Lollapalooza 2009 Lineup (So Far)

Yesterday, they finally released the lineup for Lollapalooza 2009, and I'm very happy with what I see. For the moment.

By my count, there are around 28 or so bands that I will be making an effort to see that weekend, and that only really includes one of the 6 main headliners. The problem that this brings up is that means everyone I went to see is in the "middle tier" of bands, which means that they will basically all be scheduled at the same time against one another, and I'll be forced to pick between 2 or 3 bands I want to see at a time, which will drop down the number of bands I'll actually get to see to something like 18. Oh well, I can live with that.

The ones I'm looking forward to the most so far:
Kings of Leon - The only headliner I care about, I've loved their last three albums, and they put on a good set at Lolla in 2007. I'm assuming they'll be on against Tool or the Beastie Boys, so they'll have a decent sized crowd, but not the biggest.
Rise Against - I will now be able to say that one of my classmates from high school will be playing a main stage at Lollapalooza. I'm assuming they'll be on before Tool, so the crowd may get a bit ugly, but it shouldn't be missed.
TV on the Radio - Winners of the extremely prestigious 2008 Scott Pacyna Album of the Year award, this is the first chance I'll get to see them since that release. The reviews of their set at Coachella have been glowing, so that's another can't miss.
Vampire Weekend - They were great at Pitchfork Festival last year, I'm hoping they'll have a few new songs to play this year.
Neko Case - I've seen her live before, she has an astounding voice, one of the best in rock, but the song quality wasn't there to match. Her new album from this year finally gives her some better material to work with.
Animal Collective - Touring on one of the more adventurous releases of the year, should be an interesting psychedelic shift from most of the bands that weekend.
Band of Horses - A great live band who I haven't gotten to see somehow since 2006, their Neil Young influenced guitar rock always sounds tailor made for a beautiful outdoor summer night.
Ben Folds - I enjoyed his last album more than most, he's always an entertaining live act, and that should be a great time for a sing-along or two.
Fleet Foxes - I didn't hear their album before their set at Pitchfork last year, so I'm looking forward to seeing them after spending alot of time with that one. Should be an excellent mid-day break to rest in the sun and bask in their harmonies.
Silversun Pickups - I believe they were at Lolla in 2007, and I had to pass on seeing them due to one of the difficult schedule decisions at the time. I'm 99% sure I'll be going with them whoever they are scheduled against this time around.
Crystal Castles - A Canadian electronic act whose live shows usually end up being a mess one way or another, should be worth checking out.
Bon Iver - I tried seeing them at Pitchfork last year on the side stage while Spiritualized were drowning out their sound, but there was no chance of hearing their delicate music at that time. I've just caught on to their fantastic cd from last year, will be another great set to relax in the shade and unwind with.
Deerhunter - We just saw them open for Girl Talk in Florida, and they nearly blew our eardrums out with their swirling, massive My Bloody Valentine inspired sound. Should be interesting to see them try it again on the Lolla stage.
Dan Deacon - His set will be what Girl Talk's set was last year, highly audience interactive and massively hipster infested. Loved his album Spiderman of the Rings, haven't heard his new one yet, should be very amusing.
The Raveonettes - I love this no-frills group, but much like the Twilight Singers last year, it's going to be a crime seeing them out in the sun.
The Gaslight Anthem - As I said in my list of my favorite albums from 2008, this Jersey band came out of nowhere and impressed me with their Springsteen influenced heart-on-their-sleeve rock. This is one of the most anticipated sets of the entire weekend.
Ra Ra Riot - Orchestra rock, heard great reviews of their set opening for Death Cab For Cutie last week.
Bat For Lashes - One of the young female rockers picking up the torches of PJ Harvey and Tori Amos, her new album has gotten great reviews. She'll also be competing for the highly coveted prize of Hottest Chick at Lollapalooza, along with Sharon Foo from the Raveonettes, Neko Case, and the ladies from the next two bands.
Los Campesinos! - Saw them back in February, lively pop-punk, should make for an early energizing set to start one of the days.
Chairlift - Going to see this band open for Peter, Bjorn and John tomorrow, their song "Handstands" was stuck in your head thanks to an iPod commercial, their lead singer is going to have all of the sunburnt guys swooning early in the day.
Ida Maria - She is new, still need to listen to her cd, but her infectious performance on the Tonight Show last night, dedicating "I Like You Better When You're Naked" to other guest Hugh Jackman, showed she had a pretty good sense of humor and seems to have a lot of fun playing her music.
Living Things - Saw these guys back at Lolla 2006 I believe, their T-Rex influenced blues stomp rock was fueled by their anti-Bush hatred at the time. We'll see how they do now without him to rage against.

Won't know the schedule for the weekend until mid-June most likely, so I have to really cross my fingers now that they scheduling gods are very kind to me.

Our Summer Concert Season 2009

We've already started lining up our concert weekends for the upcoming summer, guess we are getting a little anxious. Looks right now like Bella is going to getting a full dose of concerts in the months ahead!

Our summer concert season will begin July 10th and 11th, when we'll be taking a road trip up to Minneapolis to visit our friend Molly, and to check out the Basilica Block Party there. It's an annual outdoor show they've had there for a while, but this year there's a special treat. The band the Jayhawks, whose song "Blue" was the first dance for Michele and I at our wedding, will be reuniting and playing their first show since around 1997. They'll also have the Black Crows, Counting Crows, Matt Nathanson (another of our favorites), and one of Bella's favorites from Pitchfork last year, The Hold Steady. Should be a very cool getaway weekend.

The next weekend, and the one I'm looking forward to the most right now, is the Pitchfork Festival July 17th through the 19th. I'll be going solo on Friday night, which should be an interesting night where four bands (including one of my favorites, Yo La Tengo) will let everyone who bought a ticket vote on what songs they want to hear that night, and their setlists will be based on the results. Bella and Michele will be both be going with Saturday and Sunday (this will be Bella's third year there in a row), and we're really looking forward to see the Flaming Lips, one of my favorite bands, closing out the festival that Sunday night, among many other great bands.

We'll be taking it breather for a bit then, and only having one day of music on Saturday, Aug. 1st, where we'll be heading down to scenic Tinley Park to see the Warped Tour. The entire day is made up of punk, pop-punk, more punk, heavier punk, screamy punk, and for a little variety, some punk. It's a lot of fun though, the bands never have any idea what the lineup will be each day, the biggest names get just as much stage time as the newest kids just starting their band up, and it's just a great way to see lots of music and find new bands. Who knows, we may even have to dye Bella's hair just for the occasion.

Last up is the big one, the one that's still a mystery at the moment, Lollapalooza. This one is a mystery at the moment, since the lineup has not been released yet, but I already have a ticket for myself anyways. We'll be deciding about bringing Bella (and Michele of course) based on what bands end up being there and what days they end up playing. The list of bands will be announced next Tuesday the 21st, as you can guess I'm just slightly anxious to see that. There's a pretty reliable rumored list of some of the top names out there though that you can see here. If this list ends up being remotely true, I'm going to be a very happy boy that weekend.

We still have to make it through a few weeks of spring of course til the summer season starts, we're hoping to add a few dates here and there (and Bella really wants a Death Cab for Cutie ourdoor show of course!), so we'll see what else we end up attending as the year rolls on. Expect a overjoyed rant from me on Tuesday the 21st though...

The Ting Tings at Metro 4/5

I got to sneak out Sunday night in the middle of our latest rain/snow/sleet/who knows what else storm to head to the Metro to see the Ting Tings. Long time loyal readers will remember that they performed at Lollapalooza last August, and put on a starmaking set that was hard to match. I'm proud of both of you for remembering that.

The Ting Tings are simply a girl/guy duo from England who put out their debut last year, and thanks to a heavilly played iPod commercial, quickly rode a wave of buzz. They opened the main stage of Lollapalooza in the 12:30 pm slot, where several hundred Rage Against the Machine fans were already camped out save their spots for their idol's set, which wouldn't be happening for another 8 hours.

Keep in mind that the majority of RATM fans are not the most open minded of people, as evidenced by the near riot that broke out during the set that night. But due to the energetic performance and catchy pop-punk of the band, the was somehow swayed, clapping and dancing to the Ting Tings' music.

After a few months of support for their debut, the Ting Tings returned to Chicago to the packed Metro. They brought the band Hottub with them as their openers. At first I was dreading the worst, since first two hairy dudes came out and started laying down some beats, and were quickly followed by three women who then began to rap. At first it seemed like an odd pairing to have the two bands together, but it became apparent why they made the choice.

Hottub ended up putting on a fun, highly energetic set that more than made up for substance with energy and enjoyment. The three women ran all over the stage, jumped into the crowd on several occasions, and two of the members spent a good chunk of time in the crowd. I really couldn't tell you what any of the songs were about, but it really didn't matter, since they band had such a good time playing, and the crowd followed suit as well.

After a pretty short set-up time, the Ting Tings followed up and nearly matched Hottub's energy level. Lead singer/guitarist/super hottie Katie White was of course the center of attention, running around the stage in a tiny black dress and knocking out the band's two chord melodies, or banging on an extra bass drum, whatever what was needed at the time. (Sadly, they weren't allowing flash photos during the set, since Katie would probably be blinded by 100 cameras going off at her during the show)

The only unfortunate thing about the Ting Tings' set was that it was nearly identical to their set at Lollapalooza. They only played songs from their debut, and not one single new song was played otherwise. I was hoping by now they'd have a few songs ready to go, but it didn't appear that this was the case.

They again closed a very extended version of "That's Not My Name," with the crowd eating up every second of it. After barely an hour, the band was done and gone. They proved they're definitely a band to watch, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here, when they can probably write a song with more than two chords in it.

Bella's Birthday Cake Part 3

Still catching up on the pictures, sorry folks...

The Saturday after Bella's actual birthday, my sister and her family came up to visit Bella and have some quality cousin play time. Bella loved it, of course, especially the Hullabaloo game they gave her that they spent a good solid hour playing (note to any other parents out there: this game is worth its weight in gold!).

The weather was pretty nice that day, so we were able to go out to the big park by our house and let the girls go nuts there for a while. Bella's very anxious for the weather to warm up so she can have her mommy and daddy spend hours pushing her on the swings. Ah, can't wait for spring.

Lastly, the shirt Bella is wearing is a classic I found at Target right before Bella's birthday. It's hard to read on the picture, but it says:
Reasons why you might confuse me with a Rock Star:
1. I can scream really loud
2. When I don't get my way, I throw a temper tantrum
3. I'm up all night
4. You can't completely understand what I'm saying
5. No one else can pull off this hairdo.

I swear that neither Michele or I had anything to do with the creation of this shirt...

Bella's Birthday Cake Part 2

Yes, Part 2 of Bella's birthday cakes for her 3rd birthday. Part 1 was the cupcakes she helped to make while we were down at Grandma and Grandpa's house. This time around, she made a birthday cake with mommy while daddy was off at class. We of course then had a piece after I got home, after she had her favorite meal of, what else, mac and cheese for her birthday!

Florida Pics Part 4

Here's the last of the pics from our trip to FLA. These are from SeaWorld, including Bella watching the Shamu and sea lion shows, Bella and I on her second roller coaster trip, and Michele petting a sloth's butt. Good times.

Florida Trip Part 3

For the second half of our visit to Florida, we packed everything up and headed northing to Orlando to take Bella on her first visit to Disney World. After a pretty quick drive, we got to Disney World just before lunch time.

We must have picked the right day to go, despite it being spring break for alot of families. We got a pretty decent parking spot and got in the park with no problems. I thought for sure we'd be waiting in lines for an hour for pretty much any ride at all, but the longest we ended up waiting was about 40 minutes, and that was for the Peter Pan ride!

Bella loved the Magic Kingdom of course, she got to go on the carousel a few times, then the Dumbo ride, the Magic Carpet ride, It's a Small World, the Peter Pan ride, the Pirates of the Caribbean (which freaked her out since it's pitch black dark most of the time now), the car driving ride and a monorail type ride.

Most importantly of all though, Bella went on her first roller coaster ride at Disney! She really, really wanted to go on the kid sized roller coaster that they had at the Sesame Place park we went to in August, but she was just under the height requirement. All of those months of eating mac and cheese and pizza must have paid off, she definitely made the height requirement this time around.

She made me go on with her, and we practically walked up to the ride with no line. She wasn't afraid at all, she was super excited to go on. We went on, of course the ride barely took a minute, but she was smiling and laughing through almost the whole ride. As soon as we got off the ride, the first words out of her mouth literally were "I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!"

So I was very proud of course. We stuck around to the end of the night, for what we thought would be the big parade at the end. It turned out to only be a big fireworks show, but Bella didn't care, she had a huge smile on her face though that. You can pretty much see how happy she was by the last picture below.

After we braved the stampede out of the park, we got into the car, and by the time we got to the exit, Bella was passed out like a rock. We got to the hotel a few miles away, put Bella in bed while Grandma kept an eye on her, and we went to get a very late dinner at the Checkers which was across the street from the hotel. The only problem with this is because of the retarded way the streets are set up there, it took us a good 15 minutes just to get across the street. Didn't matter, we don't have Checkers near us up here, so we always make the effort to go while we're in Florida and get plenty of their awesome fries.

We got up the next morning and decided to head over to SeaWorld, since Bella loves sea lions and penguins so much. We had another very good day there with excellent weather once again, Bella got to see more seals, whales and dolphins than we could shake a stick at. Michele and I even fed a bunch of sea lions at one point, which Bella enjoyed since she got to hear them all barking at us for a while.

After a trip back to the hotel, and a little time in one of the pools, we decided to have a big dinner at Maggiano's that night. "BIG" being the operative word. We did their family style dinner, had more food than I care to remember, and did a pretty good job of polishing it all off. Thank god it's getting warm up here now and I can go and run it all off again.

After one more night of good sleep, we packed everything up and headed to the airport. Once again, I don't know if we just had the luckiest time in the world, but when we got to the Orlando airport that Saturday afternoon, we walked right up to the United counter, quickly through security, and were pretty much at our gate in 20 minutes. Slight difference from O'Hare there.

It was an excellent time though, a very good warm up for Bella's big 3rd birthday week. Thanks very much again to Grandma and Grandpa G for everything.

Florida Pics Part 2

Post-Vacation Update

We are back, we just spent 10 days in sunny and thankfully not hot Florida visiting Michele's family and doing all sorts of touristy things.

Our trip didn't get off to a great start unfortunately... As we were getting out of our car at O'Hare at 6 AM last Thursday, Bella tripped over a curb on the way into the airport and bit her lip pretty badly. So we weren't even at our gate to take our plane, and our poor girl got her first bad bruise and cut. Good times.

Luckily, that was the only bad thing that happened from there on out. Once our plane got off the ground, we made excellent time down to Miami. We even got there before the expected arrival time, so sadly I'll never know how the masterpiece "The Express" ends. Crap.

We took it easy at first to let Bella heal up, but ended up hitting the Miami zoo early on in the trip. Bella enjoyed it alot since we got a 4 person bike that Michele's parents and us powered while Bella navigated the park. We got to feed some giraffes ourselves, although Bella was too scared to do it herself.

We thankfully were able to have a couple of date nights out thanks to Grandma and Grandpa G. Bella made it extremely easy on them too, since she passed out while watching movies with them two of the nights. We did get out to see Watchmen on Friday night, I thought they did a fantastic job of translating it to the big screen, which I thought would be impossible. Don't know how much people who weren't fans of the comic would love it though.

We also got out to see Girl Talk play a small club in Fort Lauderdale to make up for the big festival that got canceled that weekend. It was good to see the show there, since the place I saw him at in Chicago held almost 2,000 people, and this place probably held 500. The band Deerhunter opened the show, they were very good, but I swear they were playing at My Bloody Valentine volume levels in a club that tiny. Of course I forgot our earplugs, so that was a painful but enjoyable set. Girl Talk did another fun, crazy set, but it just wasn't as good as the Chicago show in November for some reason I can't put my finger on. It might have been being close enough to see the 17 year olds wiping the sweat off of Gregg Gillis and wiping all over themselves and licking it.

The weather was absolutely perfect the whole time we were there, barely above 80 and sunny the entire time. We hit the beach a few times as a result, especially the beach Bella loves since it has a playground on the beach.

We took advantage of one more date night to finally get out to see Slumdog Millionaire. We're only about 5 months or so behind when I wanted to see that, so we finally knocked that one off of our list. It's pretty redundant to say it's an excellent movie as you've probably heard by now, we just took a while to get a chance to see it.

The last part of our Fort Lauderdale/Miami portion of our trip was another visit to the Miami Seaquarium. We really like that place alot, they have a very good sea lion show that Bella really loves, and they have a cool show with an Orca whale swimming in the same pool with a pair of dolphins that is really great too. Bella loved it all once again, so that was time well spent.

More to follow with our adventure up to Orlando, and Bella's first trip to Disney World...