Booths from various companies lined the path between stages, which gave an easy opportunity to stock up on useless free gadgits they were giving away in hopes of getting your business.

Microsoft had the best idea. Give people a shaded area where you can compete with other concert-goers at yet-to-be-released games such as Tony Hawk’s Underground. The Gameriot zone, as it was called, saw many of the concert goers battle out for a chance to play in the championships on the main stage before Jane\’s Addiction took the stage.

Not to dull you down with blatant commercialism, Lollapalooza brought a solid brigade of political activists out on the road with them. Groups for animal rights, children’s rights, voting registration and political activism were all on hand to educate, pursuade and enlighten. The most popular of the booths was Axis of Justice, which had an appearance by Tom Morello of Audioslave.

Also on the bill were a few other oddball groups. One being the performance art troupe with Dream Circus, who performed a few concepts that drew in some and left others scratching their heads. Another group was out giving away backstage passes to anyone willing to partake in various Jackass worthy exploits. If you want to watch Audioslave from the stage, would inhale a bowl of jell-o…literally?

If you got bored from all the fun of the booths, performance art, stupid human tricks and video games, you could always wander over to one of the two stages to watch bands. But only if you want to. Here is our breakdown of the band’s we saw.

The Burning Brides: After hearing their EP from Buddyhead records, I was excited to see this band. Making the decision of checking them out over punks gone pop, The Distillers, was fairly easy.

Though not many mainstream rock fans are overly aware of this band, they’ve gained a solid underground following through being involved with Buddyhead Records (and in turn Buddyhead’s website, which many kids swear by) and their continued touring with quality rock acts.

These guys will make anyone who misses real rock n’ roll lift their head in happiness. Their brand of roaring rock n’ roll music is something that has fallen by the wayside, but judging from the people at the side stage, it could be on it’s way back from obscurity.

The Donnas: Though they never really come off as the bad girls they try to portray themselves as, The Donnas definitely know how to present their brand of straight-ahead rock music. Though many clueless journalists label them as a Ramones knock-off, these women take it well beyond that, dipping into a glam rock facade with guitar licks that pull more from their SoCal roots. Guitarist Allison Robertson comes off more like a toned down Greg Ginn than a boring, trudging Johnny Ramone.

The ladies’ set got the audience in a frenzy. Especially when vocalist Brett Anderson’s microphone died and the band never missed a beat. Anderson never broke from belting out the song until the problem was solved and she regained her place at the front of the charge.

Jurassic 5: Hip-hop was definitely not missing from this festival. Booths were set up when you could rap over various songs, karaoke-style. Also set up was a “Scratch Station” where you could experiment with new CD-scratching machines. Then, on the mainstage, we got Jurassic 5.

Though the group wasn\’t near as powerful in the opening festival area as they are in a small club, Jurassic 5 didn\’t waste anytime getting heads bobbing and letting their brand of socially conscious street poetry fall upon the ears of the audience.

In a pleasant surprise, these words and beats did not fall on deaf ears. The same people who had just went wild for the stripped down rock of The Donnas were giving just as much energy to Jurassic 5, which gave the group something feed off of and put on a killer set.

Queens of the Stone Age: I’ve never been able to get into these guys’ music and today was no different. Their sounds lacks dynamics despite the oddball approach of their songs. There is definitely something good there, but for me, the bad far outweighs it.

A surprise appearance from Perry Farrell on vocals definitely gave their set a little more clout with the people on the fence with this band, and the explosion of energy when the band broke into their single, No One Knows brought a little extra fun to the whole thing. However, in the end, the set lacked the energy and fun of the other sets.

Incubus: It’s getting about time for Incubus to release another album. You could see it in their faces that they have grown bored with playing songs from Morning View and they know breaking out tracks from older albums like S.C.I.E.N.C.E. would freak out their newer following.

Despite the initial lull, the band put on one of the more entertaining sets of the day. Perhaps it was due to the overwhelming number of fans familiar with the songs, which was something lacking from all the bands to this point, but something felt more alive with the audience as Incubus brought out a mix of songs from Morning View and Make Yourself.

Going as far as to break out an impromptu cover of Lionel Richie’s Hello, Incubus worked their hardest to keep themselves and the audience into the set, which showed clear as everyone united on their closing song, Wish You Were Here.

Audioslave: Boring was one of the words I used to describe Audioslave’s self-titled debut. It just never grabbed me and sounded way to bland. Tom Morello’s guitar work was under utilized and Chris Cornell didn’t sound as edgy as he needed to. It just sounded watered down.

Well, it all changes when it’s live. Morello’s guitar work stands out and amazes just as it did when he played with Rage Against The Machines, Cornell sounds edgier, like his voice is moments away from breaking and the rhythm section of Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk stays as steady as a rock.

Set It Off was the first song that saw everyone in the pit go into a frenzy. This was the first set of the night that actually had everyone on their feet, running around and totally into the music. Fists waved, voices called out requests and Cornell led the audience through some call and response. It was a great sight upclose and from the top of the hill, where I spent the rest of my night.

Audioslave bought the show to life as the sun faded. As the cool winds blew over the hill, you could see and hear the energy level grow as some relief from the heat was gained. This group of Lollapalooza veterans (Morello, Wilk and Commerford with RATM and Cornell with Soundgarden) knew how to get the audience into the set.

Jane’s Addiction: Rather than fight the crowds in the pit again, I decided to keep my spot on the hill and watch Jane’s Addiction from afar. After a reunion tour and now a new studio album, it was interesting to see how Jane’s Addiction treated their time on the stage. Would it be as a nostaligia act carried over from the original Lollapaloozas or would it be as a commerical for their new album or, would they be up their to play music and have fun at their festival.

A few minutes into the set, it was clearly C. These guys mixed songs from all their albums together and used their 70 minutes to put on a show for the elder audience who stuck around after Audioslave shut it down. After nearly 10 hours of music, sun and attractions, it was rewarding to see all the lighters and hear all the voices sing along on the Jane’s classic Jane Says. It’s moments like this that make rock n’ roll special.

Closing Remarks: Rather than playing off of 30 minute sets like the Warped Tour, Lollapalooza cuts down on the number of acts and gives the bands time to find their niche and get their flow in order. It’s rare to see the same faces throughout the day at an outdoor festival, but Lollapalooza was able to keep the majority of the sold out crowd in the seats or on the hill throughout the entire day.

After seeing what a horrible experience Woodstock ’99 was, it seemed almost inconceivable that anyone would bring back something as expansive and moving as Lollapalooza, but Farrell knew the time was right and the people could behave themselves, and they did just that. When you can get tens of thousands of people in one area and have them get along and partake in an experience together for an entire day, you do something amazing. This day was definitely amazing. Thanks Perry.