Lollapalooza, Day Three: Saul Williams Confuses, Impresses During Afternoon Set

Photograph by Rory O'Connor

Amid a fusillade of fuzz guitars and screaming synths, Saul Williams took the stage at Lollapalooza, all feathered dreadlocks and futuristic warpaint. "You guys ready?" he called out, surveying the amped-up fans, many drawn by his slamming track "List of Demands" from a recent Nike ad. To their vocal assent, Williams came back with an ominous, "We'll see about that..." For the next hour, the slam poet/rapper/actor/hardcore rocker and his backing band hammered out his unclassifiable hybrid of Afropunk, metal, and industrial music -- a combination so boundary-smashing that it was, indeed, too much for some of those who showed up just to hear "List of Demands." "This sucks," groused a frat boy in a White Sox cap, before making a welcome exit. Unfortunately for him, it meant missing some prime Williams cuts, including "Surrender (A Second to Think)" and "WTF!," as well as his spot-on observation that "racism is a social construct" which his music "helps us see beyond." Praising Lolla's line-up this year, Williams added, "I'm sorry you have to choose between Kanye West and Nine Inch Nails. My whole purpose in making music is so you don't have to choose." -- MOIRA McCORMICK