While Friday was mainly a dance rock day and Saturday an all-out rock show, Sunday was a hodgepodge of international bands, eclectic bands and good, old-fashioned Seattle rock 'n' roll.

Grant Park, Chicago

So another Lollapalooza has come and gone and I must say, this year they did a bang-up job choosing bands. They still had their fair share of WTF moments—like putting Cold War Kids on a small stage, Satellite Party's high billing and Perry Farrell's yellow jumpsuit—but that's what makes this festival that much more interesting. Founder Farrell was more visible this year, introducing some of the most anticipated sets, playing with his band, and playing with the School of Rock All-Stars. His vision for the perfect rock festival is creeping slowly into fruition with each passing year.

Friday

Friday began with The Fratellis opening up the entire festival. Of course I miss it, but I think that was the only band that I really wanted to see that I missed. I ended up walking into the festival listening to the grooves of electro-rock band Ghostland Observatory. The lead singer had great vocals and it was teamed up with some great beats. I wasn't listening too intently, as I was chilling in a tent, but it made for some good background sounds. Once they finished up, I wandered over to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists to check out the last half of their set. I first saw them at Pitchfork and compared to that performance, I thought this one was a bit less showy and more business. But according to Leo, in a setting like this, you have to focus on the actual playing rather than the spectacle.

Once Leo & the Rx had finished up, I made my long trek up to the Polyphonic Spree at the north stage. I didn't get that close to the stage, as this year the sound was much better on the north side stages, so you could stand farther back and still hear. Unlike Ted Leo, the Spree turned their set into a spectacle. It wouldn't have been a Spree show without a spectacle, and it's hard not to oblige when you have that many people in your band. The Spree are very much a festival band, and they proved it by splitting up their set and then marching back to the stage by walking through the crowd with the white robes on. The highlight of their set had to have been their cover of Nirvana's "Lithium." When was the last time you heard someone incorporate a horn section, pianos and flutes to reinvigorate a Nirvana song?

After the Polyphonic Spree put on the first memorable performance of the day, I had to make my first choice. Do I go see indie darlings Silversun Pickups? Or do I take my chances with the danceable Rapture? Well, despite loads of people telling me that there was no dilemma, that the Silversun Pickups was the way to go, I took a chance and went to see The Rapture. Was it worth it, you wonder? Yes, yes, and another enthusiastic yes. I don't know how I got so close but I didn't care. They played a large selection from their newest album, Pieces of the People We Love, and some of their earlier hits off of previous albums. The entire crowd was dancing away from the first note, which was ten minutes late, to the very last song. I spotted St. Louis' own Beatle Bob getting his groove on. Even the security guards were getting into it, especially the one who was getting a booty dance from a drunken festival goer. Another highlight of the festival came from this show, as I got my first cowbell solo of the day. It was a great way to kick off the rest of the night, and from what I've heard from those who chose the other option, I definately made the right choice.

I managed to take a break in the tents and here I was treated to a Janes Addiction tribute band. My mistake, that was actually Perry Ferrell's new band Satellite Party. Here's my beef. You're the face of Lollapalooza and you've booked your band to play. You then bill them higher than some bands that deserve it, give yourself a pretty sweet stage, and give yourself an even better time slot. Don't get mad when we all rail on your band. At least they spared those planted at that stage for Daft Punk by playing a large portion of Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros hits. I'm glad he went that route instead of playing all Satellite Party songs in order to prove the deserved that slot. (For the record, they didn't.) It wasn't hideous, but it was hardly anything special.

When you have Daft Punk headlining, what band would be perfect to lead into your headliners? Whomever chose LCD Soundsystem had their thinking cap on. When I discovered this nugget of brilliance, I began to wonder if there was going to be some sort of collaboration between Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem regarding the song, "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House." Unfortunately there wasn't, but I won't hold it against them, as I got yet another cowbell solo! James Murphy came out on stage looking like a painter, clad in all white, and for not moving around much, he definitely got the crowd moving. He even complimented the crowd's dancing skills and pointed out that the guys weren't such bad dancers that all the girls managed to not run away. Murphy's charming personality allowed for his lack of mobility on stage, and it also kept it from being a one-man show. Normally I despise having girls in bands, but I didn't mind it so much this time. Nancy Whang actually wasn't distracting nor did I get the feeling they had her in the band so that more people would take notice; she actually served a purpose. And despite Murphy's constant references to the drummer, Pat Mahoney, throwing up or getting sick, he was fantastic. I think he actually wins this year's award for the shortest shorts worn by a drummer. (Last year, Jamin from Be Your Own Pet took that distinguishing award.) They plugged in songs like "North American Scum," "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House," and "All My Friends" earlier into the set—smartly, because halfway through their set, people started to wander to the main south stage to get a good spot for Daft Punk.

Daft Punk is playing at Grant Park. They hardly play the States, they bring a mean light show, they always dress as robots, and they're playing a show without supporting an album. That's all I was hearing going into this weekend. OK, so it's supposed to be a big deal. Part of the hype is what sort of put a damper on the actual performance, while some of the hype is what made the show great. I'll explain.

I've never heard Daft Punk live; the only songs I'm familiar with are the ones from when I was a sophomore in college and techno was all the rage and it was all you would hear on the radio. That was the extent of my knowledge going into this show. Now there were two types of people headed to see this show: the ones who loved Daft Punk and the ones who wanted to see what all the hoopla was about. I would fall into the latter half, although I do like the songs that I had heard previously, so I wasn't completely a gawker. (I danced!) However, I made the mistake of situating myself near a bunch of gawkers, as they later kind of killed the fun. A curtain hid the stage setup, but I had been informed that it would be the same setup as most of their shows: a large pyramid made of video screens in which the band would stand in and fiddle with their instruments and machines. Despite knowing what to expect, it was still a very impressive stage show and I highly enjoyed the fact that the duo performed dressed as robots.

Although, like many people, I'm still left wondering if they were actually doing anything up in their pyramid aside from pressing "play." I'm still not completely convinced that I actually witnessed Daft Punk. (What? I'm not the only person thinking this.) But that is the mystique that is Daft Punk, I guess. So in terms of set list, I would have said they played one hour-and-a-half-long song, but in actuality, they apparently played 23. When I say 23, I think I heard bits of "Around the World," "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," and "One More Time" more than once in the set, so you can be sure that several of those were mashups and remixes of several songs together. (And for those wondering: No, Kanye West didn't come out of the pyramid to sing along with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.") I ended up dancing most of the set and I nearly got lassoed by a glowstick-on-a-rope-wielding fan.

The sad part was that I noticed a large amount of people in my area just standing and watching, and only really reacting to the music when one of the aforementioned songs had been played. Had the gawkers seen what they wanted to see earlier on and left for Ben Harper, I think the overall enjoyment would have increased and I would proclaim it as one of the best sets of the weekend, but since they stuck around and just stood there, it ruined the atmosphere needed to really have a kick ass show from Daft Punk. Just as much as the duo relies on the machines to make the music, they rely on their fans to create the vibe, and on Friday night, it just wasn't quite there.