Best Albums of 2009 - The Top 10

10. Flaming Lips – Embryonic – I have to give the Flaming Lips a lot of credit for this one. They could have easily churned out another album’s worth of the big, bizarre pop they’ve been pushing for a couple of years now, since they are at the peak of their fame and could have made plenty of cash doing it. Instead, they made what has turned out to be a very difficult and dense album that is closer in sound and spirit to the strange material that launched their career. They allowed themselves to experiment, and the results turned out very well, with the highlights being “Watching the Planets” and “Silver Trembling Hands.”

9. Pearl Jam – Back Spacer – It’s easy to take a band like Pearl Jam for granted at this stage in their career. Much like the Flaming Lips, they could just make another album’s worth of decent material and cash in on the huge tour that would follow that. Instead, after freeing themselves from the major label system, they went on to create probably their best album of the decade. They plow through 11 tracks in the blink of an eye, with “The Fixer,” “Gonna See My Friends” and “Supersonic” reminding us why they were on top of the rock world for quite a while. Bonus points to the show “FlashForward” for perfectly using “Unthought Known” beautifully through the opening of one of the key episodes of the entire season.

8. Animal Collective – Merriweather Post Pavillion – This is the band every hipster has been bending over backwards to praise in the last two years, but this is the first album of theirs that is worthy of so much praise. The band is all over the map on this one, at times jammy, rocky, dancey, trancey, and just plain out there. It’s too bad they didn’t give a damn about their Lollapalooza performance this year, because it would have been great to see them attempt some of these songs live. “My Girls” and “Summertime Clothes” are deservedly being praised as two of the best songs of the year by far.

7. Passion Pit – Manners – This was the breakthrough band of the year based on this cd. Main man Michael Angelakos wrote an ep’s worth of material as a gift to his then-girlfriend for a Valentine’s Day gift. It didn’t work, but instead the ep made the rounds online, and built up a huge amount of hype around the band waiting for their debut album. “Manners” is the result, and it’s a pretty amazing start. The first half of the record is flawless, absolutely irresistible dance rock, with fantastic “Make Light,” “The Reeling” and “Little Secrets” are perfectly designed to get a crowd dancing, while a gorgeous song like “Moth’s Wings” show they’ll be able to do more beyond the dance music as they move forward from here. The only drawback with this one is that the album becomes a bit forgettable in the second half, minus the lone carryover from the previous ep, the bizarre, swirling “Sleepyhead.”

6. Metric – Fantasies – Emily Haines, the lead singer of Metric, pulls off the rare feat of being sexy and sensual without beating people over the head with it, like most modern female music icons (well, she kind of does in her guest appearance in the video for Julian Plenti’s “Games For Days,” but we’ll ignore that). On “Fantasies,” Haines leads the band well through the dance rock of “Satellite Mind” to the pulsing “Help I’m Alive,” wrapping it up with the massive rumble of “Stadium Love.” And how can any indie rock male resist her voice singing a lines like “Who’d you rather be/ The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?/ Come on baby play me something/ Like 'Here Comes the Sun'"? Pretty impossible.

5. Weezer – Raditude – After two very disappointing albums, Weezer returned to their glory with the awesomely titled “Raditude.” With a little outside help, featuring Butch Walker on his second great production and songwriting work for the year, and the main members of All-American Rejects, the band sounds rejuvenated and happy to be playing poppy, upbeat rock once again. “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To)” is just as perfect of a pop nugget as can be expected between Walker and Weezer, and the other album highlights like “I’m Your Daddy” and “Let It All Hang Out” live up to the legacy of Weezer’s greatest songs. Yes, the band even flirts with Indian music on “Love Is the Answer” and hip-hop rock with “Can’t Stop Partying.”

4. Manchester Orchestra – Mean Everything To Nothing – This was a solid album from top to bottom by an Atlanta band I knew very little about before this year. This album has it all, massive hooks, big fist pumping choruses, from the powerful opening duo of “The Only One” and “Shake It Out” to the equally powerful closers “Everything to Nothing” and “The River.” The surprise is the emotion buried within the lyrics, especially in some of the quieter moments on the album. The album contains the most beautifully sad lyric of the year in the centerpiece of the album, “I Can Feel a Hot One,” which I don’t know the story of, but it is haunting nonetheless: “To pray to what I thought were angels/ Ended up being ambulances/ And the Lord showed me dreams of my daughter/ She was crying inside your stomach/ And I felt love… again.”

3. Grizzly Bear – Veckatamist – Besides Animal Collective, the indie rock community has another icon for this year, and that is Grizzly Bear. They’ve been touring regularly since their previous album, and somehow went into the studio, and quickly knocked out this impressively arranged and details work in no time, and were right back out playing it live. The four member band writes and performs incredible harmonies, with main man Ed Droste providing the most incredible voice in the band. The influence of the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds” is noticeable here, which is quite a compliment since that is my favorite album of all time. “Two Weeks” is definitely one of the best songs of the year, and the album concludes with the livelier “While You Wait For the Others” and “I Live With You,” before concluding with the gorgeously delicate “Foreground.”

2. …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – The Century of Self – After a disappointing turn on their last cd, the Trail of Dead returned in a major way with this year’s “Century of Self.” Like A Place to Bury Strangers, they are best when they are functioning like a force of nature, whirling around like a tornado in “Isis Unveiled,” seeming to sputter out before springing back to life and whipping themselves into a frenzy once again. Throughout the album, the band can switch from the majestic to the pummeling and right back again and make it work. What’s possibly even more impressive is that the cover art is a pen and ink sketch done by the main frontman Conrad Keely.

1. Dirty Projectors – Bitte Orca – This album is about as artistic and complex as it gets in indie rock, before it trips over the line and goes from being enjoyable to just be self-indulgent and academic. Let’s put it this way, if you actually believe that Nickelback are in fact the group of the decade (thanks for the link Brian), then this is not the album for you. The instrumentation is precisely arranged, the vocals are precisely layered and performed, the rhythms seem to turn different time signatures on and off on a whim.

Band leader David Longstreth is rumored to be something of a dictator in his efforts to record the sounds in his head, and thankfully the fruits of his labor were worth the negative press that may get him. The highlight of the album is the 3 of songs at its center. “Stillness is the Move” is a great slow thumping song, sounding like Prince making a lazy dance track, which then gives way to the gorgeous, string heavy “Two Doves.” A thumping bass beat then leads into “Useful Chamber,” which cascades beautiful, intricate harmonies around the thumping beat, before nearly randomly exploding mid-song into a rock freakout, jarringly switching back into the thumping beat again, before exploding once more to the freakout. It’s a very difficult and standoff-ish album, but if you can give it a chance, you will be richly rewarded.

Best Albums of 2009 - Number 30 to 11

30. The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You – Much like Owl City, the Avett Brothers are apparently heavily influenced by one of the best albums of this past decade, except in their case it’s “Heartbreaker” by Ryan Adams (SERIOUSLY people, if you do not own that one, go out and get it). Their album runs along the same y’alternative lines as that classic, with the occasional rave-up like the potential hit “Kick Drum Heart.”

29. Eels – Hombre Lobo: 12 Songs of Desire – Not the best release from E and his band, but his twisted stomping take on the blues is usually pretty enjoyable.

28. Taking Back Sunday – New Again – Another solid set of “emo” pop-punk from this New Jersey group finds them gravitating towards that dreaded “m” word for a punk group, “maturing.”

27. Mastodon – Crack the Skye – A great album’s worth of mind-bending, pulverizing metal riffs wrapped around bizarre lyrics supposedly about Rasputin, among other things. Good stuff.

26. Dashboard Confessional – After the Ending – I still contend that Dashboard main man Chris Carrabba is one of the best lyricists of his generation, and I believe this is one of the best albums he’s had in the past few years. It helps that another of my favorites, Butch Walker, produced the album, and they even gave fans a treat by releasing the album both as a plugged in and as an acoustic version.

25. Art Brut – Art Brut vs. Satan – Eddie Argos and co. once again plow through another hilarious set of sloppy punk, bringing his witty lyrics and non-singing delivery through more great tracks like the title song and “Alcoholics Unanimous.”

24. Matt & Kim – Grand – A great, gleeful album from the duo that is the sonic equivalent of downing a bag filled with pixie sticks and washing it down with a can of Red Bull.

23. Dan Deacon – Bromst – Equally as hyper as Matt & Kim, but much more experimental and genre defying, “Bromst” again sounds like Deacon taking dance music, putting it in a blender, and fast forwarding the results of that sound.

22. Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix – This one probably would have ranked higher, but I’m now holding a grudge against Phoenix for playing only 4 songs at the XRT Holiday show this past Friday night. “1901” and “Lysztomania” were just about as perfect as pop songs got this year though.

21. Ida Maria – Fortress ‘round My Heart – Although the album loses too much steam by the end, “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked” and “Oh My God” were also among the best songs of the entire year. Very anxious to see where Ida Maria will go from this one.

20. A Place to Bury Strangers – Exploding Head – A massive, rumbling entity, making rock sound more like a force of nature than anything. Heavy on the influence of the Jesus & Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine, and then heavier on the volume. Will be very interesting to see live next year, with a very solid pair of earplugs in tow.

19. Mew – No More Stories are Told… - These Danes put together a beautiful and fascinating space out, sounding something like a twisty, turny message of peace from an alien race. An alien race that can rock, that is.

18. Brand New – Daisy – Brand New is another band that was once considered “emo,” but has thankfully moved on and proven that is not a dirty word in rock anymore. This is their third great album in a row, proving they are in my opinion one of the most underrated bands in the country at the moment. Great, brutally powerful rock when they want it to be.

17. Wilco – Wilco (the Album) – This was an average album for Wilco, but I’ve said it before, an average Wilco album is better than 99% of most bands’ best efforts. The problem with the album was the two star players in the band, drummer Glenn Kotche and guitarist Nels Cline, were held in check for the majority of the album. They were allowed to shine on the excellent “Bull Black Nova,” while other highlights are the amusingly titled fan salute “Wilco (the Song),” and the great ballad “You and I” with Feist.

16. Yo La Tengo – Popular Songs – YLT are a maddening group, live they can be one of the best bands in the world, or one of the most disappointing. There was a string of years early this decade where they moved away from their psychedelic jams towards quieter and introspective material. On this newest album, they seem to want to reconcile these two opposing forces, still touching on their jam side with great songs like “Here to Fall” to the quieter “More Stars Than There Are in Heaven,” with great oddball pop diversions like “Periodically Double or Triple” thrown in between.

15. The Antlers – Hospice – This is the album that is the mystery long shot for me that somehow turned out to be one of my favorite albums of the year. I pretty much bought it only after seeing a very glowing review on it on Pitchfork and nothing else. That turned out to be a pretty good move, since this is a unique and rewarding album that definitely has depth that will only be revealed by many listens. It reminds me the most of the Arcade Fire’s debut cd, although the bands share little in terms of sound, it’s more about the spirit of the album. This isn’t a cd I’d recommend to everyone, it’s a difficult, dense work, but very rewarding for anyone willing to take the risk.

14. Green Day – 21st Century Breakdown – If “American Idiot” was Green Day’s “Tommy,” than this was their “Quardrophenia,” slightly less focused and not quite as strong, but definitely with some standout tracks. “21 Guns” (Bella’s first song she can sing in Rock Band) and “Know Your Enemy” are obvious choices for some of the best songs of the year, but this again shows that Green Day’s ambition is remaining high, and the results are still very enjoyable.

13. The Raveonettes – In and Out of Control – This band has yet to make a misstep, and this is another great addition to their catalog. It takes a special talent for a band to make songs with titles like “Suicide” and “Boys Who Rape (Should All Be Destroyed)” sound like bubbly happy songs to be sung while driving to the beach. Add on top of that, the first single “Last Dance,” a song about helping an addict, sounds like it’s the happiest song the band has written yet. It’s brilliantly deceptive mopey rock at its best.

12. Thursday – Common Existence – This was near the top of my list for most of the early part of the year. Thursday, much like Brand New, are a band that started in the “emo” scene, but have continuously evolved over the last few years, and have put out a string of three fantastic albums in a row now. The band can work up a whirlwind of guitars, and focus it into a flat out pummeling force, best seen on the closing track “You Were the Cancer,” written when the lead singer thought he might have had stomach cancer.

11. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz! – This is another album that was strong out of the gate early in the year. From the terrific one-two punch of the openers “Zero” and “Heads Will Roll” to the gentle ending of “Little Shadow,” the YYY’s once again do a great job of blending punk intensity with dance floor insanity.

Best Albums of 2009 - Numbers 50 to 31

It was once again an excellent year for music, here’s my list of my top 50 albums for 2010, with one exception.

I’ll preface the list by explaining my rules once again. I (with extremely few exceptions) will never pay more than $10 for a cd. I’ve got very stores and website I purchase from, and my view is that if a band/label isn’t willing to make the effort to put their cd out for $10 or less, then I’m not going to bother picking it up.

I also don’t believe in just downloading albums/mp3’s, since this takes away a certain degree of ownership and investment in the music to me. I’ve probably downloaded hundreds of songs, but honestly only listen to a small fraction of them. I’ve downloaded two brand new songs by my favorite band, Radiohead, this year, but have honestly only listened to each song a small number of times, since they’re only stored on my computer. Call me old fashioned that way I guess.

On to the list….

50. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago – This is the exception. The album was actually released in early 2008, but didn’t find a wide release and audience until early this year. The story behind the album is well documented, singer/guitarist/songwriter Justin Vernon was in another band which broke up, so he moved a bunch of gear and recording equipment into a cabin in Wisconsin, and over a winter wrote and recorded this masterpiece. It perfectly captures the feeling of sitting by a warm fire in the middle of a cold, snowy winter day, with gorgeous and unforgettable songs like “Skinny Love” and “Re: Stacks” throughout. Since this missed my 2008 list, this gets tacked on to this year since I enjoyed it throughout the year. On a side note, you can download the entire final show of the band's tour for free, which has every song on "For Emma," here.

49. PJ Harvey and John Parish – A Woman A Man Walked By – This one still doesn’t live up to the majesty of Harvey’s previous masterpiece, To Bring You My Love, but it’s a thousand times better than her last album at least.

48. Chevelle – Sci-Fi Crimes – The metal-esque Illinois band put together another respectable collection of songs, and thankfully they’re getting away from the heavy Tool influence that dominated their early music.

47. The Hold Steady – A Positive Rage – I usually don’t put live albums on my best of the year lists, but I was happy to make an exception in this case. This disc very well captured a great Halloween performance at the Metro in Chicago by the formerly Minneapolis based rockers, the only drawback is that it was recorded before the tour for their great album Stay Positive, so only one track from that album was played there.

46. White Rabbits – It’s Frightening – The debut album by White Rabbits is a nice appetizer to the next album by Spoon, since the cd was produced by Spoon’s main man Britt Daniel. The lead track “Percussion Gun” is one of the best double-drummer tracks of the year.

45. Titus Andronicus – Airing of Grievances – This New Jersey band owes a great debt to the most famous rocker from their state, as they infuse the Boss’s anthemic rock with a healthy dose of punk spirit.

44. Silversun Pickups – Swoon – I had such high expectations for this album, based of their previous great breakthrough, Carnavas, that I was setting myself up for a letdown. There’s still some good songs, and “Panic Switch” is actually one of my favorites of the year.

43. M. Ward – Hold Time – The half of the band She & Him that I’m not in love with released another solid album this year, with his distinctive voice shining through his folky rock.

42. Muse – The Resistance – This was another album that I had massively high expectations for, but unfortunately it was a bit of a letdown as well. “Uprising” still probably has my favorite bass line from 2009 at least. Very appropriate that they will be touring with the Silversun Pickups in 2010, I believe they are calling it the “We Let Scott Pacyna Down” tour. I can’t wait to see the shirts…

41. Tom Waits – Glitter and Doom – Another exception to my “no live albums on my list” rule, this is a great collection of performances from Waits’s last trek, with his grumbling, growling voice sounding as great as ever. The bonus disc of him telling his rambling stories (along with the special bonus hidden track “Picture in a Frame”) make it worth the purchase alone.

40. Julian Plenti – Julian Pletnti is Skyscraper – The solo debut project by the lead singer from Interpol sounds, well, exactly like Interpol. It’s a pretty good appetizer for their next cd, whenever that will happen.

39. Compilation – Dark Was the Night – This disc is a who’s who of the indie rock world at the moment, including several of the bands near the top of my list for this year. The only drawback is that it was SO light and fluffy that it could be dangerously close to being a cure for insomnia.

38. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You – Thankfully Allen moved away from the heavy ska influence of her first album, and is starting to carve out more of an identity for herself. Despite the fact that it might be her last album, depending on who you believe.

37. St. Vincent – Actor – An album that is a imaginative rework of a soundtrack to the old Disney movies, this shows great potential for the songwriting and musicianship of main member Annie Clark.

36. Tinted Windows – Tinted Windows – The power-pop “supergroup” featuring members of Smashing Pumpkins, Fountains of Wayne and, um, Hanson, gels really well and crafts some solid rockers.

35. Living Things – Habeas Corpus – A great set of pissed off, fist pumping, stomping blues from the left-leaning St. Louis band.

34. The Thermals – Now We Can See – This Portland punk trio put together another rumbling, powerful album, supposedly from the perspective of a corpse.

33. Bob Mould – Life and Times – The quality of Mould’s solo releases was declining in recent years, but thankfully this year’s cd reversed that trend, with Mould’s best set of songs this decade.

32. A Camp – A Camp – Nina Persson, normally the lead singer of the extremely underrated the Cardigans, is one of those singers who I could listen to while they were singing the phone book, and I would love it. Thankfully, in her side project with her husband here, the songs were much more interesting than that, giving her strong material to shine through.

31. Owl City – Ocean Eyes – I, like many people, have been anxiously waiting for 6 years for the Postal Service to finally make a follow-up to their incredible debut, Give Up. Sadly, since Ben Gibbard has been busy with Death Cab for Cutie, among other things, that hasn’t happened. Apparently Adam Young, who basically is Owl City, has been anxiously waiting too, so much so that he created an album that could easily be the follow up to Give Up. The only flaw with this disc is the extremely cheesy lyrics, which get in the way of the otherwise great music.

R.I.P. Grandpa Matt Pacyna

Unfortunately, last week we lost my grandpa Matt. He had been fighting some mysterious illnesses for a while, and in the last month, we kind of knew that the end was near for him. Thankfully, pretty much our entire family was able to get out to see him, and without directly saying so, we were able to say our goodbyes before things went completely downhill.

At the funeral, my sister and I discussed our favorite story about our Grandpa. I was 9 or 10 years old, and as a treat, my grandparents offered to drive my sister and I to the Museum of Science and Industry, which is just south of the downtown area of Chicago.

We lived in Franklin Park at the time, which is right smack next to O'Hare airport. On most weekends back then, you could probably make the drive from our house to the Museum in maybe a little under an hour, probably more given the usual traffic. So we figured we'd go for the trip, spend a little time at the Museum, and then head home for dinner.

Our trouble began when my Grandpa announced that he was going to take "a short cut" to get to the museum. Now my sister and I were obviously too young to drive at the time, so we didn't exactly know all of the best ways around the city at that point. So we sat in the back seat, and figured he knew best.

That usually hour long drive somehow ended up turning into a THREE HOUR DRIVE before we finally somehow ended up at the Museum, slightly before its closing time. We ended up somehow driving around parts of the city and suburbs that we didn't even know existed before we finally made our way there. My sister and I had a great laugh all the way there, and the idea of a "Grandpa short cut" would forever be cemented in our minds.

Thankfully Bella got to see her great grandpa a few times in her life, and she got to see what a sweet and kindhearted man he was. We all hope he's gone on to a better place now, and is taking the best Grandpa shortcuts to all the places he's been, all the places he's ever wanted to go, to the homes and hearts of all the friends and family who have loved him. Take care Grandpa.

Weezer/Jack's Mannequin/Motion City Soundtrack at the Aragon 12/1

After an actual month of November with no concerts (blame the economy), I went to the Aragon Brawlroom on Tuesday night for a show I had pretty high hopes for, which was Weezer with Motion City Soundtrack and Jack's Mannequin.

Weezer has the dubious distinction of being one of two bands that are on the Top 5 list of the best concerts I have ever seen, and the worst I have seen as well. The big question was which version of the band was going to show up for this show.

Their best show I saw, which was one of the best I've ever seen, was a small tour they did early 2001 as a previewto their Green album, which was to follow later that year. The band had completely dropped off the radar, mostly due to lead singer/songwriter Rivers Cuomo having a bout of depression and locking himself in a room for most of the 5 year period between that and their previous album, the exceptional "Pinkerton." They decided to play the Metro and a few other select venues just to get out playing again before the album was released, also as a thank you to their fans for sticking around. They played an incredible set packed with all of their best material, and looked more appreciative and happy to be on the stage than almost any other band I've seen.

On the flip side of the coin, a mere 4 years later, I went to see them at the Aragon on the tour for "Make Believe." The album was a pretty big disappointment, and sadly the tour reflected that. The show was pretty much a total paycheck show, which just meant they showed up, played what they had to play, and left. All of the joy and exhillaration from the Green album show was completely gone, and they were only there just to collect the big check from the show.

While waiting to find out which of those Weezers would be there at the Aragon on that night, I got to see a couple of bands I haven't seen in a while to pass the time. I should note that the music they had playing between bands was one of my favorite bands, Sigur Ros, so that was a sign definitely pointing in the right direction.

Somehow, first up was Motion City Soundtrack, a band I've loved for 7 or 8 years or so now. The Minneapolis-based power pop/punk band has made some incredible songs, and are an amazing live band in their best moments. They've dropped off the scene for over a year now, I wasn't sure why, but it appeared to have something to do with their amazing drummer, Tony Thaxton.

MCS has a new album out in January, so I was hoping to hear a few new songs to tide me over til then. The band instead plowed through a greatest hits set, churning out most of their best tracks from their albums "I Am the Movie," "Commit This to Memory" and "Even if it Kills Me," with one brand new song tossed in at the end. Their half hour was over in a flash, but thankfully the band was in prime shape, and will definitely be worth seeing again when they are back in support of their new album.

Next up was Jack's Mannequin, a piano-based power pop band that was put in the middle spot of the lineup, when they would have been better off opening the show. I guess the move made sense, somehow more people in the crowd seemed to know their music more than MCS.

I really liked Jack's Mannequin's last album, "The Glass Passenger," so I was going to give them a chance at least, but after MCS's energetic set, JM felt pretty boring and uninspired. I'm assuming they have something new on the way, since they will be back in Chicago in February, but I could tell, and none of the songs I didn't know that they played are making me run out to pick up the cd when it's out.

Finally, Weezer was ready to take the stage. My question of which version of the band would be there was quickly answered, when the band opened with a tease of the opening riff from Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher," then went right into some sludgey metal-ish instrumental, before going right into "Hash Pipe." One of the interesting things off the bat was that the band's drummer, Pat Wilson, was now mainly playing guitar and keyboards, while they brought out a touring drummer with them for most of the songs.

This freed up Cuomo to be more of a lead singer/cheerleader than he had in the past, and surprisingly he took to the role well. He ran all over the stage throughout the set, even doing one of the new songs, "Let It All Hang Out" entirely while immersed in the front row of the crowd.

The band delivered all of the expected classics ("Surf Wax America," "Undone," "Perfect Situation," "Dope Nose"), and did manage to throw in a decent amount of songs from their excellent new album, "Raditude." They brought on a fan from the crowd to share the vocals of "(If You're Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You To," which could have been a lot of fun, but the woman sharing the vocals was frozen and didn't look like she was enjoying herself too much.

They then played the amusing party anthem "Can't Stop Partying" from the new cd, and had Cuomo performing the rap portion in the middle of the song. I have to give him credit for taking some big slugs from what appeared to be a bottle of tequilla without any adverse affects. After that, Cuomo disappeared off the stage while the rest of the band performed a spot-on cover of Pink Floyd's "Time," with Wilson nailing both the vocals and the guitar lines perfectly.

We found out the reason Cuomo disappeared shortly after that, he secretly snuck to the back of the venue and sang the entire new song "I'm Your Daddy" while perched atop the soundboard at the back of the venue.

As another enjoyable moment, the band came out for the encore all wearing Blackhawks jerseys, and after plowing through "Pork and Beans," they went into their mash-up cover of MGMT's "Kids" and Lady Gaga's "Pokerface" that they have been doing at shows for the past year. They again played "Kids" perfectly, and made it more fun than when I saw MGMT play it at Lollapalooza last year. Then midsong Cuomo snuck up to the balcony to the side of the stage, put on a long blonde wig, and hillariously mocked Lady Gaga for the portion of her song.

Cuomo then came out and looped all of the instruments by himself until he was playing most of "Island in the Sun" completely by himself, til the rest of the band joined him mid-song. They closed up with "Buddy Holly," and all 5 band members pounded on the drums to close out the show.

The band definitely looked like they were having a good time this time around, and the feeling was infectious. Despite the fact that the covers they played took up set time that could have been used for even more of their best songs, it seemed to give them more of a sense of freedom and enjoyment than they may have had in the past.

On a side note, this is the third or so show I've seen at the Aragon in the past year. I used to honestly despise going to the venue, but these past shows have shown that this is a very respectable venue once again. The sound at this show and all of the previous shows has been great, much better than the echo filled sludge like it used to sound. I have to tip my hat to whoever made that change, but I won't regret heading back there again in the future.

Trail of Dead/Secret Machines at Logan Square Auditorium

After the Thursday show at the Bottom Lounge two nights before, I was hoping that the Friday night show was going to get me back into the grove and make me stop feeling like an ancient old man at the shows. I headed to the Logan Square Auditorium with very high hopes, and luckily those were met.

There were three bands on the lineup that night, the new Chicago band Pool of Frogs (who I knew nothing about), and co-headliners the Secret Machines and ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. I got there pretty early and grabbed a spot right at the front of the stage, and didn't need to move from there the rest of the night.

I had never heard of Pool of Frogs before Friday night, so I had no idea what to expect, but I very quickly became a big fan of theirs. The band played fairly straightforward rock, but much like Matt & Kim a few weeks before, you can tell they were greatly enjoying what they were doing, and looked like they were having the time of their lives opening the show.

On top of that, they had one of the best new performers I've seen in a while. Their drummer, Will Duncan, is a complete madman who reminded me alot of Jack Black if he played the drums, and their set was fun enough just watching him go nuts for the half hour or so. They'll definitely be a band to watch, and I know I'll be seeing them again in the future.

Next up was The Secret Machines. I had last seen them at Lollapalooza 2006, where they played a midday set in the baking sun after the release of their debut album. The band is a trio, but the most outstanding member is their amazing drummer, Josh Garza. I definitely picked the right spot to stand that night, since I was surprised to find that Garza was setting up his drum kit right on the edge of the stage directly in front of me, close enough that I could have rested my hand on his bass drum, although I was not worthy to do so.

Garza turned out to be a very nice guy, he politely warned everyone standing close that he was about to do a soundcheck for his drums, so he suggested that everyone ought to put in their earplugs at that point. It was definitely a very wise idea, or my ears would still be ringing four days later. I have to give him credit too, he spotted a guy two or three people down from me who was passing out midset, and he tried to pass a bottle of water to the guy to keep him from passing out. Pretty impressive for a guy drumming like a maniac the rest of the time.

The band surprisingly opened with the closest song they've had to a hit, "Nowhere Again," and the vantage point I had was like having a master drum class done 3 feet away from me. The band skipped around their three albums during their 50 minute performance, but when they wanted to get the crowd going, they always went back to the songs from their great debut. When the set was nearly over, a guy next to me who was dangerously teetering on the annoying jackass/really spirited fan line was begging Garza to have them play their best song from that album, "First Wave Intact." Garza shook his head like it wasn't going to happen, setting off a minor wave of disappointed groans, then launched into the dinstinctive drumbeat that opens the song.

"First Wave Intact" is an incredible live song, it starts slowly with a great drumbeat with a droning bass line, and slowly over about 6 minutes builds into a massive, earth rumbling conclusion. Garza and the rest of the band performed it perfectly, whipping the front rows of fans into a frenzy.

After a short break, it was time for the Trail of Dead to take the stage. I've seen them several times in the past, they can either be one of the best bands you can see live, or they can be a bad sloppy mess, all depending on the level of alcohol they've taken in before showtime. Judging by their performance on Friday night, they probably didn't have a drink for a good week before the show, because they were solid and firing on all cylinders.

The band, which has grown into a six-piece, even with two drummers, took the stage quickly and opened with "Isis Unveiled" from their fantastic album from this year, "The Century of Self." The song is like a cyclone swirling madly into itself, then seemingly dying out, before exploding open once again. With barely a moment's rest, the band then tore into "It Was There That I Saw You" from their landmark album "Source Tags & Codes," with the roller-coaster song whipping along at breakneck speed and threatening to rumble off the tracks at any point, but managing to tear all the way to the end.

Trail of Dead, with main leader Conrad Keely steering them on, continued to play a solid set, varying between the most recent album and "Source Tags," with a few highlights from another album, "Worlds Apart," thrown in. Another highlight of the set was when the band managed to get the crowd to be absolutely silent along with them, then they without warning exploded into the furious opening of "Will You Smile Again For Me." Another highlight was when alternate lead singer Jason Reece took over the mic for his standout track from "Worlds Apart," "Caterwaul," which after about one line of the song he jumped into the audience and spent the remainder of the song singing it from the pit, while doing his part to keeping the shoving and dancing going there.

The band wrapped up their set with a couple of songs that were pre-"Source Tags" as a treat for their long time fans, keeping the thriving pit going to the very end of the night. Despite their old reputation, not a single instrument was damaged during the entire night, which is not how their shows ended in the old days.

In all, this was a pretty incredible night of music that will probably never happen again in Chicago, so I was pretty thrilled that I was there to see it. It was definitely the best concert of the year to date. To top it off, I got news from Michele that our newest nephew was born that night as well, so it was a good night for the world all around.

The Highs and Lows of the Bottom Lounge

Hello once again, can't believe it's almost been two months since my last update, guess it's time to do a little catching up.

I've been heading out to a bunch of shows as of late, including two recent ones at the Bottom Lounge, a bar/club that's been hosting shows for a year or two now just west of the Loop. I first went there about a year ago to see M83, and the big problem I had with the place was that they had rows of speaker cabinets hanging from the ceiling that blocked a large chunk of the viewing area from the floor.

I first went back about two weeks ago to see the piano/drum duo Matt and Kim, who I had to miss at the Pitchfork Festival this year to save our spots while Michele and Bella tried to check them out. I know you probably think you've never heard of the band at all, but I promise that if you've seen the commercials for the new show Community, or if you saw the right Heineken commercial, you've heard their songs.

I first saw Matt & Kim I believe at Lollapalooza 2007, when they were a very last minute addition to fill a couple of suddenly empty spots in the schedule. They had just released their debut album, and looked like they were both having the time of their lives playing to one of the biggest crowds they ever had to that point.

The band has been building a loyal audience since then, based around their goofy, giddy blasts of poppy punk. The band has been gaining recognition as well, both in the previously mentioned commercials, as well as video plays for the great newer songs "Daylight" and "Lessons Learned" from this year's Grand. They even won a MTV video award for their great video for Lessons Learned, but sadly it wasn't telecast, so Kanye couldn't interrupt them. Oh well.

The good news is the duo was just as giddy and thrilled to be playing as they were two years ago. I've been going to concerts religiously for about 15 years, and in all that time I don't think I've ever seen two people so happy to be performing. It's an infectious energy that their young crowd eats up and feeds right back to them throughout their short set.

The band had about an hour to play, but they could have easily played every single song they've released on two albums, plus a cover or two in that entire time. So the band instead had fun dancing around and frequently breaking to tell the crowd how happy they were to be there and thanking everyone for being a part of it. After closing with "Daylight," both band members even jumped into the crowd to "dance" with them the rest of the night, which basically mean them getting shoved around constantly while people tried to take pictures with them.

About a week and a half later, I headed back to the Bottom Lounge to see Thursday, a great New Jersey band I haven't seen playing live in about 5 or 6 years unfortunately, despite the fact that they've put out three fantastic albums in that time. The last time I saw them, they were playing on the side stage in a parking lot at a Q101 festival, and the guitarist got so into the first song, he didn't notice where he was, and fell off the stage a good 7 or 8 feet to the concrete below. To his credit, he got right back up and finished the entire set despite the fall. At least at the Bottom Lounge, if he fell again, it would only be about a three or four foot drop.

There were 4 bands on the lineup that night, and thankfully the show started around 5:30. Of the three opening bands, only the middle one, I believe their name was Broken Windows, was worth watching. They reminded me of Girls Against Boys, minus their whole disco rock angle, with a bit of Queens of the Stone Age thrown in.

Thursday took the stage around 8:15, which was shockingly early for a headliner. They plowed through "Resuscitation of a Dead Man," their opening track of their newest album, "Common Existence." They jumped around their catalog, focusing on alot of track from their two previous great albums, "War All the Time" and "A City By the Light Divided." The band's lead singer, Geoff Rickly, was a great band leader, as he threw every ounce of energy he had into every song, looking like he was nearly going to hyperventilate at some points in the night.

Despite his performance, something seemed a bit off with the band overall. The songs just sounded muddy live, it was hard to decipher the lyrics live, and rest of the band just sounded sludgy and it was hard to tell one song apart from another.

I was nearly one of the oldest people in the audience in the show, and seeing that alot of the crowd was still going nuts and loving the show was actually making me wonder if I was losing it. I'll chalk that up to either it being a Wednesday night in the middle of a long, busy week, or just one bad show night out of a good streak, but I was wondering if it was time to slow down on seeing concerts after that. Thankfully, I went to another show two nights later that quickly changed my mind. More to come on that.

Lollapalooza 2009 - Last Thoughts

Here are some odds and ends from the weekend that was:

Biggest Balls Call #3 - The Gaslight Anthem, choosing to play their two hits to date, "The '59 Sound" and "Great Expectations" mid-set, instead of closing with them like most other bands would.

Biggest Balls Call #2 - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs opening with one of the quietest songs, "Runaway," off their new album, instead of trying to grab the crowd with a big loud number. Pretty brave for a band who people were questioning whether they should be headlining.

Biggest Balls Call #1 - Band Of Horses, stuck starting their set 20 minutes due to Lou Reed dragging on too long, decide to keep going with their set while headliners Jane's Addiction (with Lolla mastermind Perry Farrell at the lead) began their set right across the field. Not just that, but BoH continued to play for at least 15 minutes at the same time as Jane's.

Funniest Moment of the Weekend - Being stuck behind a young half naked couple making out like they're on the Titanic and it's going down, during the incredibly romantic cover of N.W.A.'s "Bitches Ain't Shit" during Ben Folds set ("Bitches ain't shit but ho's and tricks/Lick on these nuts and suck the dick"). Glad to know romance is still alive in the next generation.

Strangest Sight of the Weekend - Seeing Ronny "Woo Woo" walking around the BMI stage during Band of Skulls' early set (it's a Chicago thing people)

Time of First Beastie Boys Cover - 8:45 on Saturday, as Nick Zinner from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs throws in a snippet of the guitar line from "So What'cha Want?" during "Phenomena"

Best Seemingly Incredibly Short Set - TV on the Radio, whose hour long set seemed to pass somehow in only 15 minutes

Worst Unintentionally Short Set (not their fault) - Hockey, who were first up on the Playstation stage on Friday, and due to power problems, barely got two songs out before their time was up

Worsth Intentionally Long Set - LOU REED.

If I Had a Dime - For every Tool shirt on Saturday, I could have easilly paid for my $170 weekend pass.

Worst Potential Sunburn in Process Competition - Ida Maria vs. Los Campesinos! It was the fair skinned girl from Norway vs. the fair skinned lads from Wales in a competition to see who would be a roasted red by the end of their set. The winner: The leader singer from Los Campesinos!, who was a nice cherry tomato red by the end of his hour. His reward, a great bit bottle of aloe.

Medal of Honor - Goes to guitarist Randy Randall of No Age, who played through his entire set after dislocating his shoulder the night before.

Number of Times I Was Offered Shrooms or Weed - Once, during Animal Collective's lousy set. Guess they would have helped.

Greatest Wind EVER - The one that suddenly ripped through the crowd in the middle of Passion Pit's closer "The Reeling"

Strangest New Trend I'm Apparently Too Old to Understand - A bunch of kids (okay probably 17-18 year olds) snuck in a big gallon sized bag with a tap on the side of it that must have been filled with Kool-Aid I'm sure. Before anyone could drink out of it, they had to slap the side of it to make the sound like slapping someone's ass. We didn't understand it, but Brian and I plan on drinking like this anywhere and everywhere we go from now on.

Best Surprise Drum Solo - The one done by Bon Iver's drummer during "Wolves" which on record sounds like a roomful of drums being set off by a floor filled with mousetraps going off, was recreated amazingly well by only one guy live

Best Potentially Annoying Audience Member - The "Lollapop" guy in the front at the Ida Maria set, who I've seen in past years, mainly because he brings two huge spray bottles filled with cold water and showers the audience as much as possible just for the fun of it.

Best Seemingly Sincere Compliment By a Band - The Constantines singer, in the middle of tuning his guitar, stops while hearing Living Things roaring on the main stage, and says "Who is that? They're pretty good!"

Worst Compliment By a Band That Really Doesn't Seem Sincere - Almost every single band who said that the crowd was the greatest one ever.

Most Unnecessary Near-Encore - "Poet" Thax Douglas, standing practically on stage during Bon Iver's set after reading one of his "poems" at the start, looking like he was more than ready to read a second one

Best Impersonation of What Their Photos Would Look Like the Next Day - Kings of Leon, who barely moved throughout their set, so much that the photos I saw of the band were practically videos of their performance

Band MVP #3 - Silversun Pickups drummer Christopher Guanlao, whose fantastic playing and flailing arms and hair make for a great visual centerpiece for the band

Band MVP #2 - The lead singer of Friendly Fires, who madly danced and flailed around in the scorching midday sun like he was in a dark nightclub

Band MVP #1 - The piano/backup vocal/extra drum player in Manchester Orchestra, who when he wasn't adding to the band's sound, was playing the greatest set of air drums I've seen in some time

Lastly, Siblings I'll Most Likely Be Seeing Play at Lollapalooza 2017 - This set of kids we saw taking a rest in the middle of Sunday

Lollapalooza 2009 - Day 3.1 Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age at the Logan Square Auditorium

Yes, despite spending the entire day standing in the brutally hot sun, and already having heard over 30 hours of music in 3 days, I was still ready for more after leaving the Lollapalooza grounds. I got on the Blue line, and headed to Logan Square to catch what was hopefully going to be one of the more interesting shows I've seen in a while.

Three of the bands at Lollapalooza, Dan Deacon, Deerhunter and No Age, were on a small tour for a few weeks, and held their final date on Sunday night after their Lollapalooza performances. There was an interesting twist to the tour, instead of all three playing their normal sets, all three bands were set up at the same time in the same space, and all were playing together.

At least the impression I got was that they would all be playing together throughout each others' songs, to make this a very unique tour that would probably never happen again. However, it was slightly different than I thought, all three bands basically took turns playing, starting with Deerhunter, then No Age, the Dan Deacon, and followed that pattern for the rest of the night.

I was pretty much completely exhausted by this point in the weekend, but I managed to find a spot near a wall and was able to sit then prop myself up for the remainder of the night. They unfortunately decided to have 3 performers open the set, but thankfully each only got 20 minutes. The first two made some droning noise that went on for most of the 20 minutes and was nothing to note. The third guy was decent, he performed only with singing and with a drum, at least he was more tollerable than the previous two guys.

Things got pretty interesting from that point on. The marching band that performed with Dan Deacon at his Lolla set filled the center of the already crowded room, and proceeded to play 3 or 4 songs of their own while moving carefully through the crowd.

From that point on, it was time for the main event. The set started with Deerhunter going first, and they played a slow building song that took a while to get moving. Next up was No Age, who again cranked through one of their speedy stomping numbers in no time. They were then followed by Dan Deacon, who immediately whipped the crowd into a jumping dancing frenzy with another of his crazy dance tracks.

It was obvious from that point on who the real star of the evening was, and who the majority of the crowd was there to see. While Deerhunter and No Age took another turn, the marching band quietly filtered in again and filled in the already cramped space that Deacon was performing in. They then blasted through "Woof Woof," which was already a highlight on the main stage, and was even crazier in the confined space of the Logan Square Auditorium.

After that, even Deerhunter's lead singer Bradford Cox admitted he had the impossible task of following Deacon's insane song, and didn't even try to match his energy, instead playing a slow, mostly solo song with only his guitar. After another No Age track, Deacon again stepped up, with the marching band still surroudning him, and again attempted the interpretive dance circle routine that he did so well at his Lolla set during "Of the Mountains."

The crowd was so insane during part of the song, while they were all jumping up and down together, that I swear the floor of the Auditorium was bowing and could have collapsed at any point. And how I didn't develop seizures because of the crazy lights Deacon was using, I will never know.

After one more round, of songs, with the other bands getting an extra song or two in, Deacon had one more track, and he busted out "Wham City" from his previous album "Spiderman of the Rings" and drove the crowd into a further frenzy. After that, there was time for another song, and the other bands decided to play together, but nothing could match what had just happened before that.

It was pretty much 1:30 am by the time that happened, and it was doubtful much else was going to happen from there, so I took that as my cue to call it a weekend, hop back on the train, and head towards home and throw my exhausted carcass onto the bed. I think I heard rougly 35 hours of music all weekend long, it was a very memorable and great time all around.

Lollapalooza 2009 - Day 3

After a good 6 hours of sleep or so, I was ready once again for another full day of music and sun and heat for the Sunday lineup at Lolla. In the past few years at Lollapalooza, Sunday was usually the weakest lineup of all, giving fans a good chance to pick and see maybe 2 or 3 good bands in the day, and get plenty of rest for the other hours of the day.

That was definitely not the case with this year's lineup. Sunday turned out to have the best lineup of the weekend, having some interesting band to see almost entirely from 12:30 til the close at 10 pm. It was also of course the hottest day of the past few months, so it was going to be a day of balancing rest from the sun and getting close for some views of some good bands.

I actually somehow managed to get downtown around 11:30 again despite being out so late the night before, so I decided to check out a few bands I've never heard of til the schedule really kicked in. First up on the tiny and very well shaded BMI stage was the Nashville band Mike's Pawn Shop. I had no idea what to expect from them, but was very happy with what I heard.

They were a harder punk-pop type band that was a sound that was badly missing from the weekend otherwise. Not only were their songs good, but you could tell they were actually excited to be there and were putting every fiber in their beings into impressing those who wandered over to their set. I'll definitely be checking them out again at a future show.

Next up, I headed to one of the north stages to check out the Sam Roberts Band, who are apparently HUGE in Canada. I guess it's for the same reason Jason Mraz is so popular here, pretty much completely inoffensive, safe rock that really wasn't too memorable an hour afterwards. It was a good time to get a big ice cream cone and a little extra rest in the shade while the sun was as brutal as it got all weekend long.

Shortly after that, the schedule started getting packed, and it was time to get moving around the grounds. I started on the north end by checking out the heavily buzzed band Friendly Fires, since I heard a song or two of their trippy dance rock before the festival. They were actually really good live, they got the crowd moving early on in the extremely brutal heat and sun, and their lead singer definitely was one of the best performers of the weekend, as he danced and flailed around with every song and gave it everything he had despite the brutal heat.

I stayed at their set for about 15 minutes and was very impressed with what I saw, but I had to head to the south end of the park to catch the remained of the set by Ra Ra Riot. Their gentle swooning songs are ideal for a festival setting, but it was a bit too gentle for such a brutally hot day. I found a good spot to rest in some shade while their set finished, since there was a lot more to see in the day ahead.

I met up with my friend Brian once again to complete our Lollapalooza weekend and rib sandwich fest, and our next stop was Bat For Lashes on the other south stage. I've heard both of the band's albums, and like what I've heard, but knew it was going to be a bit difficult to pull off in a festival setting. The band, which is basically main member Natasha Khan, is widely compared to the likes of Tori Amos, Bjork and Kate Bush, which I consider to be pretty high praise.

The songs were great and all, but once again, the oppressive heat made it extremely difficult to keep interested in the intricate songs. We had to find a spot in the shade near the stage and hear what we could for the remainder of the set while Cage the Elephant blared their generic alterna-rock from the nearby sound stage at the same time. I wouldn't mind seeing Bat For Lashes in a sit-down theater, but that was too rough on Sunday.

It was then time for one of 2 breaks left in the day where there was nothing I was too interested in seeing. Since we had to choose between the Arcade Fire rip-off Airborne Toxic Event and Brits Kaiser Chiefs, who had one or two songs I've liked in the past, we headed up towards the Kaiser Chiefs, and listened to them while we secured a good spot for the Raveonettes, who were up on the other north stage next. I would say that the Kaiser Chiefs were good there, they did put on a great high energy midday set that the crowd did seem to eat up.

We then were into the best part of the day, and possibly the best part of the weekend. First up was the set by the Raveonettes. They pretty much played the exact same set as they did the night before at the Empty Bottle, but it didn't matter, since it was 20 times louder at Lolla than in the smaller club, which is ideal for their massive wall of sound. The band did seem to be enjoying themselves in an actual set played during daylight hours, which I never thought would ever happen. I believe I even saw them crack a smile, which is another first in the 6 years I've been seeing them.

Before the Raveonettes started, we had another of our most amusing festival moments of the weekend. We had a spot very close to the barricade at the front of the stage. Usually, the security guys they have working at these points are forced to stand around and grimace at the crowd before pulling down crowdsurfers or threatening to kick other peoples' asses. However, the guards at the front of the stage at the Raveonettes' set were offering to dunk peoples' hats in the cool buckets of water they had, and they soon began taking dozens of bottles of ice cold water and doused everyone they possibly could remotely near the stage. It got to the point where I was so soaked that I looked like I went on a water ride at an amusement park. Everyone in the crowd of course loved it, and it was a rare treat to see these guards enjoying themselves as much as we were. I tip my hat to them once again.

Since I had seen their set already, I hoofed it after about 20 minutes back to the south end of the park to check out the set by Dan Deacon. Now, I knew from reading on Pitchfork about his concerts for the past few years that they were usually pretty crazy experiences, and usually involved alot of audience participation. His songs are great too, the best way I can describe most of them would be to take your average dance rock band, put their cd on fast forward, and then put that cd player in a blender, and you'll get close to the sound of his shows.

I guess before we got there, Deacon was fighting with the sound people over some technical glitch, but everything was off and running by the time we got there. Deacon, who usually plays a series of keyboards and effects pedals, was joined by a large marching band and other odds and end players to make an incredibly unique experience. His first audience participation experiment was to have the massive crowd form a big circle by holding arms and forming a giant snaking archway, and then he wanted the crowd to run through the archway and continue it as long as they could, while his bizarre dance rock on meth was blasting in the background.

It worked well, with smiles all around on the participants as well as everyone watching. He then had the crowd spread out to make a huge empty circle in the front near the stage, and he had a friend of his go into the center of the circle. He then asked his friend to lead an interpretive dance to "Of the Mountains," and asked those all around the circle to exactly mimic what his friend did. It actually worked very well and was again very entertaining to watch while the manic music filled the air, and that was shortly followed by the largest salvo of plastic bottles I think I've ever seen at one time.

All in all, it was definitely one of the most fun and unique sets of the weekend by far. Deacon, who looks about as much of a rock star as Kevin on The Office does, did an incredible job of keeping the crowd all worked up, and for a while, everyone seemed to forget about that nasty weather and all that business.

We the headed to the furthest south stage to check out some of the set by Vampire Weekend, and to meet up with our friends Jenn and Mike. I really liked VW's set at the Pitchfork Festival last year, but quite honestly, after the insanity and genius of Dan Deacon's set, I really didn't pay much attention to VW at all this time around.

We did find Jenn and Mike and hung out and chatted for a bit. They had managed to get a pass to the prestigious exclusive cabana area near the south stage, and offered to get us free food and drinks while we were there. However, we are so loyal to our Robinsons Rib Sandwiches, that we actually passed on the free food, since we were still yet to have the final delicious rib sandwich of the 2009 festival. Now THAT is dedication.

We took off early to get a spot for the last of my greatly anticipated sets of the weekend by Passion Pit on the Citi stage. For those that haven't heard of them yet, Passion Pit have become huge on the internet in the past year for their insanely catchy dance rock. Lead singer Michael Angelakos wrote an ep's worth of songs for a former girlfriendf or Valentine's Day a few years ago, and even though they apparently didn't work with her, the songs became a huge sensation, leading to the even better debut album "Manners."

The street surrounding the Citi stage was as crowded as I've ever seen it, probably as jammed as it was for Girl Talk's insane set there last year. We were in the middle of the crowd, and there was no hope of getting out, so I don't know how far back it went for sure. The band opened with "Make Light," and never slowed down for the next 45 minutes from there. Despite the sun was beating down as bad as it was the entire weekend, the crowd went nuts and was jumping up and down and dancing with every song, with highlights like "Little Secrets" and "Moth's Wings."

One of the most odd and incredible things happened during Passion Pit's set as well. After making it through 40 minutes of sweat soaked oppresive heat, during the closing monster track "The Reeling," right at a point where most of the crowd had their hands in the air, a gigantic wind swept through the crowd that somehow felt 20 degrees cooler than the stagnant air around us to that point. The crowd was shocked, and then more invigorated to finish off the incredible set. It was one of those sets that make standing out in the sun and heat for an entire weekend worth every single moment and more.

After the insanity of Passion Pit's set, we needed a break to catch our breath and regroup. We got some fantastic fruit smoothies (if you ever get to have a Maui Wowi Fresh Hawaiian smoothie, do it!) to cool off, and then stuck around the Citi stage for our final round of bands. Our plan was to first start at Deerhunter's set at the Citi stage, then head to the north end to check out some of the set by legened Lou Reed, then see some of the set by the magnificent Band of Horses, then head south to cacth part of the set by Silversun Pickups, before wrapping up the festival with the closing set by the Killers. But all good plans are doomed to fail of course.

We started at the Deerhunter set, and it was fine, not too exciting. It could partially be blamed on lead singer Bradford Cox having a flu or something (he claimed to be buzzing so hard of a B-12 shot that he got that the crowd members' faces all just looked like blank flesh to him). The band's wall of guitars didn't have the same punch on this stage as it did earlier in the year when I saw them in a tiny club in Florida, but at least they gave it a good effort.

We then headed back to the north end for our solemn duty of savoring the final Robinsons Rib Sandwich of the 2009 Lollapalooza festival. We took our time, since seeing Lou Reed wasn't an extreme priority, and enjoyed every last bite of it and took plenty of photos to mark the occasion. (And yes, to the good folks of Robinsons, we are still anxiously awaiting our free sandwiches for all of the advertising for your delicious, fantastic product)

We got to the north end to hear some of Reed's set, and since it was around 7:10, we were expecting to hear about 20 minutes, and then move on to the majesty of Band of Horses' sweeping epics. However, that was not to be. After about 5 minutes after our arrival, Reed and his band went on a good 10 or 15 minute streak of pure feedback drenched noise, and then somehow around 7:30 or so, they kicked back in to another song. The song dragged on for a few minutes, and by 7:45, 15 minutes already over their alloted time, with Band of Horses ready to start their set, Reed kicked into his biggest hit, "Walk on the Wildside." Amazingly, the song didn't drag on as long as I expected, but BoH still had to wait 20 minutes to start their set.

They finally took the stage and rewarded those who patiently waited through Reed's noise to such great songs off the bat as "Great Salt Lake" and "Is There a Ghost." They sounded majestic once again, and their heavily Neil Young-inspired sound sounded fantastic blasting out into the night sky.

We did want to see some of the Silversun Pickups, and despite feeling very sorry for BoH for them getting screwed by Reed, we headed to the south end. It turned out we missed some of the most interesting events of the weekend, as the headliners Jane's Addiction still went on at their scheduled start time of 8:30, including a ridiculous helicopter flyby to start the set. Despite all that, BoH kept on playing, even continuing their set while Jane's Addiction was starting their set on the same field. That took some brass balls, especially since they kept going for 15 minutes or so, so I applaud them.

We did get to the south end to catch the end of the Silversun Pickups' set, and got there right in time as they started their great new song "Panic Switch," and followed it with a fantastically massive taken on their previous hit "Lazy Eye." True, like most people say, they do owe a huge debt in their sound to the Smashing Pumpkins, but unlike the Pumpkins in the last few years, the band sounded fantastic live, and definitely proved that they were capable of delivering a great set in a prime spot at such a festival as Lollapalooza.

We then stayed to listen to most of the set by the somehow gigantically huge Killers. I can admit that I like the band, but I do agree with most critics that despite how great many of their singles are, they have yet to make a truly great album from beginning to end. The band had a great light show, and kicked off with "Human," and didn't waste any time peppering their set with their big hits like "Somebody Told Me" and "Smile Like You Mean It."

I don't know if it was the exhaustion of being in the sun so much for the previous two days, or just the proper end to an insane weekend, but the crowd around us at the Killers' set was one of the most amusing ones we have seen. There were definitely some of the whitest people I've seen dancing around us, and there was one woman in particular who made the Elaine dance from Seinfeld look like proper ballroom dancing in comparison. Yes, it was so amusing, we even had to record a video of it.

I did end up leaving the Killers' set early, partially out of exhaustion, but also, yes, because I had yet another show to attend that night. I said my goodbye to Lollapalooza, got some photos of the grounds and the gorgeous night sky in the city, hopped on the train and headed off to my final destination of the weekend.

Thanks once again Lollapalooza, you kicked my ass, and I loved every minute of it.