Caught in the act

Now a three-day, one-stop Chicago festival, 15-year-old Lollapalooza is packing a more uplifting punch

By Elizabeth Rhodes
Published: August 19th, 2006 | 12:23pm

"Who's happy out there?!!!" a stay-at-home–mom-turned-punk-rocker screeched into the unsuspecting crowd of frightened 5-year-olds and their parents in Chicago's Grant Park. After some tentative applause — 'we'll be happy if you want us to, just don't hurt us' — the Candy Band launched into an aggressive, guitar-driven version of "If You're Happy And You Know It." Now even little kids can have hearing damage.

However disturbing it may be that the festival that once spearheaded the pierced and tattooed alt-rock movement of the early to mid-'90s now has a kids' stage ingeniously named "Kidzapalooza," to take the Candy Band's thought-provoking question: Yes, Lollapalooza 2006 ticket-holders are comparatively happy. You can hear it in their music.

In 1991, Lollapalooza's birth year, only seven acts appeared at the one-day touring festival, including Jane's Addiction, Ice-T with Body Count, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Nine Inch Nails. This year's headliners included Death Cab for Cutie, Kanye West, Ween, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Not exactly bubble-gum, but you get my drift.

Young people weren't doing so well in the early '90s, the time just before every kid was medicated. A huge rise in unemployment brought on by a recession hit them disproportionately. They rarely showed up at the polls. Suicide became their second leading cause of death.

Compare this to now. Youth voter turnout rebounded 11 percentage points in the 2004 election. This illustrates a certain belief in the system, but not necessarily an increased concern with current events as "Causapalooza" was whittled down this year to a couple tents pitched off to the side of the park. Suicide rates among 15 to 24-year-olds have declined slowly since 1992 — it's now this age group's third leading cause of death. Generation Y appears to be looking on the brighter side of life, and that elusive contentedness was detectable in many of the Lollapalooza performances on August 4, 5 and 6.

The three-day festival was so packed with great music that it quickly became a high-stakes battle of the bands. Sleater-Kinney went head-to-head with the Violent Femmes. Feist battled The Go Team!. And with the grounds stretching a full mile and absolutely packed with 65,000 slow-moving bodies, good luck trying to squeeze in both.

At the end of the day, the bands that stood out from over 130 of their peers were not placidly content or mildly uplifting. They were furious, dark and wildly happy. Like Sleater-Kinney says, a potent combination of happiness and anger makes a modern girl. Bands such as the Shins, the New Pornographers and Death Cab for Cutie have released fine albums and put on great solo shows. But last weekend they just stood on stage and delivered, looking sweet and reasonably energetic. That's not good enough, given the competition. So let's get on to what was great. Here are my top five passionate, furious Lollapalooza 2006 performances in order of appearance.

Lady Sovereign was the first act to really make me clap my hands and say yeah. The crowd waited 25 minutes for the 5-foot-1 British MC to arrive on stage — not cool when Mates of State are playing right across the park. But when she did finally appear, sporting signature side ponytail and screaming "Ch ching," we forgave her. Bursting with charisma and power, the self-proclaimed "white midget feminist" burned through her short but intense set, pausing only to take swigs of champagne from the bottle, request that audience members share illegal plants with her backstage, and nearly cause an explosion by dousing the speakers in water. "Oh shit!" she yelled, realizing what she'd done and grabbing a towel to clean the mess. After Lady Sovereign performed her new single, "Love Me Or Hate Me," the entire audience agreed. We love her.

My Morning Jacket rocked more than you'd expect them to — despite the god awful sound system at the Bud Light stage. The five-piece from Louisville, Kentucky, has a buoyant, eclectic sound that mixes Neil Young Americana with Mercury Rev experimentalism, but performs with all the hardcore machismo of a '70s southern rock band. Lead singer-songwriter Jim James issued multiple rock god guitar solos, complete with one foot on speaker and long hair flying. We got all the showmanship and thrill of a Lynyrd Skynyrd show with infinitely better music and none of the sexist undertones. Like the other best performers, My Morning Jacket was obviously happy to be there. When James was in high school, he said from the stage, he saw the Verve, the Smashing Pumpkins, and A Tribe Called Quest play Lollapalooza. "Twelve years later and we finally get to play [here]," he cried, launching into "Wordless Chorus."

Sleater-Kinney was around for the early Generation X Lollapalooza when its members were part of Heavens to Betsy and Excuse 17. Seven albums later, the punk trio made their final Chicago performance Friday evening before their last two shows as a band together in Portland, Oregon. The band did their own sound check — an indie, feminist, but also anti-climactic move. Opener "The Fox", off 2005's critically acclaimed The Woods, immediately worked the crowd into a frenzy. Corin Tucker's voice was as powerful and heart-stopping as ever, and Carrie Brownstein rocked out with the energy of a teenager while Janet Weiss thrashed her drums. The infatuated audience included many high school students who just recently got into the band, driving home the point that Sleater-Kinney is going out on top.

The Dresden Dolls are a theatrical goth-rock meets German cabaret marvel that's best heard live. Wearing white face paint and stockings with garters, singer-pianist Amanda Palmer transfixed the crowd with drummer Brian Viglione. Her low, dark voice commanded crowd favorites such as "Coin-Operated Boy" and "Mrs. O." The duo even convincingly covered Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." Palmer had an on-stage costume change into a black the Who T-shirt while Viglione jokingly played a striptease beat. Viglione's dramatic expressions and gestures were extreme to the point of ridiculousness, and Palmer has the wild, crazed energy of a morbid Tori Amos at the piano. Lollapalooza, Palmer decreed halfway through the set, is "fucking beautiful."

The Flaming Lips drew a massive crowd. While I was making my way through it, singer-guitarist Wayne Coyne announced something about a "space ball" and the potential for "disaster." He then proceeded to get into a massive plastic ball and roll out on top of the crowd that, predictably, went crazy and seemed like it wouldn't return him. But instead of being concerned for his own safety, Coyne was all about the fans. "There were a couple of Olsen twins on cell phones and I feared that they didn't know I was coming," he said. When the band began "Race For The Prize," about 20 large blue balls were hurtled from the stage along with streamers and confetti. A team of Santas and aliens danced with the band in front of massive blow-up figures. This was when Lollapalooza finally turned into a celebration. The Flaming Lips may seem a little frivolous on record, but they play darn good party music. No one hesitated when Coyne commanded them to scream "Fanatical fuck!" during "Free Radicals" from 2006's At War With The Mystics.

Lollapalooza is a slang term meaning "something extraordinary." Thanks to founder Perry Farrell and all the extraordinary bands of Lollapalooza 2006. It was hot and humid, and the sound system sucked. But I guess I'm just a starry-eyed member of Gen Y, because I had a ball anyway.

Lollapalooza photos by Nichole Allison