Check out our photos and video recap of Friday’s Lollapalooza performances.
See our previews and photo/video recaps of bands playing on:
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Deap Vally1:30-2:15Petrillo Stage
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Los Angeles blues-rock duo Deap Vally play songs that sound custom-made for the kind of run-down hole-in-the-wall you seem to find on the edge of every small town in America—you can practically hear the groaning floorboards, smell the stale piss, and see the red neon bar sign with half a letter burned out. These two women rip into the fuzzy, aggressive tunes on their recent debut, Sistrionix (Island), with a lot of heart, but their sometimes laughable lyrics don’t do the grooves any favors—I don’t know about you, but it takes me right out of a song when I hear a line as bad as “You get the itch with the HPV.” —Leor Galil
As a prolific singer-songwriter in the aughts, Joshua Tillman produced mostly whispery, solemn acoustic songs that catalogued his aches and pains. He was eventually enlisted to drum for concert-hall megaband Fleet Foxes during their rapid rise through the plaid- and beard-wearing indie-folk ranks, and when he quit in 2012 he seemingly emerged with a desire to reinvent himself—he’s since had a groove in his step and a boutonniere on the lapel of his tweed jacket. Now calling himself Father John Misty, Tillman is practically debonair, with the cool snark and the occasional soulful swagger of a cocktail-toting playboy. On last year’s infectious Fear Fun (Sub Pop), this persona comes into its own: Tillman crafts a soulfully smooth quasi-R&B chorus on “Nancy From Now On” and something almost like a barn-dancin’ ditty on “Tee Pees 1-12,” both without breaking a sweat. Also Thu 8/1 at Lincoln Hall, sold out, 18+. —Kevin Warwick
Queens of the Stone Age6:15-7:30Bud Light Stage
Calling Trent Reznor an industrial musician isn’t entirely inaccurate, but it hardly does justice to the amount of ground he’s covered over the past quarter century. He’s dabbled in a broad range of esoteric sounds, including but hardly limited to speed metal, ambient techno, glitchy IDM, drum ‘n’ bass, modern classical, and, yes, industrial music, tackling each with the instincts of a world-class pop musician; in the process he’s served as a crucial conduit between the fringes of the avant-garde and the teenagers hanging out at your mall’s food court. The 1994 Nine Inch Nails record The Downward Spiral is still the best thing he’s done, and as a central influence on Kanye’s Yeezus, it sounds more current than ever—but judging by the advance single “Came Back Haunted,” the upcoming Hesitation Marks will demand serious attention. —Miles Raymer
