Lollapalooza Diary, Day 3: Strings Attached

Sunday at Lollapalooza was all about strings — the old-fashioned kind. There were so many violins and cellos onstage, you'd think they were the coolest thing since straw hats. It began with the Frames, an Irish band whose red-bearded lead singer Glen Hansard sings haunting melodies, backed by electric violin. Then the acoustic bluegrass trio Nickel Creek took over, adding a double bass to the mix. The New Amsterdams — with a cello in their blend of country and rock — played to a small crowd of fans who joined them in singalong songs like "Bad Liar." The next violinist was Andrew Bird, a Chicago-based singer/songwriter whose voice is reminiscent of Jeff Buckley. With his passionate plucking and bowing (and whistling), he put his hometown fans in a mellow daze.

We may have missed a couple of other strings along the way, but the best violin performance of the day had to be Julie Penner from the multi-member jam band Broken Social Scene. They roused the audience into such a state that for 15 minutes after the show, fans still chanted for an encore — which couldn't happen because The Red Hot Chili Peppers were about to begin. And, by the way, guitar strings were all that Flea needed to rock out.

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Song Stories

“Tonight's the Night”

The Shirelles | 1960

The lead cut and title track from this girl group's debut album, "Tonight's the Night" was written by 19-year-old bandmember Shirley Owens, who sings lead, and producer Luther Dixon. The band from Passaic, New Jersey met in high school, first calling themselves the Pequellos. The song's frank thoughts about sexual and emotional surrender was racy for the time, but that didn't stop the Chiffons from cutting a similar version immediately after the original came out. "We were the first female group to write some of our own material," band member Beverly Lee recalls. "We did have some say-so in our writing."

More Song Stories entries »

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