So it is 1 A.M. Friday night (Saturday Morning? I never know) and whereas most people are thinking, “Hey so uh sleeeep.” I was thinking, “Let’s hop on a bus so I can get down to Chicago in time for Saturday!” Moral of the story: ride the Megabus, its cheap. Also, while the red eye buses have amazing availability, it is really hard to sleep when you are on the way to Lollapalooza. After sleeping only a few hours off and on, I was there.

So we leave our bags in our hotel, do the whole Starbucks thing, and then head over. Saturday’s lineup was incredible. Staying at one stage I got to be front row for 8 different wonderful artists, half of them female. So yadda yadda yadda, I’ll get onto performances.

First of all a shout out to all the women who played Saturday: Ximena Sarinana, Julia Easterlin, An Horse, Phantogram, Skylar Grey, Fitz & The Tantrums, Ellie Goulding, The Pretty Reckless, Beats Antique, and Lykke Li (Note the number of already featured SWAS artists, Lollapalooza knows what’s up).

I was fortunate enough to see Julia Easterlin, An Horse, Ellie Goulding, and Lykke LI.

Julia Easterlin – The tone of a concert is always set to fun when the lead singer throws a couple bottles of red face paint into the audience. Julia Easterlin is from the local Chicago area and has just started making music and has really emerged as a wonderful loop artist (Loop artists, for those who don’t know, utilize technology to store different vocal tracks and layer them together to make chords and such). Julia’s set was full of raw energy and was truly inspired. She was more than excited to be there. She even took on an Aretha Franklin song and deconstructed it into loops and it was original and fantastic. She really has an amazing voice and to hear pitches like she does takes a whole different level talent wise. Not only this but she had all sorts of face paint and was dancing all the time at her mike. Definitely check her out.

An Horse – The tone of this show? The first five seconds people start an Aussie chant in the audience. An Horse put on an amazing set. They are always so cool on stage and are the couple that just has a swagger for rock. They pour emotions into songs though, which a lot of rockers will ignore at live concerts, but the passion was just really phenomenal. An Horse doesn’t really have guitar solos or all the bells and whistles, they really just let the lyrics shine in all of their songs. I very highly recommend them as music to have on while thinking. Mini-plug, they’re now on tour with Kevin Devine, so go!

Ellie Goulding – To repeat the theme of setting a tone, Ellie did about as wonderful job as any. Ellie had her crew bring boxes and boxes and boxes (and boxes…) of star shaped sunglasses for her set since she has a song called Starry Eyed. So they heaved these all throughout the audience and fans got pumped easily. Getting freebies? We were into it already. Ellie has one of the most unique voices of anyone in the music business today. She uses it as an instrument and people who don’t even like her music can appreciate her voice. Ellie was big on dancing on stage and you could tell she was proud of her music. Ellie’s shows sell out in England, her home country, about as fast as Spiderman got negative reviews on Broadway. It was a real treat to see her. Also, her beats are incessantly catchy so be warned.

Lykke Li – Imagine the audience as Lykke’s entire band comes out in black with smoke from a smoke machine all around them. Lykke takes center stage as the rest of the band is in a semi-circle behind her. She is clearly the star. Then Lykke proceeded to take us on an extremely rhythmic tour of her music. You could always feel her emotions as her arms were vehicles of expression. She really knew how to perform! She worked the audience like the pro that she is. Lykke’s music is delightfully drum oriented to the point where she has her own drum and she also has two drummers. Listen to all these drums line up in an almost tribal fashion for Get Some was magical. Lykke also did a stellar job of playing slower songs and even did a Bjork cover that gave the audience goose bumps as it was performed so delicately. Lykke Li is one of those artists that sound even better live than on a recording. Lucky was I to obtain a drumstick. I can now die happily.

Tune in next week for the conclusive Sunday and the exploration of acts like The Joy Formidable and Gold Motel.

Taylor Momsen on Seventeen

So, usually I don’t read Seventeen Magazine, because frankly I feel like they recycle the same article every single issue – you know the one: how you need to fake a certain personality to get guys to like you. This time it’s called “The best advice from the hottest guys!” Oh boy, oh boy. Plus I can only take their fashion suggestions for “every body type” so seriously when the page facing it shows a picture of an alarmingly thin model. And so does the next page. And the page after that. Guh.

But recently I was really bored in an airport and caved in and bought an issue. This time, Taylor Momsen is on the cover (Jenny from Gossip Girl). But this time she wasn’t promoting Gossip Girl, but rather her band, The Pretty Reckless.

Now, the last time I heard Taylor Momsen sing, it went something like this:

Yeah, that’s her.

This is her now, with Blender by the Pretty Reckless.

Quite a change there. But the evolution of her musical style isn’t really the point here.

The point was her interview in Seventeen. Just to give you a sample:

17: You’ve become so well-known as an actress. Is that why you haven’t made a bigger deal out of your music earlier?
Taylor: I was still evolving and I wasn’t ready. I was growing as an artist. The biggest thing for me is that I don’t want to put out one hit that is giant on the charts for two weeks and then goes away. I’m looking to build a career by writing more in-depth songs and my goal is that they’ll last. I want to have a career in music and not just do it because I’m on a TV show and I can.

Do you think people don’t take you seriously as a musician because you’re an actress?
I think people don’t really take me seriously because I’m 16. And they think most 16-year-olds don’t know what they want to do. But I actually really do, because I’ve been thinking about it since I was 2. And in the world of acting, you have such a stigma put onto you that you [get into the business] for the fame. Fame frankly means nothing. It’s so stupid. Unless you do something great and unless you do something that’s fulfilling to you, what’s the point?

What kind of songs do you write?
I write about my life and I write about what I’m thinking…Music has saved me in so many ways. It feeds my soul. I write and I write and I write until it’s good. And it’s good when it’s honest — otherwise it’s just a facade, and I don’t want to be a facade.

Not exactly the normal interview you see in Seventeen, and I didn’t really see it coming. But I’m really impressed. She seems like she really does what she does because she loves and it and because she’s passionate, and is also very conscious of the lifestyle that goes along with it.

So this is just a thank you to Taylor Momsen for being another, much needed, example of a celebrity that’s worth looking up to.

note the panty strings. classtastic.

Her thoughts? 

I was horrified at my realization that our culture not only encouraged this package but also sold it as young feminism personified. The ‘empowered’ 15-year old female can belt risque lyrics, flaunt racy lingerie, and flirt with suicide to be sexy and appealing. While I had read Ariel Levy’s Feminist Chauvinist Pigs, it was altogether different to consciously witness teenagers buy into this ‘sex-is-power’ model.

But this is not my feminism.

The feminist movement seeks to advance and empower women. While we strive for equality, we recognize that focusing on sexuality as a means to empowerment misses the mark entirely, reducing women to our body parts instead of embracing our personhood. We realize that it is a patriarchal culture that encourages women to seek empowerment and independence through sexual appeal in service to men.

Once the mantra of the feminist movement, sexual liberation lost its thread, making way for the Momsen image instead of focusing on our ability to own, respect, and love our bodies for our own enjoyment. Young women have an especially difficult time being comfortable in our ever-changing physical forms. Feminism gives young women the opportunity to develop and mature in a climate free from judgment or shame about their sexuality and without the requirement for men’s approval.

Needless to say, I completely agree. The one thing I’d ask Momsen is “who the fuck are you doing that for?” Because, personally, my idea of a good time is not going up on a stage half naked and pretending to kill myself (an apparent theme of the show) BUT THAT’S JUST ME.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand getting off on rock and roll. I’ve been thrown around in the sweaty pits of a few concerts myself, about 3 feet away from the musicians who are always clearly in ecstasy. And I know it’s a rush and it’s awesome. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to be onstage. But seriously? If I wanted to see a blonde girl in lingerie, I’d turn on the T.V. I’d open a magazine.

There’s also a difference between expressing your sexuality and exploiting it, perhaps to attract a male audience or sell your female audience an image you know they’ll buy. Because they have and they do. And that’s the problem. 

It disappoints me that a girl who is obviously trying to be empowered is still caught in the same old misogynistic traps. Wanting people to think of her as strong and independent, she just distracts people from any substantial quality and deduces herself to her body and sex appeal. It would be really freakin sweet if this 15 year old girl could just turn it all on it’s head and actually use, oh, I don’t know, maybe her talent to be empowered rather than her sexualized (and creepily suicidal) image. 

And who knows? Maybe Momsen knows exactly what she’s doing and this is some kind of social commentary on the music industry and she has the last laugh. 

But I’ve seen Gossip Girls. I think not.