THE REPLACEMENTS—With Adam “MCA” Yauch recovering from recent cancer surgery, the Beastie Boys were forced to cancel their Day 2 appearance at this year’s Lollapalooza. In their place, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs agreed to take the stage at the very last minute, sending lead singer Karen O scrambling through wardrobe for suitable stage attire to complement an equally electrifying set list including tunes like “Runaway” (from this year’s record It’s Blitz), “Y Control”, “Zero”, and even a few riffs paying homage to the Beasties’ 1994 hit, “Sabotage”.
Once onstage, O commandeered visual attention with a fluorescent outfit featuring a headdress and cape shaped from cloth cut-outs of multicolored human hands. Delivering her sound to the crowd using a handheld Shure UHF-R wireless transmitter sporting an SM58 capsule, the colorfully-clad Ms. O couldn’t stop smiling throughout the entire set. Drummer Brian Chase and guitarist Nick Zinner cut loose musically with equal panache, bringing the night to a close with a hot energy factor matching the day’s earlier air temps, which hovered around 90 degrees.
