Photo Recap : Lollapalooza 2008 : Day Two

Posted about 1 year ago

Artist:

Battles
Album:

Atlas
Track:
- PLAY
Tonto

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All photos by Dave Donovan Evans, MOKB Staff Photographer. You can see the entire photoset from MOKB's Lollapalooza Day One at his flickr.

MOKB coverage of Lollapalooza 2008 : Day One

More photos by Dave and words by Greg...AFTER THE JUMP...

I have to admit, it was a brutal Saturday morning for me. Friday was a hot mess, especially after me and 80,000 people crammed in for that amazing Radiohead set, but there were way too many bands I wanted, and needed, to see that morning to sleep in. So off to the train I went, little did I know the evening would end with a near riot by fans of Rage Against the Machine.

The day started off calm enough - taking in the first couple of songs by hometown heroes, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's and then making my way over to Bud Light stage to catch Does It Offend You, Yeah?, who's record has been one of the more consistent listens for me this summer. For a band with only one album under their belt, they drew a much larger crowd than I anticipated, especially with the iPod commercial stars, The Ting Ting's, playing opposite of them. Does It Offend You, Yeah? exuded energy on stage. It was a lot of fun to watch.

After getting a first helping of Dr. Dog when MOKB brought them to Indianapolis for a sold-out show, just last Thursday at Radio Radio, I had to come back for seconds. Once again, they did not disappoint. Playing new and old songs alike, you felt that you were watching a band that is really starting to come into it's own.

MGMT had a huge crowd and should have probably been playing one of the main stages. I wasn't quite ready to deal with a large crowd, so after hearing Electric Feel, I made sure to get over to the other side of Grant Park again to catch Explosions in the Sky.

I would have to say that without a doubt this was the best set of Saturday. Explosions in the Sky were on-point from start to finish and the only other time I felt the way I did after a show was when I saw Sigur Ros a couple of years back. Goosebumps! The songs were so epic and the energy being burned on stage was overwhelming. Watching and listening had that eerie life-changing event kinda vibe. Trust me, they were that good.

During the break before Broken Social Scene played, I checked out Spank Rock, who was accompanied by Amanda Blank. Spank was as raunchy and entertaining as you would hope and expect. After a hour of bumpin' and grindin', I headed back to make sure I had a good spot for Broken Social Scene.

BSS rolled out their classic songs, as well as, a song from Apostles of Hustle and both Brendan and Kevin's solo records. While it was an enjoyable set, it didn't have that epic set feel they displayed two years ago at Lolla. That set left everyone dragging their jaw and will be the basis of comparison for all future BSS sets...fortunately and not.

After a absolutely fantastic day of music, it was off to the AT&T Stage to catch Rage Against the Machine. It's been well-documented what exactly transpired during the Rage set. Zach de la Rocha repeatedly stopped and asked the crowd to move back, but it appeared to fall on deaf ears.

Many of their so-called fans used this show as an excuse to act like complete idiots and beat the shit out of each other. I was towards the middle-back of the crowd and even in the back, there were mosh-pits and people pushing each other around. Later I found out that possibly thousands of people jumped the fences or rushed the entrance to gain access to the festival. Instead of sticking around for the rest of the show, I went to the other side for the sweet serenity of the second half of Wilco's set and the debut of a new tune. It definitely made for an interesting ending to an amazing day of music.

Wilco - One Wing (Live at Lolla 2008)

Battles:

Foals:

Jamie Lidell:

MGMT:

Spank Rock:

Rage Against The Machine: