Plowing through the Stooges catalog, the set culminated in a refreshing display of populism, when Pop directed the security guards to let the crowd dance on the stage. Perhaps in a mid-sized venue this would be a novel gesture, but in an arena crowd numbering into the tens of thousands, it was dangerous, stupid, and purely punk rock. During "No Fun" an estimated 250 people stormed the stage, clawing at Pop and singing along. Only a bit surprised at the near-riot he had caused, Pop seemed genuinely confused that people didn't want to leave the stage after the song. Stand-out performance of the day, without question.

The next time slot left indie rockers with a choice: Yo La Tengo or !!!? Mellow indie-veterans or sassy dance-spastic indie newcomers? I decided I'd taste both for you and have determined that Yo La Tengo takes this one. With a set that included two songs over 10 minutes, they were exactly the vibe needed to quell the Iggy-fever.

While walking toward the Myspace stage to catch !!!, I got an earful of the Wailers on the Playstation stage. Situated in the center of the park, the band produced a great, laid-back, walking-by soundtrack. But !!! disappointed. I remember stumbling into a Baltimore tavern they happened to be playing about six years ago. It was one of those situations where the band outnumbered the audience, and that show still remains in my list of top shows of all time. Every time I've seen them since, they've fallen a little short, but today's set was dismal. Perhaps it was the isolating festival environment, as !!! have always made a habit of merging the audience with the band.

Another 15-minute walk across the park brought me to Modest Mouse, a band that definitely translated to the festival environs. Word has it that temp guitarist Johnny Marr is in the line-up for the long haul, which means that fans can expect the impressive guitar work shown today in future shows.

TV on the Radio also played a stand-out set against Café Tacuba, who greatly disappointed. This was one band I was very excited to see: the reigning kings of Mexican indie-rock? Sign me up. Sadly, Café Tacuba have no style of their own. Bad memories of turn-of-the century super-groups fronted by the likes of Fred Durst and Gwen Stefani come to mind. I could only stomach the first three songs.

The grand finale of the festival was a much anticipated set by seminal alt-rockers Pearl Jam, who played the second Lollapalooza 15 years ago. For their largest show of the decade (and one of their only dates this year), Eddie Vedder and co. delivered fan-favorites along with heavy doses of political commentary on the AT&T stage. The crowd, estimated to be over 70,000, stretched practically to the other end of Grant Park, and the later part of the set coincided with the city's fireworks over the Field Museum behind the stage. It was pure, over-the-top rock stock stuff.

"Corduroy," "Given to Fly," and "Do the Revolution" covered the hit catalog well, but it was the covers that pierced the air, culminating in a version of Neil Young's "Rocking in the Free World" with guest Ben Harper. It was the band's bleeding-heart version of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" during the performance of "Daughter" that truly let the shit fly. Replacing the lyrics with "George Bush leave this world along. George Bush, find yourself another home," Pearl Jam elicited cheers of approval from the massive crowd, but not from the corporate sponsor of their stage.

This portion of the set was censored from AT&T's official Webcast of the event, and Vedder found out about the cut shortly after the set, and used the band's Web site to fire back, issuing the statement that cut through the core of the corporate festivities: "This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media," wrote Vedder with the good fight in his veins. "AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over the power that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media."

AT&T reps swear this wasn't censorship, but a mistake by an over-zealous content editor. Pearl Jam will be releasing unadulterated footage on its own Web site.