mp3: Gorillaz – Stylo (Radio Edit) or zShare

mp3: Dan Black Featuring Kid Cudi or zShare

mp3: Fatboy Slim David Byrne and Santigold – Please Don’t or zShare

Major Lazer at Terminal 5, 10.10.09

We arrived at Terminal 5 for HARD before midnight to catch Major Lazer‘s set. The whole time I was under the impression that it was just going to be a “DJ set” …but I was way off. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I turned to a friend and said “this is fucking crazy” or “this is insane!”

Terminal 5 was an absolute circus on and offstage. The crowd looked about ready for a rave, while the onstage dancers during Major Lazer’s set performed some of the most jaw dropping stage antics I’ve ever seen including, ladders, weightlifting, gold booty shorts and scandalous dance moves.

Crookers at Terminal 5, 10.10.09

Diplo sans Switch represented Major Lazer, with special guests Nina Sky for Keep it Goin’ Louder and Santigold for Hold The Line. It was a solid 1 hour set show that went above and beyond any of my expectations.

Italian duo Bot and Phra aka Crookers slid right in after Diplo wrapped around 1 AM. Crookers’ set focused heavily on connecting with the crowd through the music and visual montages that rotated between Peter Cottontail, text, animation and footage of Crooker’s DJing live via the camera attached to the turn tables.

I’d seen Crookers DJ at Webster Hall with Annie Mac earlier this year but this was a much grander scale. I was greatly impressed yet again, left anticipating the full-length debut this January, titled Tons Of Friends. Spotted at HARD: M.I.A. and Trouble Andrew.

MP3: Crookers – Knobbers or zShare
MP3: Proxy – Raven (Crookers Remix) or zShare
MP3: Major Lazer – Jump Up (Featuring Leftside and Supahyp) or zShare

Crookers

Ida Maria Citi Stage Saturday 2:15PM >>

We’ve seen Ida Maria a handful of times this year in intimate venues such as Bell House, Music Hall of Williamsburg and Mercury Lounge so it was interesting to see what she’d do onstage at a festival in broad daylight.

At the beginning of her set I got the impression that she felt a bit constrained and tame waiting to bust out (see pic.) Once she loosened up a bit Ida released her signature growl and shriek, locking in everyone’s attention and awe. The absolute highlight of Ida’s set was when she dumped water onto herself before diving into a spectacular cover of The Stooges I Wanna Be Your Dog.

Chairlift Citi Stage Saturday 3:30PM

Chairlift opened their set with the fabulous cover of Snoop’s Sexual Seduction and set the loungey seductive tone for their hour long set. There were a few sound issues but the trio powered through and delivered a strong set that served as yet another great platform for infiltrating mainstream.

<< Arctic Monkeys Budweiser Stage Saturday 4:30PM

My 3rd time seeing them in one week and I’m not sure i would’ve turned down 10 more opportunities to see them. Arctic Monkeys have matured and progressed in the ways every great band should and this set was an undeniable Lolla highlight for everyone who caught it. A.Turn and co.’s set was 10 min longer than at APW, so a more well rounded performance was able to take shape featuring the achingly epic 505 as set closer. The crowd went seriously bananas (read: crowdsurfing, moshing, pushing, flailing) and the band deserved every bit of excitement and enthusiasm hurled their way. [Jess]

Santigold Playstation Saturday Stage 5:30PM >>

Call me naive but I honestly didn’t think Santigold would draw in the immense crowd that she did on day 2 of Lollapalooza! Bon Iver played the Playstation stage the night before as well and surprised me with the number of people squeezed in to catch his set.

Santigold donned a gold jumper and gold sneakers to a huge crowd that ranged from ghetto to prep. It was pretty awesome sweating my ass off in Chicago with a bunch of strangers chanting “Brooklyn we go hard, we go hard!” in unison..if only they knew the half of it!

MP3: Basement Jaxx Featuring Santigold – Saga or zShare

Glasvegas Vitamin Water Stage Saturday 5:30 PM

Glasvegas’ crowd was surprisingly subdued, most likely due to the fact that the crowds were stalled across the park as the overwhelmingly large Arctic Monkeys crowd was leaving and the just as incredibly large Santigold crowd was filing it. Despite the serious festival gridlock, Glasvegas played a tight set as more and more fans trickled in to catch James Allan expertly belt out favorites like Geraldine and Daddy’s Gone. [Jess]

<< Lykke Li Citi Stage Saturday 6:30PM

I had to unfortunately leave the Santigold set a few minutes early in order to make it in time for Lykke Li. I saw her only one week prior at All Points West but I just can’t get enough of her captivating set. Her set from Lollapalooza was extra special in that she brought on Miike Snow singer Andrew Wyatt for the cover of Kings of Leon’s Knocked Up. It was a great and unexpected treat!

MP3: Miike Snow – Plastic Jungle or zShare

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Budweiser Stage Saturday 8PM >>

One week prior we caught Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ killer set at All Points West, so this time around it was all about singing and dancing our asses off. We found a comfortable spot and literally danced until we were (almost) dead, scaring bystanders! Jess said it best:  it was our own Saturday night dance party featuring Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Indeed it was, and also a great prelude to another epic night out in Chi-town.

MP3: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (Erol Alkan Remix) or zShare

Santigold at Terminal 5, 6.9.2009

Santigold checked in earlier this week regarding work on her sophomore album, the follow up to Santogold (is the album still called Santogold or did they change that too?)

Production credits for the as-yet untitled album so far go to Pharrell Williams, Diplo and Switch….yummy! Of the album that will resume recording in August, Santi White had this to say about her work with Pharrell:

“We went in the studio and he was like, ‘I’ll just play the buckets’. It was like, ‘Boom, ah, buh-doom, ah!’”

Label me excited and anxious! Check out our coverage of her amazing show last week at Terminal 5 HERE.

MP3: Santigold – Say A-Ha (Cosmic Phones Mix) or zShare

Santigold at Terminal 5, 6.9.09

As our readers know, I’ve had a long term love affair with Santi White aka Santogold Santigold. I’ve seen Santigold at Central Park Summerstage in 2008 and again at the MTVU Woody Awards in the same year and she has NEVER disappointed. I was ecstatic to catch her live set further evolve this time at Terminal 5 (my first time there) with supporting acts Amanda Blank and Trouble Andrew (also Santi’s boyfriend.)

Trouble Andrew was an excellent stage warmer, successfully engaging the crowd with his melting pot of Crunk Punk and wild onstage hype men. After his set we jetted backstage for a quick interview with TA which in itself was quite the experience (check back for it soon!) Unfortunately I only caught the tail end of Miss Amanda Blank’s spectacular set with Diplo but I totally envied those Christmas light pants she rocked!

Santigold took the stage after 10PM in an awesome black and gold tiger print pantsuit and killed the non-stop 17-song set! She played every song from the debut album and threw in some surprises such as Brooklyn Go Hard sans Jay-Z, both the original and Amanda Blank version of I’m a Lady, a cover of The Cure’s Killing an Arab, the Creator dance off with selected members of the audience including  Sheena Beaston, the Amanda Blank Spank Rock and Santi finale for B.O.O.T.A.Y, and of course spotting Lil’ Jon in the balcony! Loved it all!

I must admit I’m not particularly fond of  Terminal 5, it’s location and their gestapo-like security (booking agents take note) but it was most worth enduring.  Santigold and her amazing dancers commanded the crowd and as expected did not disappoint. Come back this summer, please?

MP3: Amanda Blank – DJ Play That Shit or zShare
MP3: Santigold and Diplo – Guns of Brooklyn or zShare
MP3: Trouble Andrew – Run Hide (Diplo Remix) or zShare
MP3: Trouble Andrew – Chase Money (TADT Remix) or zShare
MP3: Santigold – Unstoppable (Feat. Lil Wayne & Drake) or zShare
MP3: Santigold & Amanda Blank – I’m a Lady (Diplo Remix) or zShare

Click HERE for more info.

MP3: Santigold – Creator (Scottie B. Remix) or zShare
MP3: Santigold – Unstoppable (Featuring Lil’ Wayne and Drake) or zShare

Spotted at the Fall 2009 runway show were: Lindsay Lohan & Samantha Ronson (a given), Mark Ronson, Joy Bryant, and surprisingly Santogold Santigold, Trouble Andrew, Ryan Adams and fiance (?!) Mandy Moore. Oh yeah, and there were some pretty cool clothes too….

New York’s Fashion week will say goodbye to Bryant Park at next year’s Fall runway show before relocating to Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park in September 2010. For more pictures of the clothing, check out this LINK.

MP3: Santogold – Unstoppable (Featuring Lil’ Wayne and Drake) or zShare
MP3: Mark Ronson & Santogold – Pretty Green (The Jam Cover) or zShare