lollapalooza

The Lollapalooza spectacle swooped down on the Portland area this Sunday. Many bands were there to rock the fields out at Colombia Meadows out west of St. Helens, and the kiddies were prepared with counter-culture in tow. I went with some friends (N, W, L, H) after having a few pints and a chicken sandwich at McBeer’s. We totally missed the first act, but that’s okay because we were down with catching the Donna (2nd), which we did in full. They put on their usual spunky wiseass act, and were a lot of fun, but the set was too short.

The second stage is always a bummer for me because it plays at the same time as the main stage. It would much better if it filled in the gaps between the bigger bands. Kings of Leon sounded interesting, but I only caught a little bit of their show. The Portland show was the last date on the tour, as well as being on a Sunday following the Saturday Seattle show, and it felt like it. The spectacle wasn’t as great as other Lollapaloozas that I’ve been to in the past. I think the space at the Meadows could’ve been used more effectively…as it was the only thing ‘shocking’ was all the ladies wandering around with painted chests. Maybe the’ve embraced the commercialism far too much…where before I’d come across Timothy Leary talking some digital dream, now they have an Xbox enclave with competitions and all, and a 3 hour line to Meet the Artists. Neither of which did I participate in.

The music was grand. The beers were expensive, but no more than at a Blazer’s game. I gained new appreciation for both A Perfect Circle and Audioslave. I’d already quite enjoyed Audioslave, but they shredded the show. All of the performers were having a blast, and there were a lot of guest appearances between the bands, which made for a more relaxed show. There were a lot of jams, and apparent experiments. All of this made for a really cool and relaxed show.

Jane’s Addiction headlined and put on a great show. Most of their set consisted of their classics, with a Jane Says encore, and then Perry left the stage and Maynard came on and sang Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir for the last song of the tour. Very cool all-around.