Lollapalooza 2009 - Recap and Day One Photos

The last Lollapalooza of the this decade is in the books and despite, what on paper, looked like a less than impressive lineup, it turned out another weekend of exciting and memorable moments just as in years past. Every year going at Lolla, one is expected to battle oppressive heat, but on Friday this year, Mother Nature decided to throw in a little something extra - a rain storm that only seemed to pick up steam throughout the day. The showers fizzled out by nightfall, ushering in the heat and wind for the rest of the weekend.

Due to a lack of veteran artists in the middle of the lineup, this year’s festival allowed many relative newcomers to strut their stuff in front of large amounts of festival goers. Miike Snow brought their debut album to life at the Vitamin Water stage while wearing Phantom of the Opera-esque masks for the first third of their set. Despite being a new band, they worked the crowd with the confidence of a group with much more experience. They worked through much of their album only to jam out and turn it into an electro-dance party by each song’s end - the advantage of having two fantastic producers in the band. Passion Pit and Lykke Li were thrown on the small Citi stage, only to draw impressive crowds and put together equally impressive sets, with Passion Pit’s set having one of the more energetic crowds during the entire festival. Dan Deacon and Of Montreal were the only other bands that I saw that were able to rile up their crowds in a similar frenzy.

Miike Snow Performing Animal at Lollapalooza 2009:

Many of the sets that I looked forward to, going into the weekend, such as Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, and Animal Collective, seemed to fall flat this time around. Granted, the rain on Friday did seem to have an adverse effect on the crowd and the bands at times. Animal Collective’s set just never seemed to really pick up until the absolute end, and by that time it was too late. They never really got the crowd, outside of their hardcore fans, into their set. Bat for Lashes did not disappoint. Despite the high temperature and winds that blew apart pieces of the stage, Natasha Khan had the crowd in the palm of her hands with tracks from the excellent new album, Two Suns, and her debut, Fur and Gold.

Bat for Lashes Performing Priscilla at Lollapalooza 2009:

The headliners and many of the more polished acts brought their A-game. Dave Gahan and Depeche Mode displayed exactly why the coordinators of the festival had to look to past decades for a majority of the headliners. Simply put, there are very few bands over this decade that have the larger than life persona and swagger to be able to command a crowd like Depeche Mode. However, with that being said, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs more than held their own. You could see how nervous and excited Karen O and her bandmates were to be in a headlining slot for Lollapalooza. During a stripped down version of Maps, Karen O even forgot the lyrics at one point and had to start over. This was a seminal moment in the bands history and they took pictures of the crowd to remember it. The Decemberists brought their new LP, The Hazards of Love, to life on the Budweiser stage late Friday afternoon with their secret weapons Shara Worden aka My Brightest Diamond and Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark trading vocals with Colin Meloy. TV On the Radio also performed a great set on Saturday, as usual.

Depeche Mode Performing Enjoy the Silence at Lollapalooza 2009:

Lollapalooza, once again, proved just why it is one of few festivals to attend every year. With the Chicago skyline as a backdrop, it always seems to bring the best out of the artists performing each year. This year was no different. And so begins the countdown to next year…

Day One Photos, by MOKB photog Dave D. Evans, AFTER THE JUMP…..