Chicago’s 2009 Lollapalooza festival came to a halt yesterday with a cover-fest as a variety of bands decided that imitation is the most sincere for of flattery.
Young Brits Arctic Monkeys seem to be keen to shed their label as lovable young scamps with a version of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds‘ growling signature tune ‘Red Right Hand’. Having previously covered Amy Winehouse‘s ‘You Know I’m No Good’ and Barbara Lewis‘ 1965 classic ‘Baby I’m Yours’, the Monkeys are no strangers to paying homage to other artists, and their version shows an ambitious edge to their live shows.
New York band Chairlift attempted to cute up Pulp‘s original teen angst classic ‘Babies’. The track, originally released in 1992, gives vocalist Caroline Polachek plenty of license for sexing up her performance given it’s a typically Cocker-esque number about a teenage boy watching his friend’s sister have sex whilst he’s hidden in a cupboard.
Finally, festival favourites Killers paid tribute to Ian Curtis by performing Joy Division‘s 1979 hit ‘Shadowplay’. The track was the only sanctioned Joy Division cover in the biopic film ‘Control’.
Other bands took the festival as an opportunity to showcase new tracks, with Vampire Weekend performing ‘Ladies of Cambridge’ and Band of Horses introducing a new symphonic track as ‘Untitled’.
