I&H: Day 3 Lolla 2009 Review, plus awards!

Well that was something. Even with a weak set of headliners, this year's Lollapalooza was fantastic. Day 3 highlights and overall awards coming up:

Friendly Fires - Strong contender for best of the day, this UK band brought an hour of uptempo party music. Like Franz Ferdinand but not nearly as annoying. What is it about Brits - all the guys in the band could sing, which made the sound so much better. Highly recommended.

Portugal the Man - We were taking cover from the sun under shady trees, so I never saw the group, but from what I heard they were pretty good. High vocals, smooth beats, from Wasila, Alaska so if you don't like them, I blame Sarah Palin.

Kaiser Chiefs - Another UK band who can all sing. Soundtrack for a night at the frat boy bar. Fun if you're part of the crowd, not fun if you're just trying to drink your Merlot in peace. Lots of singalongs make this another one for your party mix.

The Raveonettes - Mysterious and moody sounding, we didn't get up close for them.

Neko Case - I saw Neko at the Chicago Theatre this winter and definitely prefer her in a smaller venue. Her voice is soaring and amazing, but too many slow songs for a 90 degree day. Also, and I don't mean to complain, she and her friends on stage need to work on their banter. They take a long time between songs, people yell at them, and then they respond to everyone's shouts. It is distracting.

Cold War Kids - Songs sounded pretty much the same as I remember from 2007, but the audio quality from the side stage that year was so horrible I didn't get the full effect. This year they sounded great.

Snoop Dogg - Any children in the audience learned a whole lot of new words when Snoop took the stage. A Tupac cover, an impromptu eastside/westside battle, and a big ol helping of beeotch. Just what the 99.9% white crowd was hoping for. What's the word? Cathartic.

Silversun Pickups - Best set of the day and maybe the weekend. I was exhausted from the heat and crowds and heard this from across the field. Something about that high voice and perfect electric guitar just clicked for me. Tight, precise, with immense energy.

Jane's Addiction - Dave Navarro is amazing. That's all there is to say. The songs are fine, whatever, but Navarro gave one of the best guitar performances I've ever seen. Effortless, controlled, powerful, he made the show (and no offense Perry, but he is the band.)

Awards:
Best Party Set: Friendly Fires (Honorable Mention: Thievery Corporation)
Best Rock Set: The Gaslight Anthem (Delta Spirit)
Best Alt Set: Silversun Pickups (Other Lives)

Style Award (male): Dave Navarro (Fedora, leather pants, ink)
Style Award (female): Lykke Li (black cape, ripped leggings, black heels)

Chicago Police Department Congeniality Award: Snoop Dogg

Photo: Helicopter flyby before Jane's Addiction, Lollapalooza 2009, Sunday

I&H: Day 2 Lolla 2009 Review

Saturday of Lollapalooza 2009 was like Lollas of old: hot, muggy and crowded. Saturday is always a busier day at the fest, and you can especially feel it at the North end of Grant Park, where a bottleneck makes getting to 30% of the shows close to impossible.

But the music! Saturday rated on the list of Top 5 Lolla days for me.

Logistics: Unfortunately, we were not allowed to sneak in with our wristbands at Balbo as we had Friday (and, well, all of 2005, 2006, and 2007.) This meant our sunscreen in an aerosol can was confiscated. The can could be a weapon, they said, but skin cancer is what really kills, so we were lucky to have some backup.

Delta Spirit - A very solid rock and roll band, good vocals and the kind of energy a 12:30 band needs to bring. I could definitely see myself driving too fast to some of their songs. "We're used to playing to like 200 people, and there are like thousands of you. Hi!"

Quinn Sullivan/Buddy Guy - On our way to get ice cream, we got a Lolla text that Buddy Guy was going to make an appearance at the Kids stage, so we headed over and saw this 10-year-old blues guitar prodigy named Quinn Sullivan. The kid is amazing. Buddy came out for one song called "Buddy's Blues" and the kid basically pounded the Kids stage into a pile of rubble with the sound of his guitar. You had to smile.

Miike Snow - What is it with Scandinavia? only heard a few minutes of the set, but it had a great beat, electronics, weird sounds and fun vocals. And check out this album art.

Atmosphere - White guy rappers always start out with two strikes against them, but I liked Atmosphere.

Gomez - I've liked Gomez for a long time. Great to see them live. Professional British rock.

Coheed and Cambria - Not being into metal or graphic novels, I wasn't sure what to expect from C&C. But I stayed for 30 minutes and was pretty impressed. The lead singer has a mass of curly hair in front of his face so you can't see him sing half the time, but you can definitely hear him. Incredible guitar playing, atomic power chords that shake your soul.

Glasvegas - Put me to sleep.

Lykke Li - Crush alert. Lykke Li, the lost Swedish Olsen twin, vamped, pouted and basically put the crowd in its place. "I don't think you liked that one too much, here is a song so you can dance," she said, then sprung into action with her megaphone and black cape.

Ben Harper, Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tool - skipped em! We landed free tickets to the Double Door to see The Gaslight Anthem and Constantines so we went home to clean up and be AfterShow appropriate. Via the Twitter, I hear Ben Harper was good and that Tool caused many people to have nightmares.

Constantines - Canadian. Unrelenting rock. So loud. Gravely vocals. I can dig it.

The Gaslight Anthem - They said it was their first club show in months. Another great performance. This is not the most complicated music. It's definitely made for (insert your love-to-hate alt-rock radio station here). But it's nice to have a pop band on your side. A mosh pit broke out, I almost had to crack some fool for pushing me, and it was so hot and sweaty near the front that I drive home with my shirt off. All in all, a successful Day 2.

Photo: Lykke Li, Lollapalooza 2009, Saturday

I&H: Lolla 2009 Review

For some reason, my grand plan to text reviews to Twitter, which would automatically publish to Facebook and my blog failed. I blame Sarah Palin.

So, here are my texts from Day 1 of the biggest music fest in the world:

Logistics: if you have single day tickets, get off the train and cross Columbus at Monroe - you can't cross the street at Congress this year, which is a huge pain.

Weather: 65, rainy and windy all day - def the coldest day I've experienced at Lolla. #summerFAIL

Bands:

Other Lives - We saw them this spring open for Elvis Perkins. Cello and keyboards add so much - nice melodies and plenty of bass. Good mood CD.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - James Brown and the Blues Brothers are alive, and their name is Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

Gaslight Anthem (SHOW OF THE DAY) - Buy the album now and start learning the words, cause these guys are your new pop stars. Honest, understandable lyrics, catchy hooks, lots of energy, great vocals and the guys look like they're having a good time. Great show.

Bon Iver - One of our favorite shows at the Vic Theatre, outdoors is the WORST venue for Bon Iver, and in particular the Petrillo Band Shell is the worst stage. You have to stand on cement and the chatter of the crowd overpowered Bon Iver's delicate sound. I knew this would happen, but went and saw it anyway. So if I ended up disappointed, it's my own fault.

Ben Folds - Didn't listen much to him, but his cover of Dr. Dre always disgusts and pleases at the same time.

Fleet Foxes - playing at the same stage Bon Iver was at, I was uncomfortable listening to them. They sounded very precious. But I like the vocal harmonies and understand that I need to have their record in the rotation. But I won't bother watching them outside again.

Thievery Corporation - I love TC, while I generally don't like world music, I'm coming around to it, and TC is part of the reason. I first saw them at Coachella with Lucas back in 2005. Lebanese Blonde was on the Garden State soundtrack, and it makes me dance everytime. This year, they played more from their latest album, "Radio Retaliation." Shocking, but the words Radio Retaliation rhyme with Thievery Corporation. Great dance music, put this in at your party and your hipster friends may actually move to the music.

Of Montreal - Music and stage antics that are full of shenanigans. Costumes, balloons, gender-questionable lyrics. Good times and again, danceable.

Depeche Mode - Disappointing. Two-hour set and they didn't play a hit until 75 minutes in. Here's a hint, Depeche Mode: If you have to keep telling the crowd, "Cmon!" when they're supposed to sing along, it's because no one listens to your new albums. We left early.

Day 1 down, mid-90s and humid Day 2 coming up!


Photo: Gaslight Anthem at Lollapalloza 2009

Helpful: 10 tips for an effective meeting

I often joke that I'm allergic to meetings. Or that I hate conferences, conventions, convocations, conference calls, summits, pow-wows or bull sessions.

But this is not true. I love meetings. Those of you who have worked with me before know this: I love to talk, share ideas, brainstorm, and solve problems.

I just hate bad meetings.

Managertools.com has an excellent podcast and .pdf with 10 tips for how to make your meetings much more effective.

The tips are:

• Pre-Publish An Agenda
as early as possible, with each point having a topic, start time and owner

• Start On Time
never late, don't wait, let the latecomers catch themselves up

• Set Some Groundrules
electronics "on stun," no laptops, trust each other, let the team help decide others

• Stick To Your Agenda
give two-minute reminders, be gentle, be respectful but stick to it, people will appreciate it

• Use a Parking Lot
tangents or items that go over are not dropped, they are put in parking lot for end of meeting, decide what to do next

• Fix Responsibilities
at the end of each agenda item, ask WHO does WHAT by WHEN? This is the core of the minutes

• Finish On Time
exceptions are listed in the pdf, but should be used sparingly - ending on time is a huge sign of respect, even if it means you have an item left for next time

• Publish Minutes
minutes remind members what they committed to - send as soon as possible (ideally the same or next day), forget the discussion, focus on decisions: WHO will do WHAT by WHEN

• Continuously Improve
every few meetings, ask if ground rules or timing need to change to improve effectiveness

• Use a Facilitator
advanced step - this allows meeting leader (or boss) to be more free to contribute to content instead of focusing on facilitating meeting


Have you ever been to a meeting that had a purpose, started on time, didn't drag on, had open discussion, resulted in solutions to problems, ended on time, and left you feeling like you knew exactly what you were responsible for doing before the next meeting?

Download the guidelines, listen to the podcast and implement these guidelines, and you'll be leading one in no time.