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Soundgarden cashes in
(Day 3)
(Day 1) Review and Photos
(Day 2) Review and Photos

Lollapalooza 2010
Grant Park
Chicago, IL
Aug. 6 - 8, 2010

Soundgarden (RG)

Wolfmother (RG)

Story by Andy Argyrakis
Photos by Andy Argyrakis, Rob Grabowski & Phil Bonyata

The difference between Saturday's headliners Green Day and Sunday's show closers Soundgarden was the former's ongoing artistic vitality and the latter's cashing in on the greatest hits road. Sure, Chris Cornell and company made a major splash in the grunge scene circa the early 1990s, but what has the group done collectively since that's been worth any attention?

That being said, it was an easy choice to skip the recently reunited group wax nostalgia and make the jump to catch Arcade Fire showcase just about everything that's magnetic about modern music. The inde/art rockers (with plenty of Baroque grandeur thrown in for eccentricity's measure) just released its third long player The Suburbs, which continues highlighting a series of eclectic instrumentation over front man Win Butler's astute songwriting.

Cut from a similar anthem-strewn penmanship cloth as U2 or Bruce Springsteen, the leader makes average feelings of yearning and longing take on much greater depth, while his assessments on everything from pop culture to politics are intriguing and insightful. Along with the band's jaw dropping trade off of instruments, symphony of harmonies and monstrous choruses, it's easy to see why third time appears to be the charm in the already prolific Arcade Fire's ascent.

Speaking of troubadours who aren't afraid to touch on pertinent issues, Erykah Badu continued to call for peace and ecological awareness over her unconventional merger of neo-soul, R&B, hip-hop and jazz. In spite of being a bit too scattered at times, the diva was confident in her individualism and encouraged those gathered with a series of horn-soaked affirmations.

Cypress Hill brought the party with an off the chain concoction of rap, rock and hip-hop, suggesting that perhaps aside from Public Enemy, the So-Cal troupe may be amongst that scene's most seminal of all time. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about old timers X Japan, whose first ever appearance on American soil sounded like a poorly preserved and blatantly cheesy time capsule back to the hair metal era.

Just prior to that train wreck, London's Mumford & Sons unveiled a potent wall of sound as a mere four piece (minus an official drummer). Though the group is anchored in a folk songwriting style, epic crescendos at just about every corner put these relative newcomers right behind Arcade Fire and MGMT as the day's leaders. Speaking of MGMT, its 75-minute set was split between psychedelic rock, new wave pop and alternative experimentation, cementing these Brooklyn boys' status as stellar sonic switch hitters that provided yet another example of Lollapalooza's ongoing goal to blur styles and sounds.