It has been too long since I’ve been to a show away from home. (Yeah, I realize it has been less than two months! But… but..!) Was supposed to meet up with my friend Kevin (from here in Manhattan) at the show, but he didn’t make it due to the weather… Based on what happened AFTER the show, I should have stayed home too, but… I didn’t, and it was an awesome show anyway :)
I’m a little upset I spent 3/4 of O’Brother’s set outside in line, and couldn’t get up close enough for many shots. They sounded amazing though! Biffy Clyro was a lot stronger live than I thought they would be after listening to their albums. One word I’d use to describe them is *intense*. (Shirtless also comes to mind!) Next up was The Features, a band I was introduced to by a member of the Lollapalooza forums. I think their set was my favorite of the night. Lastly was Manchester Orchestra, a band that I’d heard two songs of prior to the show, and that is it. They are a very lyrically strong band, and great performers.
Photos! That is really the point of this blog… not me talking so much… I will tell you the story of the trip home afterward after the thumbs..
Now for a little story about what happened *after* the show. Erf. After leaving the venue around 11:30, I was greeted with about two inches of snow, and it was really coming down. Got to my car, unburied it, and hit the road. Took nearly 45 minutes to get mainly out of the city (normally 15-20 mins?), after seeing a number of accidents/spinning cars in front of me, etc. Then about five miles from the turnpike, traffic came to a complete stop. We sat… and sat some more. Apparently a couple miles up was an accident, and due to the traffic and weather, wreckers and road crews couldn’t get to the scene/past it. Sat in the middle of a blizzard for a bit over three hours, and finally the scene was cleared and I started moving again. Made it to Lawrence a little after 4am, and finally into Manhattan at 6:10am. What would normally take two hours.. took over six. I then went to bed, and woke up THIS EVENING. Talk about being confused. I wanted breakfast around 8pm tonight!
There is a recurring theme to this blog. I am cursed with bad lighting EVERYWHERE. Once I get my backlog up though, it will be shown that its not that I had bad luck at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, KS – its perpetually bad. Its a good thing sound isn’t based on lighting though… because both Hacienda and Alberta Cross played tremendous sets last night. And I feel pretty terrible, I didn’t get any photos of Hacienda. However, I did manage to get a couple out of the hundred or so shots snapped of Alberta Cross…
Also of note, related but random, the Lollapalooza Forum members ranked Alberta Cross’ Broken Side of Time in their top 100 albums of 2009, coming in at #37. Very cool, considering they beat out several heavy-hitters like Green Day (21st Century Breakdown – #53), Pearl Jam (Backspacer – #54), and Muse (The Resistance – #140)… (as well as a lot of lesser-knowns!)
