Nutshell Film Review: Hello Everywhere

Yes, this includes VMA talk. But it’s short, and has nothing to do with twerking (which is now legally a word), I promise.

I bet I speak for many when I use the word “disgusted” to describe my feelings towards Taco Bell’s ridiculous amount of participation in this year’s MTV VMAs (yes, I mean the Moonman for “Artist To Watch (Presented by Taco Bell)”). I was even more disgruntled after finding out that the fast food chain had produced a documentary featuring Nutshell favorites Passion Pit, and their recent 2013 SXSW performance at the Hype Hotel with Wildcat! Wildcat! But then, after doing a bit of research, actually watching the movie, and even submitting to the power of a couple of late-night tacos, my perspective shifted. Not about the restaurant’s presence in the award show, of course. It was actually about the documentary, and the reasons behind the making of it.

First off, there’s a need to clarify. The rock-doc was in fact produced by Taco Bell…more or less. It was funded by the creator of fourth meal’s Feed the Beat program, which is entirely dedicated to the discovery and raising of new bands and musical acts. They help in ways ranging from free tour food to promotion, and even big shows. This where Passion Pit comes in, with the band actually being alumni of the program from during the time that Manners was starting to be shopped around. They teamed up with Feed the Beat again, this time to both return to a festival that they had less than amicable feelings about, and also to support the upbringing of virtually unknown indie rock group Wildcat! Wildcat!, who exploded in a ridiculously similar manner to the way that Passion Pit did a few years ago: online marketing (or a lack thereof) that led to a fluctuation in popularity of one of the band’s tracks. The rest, for Passion Pit anyways, is history. Wildcat! Wildcat!’s journey is just beginning, very specifically at the SXSW show where they opened for Passion Pit. Which is where this film just so happens to start.

The creative part about this movie is that, despite the focus on one specific concert, the content expands way past that. Between sit down conversations with both focus bands, you see many huge topics in the music industry get touched upon. One of the most notable is when Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos actually praises the benefits of illegal downloading and filesharing of music, even going so far as to say “Piracy is the reason that we have a career…at the end of the day it still benefits the band.” The internet is a huge part of the industry according to both bands, with the members of Wildcat! Wildcat! discussing the importance of social media sites taking the place of fans who will stick around  to tell you that a show was great. Drummer Jesse Carmichael describes these thoughts as “opinions of people that 5, 10 years ago you would’ve never even known existed…that’s the way we can hear these stories.” Between these interviews, along with interviews of fans, you also get a feel of how unique SXSW as a whole really is, with almost every show being an intimate one.

However, an intimate show doesn’t mean it’s something to scoff at. The documentary goes out of its way to state that it is one of the smallest shows on Passion Pit’s tour. But to Wildcat! Wildcat!, a show at a packed 1500-capacity venue with online streaming and live documentary film crews, it’s no laughing matter. This is a fascinating part of the movie that shows how different two band’s perspectives can be on literally the same exact thing. And the cameras rolled throughout both pre-interviews, post-interviews, and the performance itself to catch every moment of emotion from both bands, whether it be fear, excitement, or anything in between.

Hello Everywhere is one of the most honest documentaries I’ve seen in a while. Maybe not necessarily the most informative or most beneficial to me in history class, but I’ve never seen a film where the topic is as up front as a simple concert, where they just dive into it so clearly. If you are a fan of music, concerts, movies, tacos, or fun, then this is a movie to check out. You can stream it for free here, and if you’re interested, you can also find out more information on Taco Bell’s Feed the Beat program here. And I feel as if, since the main point of the movie is to promote them, I should also let you know that you can check out Wildcat! Wildcat! on their website for tour dates, music, and more.

Nutshell Album Review: The Orwells – Who Needs You EP

Remember yesterday when I said EPs take less work to review? Well here we are! Trying to reap the maximum amount of benefits from the most minimal amount of time and listening! But in all honesty, read this because it’s a legitimate EP. Come on now.

The Orwells, a wonderful group of would-be-college-kids from small town Elmhurst, Illinois have been rattling the diminishing world of legitimate rock and roll for about the last year, driven by highly successful appearances at big-named festivals like SXSW and Lollapalooza, future dates at Austin City Limits and the Weezer Cruise, and a recent appearance on NPR. The craze seems to stem from early single “Mallrats (La La La)”, a rambunctious and almost playful garage-punk track that seemed too good to be true. After a hilarious music video that looks like a group of skater kids that had just stumbled out of a Bad Brains show started to wreak havoc on the local mall (I still can’t see a Wetzel’s Pretzels without thinking about this song), a debut album, a follow-up EP, and not that many haircuts, this five-piece garage outfit is proving that they deserve to be known as more than the kids from Elmhurst who tried to start a band. And with mixed signals about whether or not a second album is in the works, the Who Needs You EP will be enough (hopefully) to hold us over until we all get a glimpse of it.

The EP starts off with title track “Who Needs You”, which is bordering on the line of being one of the most solid protest songs that’s come out of recent history. Complete with a simple, but well-done music video reminiscent of The Strokes’ “Last Nite” video, the song is a great combination of being appealing and rough around the edges, and is a great track to start off the EP with. The second song is “Open Your Eyes (A Misfits Rip-off)” which, to give The Orwells credit, isn’t too much of rip-off of any Misfits song I could point to. With an amplified rhythm section and some vocal harmonies backing him, frontman Mario Cuomo delivers an impressive vocal performance on a song that is hooky and just generally fun to listen to. “Salvation Is A Parking Lot (A Black Lips Rip-off)”  has a more spot-on comparison with the use of Black Lips techniques like group vocals and almost chant-like talk singing at points. But The Orwells, again, deserve some credit here for doing something you don’t see very often: paying homage to bands you like without totally copying one of their specific songs. They even made it sound like they wrote the song (which they did). So bravo! The EP then ends with an Audiotree live take of Remember When track “Halloween All Year”, which is a nice close to an even nicer collection of songs.

The Orwells are a band that, for whatever reason, I missed out on reviewing not once but twice. After finally seeing them do a live show (I’m already planning on going to another one) and hearing about the Who Needs You EP, I knew I had to get them up on the site. I’m glad that I did, and I’m even more glad I got something that can be high on the priority list of past reviews. 94/100 for The Orwells for their newest release, which you can get your hands on starting September 10th.

Who Needs You EP Tracklisting

1. Who Needs You
2. Open Your Eyes (A Misfits Rip-off)
3. Salvation Is A Parking Lot (A Black Lips Rip-off)
4. Halloween All Year (Audiotree Live Session)

Nutshell Album Review: Baby Kid – Bruce Malmsteen Reverend Johnson (Download Link)

So despite the fun/stress/business that goes into the first week or so of being a college student, I’ve decided to continue to take time out of my day to ramble aimlessly and endlessly about music. The reason is two fold. Fold one: I’m a music major, so isn’t this studying? Fold two: HA. STUDYING. But since my mom reads this, I’m sort of obligated to say I’m hitting the books. I even went to the library today (no joke)!

The strange thing is the first thing I’m doing for this site as a college student is reviewing an album by a local band from back home that I became quite fond of over the years. Their name is Baby Kid (named creatively after a kid that went to high school with the band that looked an uncanny amount like a baby), and their blend of noise rock and a lot of reverb has rocked too many house shows and parking garage roof shows (see the second paragraph) to count. Having the pleasure to play many shows with the trio, made up of Peter Gajewski, Gus Dieter, and Jeremy Walleck, their unparalleled goofiness goes hand-in-hand with the raw awesomeness of their songs, including this singles collection and even a “party mix”. And now we have an album to talk about.

Bruce Malmsteen Reverend Johnson starts off with lead single “Bein’ a Big D∞Bag to the Away High School Chess Team at Regional Competition”, one of the all-star song titles of the album. The track starts off with a wall of feedback noise before busting in and out of powerful hooks and quiet interludes backed by ripping screams and soft vocals, respectively. Up next is “Your Friend Who Eats Bugs”, with a chord-based opening riff and solid harmonizing of vocals packed between instrumental refrains. The song ends with an intoxicating and pretty freakin’ awesome instrumental outro. “Dominatrix Under the Glasses Store”, which was another single on the album that has a pretty great music video, is one of the most attractive songs on this record. I may even go so far to say this is one of my favorite songs the group has ever written. It’s one of the most impressive uses of dynamics I’ve heard in all of music and it features yet another awesome instrumental outro complete with some audio samples built in near the end. Definitely one to check out.

The next song is “Gas’line Lettuce Tomato”, with an intro that sounds like it is pulled right out of a Pixies album. It starts off super dreamy and…well…trippy before breaking into a short-lived explosion of distortion and cymbals. The progression then repeats, turning into another one of the album’s highlights. “Toni Kukoč Slow Motion Fadeaway” is what follows, and it is very reminiscent of the band’s early garage rock sound while still injecting fresh-sounding melodies and riffs. “My Plans to Fall Asleep” is put together a lot like a Sonic Youth track, with quick transitions between fast-paced riffs and slower, more drawn out breaks. It even features Dieter providing a Thurston Moore-like, reverb-soaked vocal performance. “$4.00 Lottery Ticket, ’13” is another song on the album that is very garagey, with fast chord strummings, screams from Gajewski, and an almost-hectic drum beat. There’s also a fun surprise in the middle, with the sound shifting to a much more relaxed feel, at some points even seeming calm enough to be an isolated vocal track. “Thumblr Famous Dave” comes up next, and it opens with an audio sample of none other than Moe from “The Simpsons” before breaking into a song that can’t be described much further than a solid rock song. It has a very attractive chord progression, and it is nicely driven by the rhythm section and small inserted riffs throughout. “Serif Like Times New Roman” is the longest track of the album (ending on the 7-minute mark), and it feels as close to a “Baby Kid” medley as you’ll ever get. It features all of the aspects of their music that you could ever pinpoint. Whether it be the quiet, toned-down vocal breaks, the quick and riff-driven jam-session like grooves, the extended build-ups, or anything else, this song has got it. It even manages to bring in a synth lead in the middle section where Gajewski hypnotizes you with the repetition of the line “I don’t feel a thing”.

“÷” starts off the tail end, and heavily electronic end, of the album, with a minute-long instrumental featuring audio takes of the band just having a good time. “Kevin James Gave My Dad an iPod Once”, my favorite of this album’s song titles, is all synths and drum machines packed underneath Dieter’s vocals about being an alien. “Freedom Fries” also follows the same musical style, except with vocals that are entirely in French. The album is then closed with “Wesołych Świąt, Guy on the Football Team!” a 90 second song chock-full of saw-leads and high hats, and the eponymous “Baby Kid”, an evolving-synth-riddled backdrop to drummer Walleck’s only…ahem…”vocal performance” (billed as “The J-Man”) which constitutes him reading a letter to his mother, only to point out every word that could somehow be related to erections.

It’s been a while since I reviewed a full album like this one. Part of it is because EPs take less work and concerts are a lot of fun, but a large factor is also that there hasn’t been a lot of music that’s recently grasped my attention. I don’t know if it was my unbiased love of Baby Kid, or my much-more-biased love of the part of my musical career that they took part in, but something pulled me into reviewing this album. This record is a coffeehouse dweller’s dream, and it also attracted the attention of the football players down the hall from my dorm at a Big 10 university. This says a lot, mainly that they must be doing something pretty special. And guess what! You can scoop up all the specialness for free (and legally!) here, and find their Facebook page here.

Oh and the whole rating thing? This low-fi masterpiece snags a 92/100. Handshakes all around.

Bruce Malmsteen Reverend Johnson Tracklisting:

1. Bein’ a Big D∞Bag to the Away High School Chess Team at Regional Competition
2. Your Friend Who Eats Bugs
3. Dominatrix Under the Glasses Store
4. Gas’line Lettuce Tomato
5. Toni Kukoč Slow Motion Fadeaway
6. My Plans to Fall Asleep
7. $4.00 Lottery Ticket, ’13
8. Thumblr Famous Dave
9. Serif Like Times New Roman
10. ÷
11. Kevin James Gave My Dad an iPod Once
12. Freedom Fries
13. Wesołych Świąt, Guy on the Football Team!
14. Baby Kid

Nutshell Concert Review: Passion Pit – Summerset Music Festival 8/10/13

Photo courtesy of Ryan Siverson, mezzic.com

It’s already been more than a year since the release of Gossamer, Passion Pit’s successful and satisfying sophomore LP. Since then, they have commanded both outdoor festivals and indoor venues with their live show, captivating audiences with their exciting, dance-worthy synth pop and impressive light shows. After missing the opportunity (twice) to see them in a local show, I decided it would be fitting to drive 7+ hours to Somerset, Wisconsin to watch the somewhat out of place cardigan and skinny jean wearing indie band play at a blooming EDM festival in the rural north. Yes, I acknowledge the fact that they will be performing at Chicago’s North Coast Music Festival in a couple of weeks, but the latter of the two options doesn’t also include awesome experiences like seeing STS9’s anger over a man pretending to be a part of their group, and seeing STRFKR perform their version of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”.

But I digress.

There’s a strange thing to be said about Passion Pit’s live performance: Passion Pit doesn’t quite sound like the “Passion Pit” you would expect to hear when putting on your iPod. This is not by any means a knock on the band; these guys are just very notable for doing things in studio that may be much more challenging to replicate live than one would assume. But the Passion Pit that you do see when they step on stage is still an amazing one. They exhibit a totally new form of power that you don’t really notice in their compressed and electronic dream world that goes through your headphones. But when you amplify that through giant speakers, and combine it with the force of a bass driven live drum kit, flashy lights, and frontman Michael Angelakos jumping around like a goofy little kid, it turns into a totally different listening experience.

With that in mind, it would be hard to imagine that Gossamer track “I’ll Be Alright” would be anything short of electrifying, and opening with that kind of energy can only give you momentum. They managed to keep it throughout the entire hour-long set, even after taking a break for the smooth and almost R&B-like “Constant Conversations”. Angelakos also seemed to be working at his prime, reminding the audience consistently that they were there to sing, dance, and have an all around good time.

Passion Pit was able to do an interesting and bold thing last weekend when they performed to a crowd that was there, ultimately, to see EDM. Although they don’t totally stray from the genre, they are a far cry from other Summerset acts like Flosstradamus and Minnesota. But they came out to brave the rage-sticks and ravers to put on one heck of a show, and for that I thank them. For those of you lucky enough to have Passion Pit hit your town before their tour ends, be sure to check them out.

And, my apologies for this one, but I slacked off this festival and didn’t take pictures or write down any setlists. Based on that, plus the surprising laziness of the whole internet world, I don’t have the official one for the show. But, if you were there and know what they played, comment it down below!

6 Upcoming Fall Albums That You Should Get Excited About

The end of summer is more often than not a dreadful experience. Students start to hop on buses again and, in most cases, any sort of work load that ceased to exist is suddenly back again. Now all we have to do is look forward to the holidays, when we can once again basically stop having responsibilities again for a couple weeks. The one beautiful thing about the fall months creeping up, however, is that there always seems to be an abundance of awesome new music that comes out, almost too quickly to follow. Think about last year’s fall albums that included Muse, Green Day, Animal Collective, and Two Door Cinema Club to name a few. The next couple of months are looking to continue that trend, so here’s your guide to what you should be looking out for.

MGMT – MGMT
Tentative Release Date: September 17th
A little known fact about the Connecticut duo is that, in 2010, they released a pretty awesome album called Congratulations. It isn’t unknown that it was released, but despite generally positive reviews from critics, the album was not nearly as successful as their debut Oracular Spectacular. But apparently MGMT didn’t care, with their third album’s debut single “Alien Days” being very comparable to the sound of the 12+ minute “Siberian Breaks” from their previous release. What makes it even better is that frontman Andrew VanWyngarden has been very vocal about the groups consensus that they are having a blast, and are confident that they’re “making good songs”. After the more recent release of second single “Your Life Is A Lie”, the band proved that they are still the go-to when it comes to bridging the gap between expiremental, goofy, and just all-around good music.

Arctic Monkeys – AM
Tentative Release Date: September 9th
The Sheffield quartet has turned themselves into nothing short of a powerhouse, and it has been well over a year since the band’s first hint at their fifth studio album was released through “R U Mine?” when they were still on the road for 2011’s Suck it and See. After months of not-so-subtle teasing (ie drummer Matt Helders describing the new album as sounding “like 2013”), they released two singles, “Do I Wanna Know?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”, along with…unique music videos. Their new-found knack for dirty and gritty rock n’ roll, along with a much-anticipated return of Alex Turner’s famous lyrical wittiness, is setting this up to be one of their best albums yet.

Yuck – Glow & Behold
Tentative Release Date: October 1st
After what seemed to be a band-ending transition between their first and second albums, the now Daniel Blumberg-less trio is showing no signs of stopping. After releasing new single “Rebirth”, sounding very similar to both the band’s debut and a more focused version of ex-frontman Blumberg’s new project Hebronix, fans woke up this morning to an album announcement with a cover, a tracklist, and a hefty second single titled “Middle Sea”. If these two singles say anything, the guitarist-turned band leader Max Bloom is out to prove he should have always been fronting this band. So far, he’s proved it.

Cage The Elephant – Melophobia
Tentative Release Date: October 8th
The Kentucky garage rockers have scored countless hits off of their first two albums, and they spent the first half of 2013 ensuring that they would be able to continue doing that on their third release. Since then, they’ve released lead single “Come A Little Closer”, which is significantly more tame than most things we’ve heard from the five-piece in the past. Nonetheless, with a slightly more jammy feel possibly to come and an already-announced fall tour in support of Muse, Cage The Elephant looks like they’re set up to have a successful year.

Grouplove – Spreading Rumours
Tentative Release Date: September 17th
The LA indie-dance kings behind songs like “Colours” and “Tongue Tied” have spent the last year or so tearing up the country, backed up by word of their unique and electrifying live show. Their debut LP Never Trust a Happy Song was an all-out success, and the recent release of single “Ways to Go” has only peaked interest in the quintet. It’s hard to make a judgement call on this album based on the exceptional lack of knowledge that has been released on the record, but Grouplove has never been a band to disappoint in their generally short careers. This will be the most surprising of all the albums on this list, but I can assure you it’ll be one of those surprises that you’re ecstatic about.

The Head And The Heart – Let’s Be Still
Tentative Release Date: October 15th
After the Sub Pop release of their debut album in 2011, The Head And The Heart’s unique blend of folk and indie pop has garnered them a lot of attention, along with acts such as Of Monsters and Men and Iron & Wine. Another album that hasn’t been very talked about, the Seattle six-piece’s sophomore LP is looking to be a big one that isn’t a far cry from the sound of their self-titled debut. The release of single “Shake” is giving this album a promising look, both energetic and dense with harmonies and a wide range of instruments. If the whole album sounds like this track, these guys better be ready to solidify themselves as one of the dominant indie-folk groups of our time.

Go down to the comments section below to tell us what albums you’re most excited for, even if they aren’t on the list. You can also tweet them at us @NSMusicGroup.

Nutshell Concert Review: The Postal Service – Lollapalooza 8/3/13

Back in 2003, Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard released an album full of dreamy, 8-bit synths, quick-tempo drum loops, and a 1980’s-like style of electro-indie rock that would create a trend in the music world for the next ten years (and counting). After grabbing Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley, three hit singles were produced from that album, and a dedicated following to boot. Then they just sort of stopped. After repeatedly shooting down rumors of a second album, the band finally announced it would be going on a 10-year anniversary tour for their debut (and only) album, Give Up. Luckily, one of Chicago’s biggest annual events swallowed up the opportunity, and booked The Postal Service for their last two shows. Ever. Pretty cool huh?

I will openly admit that this headlining performance was the reason that I dished out $200+ to hang out with 300,000 reckless crowd members in the sweltering heat for three days. Most of the time, when you build something like this up in your mind for as many months as I did, you will be disappointed. I can tell you point blank that this was not the case. As soon as the band’s headlining performance began, around the same time as festival behemoth Mumford and Sons took the stage across Grant Park, it marked the beginning of a pinnacle moment in my music-loving career. The 90-minute show allowed for an entire career-spanning setlist, going all the way from their hit “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” to the song that, as Gibbard said, “Started it all”, Dntel’s “(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan”. The group even got to the new releases from this year’s re-release, along with a cover of Beat Happening’s “Our Secret”. The set seemed flawless from front to back, and the crowd seemed to be made up of exclusively die-hard fans of the band, singing along to every word.

The reason this show seemed to be so impactful was the way the final moments of the concert passed. Earlier in the show, frontman Ben Gibbard had pointed out the fact that the Lollapalooza performance was their second to last, with only a show at the local Metro Chicago the following night. It was surreal as an audience member, watching a band performing on stage as something they agreed to shut the door on for good in less than two days. What solidified all of it was seeing that the four people on stage, for a moment, also took it as surreal. As the final song ended and the band set up to take a bow, they stretched out the set closer “Brand New Colony” for what seemed like an extra song-length, repeating the final line over and over again: “Everything will change”. Then, almost hesitantly, they walked off stage for one of the last times. Less than 36 hours later, in the same city, it was all over.

The Postal Service is a band that I have the utmost respect for; one that was able to bridge a gap between musical styles and create something that has been admired and emulated for years. The fact that they did it all on one album that was made with the two core members barely stepping in the same room as each other makes it worth so much more. This is a show that I will remember for a very long time, if not forever. Here’s to wishing for a new album, and being thankful that we at least got a few new songs this year.

Here’s the setlist for The Postal Service’s Lollapalooza show, 8/3/13:

1. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight
2. We Will Become Silhouettes
3. Sleeping In
4. Turn Around
5. Nothing Better
6. Recycled Air
7. Be Still My Heart
8. Clark Gable
9. Our Secret (Beat Happening Cover)
10. This Place Is a Prison
11. There’s Never Enough Time
12. A Tattered Line of String
13. Such Great Heights
14. Natural Anthem

Encore

1. (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Dntel Cover)
2. Brand New Colony

Nutshell Concert Review: Vampire Weekend – Lollapalooza 8/4/13

Way back in the day we did a report on a Vampire Weekend show at an outdoor music festival in Chicago. And here we are again, just over a year later, doing exactly the same thing. But there’s a reason why Vampire Weekend is our first ever repeat band in our concert reviews; it’s because they did this magical thing where they made the show different than the last. Why was it different? Well besides the 13 months of time, 20 degrees, one new album (including a smash hit song), and half of a colossal supporting tour, the atmosphere at a huge festival like Lollapalooza is much different than that of Pitchfork. What was astounding to me, however, is the group’s apparent awareness to that fact, and how well they were able to cater to it.

Among a powerful set mixing brand new tracks (a total of six coming off their most recent LP, Modern Vampires of the City) and some old classics, including “Mansard Roof” B-Side “Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)”, the band hit their stride and never looked back. As usual, they held a high regard for keeping the crowd involved, including frontman Ezra Koenig and drummer Chris Tomson participating in a fire fight with the audience with ammo consisting of mainly toilet paper rolls and beach balls. It speaks volumes to a crowd when a band looks like they are truly enjoying themselves on stage, and all members took that to heart while taking time in between songs to giggle and joke, most notably when trying to remember how to play 2010’s Contra hit “Horchata”. They even seemed to have fun with poking the bear that was the uncharacteristically restless crowd by doing things like begging them to dance to “A-Punk”, and then acting casual about the craziness of the audience. Even when a fan managed to run on stage during “Giving Up the Gun” before being quickly restrained by festival security, the band kept their cool and continued to play as if there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.

Like I said before; Vampire Weekend mixed it up and was truly great enough to prove the worth in continuing to buy tickets to see bands perform over and over again. This show was fantastic on all accounts, and I’m sure the many thousands of fans that surrounded me last Sunday can vouch for that. Vampire Weekend’s Lollapalooza set was one worth seeing, and here’s to hoping that they’ll be back again soon. Until then, they’re most recent LP Modern Vampires of the City is out now.

Here’s the setlist for Vampire Weekend’s Lollapalooza show, 8/4/13:

1. Cousins
2. White Sky
3. Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
4. Diane Young
5. Step
6. Holiday
7. Unbelievers
8. Horchata
9. Everlasting Arms
10. A-Punk
11. Boston (Ladies of Cambridge)
12. Ya Hey
13. Campus
14. Oxford Comma
15. Giving Up the Gun
16. Hannah Hunt
17. One (Blake’s Got a New Face)
18. Walcott

Lollapalooza 2013 Recap

For those of you who missed this past weekend’s annual music festival in Grant Park, first off shame on you. But it’s fully understandable that there are many reasons to not be hitting up the notoriously crowded, hot, and usually storm-ridden Lollapalooza, and it is also understandable that if you did happen to miss it, you are curious about what you missed. Even for those that did land on the woodchip-covered park sometime this weekend, it sure is fun to reminisce. So here it is; the Nutshell Music Group Lollapalooza 3-Day Recap.

Friday: The air was buzzing with yet another big-billed festival weekend upon us. There was a short drizzle early, and the day’s high temperature of 81 was the highest on schedule for the whole weekend. Things really were looking up with a solid set of headliners performing later in the evening, and a solid undercard to boot.

Friday’s Notable Moments:

1. San Cisco starting off the day with a dance party except, you know, one that indie kids would go to.
2. Father John Misty french kissing a stuffed unicorn.
3. Bernard Sumner joining The Killers on stage to perform Joy Division’s “Shadowplay”.
4. Thievery Corporation defining the word “groove”.

Saturday: For many reasons, the second day of this year’s festival was very possibly the most exciting. One band was preparing for a comeback show (actually their second show back) after their bassist suffered a brain clot, and another took the stage for one of their final performances ever. On top of that, some of the biggest names in indie rock, hip-hop, and EDM all powered through electrifying sets to cap off day 2 of Lollapalooza.

Saturday’s Notable Moments:

1. Pujol enjoying some candy thrown on stage by an audience member during their soundcheck.
2. Matt & Kim repeatedly sampling, among many other rap classics, Ace Hood’s “Bugatti”. The band later suffered so many technical difficulties that “Daylight” had to be cut in mid-song, and they instead ended their set with “Cinders”, which they had admittedly not played in years.
3. Ellie Goulding ending her hit “Lights” with a snippet of the Bassnectar remix.
4. Two fans in wheel chairs crowd surfing during Kendrick Lamar’s set being helped over the front guardrail, and being allowed to watch the remainder of the show from the front of the stage.
5. The Postal Service playing absolutely every song in their repertoire, and the crowd singing the last line of “Brand New Colony” over and over again as the band left the stage.
6. Death Grips and Azealia Banks both separately cancelling Saturday night performances, resulting in Shaun White’s band Bad Things headlining on The Grove stage.

Sunday: The same as always, the weekend seemed to be coming to a close much too quickly and the initial hype was slowly turning into sunburn, hangovers, and fatigue. The weather was a blessing with it actually becoming a bit cold by the end of the night, and that shot enough energy into the crowd to see some of the most successful musicians, both new and old, in their respective genres. The night ended on such a high (and tired) note that the only thing I could muster up for my personal Twitter account was “So. F*****g. Good.”

Sunday’s Notable Moments:

1. Mario Cuomo of The Orwells taking off his pants at the tail end of the band’s set.
2. Alex Trimble of Two Door Cinema Club keeping it classy, performing in a suit and drinking wine.
3. Vampire Weekend not being able to get through their set without laughing at the crowd throwing toilet paper on stage or watching as a fan ran on stage (showing his bare butt) and was quickly restrained backstage.
4. Phoenix putting on an absolute spectacle of a performance, including Thomas Mars making two trips over the guardrail and laying down for the group’s extra-long rendition of “Love Like a Sunset”.

Keep your eyes peeled for some concert reviews of a few of the Lollapalooza sets, along with another upcoming festival review next week!