The festival that changed everything...

Some of you might have heard of a festival called Lollapalooza. It's held every August in Grant Park and attracts music lovers from around the world. The lead singer of Jane's Addiction is the creator and it was originally a traveling festival. This festival opened my eyes to the music world and really got me into music. If I go this summer it will be my 6th year in a row going, which blows my mind sometimes! The first year I went was in 2006, and Jack White's band the Raconteurs had just hit the music scene. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures from this because this was before I had gotten a digital camera. Anyways, I had heard a lot about this festival over the years from listening to Q101 and hearing people talk about it. My Mom and I had decided to check it out and see what the hype was about. The hype was definitely deserved. I had never seen this many people in one area in my entire life. When I saw the lineup included the Raconteurs I knew that I had to go. Lollapalooza is 3 days long and people can buy 3 day passes or just go for one day. We decided to go on Friday because (at the time) we knew more bands playing that day. My Morning Jacket was the band playing before the Raconteurs so we caught the last part of their set and tried to get closer to the stage after they had left.

Being the 95 pound, 5 foot 3, 14 year old in a sea of way older (and bigger) people would make the idea of getting close to the stage a bit of a challenge. We had finally pushed our way through what seemed like hundreds of people to get to a decent spot and thought we had lucked out. Of course, a hulking dude that was about 300 pounds was standing right in front of me which was extremely frustrating. (NEVER FAILS TO HAPPEN. The tallest or largest people in the world always end up in front of me!) I was very shy at this stage in my life so my Mom encouraged me to politely ask him if he could move over a little bit so I could see. Well I did and he replied by saying something about how his brother was over there and he was gonna get him.  I still to this day don't know if he was referring to getting his brother to beat me up or what but it was terrifying. This happened about 10 minutes before the Raconteurs hit the stage and the guy finally moved over a tiny bit but I still had a hard time seeing. This was my first time seeing Jack White perform and he did not disappoint. All the band members had equal representation and they all played their hearts out. At one point Jack had slipped on a piece of paper and almost fell-which would've been bad considering he's a legit giant and had a long way to fall.  The crowd was very energetic and seemed to really enjoy the band. After their set ended we walked around for a bit and checked out some random bands. Since this was our first year going we just went with the flow and got the hang of how things worked. We ended up seeing part of Death Cab for Cutie's set and got to hear a few songs. They were the headliners for that night so there were a ton of people that had been there the whole day waiting. We ended up leaving early because we wanted to beat the crowds and make it out alive.  I thought this festival was the coolest thing in the world and was so glad that I went!

2007.
We went on a Sunday this year because more of the bands we wanted to see were on that day. I could kick myself for not having a decent camera (again) to capture some of the epic moments that happened. I did get some pictures on a disposable camera so I'll try to figure out how to get them up here. First of all, I got to see Amy Winehouse, Iggy and the Stooges AND Pearl Jam! Amy Winehouse was fantastic and I am SO glad that I got to see her in concert. I remember being amazed that such a strong voice could come out of such a tiny person! Her backup singers were really cool too, they were all dressed in matching suits. She was the act before Iggy Pop so after she left we just waited at the stage until he came on. Iggy Pop is the coolest guy ever, he had people come up on stage with him. I wanted to go so bad but I knew that it wouldn't be good considering how small I am! It was really cool to see everyone run up and jump on stage though and looking back I probably would've done it if I had the chance. Iggy also came out not wearing a shirt which was hysterical considering he was over 50 and he's the only performer I've seen not wearing a shirt. After his set ended we had a few hours before Pearl Jam so we got something to eat and took in the other bands. We knew from the beginning that there was no way we would ever get close to see Pearl Jam so we happily stayed away from the madness. Eddie Vedder was everything that I expected him to be...political, rugged and wearing a flannel shirt. He played hit songs Alive, Black, Even Flow, Jeremy, Corduroy, among others.

2008.
This year was by far one of my favorite years of Lolla. I got to see a few bands that I reaaally wanted to see and the weather was awesome! The bands I saw were Booka Shade, (SO COOL. They're a techno band from Germany!) Toadies, and Rage Against the Machine. We also caught a glimpse of Slash at the Perry Farrell stage, it was cool seeing him in person with his signature top hat! Rage Against the Machine played one of the best live shows I have ever seen. The one thing that wasn't cool was how rowdy the crowd was getting, and it got to the point where Zach de la Rocha (lead singer) literally said he would walk off stage if it continued. Sure enough it did and the band actually walked off the stage. This was the time when I thought that anyone that got on Zach's bad side would be a fool, because that guy was intense and he doesn't mess around. Performers really do care about their audience and it would make me pissed too if people were getting out of control at my show.  Anyways, 10 minutes later the band came back and stayed the rest of the performance. My favorite songs are Freedom, Bulls on Parade, Down Rodeo, and Killing in the Name. They ended up playing all of those and more, which exposed me to some of their lesser known songs. I ended up leaving with the feeling that I had gotten my money's worth this year and had seen a lot of great talent.

My Mom and I :) She is the one who got me into all the great music! I give her all the credit haha.

2009. 

This year we saw The Airborne Toxic Event, Lou Reed and Jane's Addiction. We went on Sunday this year because Jane's is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. The Airborne Toxic Event are most known for their songs Sometime Around Midnight and Changing. I think it was raining a bit during their set so I didn't take any pictures but I vaguely remember a cool girl cello player! After we saw them we went to the stage where Lou Reed was performing, which was the same stage Jane's Addiction would play on. I'm really glad that I got to see him because he's a legend and I don't know if I would've had the chance to see him again. Walk on the Wild Side....enough said. Jane's Addiction was a wild show and Perry Farrell's outfit was crazy! He had an entire gold outfit on complete with a gold cape. So funny. He also brought his two adorable sons onstage and his wife Etty. Joe Perry came out as a special guest and everyone went nuts! (He's the lead guitarist for Aerosmith in case anyone didn't know.) Dave Navarro is a killer guitar player and he looks exactly like he does in pictures haha piercings, shirtless and covered in tattoos. I really enjoyed myself and it was cool seeing the guy who created the entire festival perform with his band! I took a few pictures, but we were far from the stage so I took them off of the screens.

 

Buckingham Fountain! 

 Crazy outfit!

Joe Perry! So awesome.

2010.

This year was my favorite year by far! This year we saw MGMT, MUTEMATH, Cypress Hill and Soundgarden. (I've seen a lot of big 90's grunge bands in my life haha just realizing that) MGMT brought out an interesting crowd, everyone in their audience had face paint on and were dressed like "hippies". I'm sure half of these people that go to Lolla never dress like that in real life but whatever. MUTEMATH is a great band, I stress great because I liked them so much I actually paid money to buy their CD to meet them. If you ever get the chance to see them in concert, do it! Such cool guys and their music is so inventive. It was nice to be able to meet some of the bands and get pictures with them. This was the first and only time I've ever taken advantage of the FYE Autograph tent! Cypress Hill is a novelty band, so we had to go see them. Insane in the Membrane is their hit song so I was glad to have heard that live. Also, largest amount of stoners I have ever seen in one area hahaha totally expected though! Soundgarden was spectacular and Chris Cornell sounds exactly like he does on records. He even brought back his long 90's hair! I feel like I was born in the wrong generation at these concerts, I look around and am usually one of the youngest people in the crowd. Anyways, Chris Cornell is great live and I suggest you see him either by himself or in Soundgarden!

Me with MUTEMATH

Paul-lead singer of MUTEMATH! He was such a sweet guy.

Exhibit A: Chris Cornell rockin' the 90's hair.

2011.
Notice how this is the only year that isn't a color? That's because it was the cursed year of Lolla. So we usually pick Sunday which is the last day of the festival because the classic bands normally play on that day. Maybe because it's the end and they want a big turn out for the last day, who knows. Anyways, this year was pretty much a write off year. First of all, it rained, HARD. (This is why I don't have any pictures!) When it rains in Grant Park there's literally no where you can go. The forecast didn't even say it was supposed to rain so we went down there assuming the weather would be good. The first band we saw was the Joy Formidable. They're from London and have a girl lead singer who was so precious! Towards the end of their set the girl went crazy and started banging on this huuuge gong, it was hysterical. Also, there were inflatable cats on the stage, so random. Then we saw part of Best Coast, a band from Chicago. They were pretty good and also had a female singer. There weren't a lot of good bands on this day besides Foo Fighters so we kind of felt like it was a waste of time from the beginning. Little did we know how much of a waste it would turn out to be! The storm got more frequent throughout the day so we stayed close to this little cafe that had an awning over it and stood there until the rain let up. The people working were so nice and gave us both free ponchos. In the time frame of us waiting for the storm we saw a HUGE spider and a funnel cloud forming right in front of us. Pretty terrifying to say the least. The rain finally stopped (or so we thought) and we walked around to get dry. Fast forward to about 7:50, we're waiting for the Foo Fighters to come on at 8. All of a sudden the sky starts looking really weird and we hear thunder. Five minutes after David Grohl steps on stage all hell breaks loose. Torrential downpour and insane lightning combined with an outdoor festival is not what I call fun. We literally walked from Grant Park to the parking garage with garbage bags over our heads while wading in ankle deep street water. WORST. EXPERIENCE. EVER. I didn't even get to see Dave Grohl because I literally couldn't. So it's safe to say I won't be going on Sunday again or going on a day that has a small amount of people I want to see.

I guess the moral of this story is that everything has its time and maybe this happened so I can broaden my horizons and go to a different festival. Coachella maybe? :)