Lollapalooza crowds inspired by Rage Against the Machine
Day two of Lollapalooza closed Saturday with struggles, between both hometown heroes and between hometown fans.
Long-running indie/roots rock combo Wilco ended the night on the north end of Grant Park. The south end hosted the long-awaited return of rap-rock pioneers Rage Against the Machine, with Libertyville native Tom Morello wielding guitar. Any ordinary night would have undoubtedly seen Wilco drawing most of the crowd, the sheer number of Rage Against the Machine t-shirts sported by fans pointed to who would win the showdown.
Saturday's attendance matched Friday's sell out status, with 75,000 music fans wandering Grant Park for the city's "destination" music festival. Many were thankful for the day's less oppressive heat, and for the steady breeze off Lake Michigan that helped combat the insistent sunshine.
Aside from a gig at Alpine Valley last summer, Rage hadn't unleashed their funky political fury in the area since a 1999 headlining show at Allstate Arena. Tearing into classic polemics such as "Testify" and "Guerrilla Radio," the band's headlining set defied common wisdom about reunion tours by actually bettering that last performance. Morello led Wrigley Field's seventh-inning stretch singalong earlier in the day and wrangled aggression and free-form solos by night, while the fire in vocalist Zach de la Rocha's guts burst forth during eye-popping renditions of "Bullet in the Head" and closing stompfest "Killing in the Name."
Although the quartet's fiery left-wing lyrics are meant to inspire action, some of their fans misread the violence in their music as an invitation to meathead shoving matches. Saturday's crowd became too zealous in their appreciation, raging against the stage barricades and thus causing the band to stop their set repeatedly. A group of fans who were shut out from the show broke through the perimeter fence, barreling into the fest about halfway through Rage's stage time.
1993 Lolla vets Rage exemplify the roots of Lollapalooza as an alternative hard rock showcase, something rarely seen in the rest of the fest Saturday, which mostly featured pleasant indie pop and hip-hop.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=225299">Day 1: Radiohead, Duffy cut through Lollapalozza languor, heat <span class="date">[08/02/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=223539">Lollapalooza's multiple stages force tough decisions <span class="date">[07/30/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>