See our previews and photo/video recaps of bands playing on:
Friday ·
Sunday ·Afterparties
Lollapalooza main »
Planet Hemp1:00-2:00Bud Light Stage
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Reignwolf2:00-2:45Petrillo Stage
The Dixie Chicks derby has heated up this year, but I think Mother (Columbia), the hotly anticipated solo debut from Natalie Maines—which aims for roots-rock crunch with the help of Ben Harper’s band—clearly loses out to Amelita (Columbia), the second album from Court Yard Hounds, aka Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, the two current Dixie Chicks who aren’t Maines. Court Yard Hounds are more modest in their approach, but they also sound more naturalistic and confident. Their vocal harmonies blend beautifully on upbeat numbers (the stinging title track recalls the Bangles at their best), and on mildly rootsy, midtempo songs they nail a sound redolent of 90s guitar-pop singers such as Sheryl Crow. I’m not sure what their polished, middle-of-the-road music has to do with the Lollapalooza nation, assuming such a thing still exists, but a glass-half-full type might see the festival’s lack of focus as broad-mindedness. —Peter Margasak
Heartless Bastards6:00-6:45The Grove
Local production duo Supreme Cuts make experimental pop with shades of R&B, hip-hop, and fringey Chicago dance music; 2012’s sometimes menacing Whispers in the Dark (Dovecote) can sound like sensual slow jams for poltergeists. In October of last year they followed it up with Chrome Lips (Mishka), a hip-hop mixtape cut with teenage MC Haleek Maul, whose unsettling, visceral rapping fits well with Supreme Cuts’ hazily subterranean beats. Some of the best cuts on Chrome Lips feature locals such as ShowYouSuck, Yen Tech, and Tree, whose easygoing flow on the retro-tinged R&B banger “Ball” totally slays. Also Fri 8/2 at House of Blues with Local Natives, sold out, 17+. —Leor Galil
