A briefing HAHA

Friday August 1st



The 6 of us had flown from the Buffalo airport to Chicago on Friday morning to attend the best Lolla-fest that Grant Park has had in years. The top-heavy line-up was a great help in selling out two of the three days of the festival and also selling out the 200$ 3 days passes. Which I believe to be a huge bargain!

After signing into our conveniently located downtown hotel, gypsy punkers Gogol Bordello, was well worth experiencing. Front man Eugene Hutz enthralled the audience with his manic stage presence and his crazy mustache. They treated their set like a nonstop party, never slowing down or giving into the heat. They didn't think about the grueling temperatures, so neither did I, making them the first band of the day that made me forget about the agony and let me dance the pain away. Their newest album Super Taranta! is pretty fun to listen to. But live is the way to go with this band.
Needing more beer I head to one of the eleven bars set up around the park. I was told that there would be no way to get through the Radiohead-inspired growing crowd with my hands full. I was on a mission. I was exhausted from the long day already and the even longer night before, the excitement kept me awake the whole damn night.
After weaving through the half sitting crowd towards the front, I eventually made it back with the refreshments. I found a nice spot in the grass with some locals and started chatting while waiting for Bloc Party to come out. You meet some of the coolest people while waiting and soaking up the sun.
Bloc Party starts rocking out post punk revival-style to only half the crowd. The next band up on that stage is Radiohead, so it's not surprising that there's already a pretty massive crowd. Too bad most of them are ignoring the band and getting wasted, not giving them a chance. Could have had a bit more action but they still put on a decent show and sounded incredible.

Radiohead were the sole headliners on Friday, and the tickets for that single day have been sold out since they went onsale. And unless you camped out in front of the stage for three hours (or were a complete dick and shoved your way to the front) you weren't going to get anywhere near them. However, the band's light show was spectacular, the sound perfection and the band in good spirits, Thom even smiled, very briefly. It was cute. The only thing I would have changed (although I did love how artsy the screens were (six way split screen with very close up shots of each of the members)) is having the camera views different so the people who couldn't see the stage full on could have had the same experience. Hearing songs such as "The Bends", "Fake Plastic Trees", "Videotape" and "Paranoid Android" in this setting was a treat I'll never forget.

Saturday, August 2nd


The pack of 4 did a little site seeing in the ritzy downtown core taking pictures of the architecture and got a little shopping done. We grabbed refreshments and headed back to the hotel before hitting the park for round two.

Completely refreshed after an early night I found my way back to the grass and I lounged about without a care in the world. The people buzzing around me was a nice comfort as I checked out the festival styles and overheard some pretty funny shit. I staked out an excellent spot right in front of the sound tent for MGMT and it was a good thing we got there early because as the band came on stage they were visibly surprised by the massive crowd that had gathered to see them. MGMT kind of stumbled out of the gate, performing a couple slow album cuts before turning it up to 11. They had made up for the slow start and drove the crowd into a frenzy, complete with inappropriate bottle throwing and crowd surfing. I have to admit that I hadn't giving MGMT the listen they so deserved until that day, and I'm glad I did. I then swiftly headed to the LollaShop to stand in that crowd again to finally get my Radiohead tshirt. It's my new love! Met up with everyone else and we grabbed food and chilled in the shade. We then started to head back to the main stage to grab some ground for the pending Rage concert. Lupe Fiasco put on an energetic performance (although it seemed over rehearsed) too bad he's Kanye West's protege. LoL The chaos began after Lupe and his band left the stage. Every time a small bubble of people would leave the crowd (a whole 8 people I'm assuming wasn't there for Rage lol) the bonehead contingent was amping up in anticipation of Rage and forcibly shoved their way forward. We were pretty far back behind the sound tent for Lupe but managed to push our way to the middle of the mosh pit thanks to our brave momma bear! (Haha.. I had no idea how stupid that was until an hour later) You quickly became family with the sweaty half naked people around you. Chanting "Fuck VIP" and "Shark Week" was for amusement. What my friends and I found really awesome was while crammed in this over packed sardine can we happened to be standing with half a dozen more St. Kitters! It was awesome to know people there before our pending fate. The crowd started pushing a little bit more and more as go-time drew near. I can't get into specifics.. I want to make this short.. I wore flipflops. A blaring siren goes off and the band's iconic red star illuminates the stage and they begin with "Testify". The jammed mosh pit started to jump. If you didn't go with the jump (and you kind of had to because you're literally squished between people, so if they jumped you involuntarily went with them) you would fall to the feet of the crowd and they weren't going to stop to help you up. After the first song we climbed over people to get back to the sound stage where I made a goon throw Ami and I over the fence to safety. The best part was when security then escorted us toward the stage up the center aisle and I could see the single beads of sweat on Zach de la Rocha and bassist Tim Commerford. Mean while, hundreds of people were being pulled from the pit with broken bones and bleeding/sweating faces. Walking towards the VIP lounge for space and much needed air we listened to Zach tell the crown to chill and take care of each other and to stop the unnecessary competition for the front of the mosh pit. He didn't want anyone else to get hurt and threatened to cut the show short if people didn't take 10 steps back. (Youtube videos available) After getting to a good viewing spot Ami and I stopped to breath and find we're still shaking. We meet other survivors and we're still so excited. But now we can enjoy the music. They didn't have the vibe I have heard they usually have when playing live. The quality of Rage's sound system was a little sad and performance wise they sounded like they were just going through the motions from their most popular songs. BUT I'm not complaining, just being honest. Fuck that was a great night. Even the stairs to get out of the park were jammed pack with bodies and people were moshing everywhere. For an encore, the setlist read like a personal selection for a "Best Of" compilation. The favourites "Wake Up" and "Freedom" were a perfect build up to the blistering powerhouse "Killing in the Name of". Dancing, screaming and rocking out to Rage's encore in the street with Ami was as satisfyingly cathartic as it gets. A week has passed and I'm still high.




Sunday, August 3rd

The exciting late night before led to a slower start in the morning. Any of the smaller bands we would have enjoyed seeing were playing way too early to trek down to the park. So we lazed about and the 6 of us reunited for brunch at a fancy restaurant. Food was great, conversation was good and the day was just getting started. We decided that the first band of the evening we really cared about was Love and Rockets, who didn't go on til 6pm. We floated around listening to Flogging Molly close by and got our spots 6 bodies from the gate at the Bud stage where Nine Inch Nails would be performing within hours. Perry Farrell came out on stage and caused a ruckus introducing L&R and kissing them all on the lips as they walked out. They played a loud set, and stress the loud, but they had some very excited fans (alot of them older). L&R are a bit before my time, however, the band showed a lot of life on stage, and it was a pleasure to catch such a band in their twilight.
There was a good hour between the L&R set and Nine Inch Nails so we had a bit of waiting to do. So again I sit and drink the vodka I had in my purse. We hang out with locals, tour chasers, serpents, crazy old men and their ass-cracks and some generally nice individuals. There are the ever present beach balls bouncing happily in the air, one Sharpied stating "FUCK KANYE".. I really wanted that one. The sun is setting and there is a cool breeze. The crowd is getting thicker but eerily calm. We had no idea that this group was going to get as rowdy as it did. I was unprepared.. once again in my flipflops.. The rushing began as soon as NIN hit the stage and Ami's face had the same look of sheer panic she displayed the night before. "I am not going through this again" we say in sync. Just when the 2nd song got the crowd shoving more, I look at my feet and see there is blood everywhere, from the place my big pink toe nail used to be. Ami took this awesome opportunity to get me out of there and we hit up the Medi-tent. We headed back to the NIN crowd to catch the rest of the show from a safe distance and stop at a group of Canadians! We had our own mosh pit there with plenty of shoving and rocking out. I was in the air for most of the set and had a great view of the stage. The stunning visual show gives Radiohead a run for its money, alternating between red lights and swirling backgrounds, and enough strobe lights to give an epileptic a seizure. The set list was a bold one, heavy on material from their new album The Slip and even featuring some of the instrumental numbers from Ghosts I-IV. The audience kept their attention throughout though, and their patience was rewarded with blistering, ultra violent renditions of NIN classics like “Closer,” “Head Like a Hole” and “Wish.” Before finishing up with an encore that included the self-loathing anthem “Hurt,” Trent took some time speak to the audience, thanking them for their attention and apologizing for his voice, which he claimed was off. If he wouldn't have mentioned it, no one would have noticed. It was a wicked show/time as the festival wound to a close. We stopped at a grassy hill outside the park to smoke and lay down to look at the stars. Throw in some intelligent conversation and it was the perfect night. Only to get funner. LoL
The walk home with fellow Canadian's who were also staying at the Hyatt was especially interesting. I believe, being half in the bag and high on life after such a great weekend led to us getting very lost in the underground level of downtown Chicago. Walking along the wrong side of the river and dancing in the fountains was so freeing. None of us had working phones or maps and definitely not even a general idea of where we were going. But we embrassed the adventure and loved the night.
Monday morning had come too fast and we had to pack to leave. Our flight was at noon-thirty-five and we were melancholy. But we were ready for rest. Next time Lollapalooza, you will not have me fooled.. I will have my steel toe boots and don't worry.. my love will grow with time.

And this is the short version. Haha