Chicago – Lollapalooza’s silver jubilee started out sticky and turned a bit stormy, but that didn’t stop the party from happening, nor did it seem to dampen anyone’s spirits.  The first day was full of the same excitement and energy of any first day of a festival – if not more – despite the inclement weather.  Here are six of our favorite new bands from day 1 of Lollapalooza 2016:

 

Hiatus Kaiyote

Australian band Hiatus Kaiyote took to the Petrillo Bandshell in the north end of the park just as some rather distressing clouds starting creeping in over the tops of the skyscrapers to the west, but that didn’t hinder singer/guitarist Nai Palm from scatting and howling into her microphone while her bandmates followed suit.  They offered up their glorious amalgam of jazz, funk, and psychedelia to the early afternoon crowd, bouncing through songs from their latest album Choose Your Weapon, including “Choose Your Weapon,” “By Fire,” and “Swamp Thing,” which she called her interpretation of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” and her vocals did sound sort of like a ghost lost in a machine.  We also got a few from their debut Tawk Tomahawk, namely “The World It Softly Lulls,” “Boom Child,” and the popular “Nakamarra.”  By the end of the hour, the sky had begun to open, perhaps coaxed by the silky smooth vocals and crazed sound of the Australian quartet that stood below.

 

Yeasayer

Over at the Lakeshore Stage, New York’s Yeasayer set up camp amongst several cardboard cutouts of historical figures, just as the rain was starting to hit a bit of a lull.  Unsurprisingly, the majority of songs they played were from their most recent LP, Amen & Goodbye, including opener “Dead Sea Scrolls,” “Cold Night,” and hits “Silly Me” and “I Am Chemistry,” which was the last song they played just as another moderate rain burst started up again.  In between the newer material, we were treated some older favorites, including some popular tracks off Odd Blood (“Ambling Alp,” “Madder Red,” and “O.N.E.”) and All Hour Cymbals (“2080” and “Sunrise”), as well as their contribution to the Dark Was The Night compilation album helmed by The National’s Dessner brothers, “Tightrope,” which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Daughter

At one point during Daughter’s set at the Lakeshore Stage did guitarist Igor Haefeli apologize for “bringing the bad weather over from the UK,” when in reality, it was during their pounding sixty-minute set that the weather actually started to clear up.  The trio gave the crowd eleven wonderful songs taken from their two LPs, though some of the more quiet moments (such as in the beginning of “Doing the Right Thing”) were drowned out by the constant thumping of the “rave stage” (Perry’s).  Still, they managed to overcome the EDM in the distance with their blend of powerful, orchestral-sounding neo-folk, with numbers like “No Care,” “Numbers,” “Youth,” and “Tomorrow.”  With closer “Fossa,” they seemed to have chased the clouds and rain away at last.

 

AlunaGeorge

The sun came out to greet the crowd just as we retreated into the shady grove around the Pepsi Stage for some much needed energy, delivered by the UK electronic duo AlunaGeorge in big, heaping doses.  The duo has appeared on many other artists’ tracks across the board, which they happily performed for the crowd, including Disclosure’s “White Noise,” Jack Ü’s “To Ü,” and Bauuer’s “One Touch.”  For each, they slightly altered the production to give them a little more of their own unique voice and spice.  As for their own material, we were given some older stuff from their debut LP Body Music (“Attracting Flies,” “You Know You Like It”), but most of it came from their upcoming sophomore LP I Remember (out this September), including “I’m In Control,” “My Blood,” “Mean What I Mean,” and the title track, “I Remember.”  It was hard to tear your eyes or ears away from singer Aluna Francis and her cohort George Reid, but the occasional appearance of her backup dancers were a thrilling distraction.

 

The Arcs

The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s side project The Arcs took over the Lakeshore Stage as the fog was starting to roll in, obscuring the tops of the many skyscrapers that border Grant Park, including the famous Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), which looked like a headless robot as Auerbach’s voice began to emanate from the Lakeshore Stage.  The Arcs’ debut LP Yours, Dreamily was released last year, and we were treated to live renditions of “Velvet Ditch,” “Pistol Made of Bones,” and “The Arc,” the last of which definitely has a healthy dose of Auerbach’s signature guitar sound.  For much of the set, he and his band (which included Richard Swift on drums) were joined by the all-female Mariachi Flor del Toloache who provided silky and strong backing vocals on songs “Stay In My Corner,” “Chains of Love,” and set closer “Outta My Mind,” as well as covers of The Temptations “Smiling Faces Sometimes” and Blue Rondos’ “Little Baby.”

 

The Last Shadow Puppets

Across the park at the Pepsi Stage, another side project was getting ready to greet the crowd, as Alex Turner (of Arctic Monkeys) and Miles Kane (ex-Rascals) were slated to bring their Last Shadow Puppets to close out the night — and they did not disappoint.  A lavish string section introduced the band with an overture, and accompanied them throughout, as LSP started things out with a bang.  The first song they performed was a raucous rendition of David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream,” which had half the crowd standing with their mouths wide open in shock, while the other half enthusiastically sang along.  The rest of their set was split almost evenly with old favorites (“Standing Next To Me,” “In My Room,” “My Mistakes Were Made For You,”) and new ones (“Bad Habits,” “Aviation,” “Miracle Aligner,” “Dracula Teeth”) taken from their recently released sophomore album (eight years after its predecessor), Everything You’ve Come To Expect.  About halfway through the set, they presented another cover, this time of The Fall’s early single “Totally Wired,” which took them in a completely different direction than Bowie’s cover did, but being the pros that Turner and Kane have become, they totally made it work.

Another three days are ahead of us – and plenty of new bands – so stay tuned for more coverage of Lollapalooza as we journey through the weekend here in Chicago.

Reviews by Corey Bell – Photos by Sarah Hess