popwreckoning

If you’re a fan of cheery piano rock that’s Ben Folds-esque, Chicago’s This Is Me Smiling is the perfect band for you.

And you have no excuse to not listen because you can check out the band’s new album for free!

Only Uphill is an album that the band spent two years making Despite some personal challenges and a hiatus, the band has come out stronger than ever with an album full of witty lyrics and catchy hooks.

Download Only Uphill for free here and if you like what you hear, donate!

Five years ago, well before Snow Patrol was writing songs about him and “Little Miss Sunshine” trailers put “Chicago” everywhere, most people could barely tell you who Sufjan Stevens was. A chance bump into an early hipster might have garnered a mumbled, “He’s that dude doing that 50 states project, right?” So five years ago, when I first saw Sufjan, it was in a tiny black box of a room in Omaha with a handful of those early hipsters. He had just released Come on Feel the Illinoise and Sufjan and his Illinoisemakers were packed onto a tiny stage in their cheerleading uniforms and abundant instruments. It was a quirky performance that couldn’t help but melt even the most jaded audience member’s heart.

Nowadays, things are a bit different. Sufjan Stevens has gone from an obscure musician singing about Superman to being the indie-lover’s modern day hero. His audience has multiplied tenfold and he’s upgraded from venue basements. I caught him at Kansas City’s Uptown Theatre, a venue that housed a sold out, 2500-capacity crowd. But just as Sufjan’s audience has changed, so has the singer and his music.

If you’ve already listened to the new album, The Age of Adz, you already have a taste for how much Sufjan’s changed. The music is more experimental and more electronic-based. He still utilizes the heavy brass section, keys and a wide array of percussion, and, of course, his vocals are unmistakeably Sufjan. So what’s changed?

This new material is much more personal — which is understandable since he has moved on from historical national events and U.S. States for his inspiration. And perhaps more surprisingly, it is a lot darker than many probably expected from the brilliant songwriter. Sufjan really lets you inside his head on this new album and tour. Before the explosive tune known as “Vesuvius,” Sufjan said, “The end of a relationship doesn’t have to mean the apocalypse…but it sure can feel that way, huh?” Before “Get Real, Get Right,” Sufjan explained how he discovered the work of an artist: Prophet Royal. He detailed how the experimental, sci-fi art really spoke to him and how he was similar to Royal. Turns out Royal was a crazy, but then, who isn’t? Royal’s artwork actually provided the video backdrop art for most of the night.

Then, perhaps in the biggest trial of his audience’s patience, Sufjan played another song that lasted over 25 minutes. “Impossible Soul” began with twisting electronic lines and dark twisting vocals. Midway through, “Boy, we can do much more together” went from a dark conversation to a crazy early 90s style dance party complete with silly string. The backing vocalists really took it away during this part. But then it cooled back into a more acoustic number. This was like the musical equivalent of stream of consciousness. And as cool as it was that Sufjan was doing this, it was really difficult to make it all the way through.

Perhaps knowing this and as a thank-you for how politely the audience accepted his forgetting of the lyrics during “Enchanting Ghost,” Sufjan ended the set with the song that the more casual fans had been praying for: “Chicago.” Triumphant horns and the familiar words made this almost a cathartic moment. Tensions were relieved from that dark entry into Sufjan’s mind that had preceded. The set was already pushing two hours, but Sufjan still treated the audience to a solo, acoustic encore before releasing his hipster worshippers into the street.

Be warned: if you’re only familiar with older Sufjan material, this tour might not be for you. You’ll find yourself standing with a confused arched brow. However, if you’ve embraced everything Sufjan has put out over the years and can handle a bizarre stage show, then this is a not miss performance.

Set List:
Seven Swans
Too Much
Age of Adz
Heirloom
I Walked
Futile Devices
Vesuvius
Now That I’m Older
Get Real, Get Right
Enchanting Ghost
Impossible Soul
Chicago
///
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Ill
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

The best part about Lollapalooza is not seeing some headlining act that you probably couldn’t afford during a regular tour, or hanging out next to Lake Michigan, or the excuse to start drinking at 11 a.m. No, the best part is the discovery. Perhaps you heard a band name in passing, you got tired and just plopped down in front of a random stage, or (as was my case) you had a friend just rave about an act you just have to watch: at a big music festival, you’re bound to discover some sort of new band that you’ll keep listening to long after they’ve torn down the stages from Grant Park.

This year, my big discovery band was Skybox. My friend had just met the lead singer at her job in Kansas City, so I was surprised and excited to learn that a Lolla band had a connection to my hometown. Live, they were one of my favorite acts at the festival, delivering a high energy and very catchy pop rock set.

I caught up with the lead singer, Tim Ellis, to talk about how the band divides its time between Chicago and KC, their music, Lollapalooza and more. The full interview is below their video for “In a Dream.” They’re touring this fall and for my fellow Kansas Citians, they’ll be at the Riot Room on September 14. Be sure to check them out.

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How does the split KC/Chicago-base thing work with like practicing and writing?
Tim Ellis, Skybox: Well, I’m actually out here a lot. I’ll come out here like a week before we play to get really rehearsed. Like I’ve been out here [before Lollapalooza] since Tuesday. We rehearsed, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and play today [Saturday]. Before tour, I’ll come out at about the same time, a week or so before, then we’ll tour. After the tour, if we’re writing, I’ll come out here for writing purposes.

PW: Are you from Kansas City originally then?
TE: Yeah.
PW: So that’s why you decided to live there and the rest of the band stayed in Chicago.
TE: Yeah. And we [my wife and I] just moved to KC recently, so we’re getting back to the city recently. We just moved downtown in February.
PW: It’s a good city. A little more affordable than Chicago.
TE: Definitely.

PW: So how did you guys form Skybox?
TE: We released our first record in ’06. That’s usually when I tell people that Skybox was officially Skybox was that first record in ’06. However, we did form about a year before that just writing, figuring out members and the whole dynamics of how it was going to work. It was primarily, well, I was in a folk kind of project before Skybox, me and a good friend of mine from Kansas City, we were just playing folk music. We moved to Arizona during the whole folk thing. After about a year, we just started getting some good press and started getting some people kind of helping us out and putting us on the road and stuff like that. Doing some folk stuff on the road we realized, we’re just so young and we really want to be in a rock band again. We missed it. We had done that our whole lives in high school. So we went ahead and did some home recordings and throwing around ideas. Once we had some solid foundation, that’s when I called Christian [Fields], which is our piano player/guitar/vocals. He had played drums with me most of our lives. He actually was born with me. His mom and my mom were best friends before we were born. So we were born around the same time and were both playing together since we were real young. So I gave him a call to see if he could move to Phoenix and play lead guitar for the band, ironically, coming from playing drums. But we really needed a lead guitarist and keyboard player. So he decided to do it. After a lot of convincing, he finally moved out. From there, we added a few more members and started recording our first record, Arco Iris?, and released it in ’06. Then moved to Chicago.

PW: If a person hasn’t seen or heard your band before, how would you describe your sound?
TE: When people ask me, I usually say just weird pop music.

PW: How would you describe your live show to them?
TE: It’s different. It’s a lot of fun, a lot of energy and just a really fun, strange show.

PW: How do you come up with the costumes and outfits and the occasional theatrics?
TE: We definitely like to mix it up at all our shows. We hope that if somebody comes to see us they’ll like it and the next time they come it will be a little bit different for them. We’re all ADD in the sense that it’s a little hard to stick with one thing or one sound and we hope that we can give something fresh back to the audience if they have the same schizophrenic feelings.

PW: Who would you cite as some of your influences, whether for show fashion or musical sound?
TE: The whole fashion thing is kind of glam, I guess like Iggy Pop and all that kind of stuff. We also like really big sound. Like ELO was a huge influence for us. There are a lot of great modern bands that we’re listening to a lot like Dirty Projectors. We got to go backstage with those guys the other day, so that was cool. I’ve been listening to a lot of Genesis lately, getting into that again.

PW: With Lollapalooza being as big as it is, what have you learned from the festival and making the most of the three days?
TE: This is my first time here, so I’m learning the ropes myself. The golf carts have been great to get around, but I don’t think everyone has access to the golf carts. There are so many good bands playing here that you can really go anywhere and it is going to really inspire you and motivate you to be artistic.

PW: What are some of your favorite bands at this year’s Lolla?
TE: Devo. We got to see them. Dirty Projectors was good. We even saw the Strokes, which was awesome. We’ve been looking forward to Yeasayer and Grizzly Bear. Empire of the Sun, I’ll go see. X Japan. There are others.

PW: With your Chicago ties, what is a must do for anyone coming here for a show?
TE: There are a lot of great venues. There’s Lincoln Hall, which is a cool place to adventure to and they’re always having great bands. Burlington is a cool bar. Wicker Park, in general, Uptown area, Logan Square, that’s where we used to live. Lots of good places to go and good food. The Bead is a great restaurant.

PW: So what are your Fall plans for Skybox?
TE: We’re touring in September, the West Coast, with a band called What Laura Says. They’re really great. So we’ll be starting Midwest and going out West, which will be awesome because we haven’t been out to Phoenix, our former hometown, in about year. So that will be a homecoming of sorts for us, so we’re pretty excited.

PW: Finally, anything else that you want to get out there or something that I didn’t cover that you think people should know about your band?
TE: Well, one thing that has been really, really huge for us is giving away free music and we do that at our website, Skyboxmusic.com. It’s just a huge thing for us to go to a city that we’ve never been to and have people singing our songs and being familiar to our music. It’s a testament to the artist’s freedom, giving free music away.
PW: Sounds great.

Even rain couldn’t stop Chicago’s Team Bayside High from drawing a huge dance party at this year’s Lollapalooza. PopWreckoning caught up with the DJ duo to talk about television, their Chicago residence, new single, Lollapalooza and more. Check the full interview out below.

PopWreckoning, Bethany: Let’s start with how you guys met and started DJing together.
Derek Barry, Team Bayside High: We started djing together a little bit later in the game. We first started off as promoters together. Me and Rick met right when I started throwing parties here and I moved to chicago. I needed a little bit of help and Rick came in. We kind of needed a company name, so we wanted to be Team Awesome, but then we moved to the next best thing and became Team Bayside High. We wanted to control the music format of the party we were throwing a little bit more and as time went on, we’d put on iPods and CDs, but we were like, man, we want to move more into djing because it is a little bit weird just to play – well not be mixing and what not, but really have people raging. So, we were like if we can take it to the next level, we’re going to. So we started djing together and moved on to that and next thing you know, we’re getting booked outside. And we’re like, hell, let’s just take this thing for real and we made this our main thing. Promoting got pushed out of the way and Team Bayside High moved forward.

PW: Where did Team Bayside High: the name – obviously Saved by the Bell – but where did it come from? Are you just huge fans?
DB: Who’s not?
PW: What character would each of you most identify with?
Rick Carrico, Team Bayside High: It’s a struggle. We don’t know who’s Zack Morris or A.C. Slater. People always say oh you’re totally Zack or he’s totally Slater. It keeps switching.
DB: Who doesn’t want to be Zack Morris? Everyone wants to be Zack Morris.
RC: It’s cool. I just want a giant phone I can take anywhere and I want to be able to stop time. If I could do that, I’d be Zack Morris. Everything would be cool.
DB: We just wanted to make a name that was fun. We don’t take ourselves too seriously as far as human beings. Our music we like to take serious, but as far as us, we just like to have fun. And with our name, we want people to know us – these guys sound kind of wacky. It creates a little bit of tension. We’ve had a bunch of people maybe go, I don’t even know what these guys are like, but I want to hear them because of this name: Team Bayside High. And like we said – Saved by the Bell – we love it. It worked out.

PW: What goes into how you select what music you remix and then mixing in your original music? Where do you get your influences from?
RC: We both have really strong metal and rock backgrounds. It’s party rock. We try to take anything that we think is going to make people throw their hands up and bounce off the walls and go crazy. We’ll take that and we’ll take the energy and the music that we’ve grown up with and just piece that together.
DB: Good answer.

PW: Now, you guys have a residence at the Debonair every Monday. How do you keep it fresh every week with that?
DB: Yeah, that’s been a big struggle. You throw a party every single week, you have to do something different or you’re going to be stale, but if you’re doing something too different, and what we pride ourselves on – we don’t like to play things that no one knows. We like playing new things, but we want to play things that everyone can jump around and fist pump and head lock your best friend to and singalong, so every week just try to reach into the library of literally what we grew up on in the 90s – those guilty pleasures – and mix it with the new things that are out and selections that are our favorite. There’s so much just fun music out there. We’re not limiting ourselves to a certain genre of electro or rock, so we can be all over the board and go from playing “California Love” and the crowd goes crazy and the next thing you know we’re playing “Don’t Stop Believing” and everyone’s having a huge singalong, you know?

PW: How’d you guys get hooked up with Moneypenny and do you have any other guest performers?
RC: We’ve been friends with Moneypenny, Jess and Chess, and our manager is also their manager as well. We’ve been such good friends and we both share a lot of musical tastes. Outside of being able to create a track together, we hang out. We throw events together. It’s like a family really, more than anything.
DB: The writing process with Jessica on the single was amazing. We came together and in 30 seconds we had a beat for the song and we knew exactly where we wanted to go. We knew that – she has an incredible voice and an incredible melody that she writes. We gave her the track and literally like I said, 30 min later we had a single. We’re happy we did it and her performance just now [at Lollapalooza] was incredible. That was the first time that we really actually performed it fully live.

PW: It sounded really good. With the residence, I know you have a few other Midwest dates that you sometimes go to, but do you tour or anything or go on the road that often or you stuck into working here every week?
RC: Yes, we tour. In May, June, and a few in July we just did a Til Death Do Us Party tour. That was our tour name. We hit up Nashville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis.
DB: There was a Los Angeles stop in there. We were all over the Midwest. Some of these markets we were nervous to go to. Are they going to like dance music in Nashville? But people were jumping off the stage and crowdsurfing. They knew all the songs we were playing and everything. Midwest is really where it is at as far as people who just want to go crazy and are not jaded by music. We’re primarily Midwest touring right now and playing our second leg soon. Us and Moneypenny are going to do a full on tour in the fall that will be nationwide details will be coming soon. teambaysidehigh.com.

PW: Since you are from Chicago – what is a must do for out of towners that come to shows here?
RC: You must eat Pequod’s Pizza. We’ll give the location and maybe we’ll get a free pizza out of this which would be awesome, but the location is Webster and Clyborn. You’ll see it because there is a whale with a thong on its head. It’s a light up neon sign. But honestly, it is the best pizza ever. If you’re from chicago. Go to Pequod’s.

PW: Ok. Final question. What’s like the craziest thing that has ever happened at one of your shows or sets? You said the Midwest could get crazy?
DB: I’m going to go ahead and field this one. Maybe not the craziest, but a pretty crazy thing for me personally. We’re djing in Cleveland, me and Rick, about two months ago…
RC: That’s not what I was going to say.
DB: what were you going to say?
RC: The Lolla announcement.
DB: Ok. Let me change that. The craziest thing that has ever happened to Team Bayside High. We were involved in the Lollapalooza announcement party with C3 and everybody. We knew Perry Farrell was going to be in the house so we talked to him right before we were going to go on our set. We said, “hey man, you want to get up and say anything.” He got kind of like, “I’m super busy. There’s tons of press here. I’ll try to help announce the line up. I can’t make any promises.” We totally understood. Even coming, he really surprised us. So we start our set with Phoenix “1901″ and Perry Farrell jumps up and says, “Can I sing this song?” And he jumps up and sings the entire “1901″ with us. We’re like that’s incredible and he goes, “Well, I’m not going to leave,” so he stays up and goes into our next song with us and keeps singing “Kids” by MGMT. It’s an incredible experience. He’s headlocking both of us and singing the words. And we grew up on Jane’s Addiction, so it was just incredible. We went home and I don’t think we washed our necks for like two weeks.
PW: Were you here last year when Jane’s played?
RC: Yeah. It was awesome.
DB: We did a lot of drinking going into it, so we can’t really say much except it was a great time.
RC: The helicopter coming in was one of the coolest entrances I’ve ever seen.

PW: And you guys have a new album or single that..
DB: We just dropped our new single. It’s available on teambaysidehigh.com and we have a new mixtape coming out. it’s going to be an after Lollapalooza sort of theme: so Summer and a lot of artists from this year.

RC: Keep your Summer rocking.
DB: Keep your Summer going and it’s not over yet. We’ll drop that in the next week or two.
RC: You can always party with Team Bayside High. We’ll be here for you.
PW: New mixtape, new single, tour coming up in the fall, so lots to look out for on teambaysidehigh.com. Sounds good.

Chicago is not a stranger to Brandon Flowers. Last time the Killers‘ front man was in town with his band in 2009, he headlined the city’s three-day music festival: Lollapalooza – a festival that draws well over 200,000 people. At that festival, he danced around the stage in an audacious feathered jacket with thousands of people reciting back every single word to his songs that span a three-disc catalog (four, if including the B-sides album). Pyrotechnics and a state-of-the-art light show enhanced his performance. And though he was the center of attention, people were just as familiar and excited to see his band mates: Dave, Ronnie and Mark.

This time around, things were a little bit different.

Brandon Flowers was in Chicago, but instead of performing for thousands upon thousands of people, he was performing for less than 900 at a small club called Park West. Instead of fire, confetti and light up palm trees, he settled on a modest set where the only decoration was a flamingo on the bass drum’s head. The lights were modest red, blue and orange tones. His outfit was toned down to a plaid shirt with suspenders. The songs were unfamiliar – the words almost foreign to the usually well-learned tongues of the fans. Then perhaps, the biggest adjustment: no where in sight were Dave, Ronnie and Mark. This was Brandon Flowers solo.

After waiting 45 minutes without an opener, his touring band (featuring some members of The Red Romance/Ex-Ambulance LTD, The Neighbors, and other musicians) took to their spots and began playing the slow tempo-ed “On the Floor.” Flowers slowly gantered out on the dark stage, singing the Johnny Cash-esque song. For early critics of the Killers that said he sounded too British, his southwestern accent is really apparent in these more open-sounding solo songs. He has a bit of a warble, or an almost alt-country tinge to the usual expectation of the glitzed up pop rock songs of his regular band, which is what  many may have been expecting. From the already released single, “Crossfire,” it didn’t seem like his solo material would be too far a departure from the Killers. “Crossfire” is catchy, laden with guitar hooks and danceable. Actually, it’s very danceable, as the audience showed when Flowers followed “On the Floor” with it. It was fun to see a wave of confidence wash over him when it came time for this song. He flashed a half-smile as the audience began singing along and chuckled as fans cheered at some of the more forward-lines: “Watching your dress”and “lay your body down next to mine.” He finally took his hands out of the pockets of his suspendered-pants and started moving around the stage more. For a front man of one of the biggest rock bands in the world, the guy is surprisingly shy and confidence-lacking at times (hence why he is doing a “warm-up” tour), but this is just one of the more endearing features of Flowers.

He didn’t talk too much in between songs. At the beginning, he mumbled a “We’re performing new songs tonight. You won’t really be familiar with these. Well, I guess, some of you are familiar.” And he did wish a “Happy Birthday” to a girl with a sign. This just made the two times that he actually talked to the crowd all the more poignant. The first came right before “Magdalena.” He explained how he learned of a pilgrimage that takes place in Mexico every October. People go to ask for forgiveness for sins or blessings for their loved ones. They walk 60 miles along this sacred road to the town of Magdalena. Flowers spoke to one man about his journey and composed a song about his story. This is one of his best lyrical masterpieces. From the opening, “Please don’t tell me I can’t make it. It ain’t gonna do me any good,” to the more pleading lines, “Tell him that I made the journey. Tell him that my heart is true. I’d like his blessing of forgiveness before the angel’s send a crew,” to a beautiful line of slipping up and sinning again, “And if I should fall to temptation / when I return to the evil throes / from Nogales to Magdalena / as a two-timed beggar, I will go,” it is just a well-crafted story. “Oh-oh-ohs” also make it a fun singalong. As one of his best songs to date, it’s a pity that the religious elements will keep it from being a standout radio pick.
Magdalena with intro:

Since “Crossfire” was so early in the set and the solo songs were mostly unfamiliar. Flowers and co. threw in a few surprise treats. The first was a stripped down cover of Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes.” This fit his style well and most importantly, it introduced his younger fans to a great, classic song that they might not otherwise had known about. After the moody rocker “Jilted Lovers & Broken Hearts,” the Springsteenian “Something I Said,” and the rock alt-country doozy “Hard Enough,” (who’s album version features indie darling Jenny Lewis), Flowers gave fans another treat. A long intro with a steady drum beat and guitars tricked the audience thinking that this was another new song, but then Flowers sang, “Console me in my darkest hour.” It takes a strong song to go through a massive stylistic overhaul like what Flowers did here, but “Losing Touch,” off the Killers’ Day & Age was a sweet addition to the set. The brassy flairs and bombastic instrumentation was stripped to fit the style of the of the show, and while many will argue that the original recording is, of course, superior, this version was awesome in its own right. The ending was especially great with the backing vocalists going back and forth with Flowers like it was a conversation, “I’m losing touch!” he’d sing and they’d respond, “But you made your way back home!”

The recently released on iTunes “Swallow It” and “Playing with Fire” ended out the set. The plucky start to “Swallow It” and a quality of cheesiness to the lyrics make this one of his weaker songs in comparison to the rest, but it does grow into better piece as more layers are added. As for “Playing with Fire,” there really could not have been a better pick to end the set. Just as there is always one Killers song on each album that starts small before growing into a giant full out chorus that epically repeats at the most rocking part of the song, Flowers has that for his solo album. In spirit, it’s the “All These Things That I’ve Done” to the solo album (emphasis on spirit, this isn’t a comparison of musical sound type). Flowers really got into this one and climbed on an amp before hopping down at the end thanking the crowd and high-fiving a few hands with the front row on his way off stage.

After “Playing with Fire,” some started to leave. This was the 5th of these warm-up shows, and thus far, Flowers hadn’t been doing an encore. However, at some point during the set, Brandon told his second story (the first being that of Magdalena) and this story foreshadowed the evening’s final surprise. It was story of how the band had traveled from California to get to Chicago. It was a two-day drive, and during the trip, they camped. “We camped, told stories, and made experimental s’mores,” said Flowers. “But we also practiced and played around with some acoustic tunes, which may be to your benefit later.” At the time, it was a weird thing to say during the set, and must just chuckled at the phrase of “experimental s’mores,” quickly forgetting the bit about “to your benefit later.” Well, Flowers didn’t forget and he quickly re-appeared for an encore, accompanied by one other musician on acoustic guitar. He then debuted an acoustic version of the popular Killers’ song “When You Were Young.” It was like ending with a big campfire singalong – like he was transporting the audience back to his trip through the mountains from California to Chicago, gathering everyone around to sing and make “experimental s’mores.”

“When You Were Young” acoustic encore:

Really the only complaint that one could have is that this show was too brief, especially at the ticket price, but with two Killers’ songs and a cover, Flowers did his best to make it as full and great an experience as possible. Really, could anyone ask for a more intimate experience at a show? Here’s hoping that he takes some confidence from these warm-up shows and does a more complete tour once the debut solo album, Flamingo, drops Sept 14.

Set List:
On the Floor
Crossfire
Magdalena
Bette Davis Eyes (Kim Carnes cover)
Jilted Loves and Broken Hearts
Something I Said
Hard Enough
Losing Touch
Swallow It
Playing with Fire
–
When You Were Young (acoustic)

Gold Motel, the new Chicago group formed from members of The Hush Sound and This Is Me Smiling, has announced the release of its debut album, Summer House.

The band has just embarked on a fall US tour in support of the release. Full dates are below.

The piano-driven band features a soulful, retro sound, inspired by Elvis Costello and Blondie.

Gold Motel formed after Greta Morgan packed up her bags after relentless touring with the Hush Sound and moved to California. There she began writing the foundation for Gold Motel. She later returned to Chicago and reached out to members of This Is Me Smiling to round out the rest of Gold Motel.

Track listing:
We’re On The Run
Perfect (In My Mind)
Safe In L.A.
Stealing The Moonlight
Fireworks After Midnight
Don’t Send The Searchlights
Make Me Stay
The Cruel One
Who Will I Be Tonight
Summer House

Tour dates:
8/22: Maquoketa, IA @ Daytrotter at Codfish Hollow Barn
9/3: Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge w/ Kyle Andrews
9/5: Chicago, IL @ Bash on Wabash
9/10: Ames, IA @ Iowa State University: The Maintenance Shop
9/11: DeKalb, IL @ Middlewest Fest
9/14: Minneapolis, MN @ University of Minnesota
9/17: St. Louis, MO @ Play:STL
9/23: Cincinnati, OH @ Midpoint Music Festival
9/24: Urbana, IL @ Pygmalion Music Festival
9/25: Decatur, IL @ Millikin University Bounce Fest
9/29: Grantham, PA @ Messiah College
10/1: Madison, WI @ University of Wisconsin
10/8: River Falls, WI @ University of Wisconsin-River Falls
10/21: Fullerton, CA @ Cal State Fullerton
11/2: Dallas, TX @ House of Blues Cambridge Room w/ fun. & Steel Train
11/4: Austin, TX @ Stubbs Jr. w/ FUN & Steel Train
11/5: Houston, TX @ House of Blues Bronze Peacock Room w/ fun. & Steel Train

One of PopWreckoning’s favorite acts at Lollapalooza 2010 was Jukebox the Ghost. Check out a video from this D.C. act’s Lolla after show performance at the Bottom Lounge.

Equally as important to the Lollapalooza experience as the time spent in Grant Park is the time spent at the Lollapalooza after parties. With the additional official and unofficial shows after it’s lights out at Grant, Lollapalooza becomes a 24 hour experience, three days of the week as festival goers pour the park’s gates into various clubs, venues and hotels throughout Chicago.

PopWreckoning made it to a few of the after shows. Friday, it was off to Belve Nights: a party at the Hard Rock Hotel that’s popular amongst some of the more VIP Lolla attendees. It helps that this Belve Night  featured a DJ set by Matt and Kim and performances from acts such as Neon Trees and Hockey to draw out a big crowd.

Neon Trees were an act that had already blown festival-goers away during their Lollapalooza set earlier that day. The act already seems to be following hot in the footsteps of similar band, The Killers. They continued to own the stage as the singer prowled the stage. The set was a brief five songs, but the band left the audience hungry for more.

Hockey followed Neon Trees with a pop rock set that was just a teaser for the even more energetic set they’d deliver in Grant Park the following day. Beginning with current single, “Song Away,” they band also played some new material and older tunes such as “Too Fake.” Hockey had their set cut short at Lolla 2009, so it was great to see them living up Lolla 2010 with extra performances.

Saturday night, PopWreckoning ventured out on the CTA to a free show at the Bottom Lounge. This show featured a  couple of amazing local acts and a few national acts – free for those who had RSVP. Gotta love free.

Though energy was waning quickly for many at this point (a long day walking the grounds at a festival spanning a park that’s over a mile-long will do that), each of the pop rock bands, The Spinto Band, Skybox and Jukebox the Ghost,  brought a fun quirkiness to their tunes and a contagious enthusiasm. The Spinto Band even divided the audience up into three parts to be a train at one point. Odd, but fun:

Skybox:

Jukebox the Ghost:

Sunday, PopWreckoning returned to the Hard Rock Hotel for another Belve Nights. This evening, Glassnote was bringing the best of its roster.

Among the performances was Mumford and Sons. This UK act is already being praised as one of the best Lolla acts in general and one listen to their harmonies, funky bass lines (upright bass lines, no less!) and heart-wrenching lyrics, it’s easy to see why. “Little Lion Man” is a good place to start for those unfamiliar with their tunes.

After Mumford, it was the crooning, experimental rock band The Temper Trap. Many are familiar with them for “Sweet Disposition,” which was on the “(500) Days of Summer” sound track. And while that song is indicative of some of the other fantastic, rollicking-guitar riffs they produce, it doesn’t really do them justice. Although, perhaps it is better that way because then audience members are extra surprised when the singer pours water on a tom drum and beats a spray of water and heavy beats midway through the set.

Perhaps the highlight of this evening was when Mumford and Sons returned to perform with The Temper Trap. It was like everyone at Belve Nights was a part of a big family: the band, audience members (both VIP and average folk) and even the staff on hand that night. It was extra special when Glassnote’s founder even came out and echoed the sentiment. What a perfect way to end Lollapalooza….well almost. There was a one final treat. Lollapalooza headliners and Glassnote members, Phoenix, though tardy to the party due to another aftershow performance, closed out the night with a DJ set. What a way to end 2010!

Chicago’s MoneyPenny has launched a new website and in celebration, the electro duo is giving away “Cool & the Gang” for free. Just head to Lovemoneypenny.com to check out the latest news and new features and, of course, download the song.

Music lovers that traveled to Chicago for this year’s Lollapalooza, you might have caught MoneyPenny’s singer, Jess, performing with DJ duo Team Bayside High. Or perhaps you’ve heard their song “Say No” on MTV’s the “City.” For Chicago residents, you might have partied with the girls at their monthly SPANDEXXX performances at Beauty Bar. For those who haven’t had the chance to experience MoneyPenny live, just know that everything these girls touch is a fun, good time, so get ready for their soon to be released debut EP.

Sunday nature battled itself giving us both the coldest and hottest day of Lollapalooza. But there was still music to be heard! So a poncho-packed crowd stumbled through the mud to start their day dancing to “USA Boys,” with HEALTH. As the guys thrashed about the stage with the guitar-driven dance rock, my only thought was that they should have had one of the prime evening spots like similar acts in Cut Copy and Hot Chip. I couldn’t believe they were stuck in one of the earliest sets of the day. Not with how good they are and how popular I thought they were. I’m sure everyone has at least heard one of their remixes at one time or another.

I picked my way past puddles to Perry’s where Team Bayside High was getting ready for their DJ set. I have to give the kids at Perry’s props: the rain seemed to peak during this set, but it didn’t kill their dance buzz for a second. It helped that the DJ duo in Team Bayside High really knew how to interact with the crowd and get them amped up. There wasn’t a single mix that they played that slowed them down too much or killed the mood. As they smoothly went from Franz Ferdinand to a Mario theme, I could see why these guys were asked to play a permanent residence at Rehab in Chicago: they were diverse and fun. For a special treat at the end of their set, Moneypenny‘s Jess joined them to sing her part live on their new single “Party Professionals.” You can actually download the track free at Team Bayside’s site. (We also did an interview with Team Bayside High, so check back to PopWreckoning soon for more from these guys.)

Having seen many of the next acts several times before, I walked past Company of Thieves as their female singer belted out Oscar Wilde refrences, past the Dodos’ percussion heavy set that features a bowed vibraphone and ended up at the Hard Rock Hotel for lunch.

The place was more packed than it had been for the entire weekend. I set off to to investigate what was going on. Turns out one of the larger lobbys had been completely closed off as a “special VIP” had requested privacy while getting a new tattoo. So I went into the cafe to eat and enjoy some hip hop music from Chiddy Bang. Hip hop isn’t usually my thing because I’m a lyric gal and often times the lyrics are offensive, dumb or just downright vulgar. I didn’t have this problem with Chiddy Bang and actually found it witty. I particularly liked that there was a live drummer and not just pre-recorded backing tracks for the performance.

After the performance, I ventured back up to the closed lounge, which was still closed. I was about to ask a girl standing next to me if she knew what was going on, but a beefy, tall man ushered her out of the lobby just as I opened my mouth. Turns out that girl was Hayden Panettiere – you know, from Heroes, Remember the Titans, etc? And it also turns out that she was the “special VIP” who had shut down the room for her new tatt. I guess the cast of Scream 4 had come down to Lolla from filming in Michigan. A part of me wishes I had realized who she was sooner, but I’m also glad I didn’t. That’s kind of the cool thing about Lolla. Actors and musicians are just walking around. You never know who you’re going to rub shoulders with, but at that fest, we’re all equals. We’re all music lovers.

So, since I am such a big music lover, it was time to take my leave of the Hard Rock and head back to the fest for some more bands. Only this time, instead of walking back, I took the Vitamin Water Bus back. This was kind of a cool thing set up where you could relax, rehydrate and enjoy some DJ music going back and forth between the Hard Rock and the fest. I wish I had thought to use it sooner!

I continued my love of watching bands that make you dance by checking out Hockey, who started with “Song Away,” played a few new songs before amping people up with “Work” and “Too Fake.” This set was a lot tighter than their technical-difficulty filled set from the year before. After that I went over to Yeasayer.

If you should know anything about me, it’s that I’m always feeling Yeasayer: multiple vocals, big guitars, lots of synth and even bigger drums. Plus you can dance! What’s not to love? “O.N.E.” got people to stand up and dance through a majority of the set, but it was really “Ambling Alp,” that drove home their awesomeness as a set closer. As I turned to watched MUTEMATH on a neighboring stage, I couldn’t help, but feel a bit bored after the great set that Yeasayer had just delivered.

Fortunately, Frightened Rabbit restored my faith that there was still awesome after Yeasayer. They’re completely different from that dance rock sound and pretty much straight up indie rock. It’s the cool Scottish accents and sweet harmonies that make this band stand out.

But I couldn’t stay there long. I needed to see the shit show that would be Erykah Badu and a shit show it was. Blonde hair and a hideous green dress that no one in the world could pull off. And let’s be honest – her music is uninspired, so we all just were gathered there to see what she would wear and what diva moves she’d pull. This was a clusterfuck, so I made it as long as I could before heading into media to grab some water.

In media, I got a special treat. Festival founder and lead singer in Jane’s Addiction, Perry Farrell, was making the rounds and greeting people. It was so cool to see the icon acting so down-to-earth, especially with how big his Lolla project has become.

I exited media in time to see a bunch of hair bouncing, hear surprisingly killer vocals yowling and watch as hands whizzed through Zepplin-inspired guitar riffs. This was Wolfmother and this was awesome. No, it isn’t something I’ll listen to the CD over and over for, but it is something I’d watch live again.

From here, it was indie rock hour on the other side of the venue. So I trekked over to see MGMT, The National and my most anticipated: Arcade Fire.

MGMT is one of those acts where I really, really, really love the singles, but feel ho hum about the rest of their music and even their live show. I’ve seen them a few times and was disappointed and bored. I wasn’t expecting much at Lolla, but they completely took me by surprise. I don’t know if people complained enough or what, but they were a changed live band. They talked to the audience, interacted, and offered up spots for the crowd to take over singing duties. They even had a frog puppet! It was bizarre and shockingly fun. And yes, songs from the new album did receive a more lukewarm reaction, but I was reeling from the overall change in the band, that I could care less about that. Nice work, MGMT. Maybe you do deserve your fame.

As people flocked to the National on the neighboring stage, I moved closer to a better a spot for Arcade Fire. Sounds of “Blood Buzz Ohio” buzzed in my ear, and as much as I like the National, it wasn’t long before their music became exactly that: just a buzz. Their songs started to sound the same, but it might have been that I was just antsy for Arcade Fire to start.

Oh, Arcade Fire. You, with your bajillion members and insane amounts of instruments from accordion to violins to brass and more. Can I join your band?

Before the fest, one of my friends tried to insult the Arcade Fire by calling them, “The indie world’s Coldplay.” In other words, they meant the band was wildly popular, but without any real merit. You have to understand, this same friend is driven crazy by Coldplay’s unwillingness to use more than three chords. After seeing them live, I can attest, that Arcade Fire is not overhyped. They deserve all the attention they get.

While fireworks went off for other headliners and light shows blinded, Arcade Fire settled on a simple video backdrop and relied only on their music to dazzle. They fittingly started with “Ready to Start” and from there it was just one great song after another. Everything was tightly performed with jubilation. For a moment, I forget my painful blisters and just let their complex instrumentations swallow me. Fantastic. I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end Lollapalooza 2010. Sorry Soundgarden – Arcade Fire is where it was at this year.

Now who’s ready for 2011?

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Be sure to check out the rest of the Lollapalooza 2010 coverage on PopWreckoning.com. More posts and interviews!