Festival Review- Lollapalooza

Last weekend, I attended my 4th Lollapalooza in Chicago, Illinois. This capped off my run of attending shows for the summer- I will not be attending any more until the end of this month when I am back at school. Personally, it's been a great run of concerts this summer, starting with The Shins/Ra Ra Riot, and continuing with Japandroids, The Mountain Goats, Paul McCartney, then weekends at Pitchfork Music Festival and the aforementioned Lollapalooza. Here, I will give a rundown of which shows I saw at Lollapalooza in chronological order and then list my 10 favorite, with some thoughts for some of them. Here we go:

Friday: The Neighbourhood, Icona Pop, Smith Westerns, Band of Horses, Frightened Rabbit, The Killers

Bands I wish I could have seen on Friday (if any of you reading this are unfamiliar with these bands, go check them out): American Authors, Deap Valley, San Cisco, Father John Misty, Pacific Air, Hot Chip

Saturday: Pujol, Reignwolf, Charles Bradley, Local Natives, The National, The Postal Service

Bands I wish I could have seen on Saturday: Phox, Matt & Kim, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Foals

Sunday: The Orwells, Wild Nothing, The Mowgli's, Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend, Phoenix

Bands I wish I could have seen on Sunday: Guards, Skaters, Wavves, Machines Are People Too, The Vaccines, DIIV, Grizzly Bear, Major Lazer

Top 10 shows:
10. Charles Bradley- The 65 year old soul singer put on a great show Saturday afternoon. He really has a unique voice, which he showcased well. His band was very talented and his dance moves were spectacular as well
9. Reignwolf- A very DIY sound from this artist, who came out by himself and just played his guitar and kick drum. Then, he moved over to his drum kit and played the guitar with one hand and said drum kit with the other before being joined by his full band, which really enhanced his sound. Man, can he shred on that guitar.
8. The Killers- A very entertaining show. The reason it's down this far is because I'd seen them in December and this was basically the exact same show, except for a not-so-great cover of "Chicago is My Kind of Town" which removed "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" from the setlist. Brandon Flowers and Co. always put on a fun show, it would have just been nice to see some variety.
7. Band of Horses
6. The Orwells- The lead singer was definitely drunk, as evidenced by the microphone he launched into the crowd. However, that didn't stop him and the rest of his band from putting on a hell of a show. They sounded fantastic and even ended with an Iggy Pop cover. I'm looking forward to seeing these guys in Madison.
5. The National
4. Vampire Weekend- Just as good as last time I saw them (Pitchfork Music Festival 2012), and the new stuff sounds great live.
3. Frightened Rabbit- They keep getting better and better each time I see them. The only reason I put this show 3rd was that it was shorter than the next two and also there were way too many people camped there for Lana Del Rey, who was playing the same stage after Frightened Rabbit. Lana Del Rey fans are vicious, as I found out while trying to leave this show. But FR sounded fantastic and I loved every second of this.
2. The Postal Service- In their second-to-last show ever, Ben Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello, and Jenny Lewis brought it. Their sound transferred really well from album to stage and they were extremely enthusiastic. I really wish we'd get a second album out of them, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.
1. Phoenix- Wow. Just wow. Everything about this show was basically perfect. It will be nice to see them in an indoor show in Chicago next month. There will be a more detailed review for that show.