From Opening until 2:30
To be honest, the first half of Day One (until at least 2:30) is surprisingly weak. Of course, festivals like these give the little guys a chance to give a breakout performance and make a name for themselves, so it may turn out much better than it looks on paper. That being said, my first band pick is Sound Team at noon. I'm pretty sure more people will be going for deadboy & the Elephantmen, but frankly, I don't find the duo all that appealing, and I'm banking on Sound Team to put out the better set. Following that, I'm going to be skipping out on both The Subways and Blue October to check out Husky Rescue. While there's a good chance that Blue October might be decent live, I'm thinking that the atmospheric Helsinki-based Husky Rescue will probably end up putting the best show out of the bunch.
From 2:30 until 6:30
Staying within the mellow trend, my next pick (and the easiest one by far) is eels. No offense to Panic! At the Disco, but I'd much rather be depressed by Mr. E's songs of sorrow than want to off myself after listening to them for more than five minuets, because at least Mr. E's songs are good. Immediately following that performance is a group of equally compelling performances: Stars, Editors, Jeremy Enigk, and Mute Math all perform at the same time. An interesting predicament if you ask me, as both Stars and Editors are increasingly gaining attention, while Enigk and particularly Mute Math are not necessarily as well known. If you're looking for a sleeper pick of the bunch, it would definitely be Mute Math, and if it weren't for the fact that Stars was playing at the same time, I'd go with that pick. However, since Stars is playing, and I love their music, I have to go with them (perhaps if I get antsy though, I'll head over and check out the end of MM's set). Following Stars at 4:30 is yet another easy pick for me, and should be one for pretty much anyone that's a fan of either group (I don't know if any overlap is possible)-- Ryan Adams over Umphrey's McGee (a pick I would take any day of the week). I'm just hoping that: a) no one pisses Ryan off and b) that he actually puts out for the entire hour. I've heard about his shenanigans, but seeing that this will be the first chance I'll get to see him live (and probably many others as well) I'd like to think he'll do what he's capable of and not go off if someone should call him Brian. At 5:30, both Iron & Wine and The Secret Machines will be performing. As much as I love Sam Beam (the man that is Iron & Wine), I can't imagine him doing well in this venue, so I'm going to go with The Secret Machines and hope that perhaps there will be some kind of Iron & Wine afterset.
From 6:30 until Close
Okay, I get it, everyone loves Jack White and outside of Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs is the collaboration of the year. So of course, I'd have to pick them right? Well, in the words of Lee Corso "Not so fast, my friend." While I think that what Jack White is doing is great, unless he's going to bring Meg out on stage and start performing White Stripes songs and then let Brendan Benson do some of his own stuff, there's no way I'm going to pass up My Morning Jacket (yes they're the special guest), a group I consider to be one of the most underrated right now. In my mind, with their release of Z last year, an album that was ranked #1 on my 2005 list (and cracked the top 3 on many others), MMJ has finally broken through and proven that they're not just a fluke. I'm sure that the crowd will be small compared to what The Raconteurs will be getting, but I'm almost 100% certain it'll be worth it regardless. After that set is over, I will be thoroughly enjoying myself as I watch Sleater-Kinney tear it up. While I don't blame anyone, particularly fans, for picking the Violent Femmes, if you're not familiar with SK, you should definitely at least give them a listen as it will be their last performance ever (yep, they're breaking up). Finally, battling certain claustrophobia, I'll be watching Death Cab for Cutie close it out for the second year in a row. They put out too good of a show last year for me not to see them again, and maybe they'll even top the previous performance.
Aftersets?
There's quite a bit to choose from in this department. Of Montreal will be playing at Schuba's (21+ show) at 10pm. Thievery Corporation will be playing along side Govinda and Husky Rescue at the Metro (18+ show) at 9pm, while Blackalicious and Lyrics Born will be performing with Ohmega Watts at the House of Blues (18+ show) at 10pm. Also of note, Lake Trout will be at the Abbey Pub for an 18+ show at 9pm.
Phew, that's quite a lot of music for one day, and we're just getting started! Check back tomorrow for the Fuzzy Thoughts' Day Two overview of Lollapalooza. Just to simplify things a bit, below is a summary table of my picks for Day One:
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