The following is a breakdown of who rocked, who didn’t, and who lied about Barack Obama showing up at Lollapalooza 2008.
SATURDAY
MGMT: Meh. Not that good. Other than “Kids” and “Time to Pretend,” far and away their best songs in general, the performance was pretty weak.
Explosions in the Sky: It was exactly like Friday Night Lights, except instead of football players there were alot of people who hadn’t showered in a fortnight.
Booka Shade: Lots of percussion. Good dance beats. There was a guy in the audience who was doing some sort of a barefoot jig and reminded me of a hobbit. (Oh my god I can’t believe I just made a Lord of the Rings joke.)
Lupe Fiasco: He came out to the theme from Rocky, then did a back-flip. Pretty effing sweet.
SUNDAY
Chromeo: An electronica-based musical duo who write songs about dancing, partying and being a “Momma’s Boy.” These guys were the most pleasant surprise of the festival.
G. Love and Special Sauce: Announced that Barack Obama was introducing Kanye West, WHICH WAS BLATANTLY UNTRUE, WTF!
Gnarls Barkley: Getting to hear Cee-Lo sing the words to Radiohead’s “Reckoner” would have been the highlight of the festival had it not been for the virtuoso performance that went down on the main stage just an hour later. Speaking of which…
Kanye West: To sum it up: Oh. My. Friggin’. Gawd. Too Awesome for words.