Last year saw 60 bands in two days. This year, screw that. Festival promoters doubled-down, added an extra day and brought the final band count to 130. I guess Perry thought that still wasn't enough.
Over the past two months, hundreds of aspiring bands, MCs and singer/songwriters have been duking it out for a highly coveted slot on the Q101 feature stage at the fest; a four-round battle-of-the-bands dubbed Last Band Standing.
But since Lolla's pretty much ours now, Chicago talent gets somewhat of a handicap. While the four national bands were chosen by "celebrity judges," our 12 local finalists got the chance to face-off in area clubs. Four battles. Three bands apiece. Go live, or go home.
Starting July 27, videos of the four winning bands ran online, and it was up to the fans to decide who advances to the Aug. 2 Double Door battle, where the five acts will compete for the Lolla slot, the glory, $10,000 worth of Gibson gear and some sort of rock-star status.
Here's the Chicago winner:
The Cankles
Here I am, rock you like:
The starting lineup of the Chicago Bulls and a 19-year-old white girl.
In the beginning:
One of our first shows was at Betty's Blue Star Lounge. The bar made the mistake of providing us with free drinks before the show, putting us a little over the level of "over served" but we still pulled it off and continue pulling it off to this day.
We'll be the Last Band Standing because:
Because as cliched as it sounds, we truly are different than any other band involved in this contest. I don't just mean because we're a live electronic band with a DJ (although we have two DJs!) Lots of people have that. We just have a different sound, a different dynamic and a different way of performing live. Where else can you hear straight-up hip-hop meld into a ragga jam giving birth to an all out metal frenzy with a breakbeat?
Tricks up our sleeve:
It's all about energy and kicking the living shit out of the audience. Imagine an all-out orgy in Sodom and Gomorrah with Led Zeppelin covering Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up" as the opening act.
And the other winners...
Battle #1: Lucid Ground
Here I am, rock you like a:
Hurricane of real music.
In the beginning:
We played in the basement of the Penny Road Pub. We didn't blow the metal-heads minds, but we were tight and able to get off the stage alive. We might have some hard tunes, but we know not to play with a whole roster of death metal bands ever again. We'll be the Last Band Standing because:
We like to think that we create music that people would really enjoy. We put heart (not flash or gimmicks) into our music and we feel the people [will] relate to that.
Tricks up our sleeve:
[We're] counting on our dedicated following of friends and fans. We are indebted to them for bringing us this far and we hope they help take us to Lollapalooza.
Battle #2: The Sleepers
Here I am, rock you like a:
Redneck on meth.
In the beginning:
We played the Viaduct Theater for an art fest: Soap art. We probably weren't ready to play. It wasn't disastrous, but I think we played everything too fast, and Action [Johnny] kept dropping his drumsticks. I think one of them even flew past Tommy's [vocals] head.
We'll be the Last Band Standing because:
We're a good rock n' roll band and the Lollapalooza crowd deserves to hear some good local rock n' roll music.
Tricks up our sleeve:
We pride ourselves on our live show. It's high energy and fun as hell. Plus, we have a lot of loyal fans. And all of our friends prefer to communicate solely through text messaging, so their thumbs are well-trained and ready for combat.
Battle #3: Jeff Baraka-O Type Star
Here I am, rock you like a:
Long-term lover—something familiar that can still surprise you and make you feel good.
In the beginning:
My first show was at The Blue Gargoyle in Hyde Park.
We'll be the Last Band Standing because:
I'm (at least) as talented as similar, more successful artists
Tricks up our sleeve:
Being myself and having fun. It may sound corny, but when you're enjoying your own show, the audience responds.
More info on
Lollapalooza 2006 is available on
ChicagoFests.com, the Chicago Festivals Guide.
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