Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

Much as I loved Kanye West's performance at Lollapalooza on Sunday night, it wasn't the rapper himself who held my focus but the amazing sign language interpreter standing stage right. She had even more bravado than West, which is no small feat. Turns out that C3, the company which produces Lollpalooza, hires ASL interpreters for every performer on every stage at Lollpalooza, even though hearing-impaired fest-goers have got to comprise a tiny percentage of the 225,000 who attended the three-day event in Chicago's Grant Park. The same company puts together the Austin City Limits festival and I can't wait to see an interpreter sign along with Vampire Weekend's world-beat indie pop and Conor Oberst's quickly-worded folk songs. Sometime between now and ACL -- which Pete and I will cover in late September -- I hope to get an interview with one of the talented signers, so watch this space for that. Meanwhile, check out the interpreter for the Black Keys , who also offered some fine interpretive dance moves during Radiohead's set. -- JENNY ELISCU