I've never really listened to PJ all that much. I know their hits from my high school days, but powerhouse vocalist Chris Cornell of Soundgarden was more my cup o' tea. Now it seems that Eddie uses his vocals to bring attention to world problems, which not all corporate sponsors are pleased with. During "Daughter," the band slid into a cover of "Another Brick in the Wall," where Eddie changed up the lyrics to "George Bush leave this world alone / George Bush find yourself another home." But curiously this section was missing from the AT&T webcast. AT&T has said that the censorship was done in error, and they are currently working to rebroadcast the performance yadda, yadda yadda, which actually means some poor editing schlub got fired because he did what he was told at the time, but when the backlash rolled in, he became the scapegoat. Lucky for you fine readers, I was there to capture the whole thing live! Click here for the complete unedited version. Oh and who knew Dennis Rodman would show up?
Daft Punk
Amazing set (for what we saw). Although I was okay with leaving early that night because it had been a full day, now I'm completely kicking myself for not staying longer. Obviously some were anticipating this act more than others. Check out this guy--100% commitment, people. For those of you not familiar with this getup, check out Daft Punk's video for "One More Time".
Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs
I only caught a couple of songs, due to having to hike about a mile to get from one end of the park to the other. Karen O was...interesting. Clad in a black leotard, crisscrossed pattern pantyhose, mid-arm-length latex gloves, and white sneakers, she was a sight to see. She also seemed to be channeling a bit of Marilyn Manson, sporting a bright blue forehead, which you could see when she wasn't singing under her sparkly Micheal Jackson-esque towel. I was so entertained by her outfit and onstage antics and flirting with the crowd that I really didn't listen to their songs until after getting home and reviewing the clips. Not sure if that makes them good, bad, or indifferent.
!!! (chk, chk, chk)
Oh where do I even begin with this fucking band? After seeing a rousing clip of their act at Coachella on YouTube, I was really pumped to see this group. They seemed like a fun, dorked-out dancing, super group (there's seriously like 10 people on stage), and I was more than willing to completely bust a move along with them when they came on. What I was not expecting was the singer's dorky dance moves to be paired with lyrics / spoken word / pseudo rap crap such as "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK", and "SUCK MY DICK" (or perhaps "cock"--I've tried to block it from memory) delivered as though he were some street-hardened thug. Dude, you failed, Failed, FAILED to pull this off. By the fourth song, I was making my way out of the crowd, shaking my head in disappointment. I probably could have written this off as a bad act and forgotten about it fairly quickly, but the fact that I had left Iggy and The Stooges right as the onstage riot was beginning just so I wouldn't miss any of !!! is like salt in an open wound. Especially since Gabriel had also given them a poor review prior to this. (maise says: I HATE it when he's right!)
Juliette & The Licks
These guys were awesome and so much fun! After their set, we got a bite to eat and casually made our way down to see who was on the list to sign autographs that day. Lo and behold, their names were taped to the schedule. Apparently they weren't initially scheduled, but Juliette had decided that since it was such a good set that they wanted to stick around to sign some autographs too. I had to have a CD to get in line, so I ran in the music store tent: sold out. The shady-looking guy selling them outside the tent: sold out. The people already standing in line: not willing to sell. But fortunately another case was found, and hubby snagged one for me. Up close, Juliette is just a tiny little thing but still full of so much energy. She'd let people come around behind their table to take silly pictures with her and the band and would really ham it up for the camera. Here's the face I got for my picture with her.
Of course I cut myself out because if the saying goes "the camera adds 5lbs," then it should be said that standing next to Juliette Lewis adds 20lbs. And then of course, my signed CD. HELLZ YEAH!
Other tidbits:
*LCD Soundsystem = perfection. Fabulous performance, even though the drummer was under the weather, and it seemed uncertain in a couple of songs as to whether he was going to make it.
*Interpol's bassist can keep the ash on his cigarette from the start of a song to the finish while still playing and moving around. Impressive. While admiring this with Ro's friend, I was hit on by a guy who had clearly stolen his look from Seth Green in "Can't Hardly Wait". I'm talking right down to the goggles.
*As we were walking to the Bud Light stage, Rodrigo y Gabriela played out a few minutes of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" on their acoustic guitars, which gave me chills. Described as a "Mexican-born, Ireland-based, heavy-metal-obsessed instrumental acoustic guitar duo," even if they don't sound like your kind of thing, they still are worth a listen because they're that good.
*Angelman will also be happy to know that I purchased some hippie-dippie Vegan sandals due to poor judgment that morning in festival-going footwear. They were more than I would ever normally pay for sandals, but then again I don't think my tire-tread sole will wear out anytime soon.
You can check out some of our other pictures here or click the link on the sidebar. They're organized by day 1, 2, & 3 for easier perusing. There are loads of them! I think they turned out pretty good considering this was about our average distance from the stages.
