Lollapalooza 2011 Awards [festival]

Overall, this years Lolla left very little to be desired. With a varied lineup ranging from danceable tunes to more relaxed sets, I walked away from almost every band with a smile on my face. Below are a few of the better moments that occurred over the weekend.

As Christian, the rocking frontman of Grouplove, began Saturday by headbanging his massive Kurt Cobain-esque mop and blowing up the place with vocals that never strained, a good amount of buzz and movement made its way through the crowd. Though “Colours” alone would’ve been well worth the noon heat, their whole set was one of the best I saw overall.

While The Drums cut their set short, and chose not to play their hit “Let’s Go Surfing”, I was blown away by the audience’s reaction overall. Given that they played during other big draw shows and were put on a stage too small for them, the crowd they gathered turned “Down by the Water” into a rumbling sing-a-long, surprising given it has never seen U.S. radio play. They played their new single “Money” and debuted a brand new song off of Portamento, out next month, entitled “If He Likes It Let Him Do It” (which is a little reminiscent of Talking Heads).

Beirut delivered on all counts with relaxing jams that allowed you to lean back on a blanket, soak in the atmosphere and let the brass and beautiful vocals waft over you. While songs like “Sunday Smile” may have had me standing and moving, the majority of their set allowed me to relax and watch from afar, as the soothing sounds ended Saturday night on a happy note.

Local Natives’ set was full of melodic rounds and harmonies, and the crowd was clapping to the up-tempo tunes the whole way through. When the guitar riff for their real scorcher “Sun Hands” began, every hand in the crowd was reaching for the sun, and the place erupted into a moshpit of rock and emotional scream-a-longs.

Sacrificing Cage the Elephant for the lesser-known Boy & Bear was one of the best decisions I made at Lolla. Although they performed at the smallest stage at the festival, a big sound reverberated through the crowd from this Fleet Foxes meets Mumford & Sons outfit, prompting Hosking to ask if the crowd could “feel it too.” As they were about to dive into their last song, they changed mid-intro after the crowd requested a different one. As they closed, and the weather threatened with a storm, the crowd and band both looked equally thrilled to be there.

Arctic Monkeys hit the stage a bit later than scheduled, due to the pouring rain that forced the pit a little closer to each other for warmth. When they finally made it on, though, a rainbow appeared in the sky and it seemed like all was right in the world, as “Library Pictures” was torn through and mosh pits were formed. Alex confessed they would be burning through the set due to time constraints, and burn they did, as every crowd pleaser was covered, and most of the crowd was caked in mud.

Watch their entire set below.

Crystal Castles’ Alice Glass ripped through a shortened set, her nymph-like presence sending the crowd into a tizzy, especially during her brief crowd surf stint. Songs like “Not In Love” elicited bigger-than-expected responses — the whole audience screaming out every word. As Glass skipped off stage, the crowd was left wanting more (the hit “Vanished” missing from the set), and after 15 minutes of rallying with a variety of chants, the crowd had to give it up and be left with an 8 song set.

During Lykke Li’s set, I witnessed drunk girls dancing like strippers, little girls on their dad’s shoulders waving their hands to the music, and couples snuggling as I’m sure many a cheesy boyfriend whispered he was “a lot in love.” As her angelic vocals echoed out over the crowd, even the famed Ice Cream Man was spotted a blanket down from me, and I began to wonder who wasn’t at the Google+ Stage for this remarkably talented woman’s set.

Dom’s set included everything from a cover The Cure’s “Boys Don’t Cry” to a request to have the audience take Polaroid pictures of the band. Their frontman had the crowd in the palm of his hand, cracking jokes, sometimes at our expense, and being an all around goofball in teal skinny jeans. As they closed with “Living In America” the audience may have been a bit louder than the stage, but ultimately they left an impression, due mainly to their charisma.