Another mad dash back to the second stage and 30 Seconds to Mars was already on stage. 30 Seconds to Mars is a band who’s main members are drummer Shannon Leto and guitarist (that’s right the one you’re thinking of) Jared Leto. 30 Seconds sound like a cross between Monster Magnet and the super heavy Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad. Jared Leto’s vocals howled over grinding heavy rock but then also ambient progressive textures with surprising precision. The band is a tad more ambitious than the garden variety heavy band making the airwaves today and judging by the near total saturation of promo posters and banners of the band’s logo all around the Irvine Amphitheater expect to see them make waves in the next year or two.
No time to waste I darted back towards the main stage and just in time as Jurassic 5 had begun. Every Lollapalooza has at least one rap act going back as far as the first and the slot has seen acts such as Ice Cube, The Beastie Boys and Arrested Development. All tough acts to follow but Jurassic 5 did not disappoint. J5 is a group consisting of 4 MC’s (Chali 2na, Marc 7even, Akil, Zaakir) and 2 DJ’s (Nu-Mark and Cut Chemist). The MC’s display a confident yet playful demeanor as the DJ’s tear up the turntables. A refreshing change of pace from most mainstream hip-hop where the rappers never appear to enjoy what they do. J5 did much to interact with the audience, at one point the MC’s instructed the audience to stand up because it was “exercise time” as the DJ’s spun an old fifties record stating to open and close your hands to the beat. About half way through the set 4 MC’s left the stage telling us to get ready for “the Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark show” which was an amazing interlude that highlighted the 2 DJ’s using a plethora of experimental electronic devices including sequencers, old school samplers, a sideways turntable and even a real drum kit at one point. The rest of the band then came back to finish out the set. For their finale the MC’s brought out Zube Tube’s. That’s right Zube Tube’s, the long hollow tubes that you spin around in circles and it sounds like a fast wind tunnel. The DJ’s cut up a storm while the rappers furiously spun the Zube Tube’s around the head. It not only looked awesome but it sounded really cool.
Back at the second stage I just managed to catch the end of The Music’s set which can (from what little I heard) best be described as a slightly jammier British version of Jane’s Addiction. Sort of an upbeat funky rock with some psychedelic spacey moments. I helped myself to some free Sprite Remix and then zipped pass a tremendous line at the FYE tent where the Donnas were signing autographs.
I returned to the main stage just as A Perfect Circle began introducing themselves. For those of you keeping score the line up for A Perfect Circle is now Maynard James Keenan of Tool on vocals, founding member Billy Howerdel on guitar, the ubiquitous Josh Freese on drums and since Paz Lenchantin has left for Zwan and Troy Van Leeuwen has left for Queens of the Stone Age, the band has now been joined by Twiggy “Marilyn Manson” Ramirez (now known as Geordie White) on bass and last but certainly not least James “Smashing Pumpkin” Iha on guitar. Howerdel announced Geordie as being “fresh from the bad decision department”. When he introduced Maynard predictably the crowd went nuts. A Perfect Circle utilizes the same anti-rock star stage persona, not playing to the crowd and hulking with sheer perfect accuracy through tracks from the first album such as the hit “Judith” and a bunch of new songs from their upcoming second album “Thirteenth Step”.
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