Evil is back…

As the angels of the High Heavens and the demons of the Burning Hells once again resume the Eternal Conflict with the long awaited release of “Diablo III.”

With development beginning in 2001 after the release of “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction,” fans of the franchise have waited almost 12 long years for the release of the third installment of the Diablo universe. Announced in 2008, and after four years of releases pushed back and continued testing and development, May 15 saw the game release with mass celebration and record breaking sales.

The Lord of Terror returns to sanctuary
The story of Diablo extends beyond what the games portray, as the High Heavens have been locked in an eternal struggle with the demons of the Burning Hells. After the creation of the mortal world, called Sanctuary, by renegade angels and demons, man rose to prominence over time, suffering through countless tests brought forth by both sides of the great Conflict.

The Prime Evils of Hell, Diablo and his brothers, Mephisto and Baal, were exiled by the Lesser Evils sometime long before “Diablo I.” A group of mortal men called the Horadrim, with aide from the Archangel Tyreal, trapped the three brothers in what are called Soulstones and guarded them for hundreds of years.

In the first game, Diablo has corrupted the town of Tristram and twisted its king to his will after trying to unsuccessfully possess him. Diablo does gain control over the king’s son and begins unleashing his terror upon the town and the countryside. A band of heroes arrive to rid the land of Diablo’s touch.

A warrior, now known to be named Aidan, destroyed Diablo. In an attempt to contain the Prime Evil’s spirit, Aidan plunged Terror’s Soulstone into his own head.

From here, “Diablo II” begins. Diablo overpowers Aidan’s soul and uses him as a vessel to travel the land of Sanctuary to free his two brothers in the East. A new group of heroes are hot on Diablo’s trail. While the Prime Evils are all freed and reunited, it is short lived, as all three are defeated by the heroes and have their Soulstones destroyed. Lord of Destruction, the expansion to Diablo II, saw Baal, last of the Prime Evils, be defeated after corrupting the ancient Worldstone. Tyreal continues to destroy the ancient wonder, not knowing the repercussions of his actions.

Diablo III begins 20 years after this event. The last Lords of Hell look to tip the scales of the Eternal Conflict. In doing so, Diablo returns and new heroes are out for the Lord of Terror. Many characters spanning all previous games make appearances and play major roles in the climatic third installment of the Diablo franchise.

New Features and Gameplay in ‘Diablo III’

After an excruciatingly long wait, “Diablo III” has finally arrived to give loot fiends their fix and generate an epidemic of “sick” days. With the coming of this much heralded game, comes an equally impressive number of questions to be answered. Does the game feel like Diablo? Has Blizzard managed to keep the spark of previous titles alive in this new installment? What new features have been included?
Rest assured, the game does feel like an old friend. Memories of old adventures in the previous games will come flooding back in a wave of nostalgia. From the characters, the haunting score and the twisted locales, “Diablo III” crafts an all too familiar atmosphere that millions have grown to love.

There was, however, a healthy amount of concern about the direction of the artstyle. Compared to its predecessors, “Diablo III” appeared much more cartoonish and in line with the visual style of “World of Warcraft.” While it may be too colorful at times for some, the overall look fits well enough and offers surprising diversity. Those eager for violence and brutality need not worry.

Character progression has undergone a multitude of changes as well as a significant streamlining. Traversing the blood-soaked road to level 60 will net the player a variety of skills and runes, but the choice of what is acquired when is gone. Even the stats of the player are automatically allocated upon eac

h level up.

Thankfully, the element of customization is still alive in the form of “Diablo III’s” revised skillbar. The player will collect many skills over the course of the game, but only six can be slotted into the skillbar for use in battle. Equipped skills can be changed any time the player is out of combat. By default, the skills able to be equipped to each slot are limited by their type, but this limitation can be removed in the options menu for full character build freedom.

To compound the customization options, Blizzard introduced the new rune system. Runes are no longer loot to be picked up, but skill mutators awarded at specific levels. Each skill has five rune-enhanced versions to experiment with. An ability that started out as a simple area of effect heal might be altered to include a burst of holy damage or an attack buff.

Fans of gear augmentation will not be disappointed either. The cast of support characters is as strong as ever. Players will have access to both a Jeweler and a Blacksmith with their own stories to tell. Gold can be invested into their shops to improve their functionality and item selection.

Hirelings also make a return as prominent sub-characters. Their skills and gear are selected by the player and they make a worthy companion to keep a solo company.

The campaign isn’t exceedingly long, it can be completed in a day or two and randomized sidequests offer incentive to revisit completed areas, but any fan of Diablo worth their salt knows that it’s all about multiple playthroughs and conquering the progressively challenging difficulty modes for impressive loot and bragging rights.

For those who enjoy bragging, “Diablo III” sports a very long list of achievements to quest after. Many of these achievements unlock customization options for the player’s banner, a purely cosmetic item that sits in town. Clicking a banner teleports the player directly to the banner’s owner. The game does require an Internet connection, even for those looking to play by themselves.

Another major feature coming to the game is that of Player-vs-Player, or PvP. Not available upon release, Blizzard has stated that PvP areas will be available for players after they are satisfied with the system. This PvP functionality should be available after the first or second patches.

This third installment introduces two auction houses into the game, supplementing player trading. One of these is a gold auction house, where players can list items for sale and receive in-game gold for the item. The second is the real-money auction house, where players can list items and sell them to others for real currency.

This idea stems from an issue in “Diablo II,” where players and businesses would sell weapons, items and full accounts for real-world currency. Blizzard added this option to stem those who may take advantage of the system. Players participating in the real-money auction house can sell items for up to $250; money that will be added to a secure PayPal account. For each item sold, Blizzard collects $1. When players decide to cash out, Blizzard will take 15 percent of what is earned as a sales-tax of sorts.

This real-money auction house will not go live for another week, but players will be able to make a partial living off the system.
Diablo III may not revolutionize the gaming world, but it’s a solid hack and slash packed full of eye candy and late night adventures with friends; a worthy addition to the series.

Records broken and servers crashed
On May 10, it was announced that “Diablo III” became the most pre-ordered PC game ever on Amazon.com, beating out previous title holders, as well as other Blizzard titles, “StarCraft II” and “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.” Blizzard also announced that the new installment has become their most preordered game in history.  The total number of preorders is estimated to be more than two million.
In addition, over 8,000 launch events took place in celebration of the release. Blizzard Entertainment held a massive release party that streamed live over the Internet.

Fans have waited patiently for 12 years for the release of “Diablo III.” Servers went live at 3am EST on May 15. These fans may not have been patient enough to wait to play, as servers crashed due to heavy workloads. Players received the now infamous “Error 37” message, stating that servers are down and that the player should try logging on at another time.

Blizzard has had a history of underestimating server loads upon launch, but worked quickly to correct the error. Many players took to the Internet to stress their frustrations with the game and publisher. In retaliation, buyers of the game went on sites such as Metacritic and gave “Diablo III” a 0/10 rating.

Despite the launch day issues, “Diablo III” has been highly acclaimed due to its compelling stories, battle and game systems and its innovations to the franchise. With beautiful cinematics that continue to drive the story and multiplayer accessibility, the Diablo universe is as alive and thriving as it was 12 years ago.

The era actually began just over a decade ago when Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” (2000) and Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” (2002) flung from the decaying and confusing corpse of the retro Superman and Batman films.

These films, and the many others that followed suit, arose from that corpse bringing to life a tried and weary genre that was a step ahead of technology. The original animated superhero cinema has been outstanding, however, having created such giants as “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Superman: The Animated Series” among many others.

For those raised in the 90’s and having watched special effects in movies gradually increase throughout the years, it was and is hard to watch the old Superman live action movies and take it serious. No disrespect intended to Christopher Reeve and all of those who made those movies possible. The Batman series from the 90’s, however, is not comparable in anyway. No respect for them.

Thank you Christopher Nolan, for allowing us to forget the 90’s batman.

Thus, for superhero fans (especially the CGI and iPhone generation), the arrival of the 2000’s and the ‘golden age’ couldn’t have come soon enough.

The latest flick from Marvel, “The Avengers,” has confirmed the golden age is as strong and ambitious as it ever has been. It is a culmination of five major Marvel films and a thrilling climatic milestone for both Marvel and all superhero series, having captured and unified six incredibly diverse characters in one coherent movie.

Despite beginning with a rather cliché evil alien who-is-devising-an-evil-plot intro, the film immediately rockets out of the scene and never returns to cliché characters or lazy screenwriting.

It is immediately brought to the audience’s attention that something more sinister is brewing. Scientists at a remote research facility have lost control of an energy source called ‘the Tesseract,’ who’s power and abilities are unknown. In the ensuing confusion, the Tesseract creates a portal to another dimension which brings over none other than Loki, the outcast son of Odin, ruler of Asgard, and a fountain of rambunctious aliens.

Loki’s arrival causes immediate chaos that gets worse when he escapes with the Tessaract. This leads Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (a high-tech government organization), to assemble a band of painfully diverse superheroes.

Called “The Avengers Initiative,” the plan was previously canned because of the heroes themselves. There is a martial arts virtuoso who carries a bleeding backpack of guilt (Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow); a master archer who struggles with his place in his job (Clint Barton/Hawkeye); a throwback, classy WW2 hero who is dazzled by the modern world he now lives in (Steve Rogers/Captain America); a self-described narcissist, genius and ladies’ man who has the emotions of a child (Tony Stark/Iron Man); a proud and stubborn god of an alien world who strikes first then speaks (Thor), and finally, an intensely intelligent scientist who suffers from an inner monster who craves to escape when touched off by anger (Bruce Banner/The Hulk).

Yea, I wouldn’t want to tell these guys (and girl) to keep their hands and feet to themselves, either.

But, as Nick Fury said, war has started, “and (the earth and humanity) are hopelessly outgunned.” They must come together.

Director and screenwriter Joss Whedon, previously famous for “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” masterfully portrayed the desperation of Nick Fury and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. as they scramble to locate the superheroes and convince them to give the Avengers idea a chance. This is no easy task, and it is powerfully portrayed through verbal, emotional, psychological and most enjoyably physical confrontations. Ever wondered what happens when Thor’s hammer slams into Captain America’s shield or the panic that ensues when Bruce Banner feels too much pressure from the rest of the gang whilst on a ship (that is flying)?

The first half of the movie focused on the electrifying clashes such as these between the superheroes. However, the viewer is fed with plentiful doses of action from every angle.  Essentially, “The Avengers” is a movie of two wars: the civil war that threatens to tear the group apart and, of course, the war against earth.

“We’re not a team,” said Bruce Banner, “we are a time bomb.”

Just as much as the ‘civil war’ represents only half of the movie, the aggravating and bickering characters of the heroes are only one side of their intriguing personalities. Whedon’s writing draws out their worst and blends it in with the gravity of the situation and offers an immensely satisfying conclusion, leaving out most of those nagging clichés. No spoilers here, but let’s just say each character conquers a new mountain, all while keeping to what their fans know them as.

Loki, who was introduced in Kenneth Branagh’s “Thor” in 2011, was the ironically the glue that held flick together. His role was essential to the success of the film, as he continually brings a central conflict, from the gnawing problem of the Tesseract to the more destructive inner war he creates between the heroes.  He sets the time bomb which Dr. Banner alluded to and we see the raw jealously and revenge ooze out of the pores of his ghostly white skin as he basks in his success. With Loki, there are no forced lines or motives but a sincere desire to prove to earth and especially his archrival brother Thor, and he does so with utter cruelty.

A surprise performance on the heroes’ side was Agent Coulson, who previously played two-dimensional roles in the previous Avenger-linked films. Here he is thrust into, literally and figuratively, a three-dimensional and crucial role in both the plot and the film. His character doesn’t bask in the attention grabbing scenes that the heroes have, but his well-paced entrances and exits draws the heroes from Loki’s destructive magnet one conversation at a time. He believes—more than Nick Fury who suffers a spell or two with doubt—that the earth will be saved, because, as he courageously tells Loki, “you lack conviction.” Coulson saw what each hero was capable of becoming long before the films conclusion.

But perhaps the most impressive feat Whedon pulled off aside from the believable villain, the character development and the heart-pounding action was the character and portrayal of Bruce Banner and “the other guy,” the Hulk. Finally, amidst the disappointing cloud of the previous two portrayals of the Banner/Hulk alter-egos, the Incredible Hulk is finally incredible. He is funny. He is likable. He has a personality. In this flick, the Hulk is more than a simple brute who says “hulk smash” and freaks out about the next time he will turn green and mean.

Iron Man doesn’t disappoint, peppering the dialogue with his usual relentless witty humor. Captain America plays the role of the peacekeeper fueled by 40’s morals, and his character lives up to his name during the toughest fighting as he takes command of the battlefield. Finally, Thor’s ego still matches his swing, and his naivety of earthly things brought fresh humor to the dialogue that complimented Captain America’s delayed knowledge of modern times. Action and dialogue from the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) fills in any gaps and delightfully compliments.

The special effects were breathtaking and seamless. One could count the times a scene was obviously CGI, and everything from the Hulks eye-popping transformation to the panoramic shots of a crippled New York City (I did say there were some clichés) appeared as real as if the screen were but a mere window.

Though I am highlighting the drama and the characters in this review, do not think for a moment the film lacks explosions and high-flying action.

In the end, the golden thread was the unity, achieved by the plot, the characters and the resolved conflicts. “The Avengers” brought six heroes with six opposing personalities, five major films in the past four years and an enormous burden to succeed with 12 years of live action superhero films behind it. It transformed that burden into a satisfactory prize for the fans of each individual superhero while uniting each personality in the middle of a chaotic, explosion-filled earth; a textbook example of the marriage of action and dialogue in film.

It is quite honestly the most ambitious and meticulous portrayal of a superhero film since Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight.”

The best part is there is more to come.

The electronic scene is growing in popularity at a rapid pace. Groups are dominating the airwaves with filtered electronic beats and dancehall anthems, with the sound being embraced by singers adapting to the times.

Fortunately, Dave 1 (real name, David Macklovitch) of Chromeo doesn’t see them as part of the trend.

“To be honest, I don’t feel like we’re part of that sort of electronic music,” Dave said, “It’s very different from what we do.”

What Chromeo does, as Dave on guitars and lead vocals and P-Thugg (real name Patrick Gemayel) on synthesizers and keyboards, is create a nostalgic 80’s style electronic funk hybrid, filled with tight basslines, danceable beats, “vintage synthesizers and drum machines, and Loverboy lyrics,” producing a sonic experience that rivals the mainstream electronic being spun today.

“I think what’s going to happen is electronic music, like rock music is going to become increasingly compartmentalized. You have stuff like us which is more of the indie side of electronic music, and then you have the more mainstream side to electronic music,” Dave said, “But I wouldn’t knock any of it. We’re fortunate enough to be able to go on tour and do shows.”

Chromeo has a unique flair in being a band-based outfit but still having the pull of an electronic group, giving them free range of tours and shows to do, from the current tour with Michigan native and soul revivalist Mayer Hawthorne, to New York’s Electric Zoo festival which boasted a heavy line-up of major electronic artists like David Guetta and Skrillex.

“That’s something we’re really happy with,” Dave said. “We were the only band [at Electric Zoo] on the main stage and our music is more song-based where a lot of electronic is tracks-based, so we can only hope it makes for a listening experience that’s refreshing.”

The hilarious chemistry between Dave and P-Thugg is evident on their recordings and in their videos, which Dave assures has been organic to their relationship from the start of their musical career together, and while it’s good for them to have, the humor is more an ode to projecting honesty as an artist.

“It’s an attempt to be high-brow and low-brow at the same time. I think it goes with what you’re personality is, and what counts is being true to yourself,” Dave said. “We have this kind of humor built in to what we do and hopefully it charms people and becomes part of the whole Chromeo package.”

Their onstage antics will be experienced first-hand by Metro Detroiters Monday September 26 when Chromeo come through Detroit’s Majestic Theatre on their current tour.

“We’re focusing on making the show as tight as possible, making it the best show we’ve ever done and honoring the legacy of our friend DJ Mehdi (The France-based DJ and Chromeo collaborator had tragically passed on September 13),” Dave said. “It’s a torch to carry for all of us since we’re his friend.”

With Chromeo’s tour plan running through the rest of the year, Dave has put his work towards his Ph.D in French Literature on hold, along with one of his other passions alongside music, teaching.

“I did [teach] the last academic year,” Dave said, “I’m not going to this year because the schedule is just a little bit too intense, so it’s better for me just to focus on this.”

Surely fans will be receptive towards the energies being focused when Chromeo perform Monday night when the duo play through a their funk-filled set and get the adoring crowd dancing without reserve on the floor.

While the struggle of going through cancer treatment may send many off the deep end, Andrew McMahon of Something Corporate and Jack’s Mannequin used his experiences to shape his musical and personal life.

Growing up, McMahon explained that he hung around his older brothers friends, who were always bringing home music from artists like Fleetwood Mac, Billie Joel, Elton John, among many others.

“I was like a sponge at an early age,” McMahon said, when regards to music he was exposed to by family friends.

From 1998 to their hiatus in 2005, McMahon played fronted the widely popular band Something Corporate and had released three studio albums, along with two extended plays.

Even though McMahon regularly expresses no negativity towards members of Something Corporate, he was quick to say simply “no” when asked about the possibility of the release of any new material from the band.

Following the hiatus from Something Corporate, McMahon formed a side-project called Jack’s Mannequin and their first record called “Everything in Transit”, which was a departure lyrically from “North”, Something Corporate’s final release.

“To me, I always perceive ‘North’ as pretty somber record, I always perceive (‘Everything in Transit’) to some extent, to be the polar opposite of (‘North’),” he said. “I felt where I was standing, my desire to create (Everything in Transit) was a knee jerk reaction to try to do something more fun.”

Three months before the debut release of Jack’s Mannequin, McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer of the white blood cells, after being examined for what was thought to be laryngitis, on June 1, 2005.

Over the course of a few months, McMahon received many types of treatment and updated a blog to keep fans informed of his progress and the status of his condition.

The motivation to present his new endeavor to the masses became one of the driving factors to push him through both treatment and recovery.

“(Getting out to) support this first record, which to me was up to that point, the best thing I’ve ever created and it was something I really wanted people to hear,” he said. “I became incredibly motivated to get well and get well fast and take it on the road and share it with people.”

On August 23, 2005, “Everything in Transit” was released via Maverick Records. That same day, he received a stem cell transplant with his sister Katie McMahon serving as the donor.

McMahon said it was hard to keep music in his mind, while dealing with cancer.

“When you encounter something like (cancer), the last thing you’re thinking about is business,” he said. “I think my real drive was to live my life, and more than anything, I wanted to stay with my family and friends and not die at 22-years-old.”

A common theme throughout songs like “Dark Blue” and “Swim” McMahon draws and is influenced by the idea of swimming. Not in the sense of the activity, but as an act of survival.

“I’ve always looked at idea of swimming as a survival tool, in some of the moments where I needed help to keep my head above.”

That positive outlook expressed in McMahon’s lyrics carried through both “Everything In Transit”, and his sophomore release “The Glass Passenger”, but his upcoming album, “People and Things”which slated for release on Oct. 4, takes his music in a different direction.

“In a lot of ways, (‘People and Things’ is) the most humble, focused and simple record.” He said. “The whole goal was to get a batch of great songs and not to over think the production.”

While previous albums have underlying theme of hope, the album’s lyrics are more direct, with according to McMahon, a “tell-it- like it is” concept.

“(‘People and Things’) certainly is not a depressing record, but its a little darker with its language unlike the other record.”

Outside of his musical endeavors, McMahon launched the Dear Jack foundation in July 2006, a totally volunteer driven non-profit charity, with an aim to raise funds for cancer research, which has seen a dramatic growth over the years.

Recently, the Dear Jack Foundation has become a proper non-profit organization, instead of existing within a parent organization, which is bringing advantages in the creation of new activities.

“We are looking in our communities to align ourselves with other different organizations that are doing great things to help young adults who are suffering from cancer and fund good research that will impact the young-adult age bracket that has seen little no increase in their survival rates in the past 30 years.”

During his show at the Filmore Detroit on August 30, and in interviews, McMahon repeatedly expressed his affection for performing in Detroit.

“One of my favorite gigs I’ve ever played was the 2002 Warped Tour in Detroit,” he said. “I certainly always look forwards to playing in Detroit.”

With an overwhelming resume consisting of both a growing discography that has tones that masses can relate to, and a bright future for the Dear Jack Foundation, his experiences make lyrics like “Just find the horizon. I promise you it’s not as far as you think” in “The Glass Passenger” are even more believable.

Latest tracks by Orange Marsupials

Truth be told, I rarely write about local bands.

I find it hard to be honest as a journalist and deal out objective criticism because some bands take it as me bashing their music.

So, for the sake of artists still trying to make a name in our city, I just avoid it all together.

I’m making an exception this time around.

A couple months ago, staff reporter Brian Figurski, asked me to check out this band that was performing at the Crofoot Ballroom in Pontiac. I’ve heard of the Orange Marsupials before, but I’ve never really given them a dedicated listen.

I was delightfully surprised at what I heard and saw.

This band is different. Throughout their show, I kept repeating the same thing in my head.

“So. Much. Potential.”

From exceptional bass and guitar work of Nick Press and Justin “Saz” Salazar, to the vocals of Lisa Vitale, the Orange Marsupials had continuous flashes of brilliance.

Their technically sound drummer, Kevin Klopocinski deserves praise. He keeps up with the momentum set by the rest of the band with ease and creates the bedrock for the mood of each song.

From the first song, it is undeniable that Lisa is a gifted singer and her extensive range is obvious with songs like “Inescapable”. Think Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley with more of a soul background.

Midway through the set, the soulful toned Lisa, turned a corner and tore through a cover of the Dr. Dre and Eminem hit “Forgot About Dre,” but with a more funk styling. It was a nice change of pace and not what I expected.

More importantly, the chemistry of the members of the Orange Marsupials on stage makes their passion for music genuine in nature.

While the Orange Marsupials do have a solid foundation, they have obvious room to grow musically.

A common gripe with most bands is that they just fill sound. Some tracks have too much reverb, effects, etc, which are used to mask flaws or limitations in musicians in the band.

I’m a firm believer that simple is better when it comes to composition and arrangement in production and tracks. It’s much more difficult to be clever with minimal sound but it is worth the time and energy.

Not saying that the Orange Marsupials are guilty of that, but I think a minimalistic approach, would be advantageous because it would highlight the true skill of musicians in band.

The Orange Marsupials have great ability in the right places. They have an established sound, now it’s time to refine and grow, which I believe they will.

In time, forward progress of this blossoming band is inevitable — they have too much potential to not take a step back.

- The “MusicGuy” Kevin Romanchik is the Scene section editor at the Oakland Post.
- You can follow him on twitter, @kevin_ro

The last day of Lollapalooza was looming in the distance Sunday morning. I wasn’t glad to see it end, but three days of scorching sunlight was getting to me.

Opening on the main stage was The Joy Formidable, bringing their sonic assault to the masses early to start with a bang. After tearing though 45 minutes of their noisiest material, lead vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan smashed her guitar into a gong while the other members finished out their single ‘Whirring’, leaving a large impression on the eager crowd.

Indie band Noah and the Whale were up after The Joy Formidable with a rather calming set compared to their metal-enhanced predecessors. With violinist Tom Hobden center stage, the crowd swayed in the heat to the mellow jams and deep vocals provided by Charlie Fink.

On the opposing smaller stage was City & Colour, Dallas Green of Alexisonfire fames mellow project. Interspersed in the fantastic set of mainly new material, he entertained the crowd with his hilarious commentary, such as, “I don’t know how to thank you guys, so I’m not going to. But know that I mean it.”

Traversing Grant Park, we set out to the second main stage to briefly watch The Cars, who ran through their classic material like the year was still 1980, playing classics like ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ and ‘Good Times Roll.’

Portugal. The Man was slated to start at 5 PM, so we arrived early to the Sony Stage to get a close spot up front for what was bound to be a great set from the Alaskan band. Playing a hefty amount of old material, the crowd jammed along regardless of knowing the songs or otherwise.

Within a half hour, the skies had turned from blue to a deep gray. As Portugal. The Man closed out their set with ‘People Say’ and seamlessly transitioning into a cover of Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger,’ the sky spilt hard cold rain over the park.

We ran for cover near the media tent, one of the many perks of our wristbands while the rest of the festival attendees ran in the flooded streets.

The rain cleared within a half-hour, bringing the show back into action. Arctic Monkeys teared through their set due to their late start, giving fans a fast pace to stomp about in the muddy field. The band even created a mosh pit, the first one we witnessed over Lollapalooza.

While we waited impatiently for mega house DJ Deadmau5 to close out the show, the rain reared its ugly head again. Kevin and I took refuge in the glamorous port-a-johns while waiting for the rain to pass, but after we heard the opening chords of Deadmau5 starting regardless of the downpour, we knew we had a job to do.

I ripped my shirt off and kicked open the stall door and ran through the streets to the main stage, fist-pumping the entire way while stomping through lakes of mud. We emerged to a massive crowd of fans raving to the thunderous boom of bass provided by Deadmau5, equipped in his glowing mouse helmet with a devilish grin, guaranteed Joel Zimmerman behind the mask was doing the exact same.

The event was a massive success, and the hoards of raging fans walking through the Chicago streets drenched in mud are sure to feel the same. For Kevin and I, Lollapalooza was an amazing three day spectacle we are both grateful to have gone through.

To check out photos from Lollapalooza, click here

I awoke on a rainy Saturday morning to a hearty breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs and fresh zucchini pie patties provided by our hosts for the weekend – my cousin and her fiancée. Having gotten a terrible sunburn the day before, the meal definitely started me off on a much better foot then when I first arose from my slumber.

We left around 11:30 and took the blue-line subway towards Grant Park.

Once we got there, Brian and I started trying different foods from the Chow Town section of the festival grounds and doing interviews for the food article, available here.

From watermelon-jalapeño popsicles to gourmet burgers, Lollapalooza had much more to offer then just the usual concert junk food.

After we were done sampling some of Lollapalooza’s finest culinary offerings, we saw the Australian indie-rock duo An Horse perform to kick off the day. I’d heard of the band before, but never actually listened to their material.

Unfortunately, we only saw the last part of the show, but it was pretty good. Kate Cooper, lead singer of the band, has good pipes and can really shred.

With Brian wanting to see Friendly Fires perform on the Bud Light stage, I went to the Music Unlimited stage over on the opposite side of the festival grounds to watch the indie-soul band Fitz and the Tantrums.

Overall, Fitz and the Tantrums had, in my opinion, one of the best performances all festival. With soul interpretations of Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams” and the Raconteurs  “Steady As She Goes,” the five-piece band from Los Angeles really rocked the crowd with their retro sound that has a modern pop feel.

It’s refreshing and different to hear a band that doesn’t have  a guitarist in their band but does has a horn section. It adds a different dimension to their music that isn’t too common in this day and age.

After the Fitz show, Brian and I met back up in the media tent to conduct an interview with Zach and Ryan of Portugal the Man and then went to check out former Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump.

We only needed to hear two songs before realizing that his new solo act was nothing special, and decided to instead get a good spot for Cee Lo Green on the main stage.

Donning a black dress and shoulder pads covered in spikes, Cee Lo and his band of bondage- and goth-clad outfits tore through a set featuring Gnarls Barkley hits as well as songs from his solo releases like “Smiley Faces” and “Crazy”.

Ending with the popular “Fuck You,” Cee Lo’s onstage antics and presentation made him one of more entertaining and interesting acts of the weekend.

One of the general problems with a mainstream festival like this is that you have to make difficult decisions of who to see, because the times for a lot of acts often clashed with each other

A prime example of this was the conflict that closed out day two of the festival – My Morning Jacket, Beirut and Eminem all played at the same time. With his always-limited tour schedule, Brian and I decided that Eminem was the best choice.

Opening with “Won’t Back Down,” Detroit’s hometown act maximized his set list to include a fair majority of his extensive catalogue by playing only half of songs.

With guests like Bruno Mars, Skylar Grey and the other half of Bad Meets Evil, Royce Da 5’9”, Eminem brought the energy to one of the largest crowds all weekend.

Although Saturday was considered by some to be the weak link of the festival, acts like Fitz and the Tantrums, Cee Lo Green, and Eminem truly made it memorable.

To check out photos from Lollapalooza, click here

The first thing one thinks of when Lollapalooza is mentioned is an eclectic collection of musicians, spanning a vast sea of genres and eras.

You have your headliners drawing in the mass of the raving fanatics and catching some of the smaller, less exposed acts along the way and seeing what the world has to offer.

This is no different than Lollapalooza’s Chow Town, split in two strips of tents showing the people of the day what the fine city of Chicago has to offer.

From the gourmet gouges of meat to ripe vegan dishes, and oriental-inspired antiquities clashing right next to a deep-dish Chicago trademark, this year’s line-up for food is as epic as the music.

“[There is an] ethos and philosophy of food and music as a symbiotic relationship and a way to express yourself,” Graham Elliot Bowles, Culinary Director of Lollapalooza, said at a press conference early Friday morning.

The strips are sectioned off on two extremities of the park, the north side and the south side, also reflecting where the main hub of the restaurant sits geographically in the bigger picture of the city itself. While the South side generally had more foot traffic, with one-hundred thousand people traversing the grounds becoming famished, every server was bound to become profitable.

Rarely does one consider a hot dog to be a five-star meal, but over at the Franks ‘N’ Dawgs stand, owner Alexander Brunacci takes the American classic to a new level.

The restaurant has been heralded by Chicago writers as some of the best food Lollapalooza has to offer, with its unique breakfast dog drenched in maple syrup, smoked bacon and fried eggs, to southern guacamole and salsa smothered dish.

“The poorer the country I visited, the better quality the street food, so the concept was to recreate a fine dining meal on top of a bun,” Brunacci said.

A hot commodity in high demand at the festival this year is Kuma’s Corner, creating fresh burgers aptly titled after metal bands.

“The names usually coincide with something related to the band,” Sous Chef Luke Tobais said. “The Gates of Slumber is a basic burger, and they’re a classic doom band, and the Neurosis burger is a heavy burger, and Neurosis is an extremely heavy band.”

By late afternoon when the crowds are at their hungriest, the line for Kuma’s stretches and curves with the sweaty bodies of the meat-craving maniacs in attendance.

“These people are ravenous. We keep up the best we can,” Tobias said. “Hopefully they understand they’re getting a fresh burger and it’s worth the wait.”

One booth drawing in hoards with its organic vegetarian strategy was the Chicagolocal.org, a trio of green restaurants (Blue 13, Elate and Jam) that offer dishes for the green folks in the crowd today.

“We’ve been getting a lot of people loving the all-vegetarian,” Chris Curren, executive chef of Blue 13 and Elate, said, “Two of our dishes can be done vegan, and we’re getting a great reception.”

The collection has a volley of concoctions on deck for fans, including southwest inspired cactus tostada, and for dessert, the intriguingly odd watermelon jalapeno popsicle.

“We wanted to do something easy, something refreshing,” Curren said. “The flavor profiles work really well together when you have the sweet watermelon and then a little heat from the jalapeno juice.”

With keeping green, Lollapalooza also has a separate farmers market available for those looking for fresh produce to snack on in the hot sun, including blending fresh fruit together on-site for revitalizing smoothies.

“Lollapalooza asked us to be a part of this two years ago,” Peter Klein, owner of Seedling Farms in South Haven, Michigan, said. “It’s nice exposure and a lot of people who don’t know us get to.”

The food scene is as wildly diverse as the bands in Grant Park this year, sure to draw a crowd of their own. This weekend in Chicago, the restaurants feel like rock stars on their own stage.

Photos by Kevin Romanchik, Scene Editor.

After we settled on the meat-in-dough item called a “bao” we headed over to see Two Door Cinema Club.

At this time of the day, the physical toll caused by the heat had affected everyone but we continued to trek through and make our way over to the Sony stage to enjoy Two Door Cinema Club.

Or so I thought I’d enjoy it.

Maybe it was my position in relation to the stage and speakers, but I was very disappointed with their performance.

I enjoyed their first record, and it was repeat for some time but the live performance didn’t stack up.

The sound seemed empty and the depth of that album had been non-existent on stage.

With temperature and hippie numbers still rising, we cut across the field to the Music Unlimited stage to check out A Perfect Circle.

I’m a casual fan of the band, and I’ve never had the chance to see either A Perfect Circle or Tool, so I was pretty excited.

Just as we got to area as band was beginning their set with cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” and if you haven’t heard it before, imagine if John Lennon had dabbled in metal and hard rock when he quit the Beatles.

We found a spot where we could lay on the grass and still see both the stage and the screen to the left of the stage.

Maynard Keenan, lead vocalist for both A Perfect Circle and Tool, is talented but creepy in his stage demeanor, but it’s all good.

Unfortunately because of the physical exhaustion, I had fallen asleep towards the end of the set for about two minutes but abruptly woke up to them beginning to play a favorite of mine, “The Outsider.”

Although A Perfect Circle isn’t the first band that I’d think that would play at this year’s festival, especially because dance-oriented bands dominate it, that’s the beauty of Lollapalooza. Collective differences in style and music that just seem to fit and make sense.

We left during their last song to trek to the main stage all the way on the opposite side of the festival grounds for Coldplay.

It takes some real endurance to be able to walk from one main stage to the other because it seems like miles separate them, and at this point in the day, we could see the finish line.

I saw Coldplay at DTE Energy Theatre a few years back and was blown away, even though I went into this festival wanting to see new bands, I couldn’t miss it

As to be expected, the crowd grew larger and larger and went as far back as the entrance to the main field and we were somewhere in the middle.

People started to grow anxious and were fighting to get as close as possible, and I kept thinking a specific thought, people are starting to get threatening for the most non-threatening band at this festival.

Finally the clock hit 8:30, and the band from overseas hit the stage and opening with 2 new tracks from their upcoming record, “MX (intro)” and “Hurts Like Heaven”

Coldplay’s striking visuals and fireworks really picked the crowd up and put them in a positive place after a hot day.

The band tore through their hour and half set, playing a great mix of new songs and old.

Coldplay’s positive energy throughout the show, especially with the last two songs, “Fix You” and “Every Tear Drop is a Waterfall,” was a really was fantastic way to end the first day of the festival.

The video of their entire performance can been seen here. Coldplay starts at the 11 minute mark.

Check out part one of this blog here.

Entering Chicago for the first time in my life, and being relatively constricted to suburbia for majority of my time on Earth, the view of the skyline looming in the background of I-94 was overwhelming. I was awestruck and under-prepared with the bustle of the city. Hell, a Hispanic man nearly ran me into the concrete median on the freeway while I was staring like a wide-eyed child.

Opening day of Lollapalooza in the historic Grant Park was even more of a breath taking and exhausting spectacle.

The day started early with a press conference led by festival founder and Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Ferrell, commemorating the 20th anniversary of the festival, followed by a handful of supporting speakers commenting on the shows enhancements over the years.

There was still plenty of time to kill before the bands flooded the eight stages scattered on the park grounds, so Kevin Romanchik and I decided to take a stroll from one end to the other to get a lay of the land, approximately a mile hike.

We did this several times over the next fourteen hours.

The sun was already burning greater than the muscles in my inner thighs by high noon when British newcomers The Vaccines took the Music Unlimited Stage, one of two larger showcases. Immediately realizing their music did not translate well to a live setting, we shuffled across the park to catch Young the Giant on the Bud Light Stage, the other main stage on the complete  opposite side of the field.

Instant gratification came when Young the Giant entered into their youthful catalog. The bands tunes were executed with perfection, and the songs I was unfamiliar with had me tapping my feet and clapping my hands like the already-topless Jersey Shore look-alikes flocked in front of me.

I think after this I blacked out walking down the street for a 45-minute period while watching the Naked and Famous. While I was looking forward to seeing the New Zealand bands dark electro-rock performance. I have no shame in admitting I spent a high portion of the day shuffling my feet like a zombie, running into any of the roughly 100 thousand goons like myself in attendance.

Ill prepared, the 3 p.m. set by Foster the People got me back on my feet. Performing their album ‘Torches’ on shuffle, their high-energy, danceable set had a sea of fans fist-pumping and singing along about their pumped up kicks.

After the heart-pumping show, I passed out face first in the grass somewhere and heard White Lies in the background moaning about death, love, and the death of love. White Lies is a band I do like, but not one that I love, and certainly not one beyond me ripping on their unoriginality and sometimes agonizing lyrics of typical heartbreak and post-relationship tears.

By 5 p.m., the sun was still kicking our asses and we needed to get some real food in us, not just the organic vegan granola and almond bars in the media lounge. We wanted to get a giant, grease-drenched gourmet burger to represent the entire city of Chicago out on the strip mall of food tents.

That line was way too long, so we settled on a bao.

What the expletive is a bao? I still don’t know, and I ate two of them. Imagine if you squeezed a stress ball until it exploded spicy beef stroganoff by way of Laos.