk restraints. Social Distortion is what happens when bands take the energy and urgency of punk, but allow melodies and guitar solos in. The result is gritty, furious rock with heart and punch, but with the depth and wisdom of a long winding career. Spanning the SD catalog from the title track off 1983’s Mommy’s Little Monster, to a recent up-tempo version of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire, Ness and Co. kept a steady pace throughout the set. Billie Joe might take a cue from Ness on how to make a statement during a show…quickly. Hopefully he heard Ness talk briefly before playing Cash’s song about how it wasn’t popular in the Man in Black’s time for people to embrace black culture.

“We wouldn’t have any good white music if it weren’t for black music,” Ness said.

The latest Lollapalooza representative of massive commune-style bands evoking warmth and hugs is Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. While only catching a few minutes of their set, the large ensemble clearly got the sizeable crowd fist-pumping away to their anthemic tunes. Sharpe and crew also seemed to influence a slew of tree climbers who may have gotten stuck up on high branches during the set.

The north end of Day Two was clearly for a pop dance party, with Cut Copy followed by Phoenix. Cut Copy is becoming the gold standard for dance rock, by balancing synth and real sounds so craftily, making seamless productions even while live. Dan Whitford commanded the stage with his frenzied thwacks at his keyboard, but also while howling in a well-honed falsetto. The band has a great ability to raise their intensity over and over while maintaining the clean shimmer to their layered sound. The Australian quartet also knew the right moments to drop different instruments out, only to build back up to fiery crescendos.

The members of Phoenix looked practically bewildered as they looked out among the throngs of attendees who chose them over Green Day. While Green Day’s pyros could be seen from the northern end, Phoenix got most of the attendees jumping and dancing right from the beginning when starting with the shimmer of Lisztomania. Few fans of their latest Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix may not realize they have been around for a while, with stand out tracks on the Lost in Translation soundtrack and others. While their past recordings were more rock focused, they seem to have embraced the pop that his garnered their recent acclaim. Singer Thomas Mars admitted to the crowd that this was “the biggest audience they ever played,” and at times they seemed a bit overwhelmed by the prospect. But they pushed forward raising and lowering the energy at whim, and even keeping the crowd’s attention during the longer near-epic two-part Love Like a Sunset. Closing out their proving set with their dance anthem 1901, Phoenix showed they can handle a headlining set, especially one that’s focused strictly on the music.