Soooo, Lollapalooza is starting to make some really nice changes.

First of all, the space. They expanded the fest grounds across Columbus (adding 4 city blocks of space) and moved some of the small stages over there. It definitely, definitely opened things up and made the entire weekend much more comfortable. Everyone was gushing over the new grounds.

Secondly the water. They made a big effort this year to conserve bottles - so there was no more $3 smart water or wedging your water bottle into the crappy fountains. You could buy a little cardboard water bottle thing (or bring your own bottle) and get it filled for free at all these Event Water stations. We loved it.

And most importantly, the shows..

Friday

• Devo - The dudes are like 60, but they still rocked it so hard - great visuals, outfit changes, ripping sleeves off shirts, etc. They were definitely one of my favorite acts this year.
• The Black Keys - I've seen the keys before, so this was nothing too exciting. They don't put on much of a show, but they definitely sound amazing live.
• Chromeo - Awesome. Just an all around good, fun, danceable show. Plus, the Robert Palmer backup singers were awesome.
• Lady Gaga - This was definitely the best show at Lollapalooza this year. Lady Gaga is batshit crazy and it's awesome. Her show was a giant storyline with a mixture of pop, a hint of metal, a ton of outfit changes, and a few awkward moments. It was definitely a performance.

Saturday

• Against Me! - Meh. They sounded good, wore a lot of black, and were rocking pretty hard but I just wasn't feeling it.
• Gogol Bordello - Great! I didn't really know anything about them, but definitely loved the show. They sounded good, were having a good time, and the lead singer was drinking a bottle of wine on stage. Gypsy punk!
• AFI - The lead singer rules. I totally wasn't ready for how good they were gonna be live - they sounded amazing.
• Social Distortion - Sounded good and played some good songs but it was a pretty blah show. Still, I'm glad I saw them.
• Phoenix - I was completely torn between seeing Phoenix and Green Day, but since Phoenix was going to be in Des Moines the next Tuesday, I skipped this show and saw them in Des Moines. ;) They are ridiculous good live - this is another lead singer that sounds just as good live as he does on his albums.
• Green Day - Super good. They were totally just up there rocking and having a blast - it was awesome. They Invited a ton fans on stage, talked kids into stage diving, gave away guitars - totally catered to the crowd. They even let one kid sing Longview (all the way through) for them.

Sunday

• Nervo (DJ set) - These girls are not really good DJs, haha. They played some good house and dance music, but they weren't really doing a whole lot - aside from looking cute of course.
• Chiddy Bang - The vocals were kinda messed up, but it was still a great show. Chiddy can freestyle for sure! At one point he was even able to work "inflatable penis" into one of his rhymes, ha.
• Erykah Badu - Showed up 20 minutes late, which was pretty annoying, but once she finally got on stage, she sounded amazing. What a voice!
• MGMT - Sounded like shit, seriously. I was not impressed with this at all. They just sat there (no performance, no interaction), and the dude really can't sing. I was really excited for this show and was definitely let down. I'll just stick to listening their studio recorded albums.
• Cypress Hill - Duh. This was a really good set full of great tracks (mostly weed inspired of course). B-real is awesome and so was the crowd.
• Soundgarden - They sounded great, but they're just not really my thing. I was pretty sad when no one played the spoons on spoonman.

The partying wasn't quite as crazy as previous years, but it was still fun. Friday we laid low cause Harper and Tag (mostly Harper) were horrible at communicating.

Saturday night: had a glass of scotch with Rico at the hotel then met up with Harper at this sweet little rooftop house party. It had a great view of downtown - and was DJ'd entirely by our cell phones, haha. After that, we of course went to Debonair where we danced, got photo bombed by David Arquette, watched Har Mar Superstar, and were generally rowdy. When we left the club we saw some craziness - in short: a dude ran over another dude's foot, then got out and started punching the hurt foot dude - all right in front of cops. It was awesome.

Sunday night: went out for some dinner n beer with Jon and Liz then we all went to Debonair again with Harper. Sunday night ruled. Shots, redbull, good music, rocking - just an all around good end to the weekend.

So yea - that was Lollapalooza 2010. I can't wait to bring in my 30th birthday at Lollapalooza next year. August 5-7 - you all better start planning for it. ;)
Here are the rest of my photos