The lineup for Lollapalooza has been announced (Aug. 1-3, Grant Park, Chicago):

Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West, Wilco, Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Black Keys, Love & Rockets, Cat Power, Broken Social Scene, the National, Girl Talk, Bloc Party, Spank Rock… More at www.lollapalooza.com.

I’d say that’s officially the best fest lineup of the year. Who’s going now?

A surprise to no one but still ameaningful gesture, Perry Farrell showed up on stage just as Lollapalooza 2006 wound down. The Jane’s Addiction frontman, who thought up Lolla way back when, came out to introduce “the greatest band in the world right now” (the Red Hot Chili Peppers). First, though, he boasted about how well his original vision was maintained by the three-day Chicago festival.

“There were 70,000 people here, which means there were 140,000 legs, and we were all like one big centipede,” the ever-flowery Farrell said.

Actually, Perry’s comments were pretty right-on as far as Sunday went. The day was full of many innovative if not yet famous acts, like the original Lolla offered. And it was rich in diversity, too, although all of the hip-hop acts played the first two days. It even turned out to be a day full of feel-good, positive-minded, hippie-dippie themes like Farrell would want it– from Matisyahu’s prayers for peace in the Middle East and the Chili Peppers’ one-nation-under-a-groove effect to Jeff Tweedy dedicated songs to his wife on their 11th anniversary.

Like Kanye a night earlier, Tweedy repeatedly made aw-shucks comments about playing to so many people in his home town.

“You make us proud, Chicago,” he said near the end of his band’s hour-long set.

He had other reason to give thanks, too: The audience stayed attentive while he and his bandmates tried out four unreleased songs, which they wrapped around favorites like “Shot in the Arm” (the opener), “I’m the Man Who Loves You” (closer) “The Late Greats” and, of course, “Via Chicago.”

The Chili Peppers also went a little hog-wild about playing new material, filling up almost the entire first of their set with tracks from “Stadium Arcadium,” save for a version of “Scar Tissue” that seemed to appease the crowd early on. But they too pulled it off. Ever since guitarist John Frusciante rejoined, this once-spotty band has been consistently stellar in concert. In fact, Sunday’s set was 100 times better than the one I saw them play during Lollapalooza in 1992.

Right before the Chili Peppers, Broken Social Scene had a breakthrough set like the one the New Pornographers enjoyed a night earlier, playing to fans awaiting the bigger act. At the end, they brought out frequent collaborator Feist, who played her own set a night earlier (that woman has a surprising amount of soul in her voice). After a gorgeous finale of “Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl,” the crowd literally wouldn’t stop cheering for them. Alas, encores were as staunchly prohibited at this Lolla as was any beer not made by co-sponsor Budweiser.

Minneapolis exes the Hold Steady, who didn’t seem to mind the Bud so long as it was free, were the first highlight of the day. They played a 1:30 set on one of the medium-sized stages. It was a little too early and bright for Craig Finn’s dark tales of hard-living to have all the impact they normally do, but the teens on hand (who can’t easily see them live) ate it all up anyway. And the Twins fans on hand seemed to enjoy Finn’s snarky shout-out to A.J. Pierzynksi.

Ah, I could go on about several other great sets and a few other things I’d like to complain about (I didn’t even mention the poor food concessions), but three days of criss-crossing Grant Park has left me as spacey as, well, Perry Farrell. Look for a more thorough and coherent wrapup of the entire fest in Thursday’s newspaper.

Kanye touched the sky, alright. But I got to touch the Space Bubble.

I’m talking (bragging), of course, about the Flaming Lips’ show-starter. Frontman Wayne Coyne climbed into an inflated plastic bubble and proceeded to surf the crowd, which had surged to a good 40,000 strong or so around their stage (about 60,000 showed on Saturday overall … geesh). Thanks to the photo pass I charitably received from the Lolla press reps, I was down in at the front of the stage for the start of the Lips set. Itturned one to be one of the best r’n'r experiences of my life: Giant, bouncing blue balls went flying everywhere; confetti and streamers were blowing off left and right; and down in the middle of it all walked (rolled) Wayne. On his way back, he went right over me. Those Space Bubbles aren’t as light as they look. I did my part this weekend.

Oh yeah, the Lips sounded great, too. They opened with “Race for the Prize” and soon had 3/4th the crowd singing along to “Yoshimi” and the new “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song.” I actually got to interview Wayne backstage before their show, for a feature to run the week they play the MN State Fair (Aug. 24). He knew all about the fair gig and was excited about it. He said something along the lines of, “We’re the type of band that loves the idea of playing to a bunch of Toby Keith fans, or anybody new.” Suffice it to say that’s a show not to be missed.

I wish I could say Kanye West was as exciting as the Lips, but my high hopes were relatively let down. The most exciting thing about the 80-minute set was the sweet fact that the K-man was in his home town playing to a crowd that, no kidding, stretched about a quarter mile back from the stage. No matter how hard Lolla promoters tried to sell Manu Chao as amarquee name (he was on the other big stage at the time), nobody bit.

“Feels good to be home,” Kanye yelled at the start and end of the set (the latter was in the show-closer, “Touch the Sky”). He also kept saying things like, “You see mom, I told you I could be an actor.” Unfortunately, he also had to yell at his crew and the Lolla staff, because the show was plagued by sound problems. The first two songs, “Diamonds of Sierra Leone” and “Heard ‘Em Say” were barely audible. The crowd kept chanting, “Turn it up.” They never totally got it fixed, and microphones kept going in and out. At one point, Kanye roared, “I do shows all over the world and come back to my city, and now ya’ll are gonna (mess) up the sound. There’s gonna be some changes after this.”

Whether or not that threw him off, the set was poorly paced and lagged in parts. Kanye let just about every rapper he knows in in Chi-town get some spotlight time, including Common (great!), Twista (pretty cool), a skateboard-riding Lupe Fiasco (hmmm) and GLC (yawn). The best parts were when it was just the man, his amazing DJ, 8-Track, and his stirring string section. Highlights included Crack Music,” “We Major” and, of course, “Jesus Walks.” He also let the strings and backup singers do half of Gnarls’ “Crazy,” making that the third time the song was sung at the fest (see previous post). Is it officially the song of the summer yet?

Other bits from the day:

*Playinga small stage across the field from the biggest stage, the New Pornographers benefited from thecrowd’s giant pilgramage to Kanye’s set. Frontman A.C. Newman even made up a “throw-your-hands-in-the-air” type chant: “All the people flooding in to see Kanye say yeah!” By their final song, “Sing Me Spanish Techno,” I think the Pornos managed to dig up at least 10,000 new fans.

*What’s with Sonic Youth and festivals? Every time I see the art-rock godsat a big outdoor shinding like this, they seem to intentionally play their most grating, least accessible songs. A lot of their setSaturday came from their new CD, “Rather Ripped,” which I think is rather overrated. Here’s hoping they take a different approach when they open for the Lips at the fair, because they had enough trouble keeping their own fans interested. Imagine what thoseToby Keith fans will think.

*Worst band of the day: The Dresden Dolls, a piano-led boy/girl metal duothatdresses up like mimes. Too bad they don’t keep their mouths shut, too. It was like Tori Amos meets Marilyn Manson.

*Kanye’s sound issues were the least of Lolla organizers’ problems on Saturday. Faced with a much bigger crowd, the problems of the festival site became obvious. Traffic flow was terrible thanks to several bottle-necks in the park, and there clearly aren’t enough food or drink stands. Waits were often well over a half-hour for a bite. Definitely the worst-planned of any of the big fests I’ve been to, except Woodstock ‘99. There’s still one day to go, though, so maybe the kids will riot and burn everything again. Tonight’s headliners the Red Hot Chili Peppers were also the last band to play Woodstock, it might be worth pointing out.

Funny, I left Minneapolis on Thursday night (when the Raconteurs played to 1,400 fans at First Ave) to come here (and watch them instead with 50,000 people).

Grant Park

To see a new band go over well in front of this many people was quite a thrill, though. They played their hit, “Steady, As She Goes,” early in the set, but the crowd hung around. It got better from there. Their ferocious version of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” went over big, as did a cover of the Nancy Sinatra/Cher hit “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down.” Their own “Level” proved to be a show-stopper live, with Jack and Brendan trading licks like kisses. Definitely not just a side-project.

Tom Smith of the British band Editors

Oh, if you’re keeping score: “Crazy” is about three months old, and it is already being covered by Nelly Frutado, Greg Dulli’s Twilight Singers and now these guys. Kind of reminds me of “Seven Nation Army.” Gnarls is playing Lolla today, and their own First Ave set (which I did catch) was fun enough I’ll probably watch them again.

Friday night ended on a bittersweet note: Sleater-Kinney played one of its last shows ever, while Death Cab for Cutie’s set was their last one for quite a while, according to their many diehard fans on hand. I’ll take Death Cab over the Postal Service anyday. They sounded great and the crowd was enamored, reminding me of R.E.M. right before “Document” (on the verge of a breakthrough).

Ryan, before his eggs rant (see previous post).

As for Sleater-Kinney, Friday’s set was absolutely amazing. The trio played an hour straight with nary a break and all the roar they could muster. It was fitting they played “The Woods” at the end, the title track of their last (and best CD), but “Ironclad” a few songs before it also nearly stole the show. Since Lollapalooza always had a good knack for promoting female-led rock bands (sorely missing in today’s landscape, of course), it seemed fitting to have S-K do one of their last shows here. The real finale is next week in Portland. Too bad, but they’re going out strong as ever.

“Warning: weekend event traffic. Expect delays.”

The first sign was posted just after the Wisconisin-Illinois border by Rockford, about 80 miles out of Chicago. Fortunately, we drove in at night to avoid the mayhem. I’ve been to enough festivals (see: Bonnaroo, 5-6-hour traffic delays) to know to plan ahead.

Even still, I’m crossing my fingers I won’t get stuck in some line somewhere past 11:45, when the first bands go on. Wouldn’t you know it, the very first acts are two I really want to see: deadboy & the Elephantmen (love their CD) and a new Austin (TX) buzz band, the Sound Team.

There are several other young Austin groups playing this weekend, too, which is no coincidence: The guys who now run Lollapalooza are the duo behind the Austin City Limits Festival, which I rank over both Coachella and Bonnaroo. Better organization. Better food (all from local eateries). Often a stronger overall lineup, although not this year. And definitely a better location.

Thanks to the success of their first event, the ACL duo took over Lolla last year and finally made it successful again. About 60,000 people showed for the reconfigured one-weekend-only event. That’s after the old package-tour concept failed to make a successful comeback in 2003 (with Jane’s Addiction headlining again, plus Audioslave, Queens of the Stone Age, etc.). It’s too bad ticket sales floundered, but have no fear, Perry Farrell is still involved this year. He’s even giving a press conference backstage later today. Last time I interviewed Perry (1995) he tried to convince me aliens were going to end at the end of that year’s Lollapalooza. I don’t think he was kidding, either.

This will be my eighth Lollapalooza. I made it to the first two tours, the last one (in Milwaukee), the best one (1994) and most of them in between. It’s hard to remember how revolutionary that first tour was: A rap act (Ice-T) playing amid a rock lineup was unheard of then, as was the hairbrained idea that 25,000 people would show up in time to see the Butthole Surfers or Rollins Band. Hopefully, this year’s show will be as unpredictable.

Kanye West

Hey rock fans, partiers and/or tortured teens,

Are you headed to this weekend’s Lollapalooza fest in Chicago? We’re hoping to hear from you before you leave town to try to gauge what the Twin Cities/Minnesota/Upper Midwest contingent will be like.

First off, how are you getting there? How and when did you get tickets? Where are you staying when you get there (in case you didn’t already know, there’s not much camping available in downtown Chicago)? Which acts are you most looking forward to seeing? And if you went to last year’s Lolla, what can the rest of us expect?

Wilco

Check back for our own forecast of the event and reports from the pit. Er, wait… do they actually still have pits anymore at Lollapalooza?