Buddy Guy

I made it a point to try to get to Lollapalooza as early as possible on Saturday so I could catch all of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons. Apparently, 11:45 is too early for me because I missed the first half of the set. As I walked up to the Playstation Stage I could hear the belting out of “We Should Fight,” as an incredibly sweaty crowd stared up at Ezra in a long yellow rain coat (he apparently thought Saturday’s weather was going to be a bit more like Friday’s). As the fans applauded, Ezra explained that he has decided “music just sounds better in Chicago,” I’m not sure if it’s just Chicago, or if they are just incredible, but everything sounded great to me. The first highlight of the show for me was when guitarist Andrew Langer explained that the next song they were to play was written after Ezra and his fiancé at the time were on a trip to Japan. The plane supposedly actually landed in Africa, and with that mixed up flight, the relationship came to an end. After Ezra joked about having to relive the end of that relationship at every show, they went right into the song “Halloween Snow.” It became clear how much real life influences Ezra’s songwriting as he sang out “We’re touching down, And maybe I don’t love you The ground looks so brown, This can’t be Japan, I know it can’t.” The bluntness of the lyrics made me feel closer to the song, and made the song that much more real. Ezra Furman is currently one of the greatest songwriters that I know, yet not enough people know of him to agree. I brought four of my good friends to the show, all of them had never heard of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons, and all were a bit skeptical. The second highlight of the show came as Ezra put on his sunglasses and began “Take off Your Sunglasses,” because by the end of that song, all of my friends clearly had become fans. I still regret not getting there on time, but was completely impressed with what I saw of Ezra Furman and the Harpoons that day.