In startling contrast to the beautiful weather on Friday, gray skies and intermittent rain showers were the backdrop for the second day of Lollapalooza (Aug. 4) at Chicago’s Grant Park. But a host of fine late afternoon and evening performances lifted the crowd’s spirits, including Muse, Interpol, Spoon, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Snow Patrol.
Playing in front of the largest U.S. audience of its career, U.K. rock trio Muse were impressive in a headlining set on the AT&T Stage. Falsetto-loving frontman Matthew Bellamy commanded the stage from his piano stool on a number of songs, including “Feeling Good” and “Sunburn,” but also proved a virtuoso lead guitarist on “Invincible” (replete with Eddie Van Halen-style hammer-ons) and the epic “New Born.”
Across the field on the Bud Light stage, Interpol offered an even sampling from its three albums, from the gloomy opener “Pioneer to the Falls,” the shimmering “NARC” and the relentless rocker “Mammoth.” The group, whose members were clad entirely in gray and black, also played early favorites such as “Say Hello the Angels” and “Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down.”
The rain was at its heaviest while Spoon was playing on the MySpace.com stage, but the group was undeterred as it rattled off such soulful rock gems as the new “Don’t You Evah,” “The Fitted Shirt,” “I Turn My Camera On,” “Anything You Want” and “They Never Got You.” Frontman Britt Daniel took a moment to salute LCD Soundsystem’s set from the night before and even teased a guitar lick from one of that group’s songs.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs were as much a visual spectacle as a sonic one, with frontwoman Karen O parading around the AT&T Stage in a backless black vinyl top, bondage stockings and, before “Y Control,” an ornate poncho. Among the highlights of the New York trio’s set were “Turn Into” and “Date With the Night.”
Snow Patrol, which, like Muse, has made significant inroads at U.S. radio and on the Billboard charts in the last several years, drafted Silversun Pickups bassist Nikki Monninger to help sing on “Set the Fire to the Third Bar.” Earlier, the Gary Lightbody-led group segued from the homespun confessional “How To Be Dead” to the “Gray’s Anatomy”-popularized ballad “Chasing Cars” and the darker, groove-driven “Shut Your Eyes.”
Saturday also featured performances by the Roots, the Hold Steady, CSS, Rhymefest, Regina Spektor and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The festival concludes tomorrow with Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket and Kings Of Leon, among others. Visit Billboard.com, our Lollapalooza microsite for continuous updates.
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