I'm not gonna review every band I saw - because some were awesome, just not noteworthy - but I'll review most. First, let me give you a little information.
Friday, August 3rd, Saturday, August 4th, and Sunday, August 5th, 2007. Grant Park, Chicago, IL. Nine stages (in order of smallest to biggest): 9. KIDZ Stage (like it sounds, a stage for kiddie acts); 8. MOTO Mindfield Stage (a small comedy stage where improv was done, as well as a place for rapping battles and DJs); 7. BMI Stage (I only saw one band here); 6. Citi Stage (Briefly saw 2 bands here, missed out on seeing Against Me! and Silversun Pickups); 5. PlayStation Stage (Saw 1 band here, heard The Rapture kicked ass; also missed The Wailers); 3-b. adidas stage (located on the extreme western side of the park along with the smaller of the two main stages; briefly heard two acts here, pissed that I missed out on Yo La Tengo because they were too far away, ditto Patti Smith); 3-a. MySpace Stage (located on the extreme eastern side of the park along with the bigger of the two main stages; saw 2 bands up close here, missed out on Slightly Stoopid, Ted Leo, Spoon, !!!, and TV On The Radio); 1-b. Bud Light (smaller main stage on the West Side; saw 3 acts, missed out on The Black Keys, Ben Harper, Stephen Marley, Interpol, Iggy & The Stooges, Modest Mouse); 1-a. AT&T Stage (Main main stage, saw 7 bands here; missed out on moe., Silverchair, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah).
Quick List of who I DID see, in order:
Friday
1:00-1:45 - Improv Comedy, The Second City (MOTO Mindfield, small stage 8)
1:45-2:30 - Ate food, walked to Bud Light stage.
2:30-3:30 - The Polyphonic Spree (Bud Light, main stage 1-b)
3:30-4:30 - Electric Six (PlayStation, small stage 5)
4:30-5:30 - Walked to MySpace stage, sat up close, three rows back. Heard some of moe. in the distance playing at AT&T stage.
5:30-6:30 - Blonde Redhead (MySpace, medium stage 3-a)
6:30-7:30 - Satellite Party (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
7:30-8:30 - LCD Soundsystem (MySpace, medium stage 3-a)
8:30-10:00 - Daft Punk (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
Saturday
2:15-3:00 - Ate food, sat and heard Aqueduct in the distance at Citi Stage.
3:00-3:30 - More sitting, still near Citi Stage.
3:30-3:45 - Cold War Kids (Citi, small stage 6)
3:45-4:30 - Walked to Bud Light Stage, heard cool band on the way, STS9, stands for Sound Tribe Sector 9.
4:30-5:30 - The Roots (Bud Light, main stage 1-b)
5:30-6:00 - Regina Spektor (adidas, medium stage 3-b)
6:00-6:30 - Left early, walked to other end of the park.
6:30-7:30 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
7:30-8:30 - Pushed my way to the front row of AT&T stage, sat and waited.
8:30-10:00 - Muse (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
Sunday
1:45-2:30 - Smoosh (BMI, small stage 7)
2:30-3:15 - Amy Winehouse (Bud Light, main stage 1-b)
3:15-4:15 - Ate food, walked across to the other side of the park.
4:15-5:15 - Kings of Leon (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
5:15-6:15 - Wandered around, got more water, ice cream cone.
6:15-7:15 - My Morning Jacket (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
7:15-8:00 - Sat, waited for Pearl Jam as the crowd got bigger around me.
8:00-10:00 - Pearl Jam (AT&T, main stage 1-a)
I missed out on a lot of cool bands, sometimes because they conflicted with cooler bands, sometimes because the park was just too fucking big to walk there and see enough of the show to make it worth my while. For instance, I could've seen Yo La Tengo at 5:15 on Sunday, but that would've meant I'd either miss the end of Kings of Leon, miss the beginning of My Morning Jacket, or see about 20 minutes of their setlist because I spent the rest of the hour walking back and forth. Shit like that REALLY pissed me off, but I had to pick my battles. See the bands I want vs. seeing the most important bands in a closer position vis a vis the stage. Things like that. All in all, I'm happy with my weekend; I saw 14 full sets, a few more partial sets, and all in all had a fab time.
Now, without further ado, the reviews (to be written over the course of this week, hopefully)