Archive for the ‘gomez’ tag

lollapalooza day 2 recap

unfortunately, i dont really have many pictures and/or memories from day 2, just because it was so stinkin hot and miserable. but lets go ahead and see what we can remember, but be prepared for a slightly less robust recap than yesterday. i think the saddest part of my pictures from the weekend is that i forgot to take pictures of me and my friends for the most part.

i arrived at the festival at around 1 45 pm, which is the earliest ive ever gotten there, making for an extra long day. i headed straight to the vitaminwater stage to meet up with karen and to check out miike snow. as the lead singer told us all, “miike snow is a band, not a person. and we’re keeping two i’s in our name, because its too late to change it”. id only heard a miike snow remix that i posted here a while back and am obsessed with and was curious to see what their own stuff was like. needless to say, i was EXTREMELY impressed. excellent melodies mixed with rockin beats in an electronic wonderland. it was so fun that we almost didnt notice it was 90 degrees with high humidity and became what i think may have been my favorite show of the weekend.

ive listened to their self-titled album probably 15 times in the last few days (literally listened to it on repeat the entire day at work yesterday) and am loving it, and know it will be growing on me even more in the coming days. i remembered hearing a mishmash of electronicness when i was walking up to the stage and after hearing the album i THINK what i was hearing was the track below, starting at the 3:20 mark. great album, great band, great performers.

miike snow – in search of main

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

after that, we ran into caitlin and alex, and alex inquired about writing some sort of column for dailybeatz similar to peter griffins “what really grinds my gears”. im still waiting to hear back from her on that, but the offer has been extended. then we went to the eyeball tower aka the flag tower aka the best and easiest meeting place on the grounds to meet up with ursula and crew. after exchanging a sweaty hug, i met allison, her brother james and his friends and we all headed to perrys to see the animal collective dj set, and on the way i ran into peabs for the first time (of many). despite how hot it was, we were excited to dance, but sadly the animal collective dj set was so mellow we didnt even know that it began and was not very condusive to dancing, so we all decided to go back to the other side of the park to catch some of gomez.

however, 10 minutes in, the sun was beginning to get the best of us. we decided shade was in order and split up. on my way out, i ran into amy, who i run into everywhere. then i luckily ran into karen and louis again after a bathroom stop and we decided it was time for a nap in the shade. we went to the nice shaded area of the bmi stage and took a nap under the trees while listening to blind pilot, who reminded me of a more bluegrassy fleet foxes, but i was sleeping so i guess i dont really remember. i just know it was great resting music.

we met back up with ursula, james and crew at perrys and were going to see hercules and love affair, but when we realized it was a dj set, we decided to see santigold instead. as we we waited for 20 minutes or so for the set to start, the effects of the heat were apparent. the six of us couldnt even muster up the energy to have any sort of conversation, and we all acknowledged that we were completely ok with that. santigolds set began and we all got a little more pep in our step, but about a half hour in i had to leave the crowd to use the restroom.

this is where i encountered the most persistent clusterfuck of the festival, and when i returned there was no way i was getting back in the crowd (although i did run into amy again twice in the next half hour, which was weird). i decided to get some potstickers (chicken and vegetable dumplings) from star of siam and they were phenomenal. tv on the radio was up next and i spent half the set trying to find anyone, and by the time i did we were so far back that it wasnt even enjoyable. i dont know why i am cursed never to enjoy a tv on the radio show, but im sure i will one of these days.

after that, karen louis and i headed to catch diplo at perrys and it was a blast. the sun was finally starting to disappear and we knew that the worst was over (for that day at least) and danced away until it was time to head back to the budweiser stage for the newly announced headliners, yeah yeah yeahs. and i think this is when i ran into shaf and agatha.

im a big fan of yeah yeah yeahs, but i guess i didnt expect much out of their live show for whatever reason, so i was pleasantly surprised when it was rockin with heavy beats that i wasnt expecting. karen o, in her ever infinite wardrobe of weirdness, came out wearing a full headdress and covered in feathers. below is an awful picture of the feathery mass that was karen o. for some reason, their set was almost impossible to get a clear picture of, at least from where we were standing.

she stripped that off after a few songs and was left wearing some sort of flower covered material that looked to be wrapped like a diaper. the show was completely above anything i expected and worthy of a headlining spot, but after a little while we decided we all wanted to see what bassnectar was all about back at perrys.

yeah yeah yeahs – heads will roll

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

bassnectar was exceptional. the sun had finally set, and the awesome visuals of perrys were now in full effect. like i said before, the perrys area this year was pretty much out of control all the time and usually had something great going on and this was a great way to end the night.

with 20 minutes or so left before the shows ended, we decided we should check out tool, just to say we did it. we marched across to the other side of the park again, and once we arrived, we all decided that we didnt want to be there at all, so we left. we stopped on the way out for some food and got the most perfectly cooked french fries we have ever had. crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. we ate them as we walked back to the red line, which we were able to get on immediately despite it already being full of white sox fans, and headed home. i was able to convince the guys to go to wicker park with me to meet up with allison and ursula and we hit up a few bars and had a great, late night. the effects of the weekend were quickly catching up with me and i crashed, knowing that i had to wake up at some point to let nick and mark into the apartment, and knowing that i had to be at the festival by 1230, impossibly early for a festival for me, to see friendly fires the following day, and boy am i glad that i did.

lollapalooza day 2 – gomez – hamoa beach

time for day 2 (even though day 1 is really going on as we speak). this fest is really bitter sweet for me this year because its the last of my 3 fests this summer and i dont really have much to look forward to after this weekend and the subsequent up north weekend since i will only have 2 days off work for the rest of the year following that, and no exciting plans to speak of. but, in retrospect (even though some of it hasnt happened yet), it was totally all worth it. but anyway, today lets talk about a group performing on day 2 of lolla that i will most definitely be seeing, gomez.

the song i chose for today is “hamoa beach” off their 2006 album “how we operate”. of all the gomez songs ive heard, this is the one thats stuck with me the most. maybe its the catchy melody and upbeat tempo, or maybe its the lyrics. they are so motivational that you almost can imagine them being on one of those “READ” posters at the library. yeah, you know the ones im talking about. i guess motivational isnt really the right word, but its kind of inspiring in a “dont make the same mistakes i did” kind of way. another awesome thing about gomez is that there are a few lead vocalists who all share frontman duties, which is great because theyve all got a different sound. ian ball, the vocalist for “hamoa beach”, and tom gray have a bright clean sound to their voices, while ben ottewell has a deeper and huskier voice. its really a nice contrast when you listen to the albums as a whole. i missed these guys at bonnaroo due to the multiple scheduling conflicts so im looking forward to seeing them here.

gomez – hamoa beach

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

buy this track on itunes
buy this track on amazon