And You Thought Lolla Was Sweaty and Gross: The 17+ Aftershow
This piece was assigned but ultimately not published.
Crookers, Major Lazer, Bloody Beetroots, Simian Mobile Disco, KiD CuDi, Willy Joy, Amanda Blank play an epic show at the Congress Theater; I end up a possible Missed Connection
Chicago is arguably the capital of house music – Frankie Knuckles and Chip E., among others, helped bring the genre from the forefront of our beautiful city to the rest of the country. With the current rise of artists like Diplo-helmed M.I.A. and New York City-based DJ duo N.A.S.A. (who has worked with musicians as diverse as Tom Waits and Lykke Li), Perry’s Tent – with an all-star lineup this year – has people talking about the DJ sets far more than past electronic guests, perhaps due to names like the ever-present Flosstradamus and, uh, Samantha Ronson.
Willy Joy and Amanda Blank opened up for a small crowd, as girls and boys in clubwear – and lots of Ed Hardy (NOT APPROPRIATE ANYWHERE, PEOPLE) – trickled in between 8:00 and 10:00. Much to the pleasure of groups of guys on the prowl, my two friends insisted on changing into minidresses and towering heels after leaving Grant Park. This had seemed to me like something one does if, Justin Timberlake is making a guest appearance at an overrated club in, oh, I don’t know, LOS ANGELES, but Midwesterners apparently know how to dress it up when they want a night of six straight hours of pounding bass, moderately priced booze, and a 17+ crowd (which is only a little more distasteful than it sounds). I guess I just assumed everyone would be dressing as if they were going to the Taste of Chicago all weekend.
Amanda Blank, a petite brunette sporting an outfit of which Lady GaGa would most definitely approve – i.e. minimal leg coverage – has a foreseeable future as more than what currently seems as an appendage status to the XXXCHANGE/Hollertronix family. Along with current single “Might Like You Better”, “Make It Take It” was a crowdpleaser – the chorus of which is reminiscent of Blank’s fellow Philly native and friend Santigold’s penchant for melodic, head-bopping beats like the original “You’ll Find A Way” (not the heavily circulated – but no less genius – Switch remix). Along with KiD CuDi, however, Blank was the only artist to perform in front of the turntables, which added a welcome air of artist-audience intimacy (a notion which is obviously beside the point in electronic music) to the still-early crowd, as if we were in an architecturally pleasing version ofWrigleyville’s Metro.
The Bloody Beetroots, an Italian duo currently signed to Steve Aoki’s venerable Dim Mak Records, predominantly feature lots of volume and lots of speed, in the style of fellow European duo Justice (who played a New Year’s Eve show at Congress in 2008). The BB’s now-signature “Warp 1.9” sound, from a track of the same name originally featuring Aoki, opened the set and reappeared throughout. The duo’s start-stop pattern (usually preceded by a climactic “1, 2, WOOP! WOOP!”), darkened lighting, and mechanistic presence – they perform in masks – arguably started the entire show, cementing the true seriousness of the night’s all-star lineup.
Simian Mobile Disco (SMD) found it difficult to top the general theatrics of the BB, but their relatively ethereal, Daft Punk-style (think “Around The World” from 1996’s Homework), gradually building- tracks filled the gap between the ‘roots and the highly anticipated Major Lazer. If their set did drag on a bit after the first half hour, it gave attendees an opportunity to switch/ditch dance partners or to drink more, since that’s what we like to do when we’re bored (see: rainy concerts, street fairs, losing Cubs games). By this time, the venue was full enough that one could simply move to a different section of the crowd and successfully avoid a spurned dancing interest in the previous area.
Major Lazer is Diplo and Switch, who were arguably the headliners of the night. Lazers have been making common appearances in the music scene lately – see also: Lupe Fiasco’s forthcoming We Are Lasers (which he previewed at his “free” show in “Grant Park” – actually $40 for upper seats at the Chicago Theatre – and it sounds great) and Lasers and Fast and Shit, whose parties I keep getting invited to at Hideout, where I never really know anyone else going,
Lazers of the Major variety, however, bring a cacophony of Latin-inspired sounds to the table (pun intended), including reggae, funk, and baile. We got some samples of “Beat It” and some samples of “A Milli”. Switch worked the crowd to its fullest, replete with the ol’ Throwing T-shirts into the Crowd. Cartoons of the fictional Major and his conquests and adventures played on the screen behind the DJ booth, a welcome change from the abstract graphics onscreen throughout the prior performances.
By 1:00 AM, many of us 3-day passholders had been awake for a very, very long time. KiD CuDi was playing a late slot at Perry’s, and although a few wimps left after Major Lazer was finished, the majority stuck around. Many of these people had undoubtedly been in some state of inebriation for the past twelve hours, and while Last Call in many small college towns tends to be around 1 AM, some people at Congress seemed destined to avoid sobriety until their walk through the Lolla entrance the next afternoon. A few of these winners were also witnessed by my friend receiving lapdances in the chairs lining the back of the concert hall. Other things we do when we are bored and then done with the drinking thing.
KiD CuDi and Crookers played the final set, which probably was one big workup to a ten-minute rendition of “Day n’ Night”. I was not about to stick around for tools and Shirtless Jerks (read Friday’s Trib) to start getting handsy again, so I will assume that after the Kanye West homage (an unintelligible mashup of what seemed like every Kanye song to get radio play) and mediocre rapping, said highlight occurred, after which the Congress barfed out into the depths of Logan Square underage kids who snuck into Dad’s liquor cabinet this weekend; suburban girls who always seem to travel in packs of a thousand; fratty tools who still find that “Jaegerbomb” YouTube video hilarious; and the occasional gay man. Many will simply wander around until they end up in Wicker Park.
Oh, except one toolbox who would go straight home to pen the following on Craigslist. I’m not sure whether it’s me, and I’m not going to find out, but this gem is clearly unsuitable for Ivy League girls anyway. Besides, he can find “pretentious” right here in Chicago, at a place called U of C (apologies to all U of C students and alums).