Show review: The National, Local Natives, Wye Oak at the Aragon, 12/6

By Shannon Shreibak
 

The National

Very rarely do I find myself excited about opening bands. More often than not, they either bear no name recognition or their MySpace music samples are disappointing. But the lineup at Aragon Ballroom on Tuesday was absolutely flawless in every sense of the word. With Local Natives and Wye Oak opening for The National, there was little conceivable room for improvement. Whether it was the unrestrained energy of Local Natives, the drunken ramblings of The National’s Matt Berninger or, most importantly, the unmatchable music, the Aragon didn’t see a dull moment last night.

Wye Oak, hailing from Baltimore, Maryland, was first. Their opening song was strong, but an early cut that few audience members recognized. Luckily, redemption came early to the alt-rock newcomers when the second song they busted out was single "Holy Holy" from their most recent album Civilian. Vocalist/guitarist Jenn Wasner belted the difficult chorus with ease, pushing the limits of her impressive vocal range. A front woman whose falsetto can prevail over a deafening whirl of electric guitar and percussion is a true gem, and Jenn proved herself to be one. The crowd reached a point of elation when the opening chords of Civilian's title track chimed through the acoustically unsound theatre. Wye Oak traipsed off stage with a crowd full of newly declared fans.

After a quick set change, L.A. band Local Natives took the stage. Congratulating Chicago on our recent snow and promptly beginning their set, singer Taylor Rice enchanted the crowd with both his personality and voice. Local Natives played a well-rounded set, featuring about half of their debut album Gorilla Manor interspersed with new songs. The new material maintained the essence of the band with flawless harmonies and intricate guitar picking, while adding a new depth to their already strong catalogue. They closed with the single that catapulted them to notoriety, “Airplanes.” Its strong mandolin riff and catchy chorus enthralled the audience and energized them for the main event that we had all been waiting for.

Though both opening acts were strong in their own rights, no band could appease the crowd’s thirst for headlining melancholy rockers The National. Right on time, a giant screen hanging from the rafters of the stage shone with a black-and-white footage of the band preparing backstage. Some members were enjoying each other’s company; others paced back and forth nervously anticipating the electrically charged crowd awaiting. After a few long minutes of spying on the band, they finally vanished from the shot and appeared on stage.

Lollapalooza 2010 day three: X Japan, Frightened Rabbit, MGMT

As the final day of Lollapalooza 2010 was heading into its last hours, I was getting ready to see a few major acts one after the other, starting with electro-psych popsters MGMT, then moody indie rockers The National, and finally revered Canadian alt-rock act Arcade Fire. First, though, I caught parts of performances from X Japan and Frightened Rabbits.

It's safe to say there has never been another act quite like X Japan at Lollapalooza. The band is indeed Japanese and perform an over the top combination of power metal and progressive rock. They're known for donning wild, manga-inspired costumes during performances, though Sunday afternoon their visuals leaned toward heavy metal gothic, with black leather, skulls and crosses. Their soaring, epic heavy metal anthems aren't something I'd generally gravitate toward, but there was something endearing about the band and their outrageous show. Maybe it was the fact that, despite existing as a unit since the '80s, it was the first time performing in the States and it was cool to see them getting good energy from the crowd. Or maybe it was the fire blasts that popped up on stage near the end of the set. Who knows, but it was all kind of cool. For photos of the performance, check out Time Out Chicago's gallery and review here.

Next, I decided to catch a portion of Frightened Rabbit's set before staking out a place for MGMT at 6 p.m. Apparently many other Lolla-goers had the same idea, because by the time I arrived at the Sony bloggie stage it wasn't really possible to get anywhere close enough to see them. What I heard from the Scottish indie rockers sounded perfectly fine and I would have been happy to stay to hear more of it, but this was one of those times at Lolla when the atmosphere really inhibited my enjoyment of the music - I couldn't see anything, there was no place to move and the crowd back where I was talked loudly through everything I did hear. Because of this, I stayed for just a few songs and then left for the Budweiser stage to see MGMT.

When MGMT last played Lollapalooza in 2008, I caught some of their set from afar, but it didn't sound like anything too great and I admittedly didn't pay much attention as I was never very impressed with their debut album, Oracular Spectacular. Ever since they upped the ante on their second album, Congratulations, though, I've looked forward to seeing how they would come across live these days. While I had no problem with the band's Sunday evening performance in itself, this was another case where external factors made it suffer. Where I was standing the sound mix seemed way off (I could barely hear Andrew VanWyngarden's vocals) and the incessantly chatty and drunk crowd made it hard to properly take in the music. That said, they played all the songs the majority of the audience wanted to hear - including "Time to Pretend," "Electric Feel" and "Kids," which they've reportedly skipped at other recent appearances - and got people moving.

Check out MGMT's setlist after the jump.

Pitchfork Fest 2009 lineup to include The Jesus Lizard, Built to Spill

Last week, promoters for Pitchfork Music Festival announced that the fest will take place this year from July 17 to 19 in Chicago's Union Park, with tickets on sale March 13.

According to the Sun-Times and the Tribune, the fest has now announced a portion of its lineup, which includes Built to Spill, Yo La Tengo and Chicago favorites The Jesus Lizard and Tortoise on July 17. The Jesus Lizard performance will mark the first time the reunited band has played in their hometown for 11 years.

The second day of the fest is set to feature The National, Pharoahe Monch and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, while Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen and The Vivian Girls will play Sunday.

This year, anyone who buys a ticket to the fest will be able to vote online for what songs they'd like to hear in the bands' set lists.