Along with the Xbox sponsoring Lollapalooza, other byproducts of society or fetishes romped throughout the festival. As two ghostly looking ninjas wrapped in pale garb finished their jousting match, Cave In began to expel their somber punk tones and authentic bloodletting for that extra urgency and attention-demanding grip they are beloved for. Guitarist Adam McGrath described his group as, "A rock band with psychedelic highlights." He further explained their musical direction, "A blasphemous cosmic enterprise curtailed with shimmering tendencies, lush beauty and fierce anger." Yes, very well put.

Cave In: "A rock band with psychedelic highlights." Copyright (c) 2003 Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

Cave In are no strangers to Lollapalooza either, Adam detailed how he came to the show many moons ago as a fan. "I came here with J.R. [John-Robert Connors, drums] in '96 to see Sonic Youth headline. It could be '95 [yes, research shows it was '95]. But, it was great even back then. I felt like it was more of a socially interactive, and more of a cultural vibe concert, or traveling festival. So, it's an honor to have my band play on it. It's cool." After Lollapalooza, still in support of their Antenna CD the band will head over to Europe for the prestigious and historical festivals known as Reading and Leeds in England. Upon their return to the States in September, Cave In's fall tour will include the addition of New York's From Autumn To Ashes.

Queens Of The Stone Age, need we say more... Copyright (c) 2003 Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

Queens Of The Stone Age's set relished in gypsy-life-loving sentiment, part stoner rock and their charmingly abnormal, tone sensitive format of having the singing duties split between main vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri, and former Screaming Tree, Mark Lanegan. Drummer Joey Castillo, whose resume boasts working with Danzig, matches the steam Dave Grohl stamped onto Queen's Songs For The Deaf. The bass thwack of "Go With The Flow" combined with a drifter melody that takes days to fully leak out of the ears and the warm crackling of "Sky Is Fallin'" were high points of the nearly 12-hour-long-day. QOTSA seamlessly married a free spirit sensibility to their prime musicianship ethic; it's an education in soundscapes as much as a hazy good time. Then the bold and goateed madman came to the side stage to guest at the tail end of the Burning Brides' set who opened for Queens Of The Stone Age on one of their headlining tours. Nick, who also fronts his Mondo Generator project, came up to sing on the Misfits' "Hybrid Moments" cover. Nick commented on the choice, "I think there's a B-side somewhere in England. I love The Misfits. Nobody can sing like [Glenn] Danzig." He also conveyed that he is having a good time on the resurrection of the tour that defined the '90s, and he fills his days off with Mondo Generator press and at least one show (in Long Island, NY).

The gritty molasses of the Burning Brides wailed through the intimating sunrays. This a modern power trio [no, not all that Rush like] with depths of stoner rock that exceed that barrier with sneering solos, embers of psychedelic drama and at times, grizzly vocal stylings in songs like the '60s rock-tone "If I'm A Man." There was even bits of chords that mirrored Diamondhead tactics and old school Black Sabbath girth.

As for The Burning Brides, singer and guitarist Dimitri Coats tells of where his trio will be heading after Lollapalooza. "We are finally going into the studio to record our next record, which is long over due now, and we're very excited about it," he says with equal parts excitement and exhaustion from just getting off stage. "And, we're playing some of the new stuff live. It's the best place to try out the new shit. Yeah, it's going to be a lot fuller, a lot huger. We have a little bit of a budget to play with. The first record we did was for 5,000 bucks in a motorcycle garage, so it's going to be, ya know…" He went into further detail about the actual components of the music he and bass player Melanie Campbell [who is also his girlfriend] and drummer Jason Kourkounis are penning on the road. "I think the new songs will have a lot more colors and a lot more diversity. I think the melodic stuff will be a lot more over the top, and Cheap Trick-esque. The heavy stuff will be the most evil stuff we've ever done." Fall of the Plastic Empire is a winding journey that traverses the muddy with the passionate so it is a question of furthering the dynamics for the Brides.

Nick, who also fronts his Mondo Generator project, came up to sing on the Misfits' "Hybrid Moments" cover. Copyright (c) 2003 Therese McKeon/Shoutweb.com

"All my favorite bands can do everything. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, even Sabbath," stresses Dimitri who like Cave In came to Lollapalooza in its infancy. "I got to meet Perry Ferrell today, and I told him how much it meant to me that I went to the very first one, and I never thought then that I would be apart of this with Jane's Addiction. Even if we don't go anywhere anymore, the things I've experienced so far have been incredible. But, touring with Jane's, touring with Audioslave, it's just insane." The comfort in which the trio has traveled has helped in expediting their creative process as well. "I've actually written a couple of tunes on the tour. That's one of the great things about moving from a van to a tour bus; you have more room in the back where you can fuck around on a guitar. If anything happens with your band, you're off on tour like all the fucking time, and a lot of bands need to know how to write their records on the road. I think we're in really good shape for the next one and we pre-production out here in Philly and I'm very excited about it. We have 11 or 12 really good fucking rock 'n roll songs." The Brides debuted the new material during the set, and Dimitri reported on them, "The really, heavy metal one was called, 'King of The Demimonde.' That kind of poppy, Beatles, Cheap Trick, Nirvany was called 'Come Alive.' And we played a song that was called, 'Leave No Ashes,' which I think might be the title of the record. Burning Brides: Leave No Ashes."