| Lollapalooza 2001: As reviewed by a bassist
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Now that Lollapalooza is over (my first one BTW) I wanted to jot down some observations about the music and bands that I saw. I have to say that overall it was by far the best live sound that I've ever heard (the Sony stage being my fav overall). I attended only the Friday and Saturday sessions with my 14 year old daughter, my wife took her to the mud fest on Sunday. I missed two bands on Sunday that I really wanted to see (Lissie and Explosions in the Sky, both were amazing I've been told) but we couldn't afford another wristband so we split up the chaperone duties.
I wanted to give an unbiased take on the bassists, their rigs and overall sound quality. What I experienced was very interesting in that on TB and elsewhere we all talk about our GAS for more gear, 5 strings, 6 strings, techniques (slapping vs fingerstyle. It was all finger and pick from what I saw, not a slap in sight), etc. What I saw were very basic instruments and rigs giving out amazing sound that cut through the mix and held their own without distracting from the overall song(s). Here is a run down of the first two days. These are the bands that I personally saw and by no means even comes close to the total number of performers there.
Friday:
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals: Cat Popper playing a '62 P Bass reissue. Ampeg rig. Great rock, blues tone, perfect mix dynamic songs and show. One of my overall favs of the festival.
Two Door Cinema Club: Never heard them before the fest, my daughter assured me that they would be great and they were. Bass player used two jazz basses w/maple boards through either two Ampeg combos or two Ampeg "cube shape" cabinets with a GK head. He obviously had round wounds on both basses, great sound, growly and and clean.
Coldplay (first half of set): Perfect mix, great bass sound. Guy Berryman's fiesta red P Bass sounded fantastic. Sounded clean to me but in a pic on the Lolla website it showed his extensive pedal board. Great show except for several fights near us by some WAY drunk folks.
Muse (second half of set): We wanted to see them and Coldplay so we wandered down to the other main stage and caught the second half of the Muse show. Awesome live show, light show, sound, etc. Chris Wolstenholme used two neck through basses and a Ric for the encore. One of the neck throughs had cool blue LED fret lights on it. Not a Fender in sight. His tone sounded surprisingly clean (I mean not with his usual effects driven sound). Overall great sound and mix. Matt threw one of his custom guitars through the bass drum head on the last song!
Saw several DJs and keyboard based bands (Skrillex, Phantogram, Crystal Castles The Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77) without bassists too. The sound again was amazing (and loud) for all.
Saturday:
Fitz and the Tantrums: Another one of my favs. The bassist (Joseph Karnes?) played an old refinished P Bass through an Aguliar head and cabinet. The cabinet was either a 2x12 or a 4x10 and even on the main stage with that small of a rig sounded great. Amazing feel and groove. This band is one to watch.
Mayer Hawthrone and the County: P Bass in an R&B setting. Great groove.
Deftones: Bassist played a Fender Jaguar through what looked like an Orange rig. Pure, undecipherable noise. Couldn't even make out the snare drum or cymbals. My daughter loved them. She assured me that the record sounds a lot "cleaner". I couldn't wait for it to end.
Ellie Goulding: Loved the tunes and her voice. Her bassist played a Stingray 3 band through an Ampeg refrigerator. Couldn't hear one note, sounded like total mud. He only played bass on half of the songs and doubled on keyboards. The other tunes he doubled on a Les Paul and a Telecaster. Lots of loops, etc with backing vocals. Great sound overall except for the bass.
Lykke Li: Couldn't see too well but it looked like a sunburst Fender jazz being played in her band. Crystal clear renditions of her songs. Very enjoyable.
Eminem: A 5 string jazz bass kind of thing with a black blocked maple board. Not Fender, Sadowsky, etc. Some sort of logo I didn't recognize. A lot of doubling of the keyboard bass lines. Deep, knock you in the chest kind of sound. Clear in the overall mix. I wasn't an Eminem fan but after this show my head is completely in a different place. 60,000 people grooving to what has to be the most entertaining concert I've ever seen. Special guests included Bruno Mars and Skylar Grey. The highlight of the festival IMO. | 
