Lollapalooza 2007–The Solutionists August 11, 2007

Hello! Bad journalist alert!

I didn’t get everybody’s name. I got Perry Farrell’s name, duh. And Ted Leo’s and Tom DeLaughter’s of The Polyphonic Spree names, but I didn’t get the name of the guy doing the “interview.” His first name was Andy, and he was some kind of music critic from some kind of magazine. Don’t ask me what. Is it important? He was just pushing the conversation. And I will forever regret the fact that I am downgrading his importance, as one day, when I am leading the discussion of a panel of artists, and some random chick with a press pass forgets my name, I’ll probably be all like…”WTF? How dare you forget my name?”

Anyway, it’s Friday around 4 p.m. @ Lollapalooza. I’m all sweaty and hot and a few beers in, and enjoying my spot in the shad in the media area, and Perry Farrell, Ted Leo, and Tom DeLaughter, along with random-guy-Andy-from-the-magazine, assemble themselves up on the dais for a talk. What follows here is a glimpse into my awful brand of notetaking.

Random-Guy-Andy asks about the difference between holding Lollapalooza in one place year after year versus traveling around from city to city. He refers to the music business as being dead. While I groan inwardly, Perry takes a sip of the suspiciously watery glass of icy juice in his hand. Mind you, the guy is shirtless and wearing some kind of bizarre silver-glinting necktie. And so sinewy-sexy it was all I could do not to crawl up to the stage on my hands and…oh, nevermind about that.

Perry responds–”The music business is healthy. We have living, breathing talent, up for doing it live. Get out of your house, get out of your mind a little bit. We’re living in a great time for music right now. Young musicians are coming” and playing and interacting with their audience.

R-G-A–”So it’s more about playing live than it ever has been…”

Ted Leo: “Every audience you play for? That should be as good as it gets. This is an amazing opportunity as far as so many bands coming together as a community.”

Tim DeLaughter: “Bringing people together, bringing 70,000 people together is a wonderful achievement. All these different people coming together in times like today…for people to come together and resonate…”

And all I could think about at that moment was glimpses of the crowd–black-clad, heavy-booted folks next to Birkenstock-footed, shirtless folks next to shaggy-haired preppies. All enjoying the same music.

Perry: “Lollapalooza started the same year as the web–1991. The original idea has changed. The promotion industry got corporatized. It was a subculture but it was a community. Back then, we reached out to that subculture, that community, that was being left behind by the corporatization of music promotion.

In ushers the digital age. Within 24 hours the entire world can find out what Polyphonic Spree played half an hour ago. We’re all blogging… it’s a lot different.

Kidzapalooza…that’s the next generation.” This year, Kidzapalooza’s focus was to teach children about music.

R-G-A: How much is Perry involved in the planning of Lollapalooza each year?

Perry: “I work with my partners. We talk about the feng shui, where the stages should be set up. We have a quarter of a million dollars invested in the environmental aspect of the festival. The cabanas [corporate-purchased "suites" set up near the AT&T stage, offering a good view, relief from dealing with walking through the crowds, booze and food]…I want to see them go all the way down and then stack them.”

R-G-A: Do you play differently because people might be going to the beer line…”

Ted Leo: It’s more about the music and the sound itself. It’s not as easy…you have to engage people, you have to be on top of your game (these words are my interpretation of what he said–my notes are nearly unintelligible here, but I have a great memory. Except, of course, for the names and all that…)

R-A-G: Blah Blah Blah, a bunch of stuff I didn’t write down because I was spacing out looking at Perry’s, uh, tie.

Perry: I learned that the first thing you have to be is a music festival. Politics doesn’t work. I tried to be political, but then you’re alienating people.

There’s Green Street this year–we’re trying to be environmental without pushing people into it, we’re being subtle. If you gather a nice stack of cups and turn them in, you’ll get a nice t-shirt. I’m an extreme-athlete, I want to be sure there is snow on the mountains and the oceans are clean.”

As a Chicagoan, I’m appreciative of the money that comes from the festival in order to not only return Grant Park to it’s pre-festival state, but to further enhance its lakeside beauty.

Lollapalooza 2007–Interview and Set Review–Peter Himmelman August 9, 2007

It was the first set I listened to at Lollapalooza, and was to be my first interview. Ever. So, understandably, I suppose, I was a little nervous. I don’t know why I should have been. The man who stood on stage was so personable, so friendly and kind and so thoroughly a real-live troubadour, I should have instantly felt at ease about approaching him after the show. And after just a song or two, I did.

Maybe that’s because he was playing in the Kidzapalooza area, and of course he might want to present himself as approachable to a gathering of children and their parents.

Peter Himmelman surveyed the scant crowd made mostly of under-fives and their parents on Friday afternoon and said, “We didn’t want a lot of people here, we just wanted the best.” Cheesy? Maybe, a bit. Did I mind? Not a bit.

He introduced his song “Feet” from his new (May, 2007) children’s album “My Green Kite,” by telling us, “This is a song for anybody who has feet. Who has feet? Well good! Some people don’t.” What a rockin’ little song it is! This is rock and roll for kids and their parents. It isn’t sappy and syrupy, but has a beat, and horns, and a child-based reality to it. About another song, “A World Where You Only Eat Candy,” Himmelman said, “I think it would be a marvelous world.”

“For dinnertime you can eat marshmallows and chocolate piled high,” he sang, and extolled the virtues of broccoli and spinach as treats. Because, wouldn’t they be? If our every meal was loaded with sugar?

The song “I Don’t Like to Share,” contains the line “I know it ain’t fair, but I don’t care, cuz I don’t like to share.” These aren’t songs preaching the value of sharing. They are songs identifying with the emotions of their audience, just like every damned rock ‘n roll song we fall in love with. This is rock ‘n roll with honesty, with it’s audience fully in mind.

After the set, I made my way backstage and stood quietly by while Peter greeted his fans, hopping, excited kids and their smiling parents, who must have been so thrilled to have found music that they could stand listening to in the car, keeping both themselves and their children happy. I introduced myself, and Peter asked me to wait, all the while keeping his eye on me to make sure I knew he hadn’t forgotten me, while taking time to talk with the kids who had enjoyed his show. I just stood there like a fool, smiling, so happy to have been introduced to this part of his persona. I’ve been listening to his “adult” music for years, but this kids’ music of his was new to me–I knew it existed, but hadn’t paid attention (a huge disservice to myself AND to my kids).

And then a golf cart pulled up, we piled on and sped off, our interview taking place on the way.

We chatted about his new “adult” album that came out in July (review coming soon!), and I asked him, “I’m really interested to see the documentary included with the album. There was a quote on your website that said it was about the wisdom of schlepping an adolescent dream into midlife. I’m doing that myself. So tell me…is it worth it?”

Peter laughed, and nodded, and said, “It was a good idea…yes. All in all it’s been nice.. fruitful. So much experience…it’s been great.” Because you know what? Life is too short to give up on what you dreamed when you were young. And it’s so long…you have plenty of time to make it all come true.

“What’s the difference,” I asked, “as a performer, in appearing for an audience of children versus an audience of adults?”

“When I play for the kids, I also play for the adults. There’s some things I’ll say to adults that I would never say to kids. It’s much harder to play for kids–they give very little back. It’s a different energy–it takes a lot more energy to play for kids–to keep them engaged and listening. It’s good training for playing for adults. Kids demand more.”

“The songs themselves…the lyrics are different, more specific to kids, but the music itself…it’s still rock n’ roll. Is there any crossover, in your head when you’re writing and/or performing?”

“Certain chords,” Peter said, “I don’t play a lot of minor chords…I keep things a little happier.”

And with that we descended into talk about where he was going from there, to his hotel and then up to Highland Park to visit with friends, and I realized, quite distinctly, that from the moment I’d met him, my nervousness had vanished. This man, who I’d come to revere as a musician from listening to him on XRT and picking up his CDs, was a man, who connects with children as well as he connects with adults, and, at least in my few moments with him, seems to take every one of those connections as they come and to give them what he has to give right at that moment.

And yes, it’s possible to learn more from one brief meeting than one might learn from a lifetime with a person.

Thank you for sharing yourself with me and with all those who love music, Peter.

Lollapalooza August 9, 2007

I’m trying to get my shit together on these Lollapalooza articles.

Here’s the first two that I posted to Newsvine earlier this week. The rest will follow.

Lollapalooza–I have arrived.

Dr. Frank Fennel and his lovely wife Sheila make the big time. Sorta. And yes, that’s Perez Hilton, media whore, holding the Newsvine rubber chickens.