August, 2008

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12
Aug 08

Big, Bigger, Biggest

“Mass of humanity” is the first thought that comes to my mind when recalling the Lollapalooza weekend. Where the hell did all these people come from? By Sunday the 75,000 energetic music enthusiasts skipping from show to show on Friday seemed more like 500,000 semi-deranged castaways (or inmates depending on your perspective) hanging onto the laws of polite society by a thread. The walk from stage to stage felt more like a forced migration, slowly rolling from point to point. “You mean we have to go all the way over there to see those guys?… Who’s playing on this stage right here?… Oh, they’re not so bad.”

This year’s Scale Factor seemed to be driven by the size and quantity of headliners. The schedule seemed weighted towards the huge, well orchestrated stage extravaganzas at the end of the day and less like a continuous feed of on-the-brink bands pulling out all the stops to make a name for themselves. Maybe it’s just the people I talked to, but it seemed that these few energetic up-and-comers were slotted early in the day and the rest of the line up was merely adequate filler (no one topping the mid day enthusiasm none other than Billy Idol brought to the fest a couple years ago) to keep everyone occupied until the 8:00pm Big Guns were brandished and fired. That’s not to say it wasn’t fun, wasn’t worth it, wasn’t entertaining or wasn’t a success. It’s just to say that it felt a little more engineered… towards concession sales.

A Lolla-related weekend highlight was a very large Nothern-Irish bartender in Lakeview (imagine Gorgeous George from Snatch) berating a visiting Lolla attendee for meekly requesting a glass of water. “I didn’t go to f#%&ing bar tending school to serve you f#%&ing water!” Those of us that caught the exchange were each rewarded with a couple lethally sized Jaegerbombs for finding this to be the funniest thing we’d seen all weekend… of course the 81 year old woman on the other side of the bar quietly downing Beam & Cokes in the middle of a crowded bar at 2:00am ranked up near the top of the list too.

Did I mention the weather turned out to be quite tolerable despite the predictions? Yeah, really.

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8
Aug 08

V I P alooza

Lollapalooza 2008 – Not Just Music

Being an avid concert goer I was very excited to journey into the three day bender of musical acts known as Lollapalooza. I was especially excited being that my two favorite bands were headlining—Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails. Before Radiohead were announced to be headlining they had not booked any Chicago dates so my friends and I journeyed to St. Louis to see them headline their own show which was amazing!

The three days were filled with more than just musical acts. Throughout the weekend I was receiving text message alerts for special events and contests to win VIP day passes. One contest was for best air guitar performance. I decided that since I had seen the documentary Air Guitar Nation that I would have a leg-up on the other contestants. Air guitar is taken quite seriously in some parts of the world. One belief states if everyone was holding air guitars they wouldn’t be able to hold a weapon and the world would be a more peaceful place. It’s true. My friends thought I was crazy to go and try to compete for this but I went anyway. The text message gave me instructions to meet at a specific place and time. I was there with 5 minutes to spare. After waiting there for about 15 minutes I realized the contest had been going on behind me aways and was very low key. No signs or speakers or music. Just a woman in a bright colored shirt with a couple of passes for whoever she declared champion. This was mildly upsetting, especially considering that there were only 8 or so people competing, but I gained the knowledge that for future contests I would just have to look for her.

On day three I received another special alert that another contest would be taking place and the meeting place was Buckingham Fountain. This contest sounded a little bizarre. The passes were to be awarded to whoever performed the best ballerina dance. OK, the air guitar was one thing but this time my friends really thought I was crazy for going. Who can blame them? Of course I went and made sure to be there with plenty of time and scoured the area for the woman who told me to look for her. After lapping the fountain twice I found her. To my surprise I was the first person to show. I thought for sure there wouldn’t be many more showing up for this and that I would have a real chance at winning these VIP passes. After welcoming me the woman asked that I hold her large parasol in the air as high as I could so that she could run around and direct people toward me for the contest. I agreed thinking this could perhaps score me some points and increase my chances of winning. Within minutes there was a crowd of people 50+ large in front of me asking me all sorts of questions about the contest as if I had the answers. I had been turned into the meet and greet for the contest.

The woman returned and instructed everyone to follow her around while doing their best ballerina moves. For the next 10 minutes or so anyone walking past the fountain would have seen a spectacle sure to make them say, “What the heck!?” Imagine, a group of 50+ people prancing around and twirling about with no music whatsoever. I mentioned this on Monday while we were swapping stories and came to learn that Chris Sculles and family had seen this happening and took it to be just a bizarre group of people dancing for no apparent reason. When the contest was over the passes were awarded to two men who’d been holding each other in the air and swinging around. They did a good job, no doubt. But really? Had I been turned into this meet and greet without even receiving a door prize? This was unfortunate, but still fun.

It was a great weekend and I am definitely looking forward to next year!

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4
Aug 08

Kid-o-Palooza

Three days at Lollapalooza and the most interesting day was my “Family Day”.

When your five-year-old is dancing with her best friend to Love and Rockets there is nothing to do but kick back and smile.

So glad that Lolla has the Kid Stage. The BierGarden was also a great addition. The Kid Stage gives parents an excuse to hang with the family, see friends and still be part of one of the coolest weekends in Chicago.

Garrett - YOU LET US DOWN!!!!! G-Love was supposed to play the kid stage on Sunday - He must have thought he was too cool to show. You looked fine at your main stage show! I guess you think playing to a bunch of sweaty, half dressed college co-eds is more fun than playing to a bunch of snot-nosed toddlers… I guess I can’t really blame you.

Perry Ferrell and Slash killed the kids stage with an odd choice of Superstition, Knocking on Heavens Door, and Jane Says. I don’t think that my daughter fully appreciated the Rock-Star Status that she was in the presence of. And I think Slash may have scared her.

Slash was wearing the best t-shirt. It was of Slash.

One more Lolla down. When’s next years line-up coming out?

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1
Aug 08

Paloozaprehension

“Of (expletive) course…” was the thought waking up this morning. Not only is it supposed to be 90-95° all weekend (hottest of the year) but the dose of rain we got this morning will add a swampy sheen to the weekend’s festivities. Heat and humidity are just the combination you want to avoid when wading into a field of 100,000 people suddenly relieved of the concept of personal space. Heat stroke, dehydration, electrocution and OD-ing on hipster irony are all valid concerns heading into what is supposed to be the largest (surely the most profitable) incarnation of Lollapalooza.

No matter, we blindly charge on.

At the most basic level, the draw to Lolla is a weekend of nothing in particular to do, with no particular time to do it. A weekend in the park with a plentiful supply of frosty beverages and something (anything) to see will do here in Chicago. As it stands four McGuffins will be risking life and limb to take it all in. Expectations are high for some and minimal for others. Monday we’ll piece it all together for you.