Lollapalooza Chile Report

Back in April, our own Zeke, who has been studying abroad in Chile, had the opportunity to attend Lollapalooza Chile and he sent us back a report. It took a long time to get here (or we forgot to post it right away).
 

It was a beautiful weekend for Lollapalooza Chile, the first time the venerable music festival conceived and directed by Perry Farrell has been produced outside of the United States. In recent years Santiago has become a hub of sorts for a lively local indie music scene as well as a thriving electronica culture including artists like Ricardo Villalobos, Nicolas Jaar, and Miss Dinky. With this local talent, a sizeable indie rock fan base, and a stable and prosperous democracy Chile was the obvious choice for a music festival that would attract music fans from throughout Latin America. Because I am studying in Santiago, I had bought ticket to the festival a few months ago after seeing the excellent lineup, with headlining sets by The Killers and Kanye West and sets by The Drums, The Flaming Lips, Chile’s Ana Tijoux and Los Bunkers, The National, Cat Power, Devendra Banhart, Fischer Spooner and CSS. The two days I spent in southern Santiago’s Parque O’Higgins, can only be described as distinctly Chilean.

DAY 1 (April 2):
My first day at the festival did not start off well. While waiting for five hours in line at will call to pick up my tickets, I had the chance to talk with my fellow frustrated concert-goers. Many of them had travelled from neighboring Argentina and Brazil to see the show, but there were fans from places as diverse as Columbia, Denmark, and the UK many of whom had planned their visit to Chile to coincide with Lollapalooza. I finally got inside the festival at around four o’clock in time to catch the second half of the reunited Manchester band James’ set, during which they mainly played their hits from the Laid album. Chileans have a strange, if understandable attachment to Britpop, which still dominates Chilean rock radio, so it was perhaps understandable that an older and mellower James was called on to perform. After James, the ubiquitous Ben Harper played a jammy set under the hot fall sun that didn’t to hold my attention for long.

The National performing in Parque O’Higgins

The real highlight of the first day was The National who took to the stage with “Start a War” at 6:15 as the sun began to set. The band played songs mostly from their three most recent studio albums including crowd favorites “Mistaken for Strangers,” “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” and “Fake Empire.” The National is not a natural fit for a festival setting (the deep baritone of lead singer Matt Beringer and the band’s somber sound conjure up images of smoky wood paneled billiard halls, but hey that’s just me) but they made the large venue seem intimate. Many in the crowd were unfamiliar with the band, but after talking with some people in the audience, they won over a lot of fans. 
  

Unable to enter into the stage where CSS was playing because it was full to capacity, a problem that would happen again tomorrow, I instead opted to see Empire of The Sun, whose hour long set include at least 5 costume changes and a lot of exotic wigs. Their nouveau-spacestation-electronica sound doesn’t convert very well live, but the over-the-top theatrical aspects of their show kept me entertained in the lead-up to the final show of the night.

The Killers were an excellent choice for the headlining spot Saturday night, considering the international appeal of their immensely catchy power-pop. The band recently came off a long hiatus and are in the process of recording their fourth studio album. They were, alas, perhaps the biggest disappointment of the day. Brandon Flowers sounded flat and half-hearted during most of the set, especially during songs from their debut album. The lack of energy onstage was palpable in the audience, and it seemed as though the band was content to play the minimum amount of time possible. The Killers were at their best playing songs from 2008’s Day and Age, especially during the grammatically challenged “Human.” Before their encore of “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” and “When You Were Young,” Flowers thanked the crowd and said that this was all they had left in them. After a short 80 minutes The Killers left the stage and the crowd made its way home, anticipating another full day of Lollapalooza.

DAY 2 (April 3):

The second and final day of Lollapalooza promised an even more tantalizing lineup of bands than the first. In the morning Spanish MC Mala Rodriguez played a lackluster set after a delayed start. Mala was followed by the Argentine band Todos Tus Muertos, formed in the 1985, who played an inspired set of politically charged rock. After lunch, I headed over to the stage where CSS had played the day before to catch Devendra Banhart. After queuing in line for an hour to enter the 2,500 seat indoor stage, the crowd rushed the stage gates to enter. After removing people by force from the overcrowded theater, the police closed the gates and didn’t let anyone enter because it was full. The carabineros on horseback only let a few people enter during the rest of the day, and as a consequence I was unable to see Cat Power, The Drums, or Cold War Kids. 

Risking arrest to see Devendra

Not all was lost however, as The Flaming Lips took to one of the two main stages to perform a confetti filled set that included aliens, Wayne Coyne in a plastic bubble, giant balloons, a giant bear, and Coyne’s broken Spanish. The band played a kind of greatest hits set that included “Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots,” “The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song,” and “Do You Realize???”. It was the most fun I had during the festival. 

Wayne Coyne getting freaky

The day came to a close with Thirty To Seconds to Mars, whose set I only vaguely watched (yes, Jared Leto was wearing white pants) and which was repeatedly interrupted by crazed Chilean Leto fans clawing their way onstage. Jane’s Addiction followed with a ferocious set, which for many Chilean fans was the most anticipated act of the day. 

The festival closed with Kanye West, the act I had most been looking forward to. Dressed in red pants with a calculated amount of gold bling, Kanye brought out songs from all of his albums, but many of the songs were from 2010’s excellent rock-hip hop album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Kanye’s show made it clear that he is at the top of his creative and performing powers. The show hit the emotional highs of “Power” and “Diamonds From Sierra Leone” and the lows of “Runaway” and “Heartless”. It may have been my own unrealistic expectations, but after the show finished with “Stronger” I felt weirdly unsatisfied. The show was in itself was a flawless example of showmanship, but the emotion that is so central in Kanye’s often intensely personal songs was missing. 

The Andes mountains during sunset

And so Lollapalooza Chile came to a close after an exciting and sometimes frustrating two days of live music beneath the shadow of the Andes.  And as for the band’s I missed at Lollapalooza Chile, there’s always Lollapalooza Chicago.

Random Observations:

The National’s lead singer Matt Beringer repeatedly thanked Hans for “the wine and chocolate.” The former of which he greedily consumed during their set.

During her mediocre set Mala Rodriguez made an open call to Kanye, asking for him to call her to collaborate during his show later in the day. He didn’t call.

Jared Leto of Thirty Seconds to Mars chanted “uno, dos, tres, catorce!” to start off their set. This may or may not have been a conscious attempt at irony.

Kanye West made no mention of being in Santiago, Chile or anywhere else in the world during his stage banter, which struck me as somehow strange, but also very Kanye.