Some Final Lollapalooza Thoughts (And Photos)
By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 8, 2011 7:00PM
There are numerous ways to experience Lollapalooza and I try to cover them all. It's exhausting, and man do your legs get a workout running all over Chicago, but in the end it's worth it. There are so many levels to the fest it's easy to just stay focused on a single one, so that's why each year we here at Chicagoist try and bring you something a little more personal at the end of the festival.
This year Lollapalooza was bigger than big. Massive. It was a city within a city (and when you add in all the behind-the-scenes stuff we could probably take the Russian nesting doll comparison a little further).And it's remarkably well run. Considering its sheer scale it really impressive that things stay relatively under control all three days. In fact the overarching theme we got from this year's fest was a mellow one. I think that the middle of the road line-up failed to create many lasting memories for me over the last three days, but it seemed to keep everyone in a good mood. The true revelation from this year's fest was Perry's Stage, an airplane hangar-sized outdoor club. Without fail the was the focal point for zealous energy and everyone there was only interested in one thing: dancing their faces off. It brought into quick focus that you can throw whatever criticism you want Lolla's way, the simple fact remains that for many this IS their summer and they are going to have a good time whether you like it or not. I met some kids from the middle of Kansas and our brief chat showed me that while we locals might take Lollapalooza for granted at times, visitors are kind of envious we have it in the midst of our city.
And there's the other side to those visitors; the VIPs and talent and incoming management and such. To them Lollapalooza is another SXSW filled with day parties and late night afterparties, so we tried to take in a few of those as well.The Friday night afterparty scene was packed at The Belve Music Lounge for a DJ set from Hey Champ. The crowd was quickly turning towards the bottle service mentality so we took refuge at the Sailor Jerry and Filter party at the Hard Rock Hotel. It was way more our speed and while crowded it was as insanely overly packed as previous years at the Hard Rock afterparties have been.
Saturday started early with yet another aspect of the festival; kickball. This was the second year I played in the Do312 Celebrity kickball tournament and while Chris Holmes' team took away their second straight vidtory it was worth it see the glee in Elijah Woods' eyes when he scored a two rune homer to claim the mantle of MVP. See? That last sentence is totally ridiculous but so fun who can get angry at it? After that we headed to the Miami “Express Yourself” Oasis and EXPRESS ROCKS! SUITE where we ran into local tattoo artists Code Of Conduct laying ink on attendees for free while we sipped Asahi beers and munched on food from Qdoba. Sadly we missed ?uestlove when he made an appearance later to grab some swag.
So we have regular attendees and the VIP scene covered. But what about moments that turn someone like me into a total gibbering music geek? how about Foo Fighters at Metro. I was lucky enough to buy tickets when they went on sale earlier in the week and it ended up being worth every penny as the band played two and a half hours of their entire new album and a string of hits that the crowd never wanted to end. I love music and get tremendous joy out of pretty much every show I see (even a bad band deserves some respect for having the guts to get onstage) but this was one of those rare musical moments where you realize "holy shit this is special."
Lollapalooza itself could have used more of those moments, but then again it's because of Lollapalooza that the Foo Fighters even played Metro. So, taking the above into account I think it can be argued that Lollapalooza can be ridiculous, vexing, tiring, exultant, priceless, hilarious and exuberant all at the same time. And I'm glad that since it's based in Chicago we get the opportunity to see so many people experience all those different levels.
OK, let's wrap this thing up with my appearance on FOX's Good Day Chicago this morning where I discussed my final impressions of this year's Lollapalooza.