Lollapalooza 2011 Day Three Recap

Photos by Megan Brosnan and Josh Darr

Remember that day two mud I was telling you about?

Yeah, that was nothing.

As the largest-ever Lollapalooza came to a close on Sunday, fans were soaked by not one, but two torrential downpours that essentially turned the Hutchinson Field area of Grant Park into Woodstock. More than a handful of mud wrestling matches broke out, and a particularly wet area to the right of the Music Unlimited stage was converted into a slip-n-slide by a few adventurous crowd members.

Foo Fighters played through the rain, as Dave Grohl announced, “We’re not gonna do some abbreviated thing where we try to squeeze as many songs into a short amount of time as possible. This is our Chicago stop on our tour.” Grohl seemed fueled by the bad weather, tearing into hits like “My Hero” with a ferocity appropriate for a violent storm.

Arctic Monkeys unfortunately did have to do the abbreviated thing after a half-hour rain delay cut into their set time. Frontman Alex Turner didn’t let it dampen his spirits, however. “We’re the Arctic Monkeys from Sheffield, Australia,” he joked. Later, he dedicated “She’s Thunderstorms” to Mother Nature. The show was brief, but the group managed to make their limited time count, striking a satisfying balance between new material off the recent Suck it and See and crowd-pleasers like “I Bet That You Look Good on the Dancefloor.”

Before the storms rolled in, The Cars played an enjoyable-yet-predictable set, trotting out hits like “Moving in Stereo,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Just What I Needed.” The New Wave icons’ songs still held up, but Ric Ocasek seemed slightly detached from the proceedings, lacking the enthusiasm or charisma necessary to hold the crowd’s attention.

Perhaps Ocasek could have taken a page from Noah and the Whale’s book. A brass band version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” played through the P.A. as they took the stage, warming up the crowd with a massive singalong. Their own material didn’t disappoint, either; they delivered some wicked harmonies on “Blue Skies.”

The day’s most entertaining set, however, had to be that of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Ditching their NASCAR suits in favor of more heat-friendly “Your Ad Here” t-shirts, they brought an intensity that had a few people around me wondering incredulously, “Who are these guys?” The indie-pop duo rocked a little harder than usual, as Daniel Zott growled his way through Gil Scott-Heron’s “We Almost Lost Detroit.” He and Josh Epstein managed to work a few other interesting covers into the set as well—their take on Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love” got people dancing and Epstein’s fantastic-if-a-little-bizarre version of “I Will Always Love You” left many in stunned silence as he demonstrated an impressive range not heard on the record. Overall, their performance had the distinct feel of a band arriving.

As another Lollapalooza wraps up, it seems that even festival organizers are unaware exactly how big the Chicago event will be a few years down the road. It’s already the largest festival in North America with its 270,000 attendees, but gate-crashing was a huge issue this year, as hundreds of people tried to make their way into Grant Park. The larger grounds did help to alleviate some bottlenecking, but one has to wonder how long it’ll be before further expansion is necessary. Here’s hoping Perry Farrell and company do whatever it takes to keep the festival going in Chicago—we’re up for another 20 years if they are.

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