There were two doors on the trailer, one that said 'Band Only' and the other I can't recall. Only because the 'Band Only' sign was lighting up in hot pink neon, blinking and making a high shrilled alarm sound. Ok, in reality it was just Courier script on a piece of typing paper, but that's beside the point. It may as well have been. So upon entry, I was surprised to see a rectangular card table (the kind you see at rummage sales) with a laptop computer on it and a fax machine. I did see the Guest List on the table and , wasting no time, added my name on the list immediately before moving onto the next and, hopefully, more interesting room.
The place was nicely air-conditioned and the central room had a lovely red contempo couch, 2 side chairs and a coffee table that featured a basket with some decorative red wicker balls in it. I noticed the gigantic grey billowing curtains behind the couch and filed that in my memory as 'significant' before moving onto room #3 which had another Courier script sign on typing paper reading: "Rehearsal Room.'
Now this is where my 'Pam Mitchell' moment comes in because there on a guitar stand was a gleaming electric guitar and I knew that it had to be Nick Valenti's....or possibly Albert Hammond Jr's. It was the golden color of beer. I know I should have taken note of the make and model, etc....and if I was a guitar player I'm sure I would have, but instead...I simply reached over and stroked the strings with the breathless words, "This is the guitar Nick (or Albert) plays. He makes Strokes music with this guitar. Wow." A real Strokes' guitar is nothing less than a magic talisman for me because the music that comes out of it on Is This It, Room On fire and First Impressions on Earth makes me so happy. It actually has the incredible alchemistic ability to completely change my mood from down to up, from cynical to hopeful, from pessimistic to optimistic, from feeling old to feeling young and from feeling tired to feeling completely energized.How? I don't know. But really good music just does that. Plus, the way I see it, the drumbeat of a band is the heartbeat and the vocals is the soul. So the guitar(s) is everything else...and well, that's an awful lot of anatomy. It definitely determines how sexy the band is. As I've said before, and I'll reiterate, a good band has got to have sexy guitar. Absolutely imperative.
I had to chuckle to myself, because this exact thing happens in Zamecki's movie when 'Pam' (Nancy Allen) touches the strings of Paul McCartney's guitar in the Beatles' vacant hotel room only she has an orgasm at some point (was it when she was drinking out of the Beatles' water glasses left on the hotel coffee table?) and I am sorry to report that, unfortunately, that did not happen to me. I did, however, get to check out Fab's drum set and even contemplated taking the sticks but upon further thought, decided against it because what if that was the only pair available and he needed to warm up before the show? B-a-a-a-a-a-a-d. So I decided against it.
I went back into the lounge and hid behind the curtains as I considered my next move. If I waited there, I knew I would eventually meet the Strokes. Guaranteed. It would inevitably happen. I knew I would have to wait at least 2 hours before they arrived. I also knew that I would do what I always do when I play hide-n-seek: start giggling uncontrollably as people got near my hiding spot. Then I would probably roll out from my hiding spot and at that point , the only reasonable thing to do would be to sing a stanza of "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" by the Beatles as I did so. This would be funny in a relaxed atmosphere but it occurred to me that 40 minutes until concert time might not be the most relaxed atmosphere particularly in lieu of the fact that it was to be the first time the guys would be playing together as the Strokes in years. So this means I would have to wait until AFTER their set in this cramped little quarters which would add another 90 minutes onto my waiting time. It took me about 10 or so minutes to process all these thoughts and by this time, I was so cramped and uncomfortable I was ready to spring my escape from behind the iron curtain. There is not a chance in the world I could last back there for 3 and a half hours let alone another ten minutes. I was just about to spring my escape when I heard a noise and realized it was someone entering the trailer.
He was alone. He dug around in a crafts bag for snacks about 3 feet from my curtain and at that point, I almost burst out laughing. It was everything I could do to tell my brain to not allow my mouth to laugh. "Don't do it. Don't laugh. Puh-leeez don't laugh!" I managed to stifle any audible giggles and he left the trailer. I exited my hiding spot and looked out the window. It wasn't a Stroke at all. I nonchalantly left the trailer and cheerily said "Hi!" to the guy that had just exited the trailer, thinking he could somehow get me to the Strokes. Turned out he was a Brit named Brian and he was their guitar tuner. I tried to find out where the Strokes were going to party that evening after the show but he knew nothing. What a loss for the Strokes. It would have been myself, Tieg and Sarah, the three most beautiful girls at Lollapalooza, not to mention the coolest. Brian DID hit on me, ask me out and tried to get me to meet him after the show for drinks. I discreetly turned him down on all 3 counts but agreed to try to find him after the show so that "we could party with the Strokes." I could barely contain my excitement. I showed him the locust I had befriended. It had landed on me and it was really beautiful, glimmering black and green and purple. It flew off into the blue as we spoke. An ancient Egyptian symbol of rebirth and resurrection. The Egyptian locust/beetle/scarab symbol ends up being a recurring theme so pay attention.
Because this was actually the second time I had gone backstage, the first time I returned from this netherworld to join my friends in the front row, Mavis Staples was finishing off her set. The entire crowd was singing blues and what sounded like gospel music. It was clear that Chicago adored this woman and it wasn't until later that I found out that Mavis, aside from being an award-winning musician and former member of the widely acclaimed 1960's group the Staple Singers, is an icon in Chicago. She was close with Martin Luther King Jr. (one of my abiding heroes) and was a musical and spiritual voice of the civil rights movement at that time. She is also a longtime good friend and collaborator of Bob Dylan, another abiding hero of mine. I was in the presence of an amazing woman.
The Black Keys came on promptly at 6pm and Tieg and Sarah went nuts. The literally let their hair down, danced the entire set and sang every lyric of every song. Dan Auerbach must know on some level that he is a lucky dude. There's no way that can't be gratifying to a male; to look downstage and see the prettiest girls in the crowd front row center mouthing your every word and going insane. I personally was not into Dan Auerbach because I tend to be pulled toward either very urban (London or Manchester, England/New York, generally) type music or West Coast type music. (Pearl Jam, Nirvana) I am sure there are exceptions but I can say definitively that I have never been so much as tempted to purchase a John Mellancamp, Alabama or Leonard Skynyrd album, for example. I am a Strokes/Libertines/Clash/Beatles/Lou Reed/ Bad Brains kind of girl. 100%. Of course, I like hawaiian music too. Its my island roots music. But hawaiian is really a very different genre than rock-n-roll.
The Strokes came on 15 minutes late which feels like an eternity when you have been waiting in the hot Chicago August sun for 12 hours. But it was great seeing the original five playing original Strokes music. It was the Strokes being the Strokes playing the Strokes. What else could you want? Never mind that the acoustics sounded like crap; I don't think anyone cared. It was a good call, opening the set with New York City Cops. Julian seemed happy and stoked to be there, which made me stoked. He even said that Lolla was "his new favorite place to play," which conveyed to me that he was really enjoying himself. [see sidebar at right for exact set list] However, it got so inaudible near the end of the set that I could only tell what song was being played by trying to make out a word or two spilling from Julian's mouth and then figuring out the lyric. It was seriously that bad. I don't recall any sound checks happening between performances and that can really make a huge difference. Brian went around and tuned things but there was no sound check per say.I want to emphasize the poor sound quality did not have anything to do with the band's delivery but everything to do with some weird acoustics settings that were going on. From where I was in the front row, there was distortion going on through the second half of the set that was actually making the songs sound like they were being played in the wrong keys. Was it the acoustics AND the extreme condition of 10,000 screaming fans yelling out the lyrics directly behind me? Probably. I can't be sure but by the last few songs, all I could hear clearly was Fab's drumming. There's also the possibility that my eardrums had simply been blown out for the night seeing as how I had been standing near the Budweiser Stage amplifiers for over 8 1/2 hours. Regardless, it was fantastic seeing them all performing together and I am glad I did. If it weren't for the Strokes, I wouldn't have travelled 4,000 miles to come and see Lollapalooza. It was all about them. It did, however, require some unpleasantries which I had anticipated well in advance:
#1) Jeapordizing one's physical well being. Did I mention I was in the front row? There were roughly 70,000 people at Lollapalooza and thousands of these people were pressing up against me. So there were thousands of people, the steel barricade and me in between these two entities. There were moments where I couldn't breathe. I was bruised and endured a red welt on my knee. My only mantra to keep me going was the thought, "This could be their Candlestick Park 1966!" until I finally was pulled out from the crowd by security so that I wouldn't pass out from the heat, the excitement, the exhaustion, the starvation, the pressure of bodies, etc. I was about the 11th person that got "rescued" --there were people getting pulled out roughly every 4 minutes-- so I think I got to be front row center at least half the 75 minutes that they played.
See photos above for battle wounds: Silver dollar sized red welt on left knee that turned into a couple scabs a day or two later, assorted bruises on legs and linear welt across my chest from the steel barricade [not pictured] Ouch! Love hurts!
I forgot to mention Wavves who played at 12:15pm. They were prompt and I really thought Nathan Williams had a lot of charisma and great stage presence. I also enjoyed the bassist, Stephen Pope,who reminded me a bit of Jack Black and since I am a fan, I couldn't help but like him. Nathan and Stephen were so different but clearly friends; it worked somehow. I liked their sound which had a punk edge to it (always appreciated) and I think seeing their set has inspired me to check them out more fully on iTunes. They're essentially the fresh faced generation's San Diego punk/skate band or so was the feeling I got. I thought they somehow pulled off being interesting and fresh even though its been done before. Let's face it, that's what Lollapalooza is for-it forces you to check out new music. The other bands I thought worthy of checking out further (no, not the New Pornographers and no, not Dirty Projectors) was Spoon and Temper Trap. But I think Wavves ranked first in the "havven't heard them before but must download more and listen" category.
AND THAT CONCLUDES DAY 1 of LOLLAPALOOZA. STAY TUNED FOR DAY 2.
No comments:
Post a Comment