Unfortunately, we missed the first few songs of this set, but the portion that we did catch was stellar as usual.  The sound was big and surprisingly clear for an outdoor festival.  Aqualung performed some of our favorite songs, including “If I Fall” and “Left Behind.”  Before Matt Hales sang “Tongue Tied,” he shared a very cute story about his two year old son who was, indeed, tongue tied at birth…but that’s not what the song is about.  Hales also took a moment to introduce himself to the expansive audience and apologized for his depressing songs.  At that point, he teased the audience with the first few notes of his radio hit, “Brighter Than Sunshine,” then took a pregnant pause.  After some enthusiastic prodding, Hales and band launched back into the song full force much to the delight of everyone in listening range.  All in all, it was a wonderful way to kick off Lollapalooza 2006.

This large Canadian band received a very warm welcome from their fans that showed up early to be front and center for their showcase.  Stars is fronted by both a male (Torquil Campbell) and female (Amy Millan) lead singer.  Millan also plays a mean electric guitar, and is a member of Canada’s Broken Social Scene (huge band that keeps churning out break through stars like Feist and Jason Collett).  Meanwhile, Campbell is the consummate front man - bounding around stage to interact with his band mates and getting as close to the crowd as he can, only pausing momentarily to play a few notes on the trumpet. Unfortunately, Stars suffered from some serious sound issues. You could hear Campbell’s voice when he was talking in between songs, but barely any of his vocals or trumpet while he was performing, which is a shame because from what we could make out, the lyrics are great. This is a band we will definitely check out much more.

photo by Will Taylor

photo by Phil Bonyata

Highly regarded as a unique voice in the world of indie music, Iron and Wine drew a large and respectful crowd. Unfortunately, the open air setting with said audience sweltering in the mid-day sun really didn’t lend to fully appreciating quiet, introspective, and darkly arranged music, which is the band’s specialty.  After the first couple of songs, Sam Beam (front man, lyricist) commented that they really shouldn’t try their quieter songs.  I’m sure in a nice, dark listening room, this band would have been a delight to experience.  Due to tight scheduling, we had to cut the set short to trek the mile between stages to catch some of The Raconteurs’ set.

Not surprisingly, this was one of the most highly anticipated showcases at the festival. The crowd was massive and ready to have their socks rocked off by the newest supergroup to emerge on the music scene.  The boys didn’t disappoint. With Brendan Benson and Jack White, long-time friends from Detroit, sharing lead vocal duties, they shot through a good number of songs from their debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers.  While we’ve known, and loved, Benson for a long time now, it’s nice to see that he is getting a chance prove what he can do.  Not taking anything away from his unique voice and talent, but Benson could have used a bit more help in the wardrobe department. He was wearing an extremely thin, white, deep v-neck t-shirt that wouldn’t make it in a thrift store’s inventory.  All in all, this was an intensely crowd – pleasing set, ending with an impressive cover of the Gnarls Barkley hit song, “Crazy.”

photo by Phil Bonyata

photo by Karen Bondowski

Death Cab was one of the headlining bands on the first evening, which means they got an extra 30 minutes to play for the estimated 40,000 festival goers.  Rather than attempting to fight the waves of people attempting to get close to the stage, we took a seat in the adjacent field watching the action on the jumbo tron. With the sun going down, and the temperature just right for the first time all day, there was nothing to do but sit back and enjoy.  The guys played pretty much the set that they’ve been doing all tour long, including songs from a number of their albums beginning with “Marching Bands Of Manhattan” and “The New Year.” The sound was stellar and the band seemed to be reveling in the immense size of the enthusiastic crowd. Coming back to encore, Ben Gibbard led the audience in a moving sing-along of his solo acoustic ballad, “I Will Follow You Into The Dark.” Stars (former tour mates and friends) accompanied the band on the last song, “The Sound Of Settling,” leaving both bands and audience with huge smiles on their faces as the first night came to a close.

Not to be confused with the older, jazz musician, John McLaughlin, this Jon McLaughlin, is a young, keyboard playing, singer/songwriter reminiscent of Ben Folds.  Similar to Folds, McLaughlin played with the same kind of crazy energy that makes it impossible for him to remain seated.  At the same time, his fingers seemed to float over the keys eliciting some very pretty melodies with a bluesy vibe. Near the end of his set, he sang a heart breaking song about lost love called, “Indiana,” which is the title song of his new CD that he was, clearly, very proud of.  This charming and talented musician definitely held his own in a sea of some of the biggest names in the indie rock world.

photo by Scott Newton