Lollapalooza Diary, Day 2 – Perry Farrell in Gray, Jared Leto in Black
More hair awards: Considering that the festival is already 15 years old, it’s only fitting to have a gray-hair category, and the winner is: Lollapalooza’s father and chief, Perry Farrell (who made a guest appearance with Thievery Corporation on Friday night). His hair seems to have so much product in it that it looks a bit like rubber — but hey, he makes it cool. Runners up: gray-haired Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo and the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, who has gray curls in his thick mop.
Speaking of Coyne, he lived up to expectations of a ridiculous live show when he put himself in a huge clear balloon that was passed around the crowd at the beginning of the Lips’ set; this may also explain his request to me before the show to get him some rubber-soled shoes to replace his pointy white loafers.
Though you may know Jared Leto for roles in Fight Club, Requiem for a Dream and other movies, he’s got a lesser-known side project as the hotshot singer and guitarist in the band 30 Seconds to Mars. Throughout the festival, you could spot Leto backstage as the man in black: black hair, black T-shirt, black jacket, black jeans, black eyeliner, and even black nail polish. Then when he went onstage he did a switcheroo to all white, even his guitar. Guess he’s into monochrome.