Let me start off on a negative note by saying that Lollapalooza 2009 was the worst Lollapalooza I've been to. I mean, it wasn't awful or anything, I just think we got spoiled in 2006 and 2007. The artists this year weren't as good, we missed a lot of acts due to traveling, we didn't go to any afterparties, we didn't get to see many friends, and the weather was rough. ...Aside from all that though - It was still pretty awesome and I'm really glad we went. We got to hang out with Jon and Liz quite a bit, had Sushi Wabi, heard a ton of good music, and of course, got to visit our favorite city - Chicago.

So everything started Friday morning when we (slowly) busted out of Cedar Rapids (late). By the time we got to Lollapalooza we'd already missed 3 of the shows I wanted to see: Hollywood Holt, Bon Iver, and our friend Greg from Dark Wave Disco. Bummer.

But here's what I did see...

Asher Roth - Didn't stay for too long. He basically just got a bunch of girls on stage and spit college/party raps - it was decent, but not really worth sticking around for too long.
Crystal Castles - Pretty awesome. I love that dude's 8bit-ish production. Plus we got to see the chick singer punch some fan in the face for trying to steal her bottle of liquor, haha.
A-Trak - Definitely awesome. He played a bit more techno than I thought he would, but it was still solid.
Peter Bjorn and John - Good while they were rocking - but they got into some slow tracks and I got bored... so we just listened to them while grabbing food.
Of Montreal - I sorta just accidentally listened to some of this while waiting for Depeche Mode. They sounded decent and their visualizations were dope.
Depeche Mode - Pretty amazing really. I've always liked Depeche Mode, but they're really solid live. Ridiculous visualizations, awesome sound. This may have been my favorite show.

After Depeche Mode, Jon, Liz, Kari, and I met Luke, Mindy, and Ashlee for dinner at Sushi Wabi. I'd been craving that freakin Ecuador roll; it definitely satisfied... but all the food also caused us all to crash pretty hard immediately afterwards.

Saturday

Atmosphere - I'd never seen him live but have been wanting to for years, so I was pretty excited for this show. He had a really, really solid set. Super personal, great tracks, it was awesome.
No Age - We listened to a bit of this while laying in the shade with Mindy and Ashlee - and while eating lobster corn dogs. I gotta say - I don't even remember what they sounded like after eating those lobster corn dogs - amazing!
Santigold - She sounds so good. I'm really sad I missed her when she was in Des Moines - because quite frankly, the ridiculous crowd by her stage sorta ruined the show for us. Kari and I were caught right in the middle of this path of people walking to get to and from the Budweiser mainstage. It was rough. We both wanted to punch people... but again, Santigold sounded awesome.
LA Riots - Banging techno. That's about it. I liked it
Diplo - had a 3 piece suit on in 95 degree weather - wtf. Anyway, he played a lot more techno than I thought he would. I wanted more of the brazilian type stuff he puts down.
Animal Collective - Sounded good while I was fighting through the Tool crowd to meet Jon... but for the most part, I missed the Animal Collective show. I'm kinda sad for that.
Beastie Boys - The main reason I came to the festival, were replaced by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I understand why Beastie had to drop out, and I really feel for them... but wtf. Why was such a huge hip hop group replaced with a not hip hop group? Beastie Boys are the main reason I bought tickets this year... How many other hip hop heads did the same? How many of those hip hop heads do you think wanted to listen to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Don't get me wrong, I like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs - and it was a very last minute replacement... I just think they could've done better. I heard Jay-Z is taking some of Beastie's tour dates on the east coast. That would've KILLED.
Tool - Pretty awesome. I was a Tool fan in HS and haven't really listened to them a whole lot since, but it was a really good show. They played a lot of what I listened to back in the day so... I'm definitely glad I got to see them. Maynard was pretty hilarious - talking about missing one of his wine events for the show. And talking about how his only regret of playing that night was missing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

So after Tool we basically went home, showered up, had tacos, grabbed a few beers then crashed again. No one was really in party mode and Tag/Henson were being penises...

Sunday

The Airborne Toxic Event - Heard them while waiting for Dan Deacon. They played a pretty awesome cover of Goodbye Horses...
Dan Deacon - Was pretty awesome. He made the crowd do a lot of weird stuff and preached a bit. But I loved the chaos of the music.
The Glitch Mob - Some weird LA touchscreen "DJs." It was more like live beat production than DJing really... but I liked it a lot.
Boyz Noise - Amazing. He had the crowd going so good... Then we had to leave early to being our journey home.

One of the biggest problems this year was the amount of time we didn't have. Kari had trouble getting work off, which sorta caused us to miss a lot of the fest. We had to leave before Snoop Dogg, MSTRKRFT (who Greg was going to be performing with again), and one of the headliners - probably Jane's Addiction... Maybe the Killers.... Maybe Deadmau5.

Next year Kari's definitely gonna have to call in sick. And Harper's definitely gonna have to not leave Chicago - cause I know he'll at least hang out and party.

I'll have photos up after I get home from my next adventure in a week.