Billboard’s and The Syndicate’s “Conflict of Interest” show kicked off Lollapalooza weekend Thursday night at the Double Door in Chicago.

Little Hurricane kicked the night off as a great opening act. Comparing them to the Black Keys is on obvious reference I am sure they have gotten on more then one occasion, but it’s a great comparison nonetheless. Awesome drummer, great guitarist, who play heavy rock and look damn good while doing it. It seemed the only possible negative is also a great positive for the band, the female drummer is gorgeous. I love female drummers especially when they are as talented as she is, but having to listen to the drunk men behind me make comments about her looks and ignore her talent definitely put a damper on my mood.

Little Hurricane

Luckily it only lasted momentarily because one can’t help but smile the second Lord Huron took the stage. While they seemed influenced from all over the board I couldn’t help but make a Paul Simon comparison in my head during the set they pleasantly added a gamet of different genres into the poppy toe tapping nature. One second there is a kick butt honkey tonk break down and then without missing a beat go into a dancy break. Overall these boys know how to put on a show with great attention to a setlist that catered perfectly to the audience.

Lord Huron

After some technical glitches Dale Earnhart Jr Jr took the stage in stunning outfit that consisted of jackets obviously inspired by the actual Dale Earnhart’s career but once the jackets were stripped tshirts that read “your ad here” took its place. Having heard a lot of buzz about this band I was intrigued to figure out what they were all about.What I learned was their fans love to dance, they do kick butt covers, and it’s definitely not the last time I’m going to be hearing them. They did an awesome cover of ” Higher Love” that got the crowd pumped up and continued to do so for the rest of the set. These guys are all over Chicago the next couple days working wicked hard playing every show possible. They are definitely the band I’d want to have at my party so make sure to check them out live.

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr

The Joy Formidable closed out the night but sadly I couldn’t stay for their set. However check back later in the weekend for more reviews and photos from Lollapalooza.

All photos (c) Daniela Montelongo