Chicago’s new home for Alternative Rock on the traditional airwaves, Q87.7, put together a one-day music festival that featured AWOLNATION, Sileversun Pickups, Atlas Genius, Bush and headlined by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The bands mentioned previously fronted the main stage at First Midwest Bank Amphiheatre, while bands like New Politics, Twenty|One|Pilots and Cold War Kids performed at the secondary stage. No offense to these bands (we heard Twenty|One|Pilots from the parking lot and Cold War Kids played at the same time Atlas Genius started, so we skipped that) but we prioritized downing some Modelo tallboys and then just head in by the time the main stage bands started.
We opted for “Lawn Tickets” this time around and while it’s nothing like how we prefer to see shows (it’s all about the pit), it was still a damn good show to witness. Silversun Pickups and Atlas Genius played a good set while AWOLNATION put on a performance that made them look worthy of a main stage headlining slot.
*Fair warning to you all, we only took a handful of videos and they’re not very good at that, at least not visually although the sounds came out reasonably well, so I took to YouTube to find the key performances and added some of the best footage from other users to this recap. Special thanks to you all.
Cold War Kids- “Hang Me Up to Dry”
Twenty One Pilots – “Holding on to You”
Atlas Genius – “Trojans”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
Silversun Pickups – “Lazy Eye”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
AWOLNATION – “Not Your Fault”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
AWOLNATION – “Sail”
(video: YouTube – alucard501)
1990’s superstars, Bush, played an awesome set with all the hits plus a Beatles cover. They definitely demonstrated why they were such a hit in their era and proved exactly why they are a band that’s definitely worth seeing live.
Bush – “Everything’s Zen”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
Bush – “Come Together” (The Beatles Cover)
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
Bush – Glycerine
http://youtu.be/4pKDF0gBngw
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed an excellent set filled with songs from their entire catalog, starting with the first single from their latest album, “Sacrilege.” Other Mosquito tracks performed at PIQNIQ included the title song, “Wedding Song” and “Despair.” “Maps” was received as great as it deserved, while the set closer, “Heads Will Roll,” really was a spectacle to see as the disco-ish beat had the crowd jumping around, dancing and grooving. Karen O is a rock star in every sense of the term and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs gave the attending fans a show that’ll surely not be forgotten for a long time.
“Sacrilege”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
“Pin/Despair”
http://youtu.be/wIEdPkSwOLI
“Maps”
(video: YouTube – April Atayde)
“Heads Will Roll”
http://youtu.be/wIEdPkSwOLI
(video: YouTube – alucard501)
