By Jon Stone | @jwstone

Day two at Lolla and I’m starting to feel it. Here’s a quick update:

I spent the morning wandering a bit. I caught a few songs each from Rogue Wave, Harlem, and Dragonette. Rogue Wave had a different vibe than I remember when I was listening to them three or four years ago– I dug it. Harlem, eh, not so much and Dragonette was cool enough if you’re into the electronica and dig a good female vocalist.

Stars: I was a big fan of Set Yourself on Fire, and spent a good amount of time with In Our Bedroom After the War as well. But Stars kind of left me scratching my head with their Saturday afternoon performance. It started when Amy Millan kept yelling “It’s all up to you, Lollapalooza!” The girl in front of me turned to her friend and said what I was thinking: “What’s up to us?” So, that was kinda weird. The band sounded fine and played several songs from their both of the previously mentioned releases as well as their new record The Five Ghosts. There were roses tossed into the audience and confetti bombs, and lots of love given to the crowd. But here’s the other thing that strikes me as funny about Stars, and maybe it’s not that big of a deal. Torquil Campbell, the other co-leader of the band was born in England, raised in Canada, and speaks with a North American accent, which is to say, without an accent. But  he sings with an English accent. Weird? Maybe not, but it just strikes me as strange — especially when he’s jabbering on stage about stuff and then starts singing like he’s Martin Gore or something. As I write this, it seems petty. Jamie Lidell, an Englishman, sings with an American accent, so whatever.

Warpaint: I showed up for Dawes early and caught the tail end of Warpaint. I really liked what I heard. Warpaint is a  four-piece, all-female group from L.A. with dark melodies, haunting harmonies, and heavy guitars. The drumming reminded me a bit of early Cure stuff and I wished I would have gotten there a bit earlier. My interest is piqued.

Dawes: If Stars had me questioning authenticity a bit, Dawes brought be back firmly on the ground. I’ve said a lot on this blog about my love for this band, so I will spare you more of that gushing. I will say that Dawes plays with more heart than any band I’ve seen this weekend (gush). They played nearly every song off of their album North Hills and all of the new songs they recorded at their recent stop in Rock Island with Daytrotter. It was fun to watch the crowd gather backstage to watch and sing along with Dawes’ set — members of Ed Sharpe’s crew, Deer Tick, friends and girlfriends — all who likely see the band play really often. That they were still singing and dancing tells me something about this band.  Something very good. Dawes was my favorite of the day, but I knew they would be.

Grizzly Bear: From there it was over to the main south stage where Grizzly Bear had already begun their set. I settled in just in time to hear “Fine For Now” and “Two Weeks.” They sounded great — no surprise there. Out of complete random chance, I ran into Erik Ljung who shoots video frequently featured on MoB. That was fun. Grizzly Bear seem unable to do wrong, and their set was flawless. It was fun to finally see them.

Deer Tick: While they lack the charm of their pals Dawes, Deer Tick certainly isn’t lacking for flavor. Lead-singer John McCauley took the stage in a matching shirt and shorts set that must have been purchased from the department store across the street from a retirement community. Throw in his straw hat and all-black strat and you’ve got yourself a cocktail that works as a pretty decent metaphor for the band. Cocksure and zany, Deer Tick won me over pretty quickly. One quick highlight: late in the set, Taylor from Dawes joined McCauley on stage and the two played “Daydreaming” a song by the two’s other group, MG&V — a collaboration between McCauley, Taylor and Griffin from Dawes, and Matt Vasquez from Delta Spirit (you can see the reason for the name if you look at those names carefully).

Spoon: I love Spoon. They were probably the band I was looking forward to most this weekend. When Britt Daniel took the stage dressed all in white, he looked smaller than I imagined him and played an acoustic “Me and the Bean,” followed by “Nobody Gets me But You” from this year’s Transference where things got big really quickly. The band ripped through an 18-song set with songs spanning most of the band’s records and including “The Underdog” (with a great 4+ piece horn section), “Don’t you Evah,” “Written in Reverse” (probably my favorite of the set), and “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb.” Also, they played a cooler-than-Wolf-Parade cover of Wolf Parade’s “Modern World.” It was great to see them — they tired me out.

Phoenix: Seriously, though. After Spoon I started getting that I-must-have-been-hit-by-a-truck feeling. I hope you don’t think less of me if I tell you that I’ve written most of this review with the balcony door of my buddy’s apartment propped open, listening to Phoenix’s set as it comes pouring across Michigan Ave. I’m pretty worn out, and will be headed out again in just a few minutes to catch the Antlers/National show at the House of Blues (which I will also be reviewing). I needed a breather, so forgive me if you are a fan and were hoping for a more detailed review. Here’s what I know: They are from France. They sound great. I’m sure they looked fantastic as well (they are from France!), but I’ve been enjoying their set in relative peace while sitting on a couch. I feel like a wuss admitting that but it is what it is (Now I can hear Green Day’s “American Idiot” wafting in… I saw about 100 kids wearing Green Day shirts today. Hope they had fun.)

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Sunday will offer up one more day of Lolla goodness. I’ll know I’ll be at Mumford and Sons, the rest is kind of up in the air. See you back out in the sun!

By Jon Stone | @jwstone <– follow me on twitter for updates during the rest of the fest.

Grant Park was really lovely yesterday on the opening day of Chicago’s biggest music festival. The sun was out, but not too hot (most of the day). The crowd seemed a bit more evenly dispersed with the new acreage that the Lolla folks have opened up; the food was tasty (gyros and giganto- truffle fries for me, thank you very much), and I still drank three liters of water. Oh, and the music…

Here’s a quick rundown of my day:

Mavis Staples: I arrived at the north end of the park and into a swarm of dragonflies. They gracefully hovered just above the crowd gathered at the Budweiser stage and Mavis and her band played “The Weight.” Seems a bit weird, huh? But it sounded fantastic. She was joined on stage a bit later by Jeff Tweedy (who, as you likely know, produced her upcoming record) who played acoustic guitar and back-up sang on John Fogerty’s “Wrote a Song For Everyone” and also played back-up on the song he wrote for that new record, both of which are titled “You are Not Alone.” Mavis is such a classy lady and it was fun to see Tweedy in this context — she wished Jeff and his wife Susie a happy 15th anniversary. We all wished Mavis Staples a happy 60 years as a performer. What a career!

Drive-By Truckers: I caught about half of the Truckers’ set and enjoyed what I heard. I still haven’t arrived at fan status of this band — I’m just not familiar enough with their catalog. But seeing the band today and watching them interact with their fans was a large stride in that direction.

The New Pornographers: Carl Newman is a great front-man, but I have a bit of a thing for Neko Case (who doesn’t?), but as much as I like her solo work, I like her work with the NPs even more. They put on really great show yesterday, and Case didn’t disappoint (though she did wear a big sun hat through most of the set that made it difficult to see her face). She and Carl Newman joked back and forth about Gaga, Dan Bejar drank beer after beer, and they played a great mix of New Pornos tunes ranging from opener  ”Sing Me Spanish Techno,” to the new album opener “Moves.” Other highlights included 2003′s “Testament to Youth in Verse” and an amazing pair of interpreters for the hearing impaired. They seemed to know every word — fascinating to watch.

Dirty Projectors: This is going to be the one that I remember for the rest of the year, I think. I’ve been a fan of Bitte Orca for a while now, but the record has stuff on it that I figured couldn’t be reproduced live. I was so wrong. “Stillness is the Move” and “Temecula Sunrise” are complicated enough, but then the women in the band started doing this as the intro to “Remade Horizon.” My mouth is still gaping. I read some bad press of this performance on a famous Chicago publication writer’s blog, and I just flat out disagree. Not only did the harmonies during this performance mesh, but the band manages to do it while playing some of the most intricate guitar duets I’ve ever seen. To me, the complicated nature of the music is what makes it so amazing to see rather than just hear on the record. I will never pass up an opportunity to see these guys play again — like I said yesterday via twitter, it was like being at a prog-rock choir concert.

Jamie Lidell: Every once in a while I come across an artist that I I can’t believe I’ve never heard of because their work is such a perfect fit into my interests. Lidell fits that description perfectly. I’ve been jamming his records all week in prep for Lolla with exactly that thought. Lidell and his band take the best of Stevie Wonder’s 70s funk and revitalize it,  imbuing it with the modern sampling and laptop shenanigans that Lidell was first famous for. But looking like Jon Hamm with a beard and singing like he could have shared the stage with Mavis earlier, he had me absolutely captivated. A few songs in, and who should turn up? Pat Sansone! He doesn’t get enough of an opportunity to shake that tambourine with Wilco, so did some for Lidell as well. He also played the melodica on a few songs and is credited with production of a few songs on Lidell’s new record Compass. All this was to say that I am now a fan of Jamie Lidell. A big one. (oh, and also to say that I think its funny when Sansone shakes a tambo.)

The Strokes: Lady Gaga was the biggest draw on Friday. Evidence was everywhere. Girls with crazy hats, dudes in head-to-toe neon… it was a sight. It’s estimated that over two thirds of Friday’s attendees were Gaga-ing. I didn’t even make it over to that side of the park. It’s a long walk. The Strokes, regardless of the audience-split, put on a show. It was my first time seeing Julian Casablancas and his crew, and the first time anyone in America has seen the band play in something like four years. When the Strokes first hit it big, I was hesitant to jump on the band wagon — there were too many copy-cat groups and it seemed like it was all happening too fast. It seemed like a fad and I didn’t even listen to Is This It when it came out in 2001. Tragic, huh? A few years later I fixed all that — repented of my rash and judgmental ways (and also by then, the wheat had been separated from the chaff, copy-band-wise). Last night The Strokes proved to me once and for all (the rest of the audience didn’t need any convincing) that they  are the real deal: Blistering guitar work; incredible vocal range and sound; perfect pop/rock tunes.

Here’s the setlist:
New York City Cops / The Modern Age / Hard to Explain / What Ever Happened? / You Only Live Once / Soma / This is It / Vision of Division / I Can’t Win / Reptilia / Last Nite /(encore:) Juicebox / Someday / Under Control / Heart in a Cage / Take it or Leave it

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Saturday should be great as well. I’m looking at Stars, Dawes, Grizzly Bear, Deer Tick, Spoon(!) and Phoenix as my must-sees. Let me know if there is anything else I can’t miss.

I’m five days into being a married man and far far away from home. My internet connection is just about as bad as can be imagined. For the most part that’s a good thing. Nice to be untethered for a bit. Last night the National, one of our favorite bands, play the Riverside in Milwaukee. I had multiple texts from a dozen friends about the show upon waking up this morning. Sounds like it was amazing.

Dan was on hand and sent over an amazing amount of video captured from his seats at the show. My connection is so poor, I’ll have to wait until returning home to watch them, but thought you’d want to see them too. Above is Mr. November, but he also has “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks,” “Fake Empire,” “Abel,” “Runaway,” “Slow Show,” and a bunch more. Check them all out here.

Discuss: How was the show?

By Tyler Fassnacht

The last time the New Pornographers came to town was about two years ago, supporting their album Challengers. This time around, with their solid new album Together, the band yet again came to the Orpheum Theatre, but the shows were actually quite different: this time they were much better.

Opening the evening was San Francisco group the Dodos. The three members on stage (one more than at the last time they played Madison on the Terrace) played guitar, vibraphone and percussion respectively. A problem I would say about this band is that it seems they have a difficult time fleshing out their songs to sound as full as they do on record. Having said this, they still put on a hell of a show. As one of the more technically impressive folk acts, the Dodos guitar player/singer Meric Long fingerpicks at intense speeds with astounding rhythmic precision, but also can strum acoustic-pop songs, which kind of leads to my other complaint. Being a fan of the Dodos in their own right, I have listened to their catalog and I know the variety of sounds and song structure that they use, which the band didn’t showcase all that well; they mostly played a lot of songs that sounded very similar and safe, but I guess that comes with being the opener.

After some setup, the New Pornographers came out to an intro song (Boston’s Foreplay) and immediately jumped into “Sing Me Spanish Techno” off Twin Cinema“>Twin Cinema. A big reason the show this time around was better was visually apparent as soon as the band hit the stage: the inclusion of the fiery redhead vocal powerhouse Neko Case and the wonderfully quirky Dan Bejar, both of who were absent the last time. Things felt more comfortable and accessible with all the members there, the way seeing old friends at a party makes it that much more fun. Case’s sense of humor contributed greatly with the amusing banter of front man Carl Newman and Bejar kept his reputation by only coming on stage to play on his songs, leaving when he finished. The band also sounded tight and full with the inclusion of a cello/saxophone player rounding out the nine-person group, each adding to the music in their own way. In terms of song choice, a New Pornographers fan could not be happier. Each album was represented fairly well, splitting the set list evenly across their five albums with great renditions of “Use It,” “The Slow Descent into Alcoholism,” and “Myriad Harbour,” among many others. The band delivered with thick guitar chords, layers of vocal harmonies, poppy hooks and big choruses to a diverse audience of everyone from high school students to past middle age, adults (I guess everyone loves the New Pornographers). The banded ended the night with a short encore that included aid from two members of the Dodos and graciously left the stage, a suitable ending for an awesome rock show and performance.

Discuss: Did you attend last night’s show? What did you think? Drop a comment with your thoughts and reviews of the show.

Buy: The New Pornographers – Together
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MP3: The New Pornagraphers – “Your Hands (Together)”

Well, for those of you that tuned into FarmAid.org at 11am this morning to discover who the supporting acts for the 25th anniversary Farm Aid concert, you likely went away disappointed since we learned nothing new.  We still know that Farm Aid 25 will take place at Milwaukee’s Miller Park on Saturday, October 2, but that’s about it. Concert organizers Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews will be there, with additional acts announced in the coming weeks. Tickets for “Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America” will go on sale at 9 a.m. on Saturday, August 14, at the Brewers box office, by calling (414) 902-4000 or online at www.tickets.com; prices range from $39.50 to $97.50.

DISCUSS: There are lots of rumors swirling around Milwaukee and elsewhere about who is going to play at Miller Park in October. What have you heard? Who would you like to see play at Farm Aid 25? Are you planning on going? Leave a comment and let us know!

Here are the Wisconsin and Illinois shows we recommend you take in this week. Check them out below and let us know which ones you’ll be attending or ones you think should really make our list.

Upcoming Shows:

8/2 – Chris Isaak – Northern Lights Casino (MILWAUKEE)
8/2 – The Portland Cello Project – Millennium Park (CHICAGO)
8/3 – The Portland Cello Project – High Saloon (MADISON)
8/3 – Seu Jorge And Almaz – Congress Theater (CHICAGO)
8/4 – Phosphorescent + J. Tillman – Mad Planet (MILWAUKEE)
8/4 – The National + The Antlers – Riverside Theater (MILWAUKEE)
8/4 – The New Pornographers + The Dodos – Orpheum Theatre (MADISON)
8/5 – The Smith Westerns + The Big Pink – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
8/5 – Soundgarden – Vic Theatre (CHICAGO)
8/5 – Devo + Dirty Projectors – Congress Theatre (CHICAGO)
8/5 – New Pornographers + The Dodos – Metro (CHICAGO)
8/5 – Phosphorescent + J. Tillman – Empty Bottle (CHICAGO)
8/6 – Rogue Wave – Schubas (CHICAGO)
8/6 – The Walkmen + Warpaint Double Door (CHICAGO)
8/6 – The Goodnight Loving – Milwaukee Ale House (MILWAUKEE)
8/6 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park (CHICAGO)
8/7 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park (CHICAGO)
8/7 – Primus – The Rave (MILWAUKEE)
8/7 – Avi Buffalo + Blitzen Trapper – Lincoln Hall (CHICAGO)
8/7 – The Black Keys + The Morning Benders – Metro (CHICAGO)
8/7 – The National + The Antlers – House of Blues (CHICAGO)
8/7 – The Championship – Concert Cruise (MILWAUKEE)
8/8 – Lollapalooza – Grant Park (CHICAGO)

Just Announced:

8/10 – Jeremy Messersmith + Judsom Claireborne + Conrard Plymouth – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
8/11 – Jeremy Messersmith + Judson Claiborne + Conrad Plymouth – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
8/12 – Jeremy Messersmith + Judson Claiborne + Conrad Plymouth – Schubas (CHICAGO)
9/4 – Asobi Sesku – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
9/18 – Titus Andronicus + Free Energy + Best Coast + Male Bonding – Metro (CHICAGO)
9/22 – The Tallest Man On Earth + S. Carey – Park West (CHICAGO)
9/24 – Retribution Gospel Choir – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
9/25 – Those Darlins + These United States + Turbo Fruits – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
9/28 – Dosh – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
9/29 – Blitzen Trapper + Pearly Gate Music – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)
10/5 – King Khan & The Shrines – The Annex (MADISON)
10/9 – Film School + Depreciation Guild + Faux Fir – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
10/9 – The Thermals + Cymbals Eat Guitars – The Annex (MADISON)
10/12 – Jukebox The Ghost + Elizabeth & the Catapult – Cactus Club (MILWAUKEE)
10/16 – Gorillaz – UIC Pavilion (CHICAGO)
10/23 – Phantogram + Josiah Wolf – High Noon Saloon (MADISON)

+Bookmark our upcoming shows page for all your concert announcements+