Lollapalooza 2007 - Day 2

Mother Nature cooled the weather down, but the music definitely heated up on the second day of Chicago's 3-day musical extravaganza. The dream of musical utopia by Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell continues to thrive in the shadow of Chicago's architectural splendor. Electronic dance music may have ruled the roost last night when Daft Punk closed down proceedings with an awe-inspiring, even spooky, futuristic set. However, on this day rock took center stage.

Among the highlights was the demonstration by Silverchair (upper right), all grown up, of why they are Australia's bestselling rock band ever. The sound was big, loud, confident, and singer Daniel Johns even seemed to channel Queen's Freddie Mercury on occasion. Later in the day the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O (left) took the stage with expected theatricality before displaying her earth-rattling voice while the band added some of the heaviest punk-tinged rock sounds of the day.

At one point in late afternoon it was possible to walk from one end of the festival grounds to another beginning with the speed-fueled punk pop of Motion City Soundtrack then seguing into the critically acclaimed indie rock of Cold War Kids followed by the thought-provoking hip hop of Rhymefest and ending with the instrumental dance music blender of Sound Tribe Sector 9. It was hard to imagine the day getting better musically.

It was hard to imagine it all getting better until the Roots, led by Black Thought and ?uestlove, brought their idea of an expanded hip hop band (including trombone and Sousaphone) to the stage. In a radical shift of style, but just as impressive, Regina Spektor (above right) then made her appearance singing a capella with only finger taps on the microphone as percussion. For the first time in the day, I heard members of the crowd asking others to cease talking in order to fully take in Spektor's intimate melodies. It was a magical moment in a day of truly memorable music-making. Oh...and that's not even mentioning the day closing with competing sets from American and UK rock bands at the top of their game - Interpol and Muse.

• Lollapalooza 2007 - Day 1
• Lollapalooza 2007 - Day 3

_{Photos of Silverchair, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Regina Spektor © Kristin Vogel
Photo of Lollapalooza crowd: Barry Brecheisen, © C3 Presents / Front Row Center}