Recently in Lollapalooza 2011 Category

Live from Lollapalooza, here's our interview with singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham in which he discusses hanging with The Dude, T Bone Burnett's imposing stature, and the commonality between rodeos and the music business. Enjoy. Ryan Bingham Junky Star Fresh off of a most impressive Oscar win, Ryan Bingham doesn't use his time in the spotlight to write catchy, upbeat songs to expand his fan base. Instead, he lays out a sepia-toned world of down-and-out characters, desperate souls gone astray by design or circumstance. Producer T-Bone Burnett creates a crisp, uncluttered musical path for Bingham's gritty voice to wander. As Bingham introduces us to his set of characters, he weaves an intoxicating spell of desperation and heartache that sucks you in and changes your mood, making Junky Star an oddly powerful release. -LINDA RYAN

Interview with Titus Andronicus from Lollapalooza in which they discuss the unsung heroes of New Jersey, round-robin solos and quitting or not quitting the band (we're not sure). Titus Andronicus The Monitor Titus Andronicus are what happens when you combine literary nerdiness and history geekdom with punk zeal and an attitude perpetually set at pissed off. In other words, great music to get a little wild with, to blast when CNN is just too much to handle, and to shout along with (particularly with lyrics like "The enemy is everywhere"). The Monitor is the Jersey band's sophomore release and features guests by members of the Hold Steady, Vivian Girls, Ponytail, Wye Oak and more. As far as that history geekdom, the album's central theme is the American Civil War. Finally the 1800s are back in style. -STEPH BENSON

Bow down to Deadmau5, oh ye water-logged masses. Pics by Garrett Kamps.

The final day of Lollapalooza's 20th-anniversary fest began so beautifully. The sun shone, the birds chirped (probably -- it was hard to hear them over the ovaries-rattling bass from Perry's Stage, which reverberated through the entire park today), the crowd skipped happily from show to show, and the perpetually friendly Lolla staffers smiled and thanked people as they crossed the gates. Did I mention that early-afternoon shining sun? Focus on it. Bask in it. Because after that? It rained. A lot. And then it rained again. A lot. And then there was mud. So, so much mud. The proceedings ended in drenched streets and unrecognizably filthy festies and shoe-swallowing, phone-destroying craters of mud. And that, too, was beautiful.

Rain at a festival, while not exactly ideal, is the great equalizer. Yes, it was unfortunate that Arctic Monkeys' set (among others) got delayed by the first storm. But the people I was huddled with under the Estancia lounge tent were laughing, bonding, making new friends -- and watching the dripping diehards at Cage the Elephant catch Matt Schultz's increasingly slippery body as he (and his mic) stage-dove again and again. And when the first downpour stopped and all 90,000 of us came together again, those of us who weren't drenched quickly got painted with mud. What beautiful people? Everyone was beautiful, everyone was ugly -- and everyone looked like they were paying homage to the classic images of joyfully muddy hippies at Lolla progenitor Woodstock. And when the second deluge began minutes before the headliner sets, it seemed almost fitting, as if Deadmau5 at one end and Dave Grohl's Foo Fighters at the other had called the rains down for their legions of ravers and rockers to play in. The crowd, many covered in trash bags donated by the ground crew, collectively said "screw it" and bolted for the field, helping each other up when they fell, and using the mud as a dance partner that could spin and slip them around.

Interview with Dallas Green of City and Colour from Lollapalooza in which he discusses the Canadian folk festival circuit, winning over audiences and coming out as a musician with a diverse taste in musical genres. City and Colour Little Hell When Dallas Green isn't fronting post-hardcore troublemakers Alexisonfire, he can be found crafting melancholic acoustic balladry with a decidedly Jeff Buckley/Nick Drake vibe. Though Green's City and Colour project has all the feel and maturity of an idea born fully formed, it actually began as a casual affair around 2004. With his limited free time, the Canadian singer and songwriter would record rough demos, eventually filtering them out to fans via the Internet. The response was more than positive. In fact, it wasn't long before he decided to release a full-length, 2005's Sometimes. The album started off as a sleeper hit of sorts but eventually went platinum in his native land. Due to Alexisonfire's hectic touring and recording schedule, Green took nearly three years to release a follow-up. Bring Me Your Love came out in 2008, and unlike the intimate Sometimes, the record is an utterly grand affair, featuring a dizzying number of guest musicians and broad instrumentation. With its mix of tender folk and near-orchestral introspection, it has been compared to the Neil Young classic Harvest. Not bad for what began as a side project.

Interview with Cage The Elephant at Lollapalooza in which they discuss video games and other on-the-road distractions. Cage The Elephant Thank You Happy Birthday On their sophomore album, these Kentucky boys downplay the White Stripes inclinations of their 2008 debut, instead spreading their sound across the alt-rock map: Pixies, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, jangle-pop, ska, noise, grunge. Opener "Always Something" moves from "Rock the Casbah"-style Middle Eastern reggae to Beck-like rapping; the hipster-chiding "Indy Kidz" mixes dub with surf guitars; "Sell Yourself" is punk-funk about selling out; "Japanese Buffalo" starts out doo-wop, then stage-dives into the moshpit. The punk's more fun than the ballads, but even the latter get plenty of angst on. -CHUCK EDDY

Just sing, man: CeeLo does his Rock God thing. Pics by Garrett Kamps

The ironic charm of music festivals, as everyone knows, is that they're actually a pretty crappy place to hear music. The festgoer paradox at an event as massive as Lollapalooza (which completely sold out beforehand for the first time this year) is this: should you fight your way to the front of the stage and stake out a spot early enough to actually see your favorite band, which means you aren't going anywhere, including to other stages where other bands are playing, until the show's over? Or should you try to "see" as many acts as you can from the back of the lawn, behind a tree, next to a bunch of drunk people who are talking louder than the band is playing? Ultimately, the best decision is to just focus on creating an experience.

So what was the experience of Lolla like on Saturday? Well, day two began with rain: buckets of mud-producing, sludge-inducing rain that quickly coated the extremities of festgoers. The day ended with heat: the sun came out with a vengeance, the temperatures rose, the humidity was oppressive. And somewhere in the middle, everyone got drunk. Really, really drunk. Yesterday's beautiful people? Gone -- or at least so covered in mud that they were unrecognizable as such. The festival grounds, which were expanded to make for a sprawling 115 acres in 2010? Still navigable, thanks to the crisscrossing network of paths and streets that make up Chicago's Grant Park, but it still requires an inner pep talk every time one is faced with the task of navigating through tens of thousands of sweaty bodies. The port-a-potty situation? Grim. What else was a girl and 90,000 or so of her closest friends to do but give in and just enjoy the ride, with all its highs and lows, twists and turns, uppers and downers?

Ellie Goulding interview from Lollapalooza in which she discusses a writing retreat in Ireland, American architecture and her quest to find suitable collaborators. Ellie Goulding Lights If nothing else, Ellie Goulding's debut proves how translatable the concept of an icy blonde singer with a feathery gasp of a voice and a pleasant, polite beat is. Lights takes that core concept and runs it through frosty Euro-dance, otherworldly indie electro, mournful alt-rock (think: Cranberries), slightly creepy alt-rock (think: Kate Bush), even a wee bit of rom-com soundtrack-ready adult alt. A girl could get lost in all those stylistic twists and turns! Goulding, however, is a quietly compelling presence who subtly makes each song, each style bend to her wistful, winsome will. - RACHEL DEVITT

Slug of Atmosphere interview from Lollapalooza in which he discusses the last ten years of Indie hip hop, unwritten rules about wearing shorts and what to do if your boyfriend leaves you. Atmosphere The Family Sign With a sound reminiscent of 1990s slacker rock, the Atmosphere of 2011 has strayed far from Lucy Ford and its "emo-rap" salad days. No longer just Slug and Ant, the group has expanded to a five-piece band, and it makes a racket of loose grooves and echoing guitars on The Family Sign. Slug remains an underrated storyteller, delivering a haunting tale of a camper eaten by wolves on "Became," and cautioning an abused woman on "The Last to Say." Sometimes he undermines himself with corny hooks, though, adding "Bad Bad Daddy" to a decent lyric about an alcoholic father. - MOSI REEVES

The Pretty Reckless Light Me Up Interview with The Pretty Reckless at Lollapalooza during which Taylor Momsen debunks internet rumors and shares the wonders of lights for rock bands.

Mayer Hawthorne interviews Rhapsody at Lollapalooza. Discussion topics include fashion (boat shoes), politics (running for office, the debt ceiling) and Peanut Butter Wolf. Mayer Hawthorne A Strange Arrangement The debut from this white, Michigan-bred former hip-hop DJ re-creates the sound of Motown classics and other falsetto-laden AM-radio gems, complete with sparkling, horn-specked production and G-rated come-ons. With his thin but sweet croon, Mayer Hawthorne floats over the ballads, but the two best tunes are uptempo: The killer-chorused "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin' " and "One Track Mind," a Temptations-style plaint about a high-maintenance lady whom you'll swear you've heard on an oldies station — and liked a lot. - CHRISTIAN HOARD

Cults indie-rock out for all the beautiful, suspiciously bohemian people. Pic by Garrett Kamps.

Twenty years old. Seems like just yesterday Lollapalooza was traipsing around the country, joyously introducing itself to the world as a music festival unafraid of genre diversity or political activism, one just as likely to showcase a Shaolin monk as a post-punk band. And now our little Lolla is all grown up. So what does America's biggest freak show and its "alternative nation" look like now that it's (almost) legal, and confined to one long weekend in Chicago?

That's the question on my mind as I join the already-sweltering masses who are (mostly) patiently waiting to scan their Sponge Bob-esque orange-and blue-wristbands and rush onto the festival grounds for the first day of Lollapalooza's 20th-anniversary bash. We'll attempt to answer that query for the next three days, at least when I'm not busy chowing down on lobster corn dogs or slipping over to the craft beer tent or dodging drunk kids or, you know, seeing like a gazillion bands. And Lolla, accommodating pal that she is, provides several stellar snapshots of what that answer might be right as I walk in the gates.

Impression One: wow, this place is swarming with kids who look to be about the same age as Lolla, kids who probably have no idea who Perry Farrell is. And not just any kids, but these ethereal, flowing-haired Mischa Barton (is she still a person of interest? OK, then maybe Ashley Greene) lookalikes impeccably clothed in those neo-bohemian fashions the celebrities are all so fond of these days. People in Chicago do not look like this, at least not enough of us to reach these numbers. It's as if these kids went to Coachella, then spent the next couple months living on some kind of post-hippie cloud before descending upon Lollapalooza. And they all seem wasted already. At noon.

Interview with Tinie Tempah from Lollapalooza 2011 in which he talks festival survival tips (baby wipes!), progress on his next album and possible collaborators like Lykke Li and Skrillex. Tinie Tempah Disc-Overy For the U.S. version of his U.K. hit Disc-Overy, London rapper Tinie Tempah fashions himself as a hitmaker like B.o.B and Wiz Khalifa (the latter of whom guests on "Till I'm Gone"). He proves it with electro-tinged rockers like "Illusion" and progressive house anthems like "Miami 2 Ibiza." Save for the autobiographical "Let Go," most of his songs revolve around partying in the club and the hookups that follow. "Tic-toc, check my Rolie wristwatch/ F*ck how much a drink costs we about to kick off," he promises on "Simply Unstoppable." Disc-Overy is lightweight fun. --Mosi Reeves

Black Cards Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Fame Watch Bebe Rexha and Pete Wentz from Black Cards talk about their new project at Lollapalooza 2011.

Interview with The Naked and Famous from Lollapalooza 2011 in which they discuss pants-wearing in extreme heat, the perils of wearing black boots on stage and the moment the call came telling them to quit their day jobs. The Naked And Famous Passive Me, Aggressive You They have a name that'll turn up some questionable web search results, but that's not what this New Zealand bunch is positioned to capitalize on. It's the fat beats, electro flashes, abrasive guitar static and catchy, shout-along choruses that are as in-your-face as a rave doused in glow-stick goo. The Naked and Famous have the youthful giddiness of Passion Pit and just a bit of MGMT's sarcasm, but they also channel NIN's The Fragile on tracks like "The Source" and "The Sun." And it works, because anything lit with so much neon shines brightest in the dark. --Steph Benson

Interview with Grace Potter of Grace Potter & The Nocturnals from Lollapalooza 2011 in which she reveals the contents of her festival satchel, talks Kenny Chesney, and the spirits of Red Rocks. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals Grace Potter & The Nocturnals In the burlesque-themed video for "Paris (Ooh La La)," Grace Potter and the Nocturnals' breakout single in 2010, the band is framed as sassy rockers. Dancing underneath shimmering chandeliers, Potter and bassist Catherine Popper are wild and scandalous, sporting an enticing miniskirt and sequined hot pants, respectively. Ironically, the group's roots are way earthier than this slice of sexiness implies. Based in Waitsfield, Vt., Potter and the Nocturnals originally made a name for themselves on the jam-band scene. Tallying an average of 200 shows a year in the mid-2000s, the group honed its 1970s-loving fusion of Americana and soul-funk while sporting more, uh, modest apparel. After signing with Hollywood Records, they released 2007's This Is Somewhere. It sold well enough, but it was obvious the label wanted to make the band -- Potter in particular -- into pop stars. For a follow-up, the group decided to overhaul both their image and sound. They also replaced bassist Bryan Dondero with their second bombshell (Popper). Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, released in 2010, found the band taking a stab at Black Keys-inspired rock 'n' roll. It's hip, groovy and decidedly retro.

Interview with Cults from Lollapalooza 2011 in which they discourage anyone from moving to New York, relate the joys of noise canceling headphones and the emphasize importance of scheduling time to do absolutely nothing. Cults Cults Couple/duo Brian Oblivion and Madeline Follin started Cults as a way to test out the playful experiments conducted in their NYU digs. Single "Go Outside," a soul-pop confection laced in glockenspiel, brought on blog buzz; roughly a year later came this, their full-length debut. Cults is shamelessly retro, fluttering between the reverb flush of The Raveonettes and the bittersweet effervescence of '60s girl groups. Follin's coos are alternately pining and distant, as the rhythms rock flirtatiously and the guitars jangle in a reverb haze that occasionally dips its toes in the Cali surf. - Steph Benson