This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending Lollapalooza in Chicago. Which means I spent the entire weekend around rude teenagers and drunk adults. But in all seriousness, I love going to music festivals. Most lineups seem to be specifically catered to the kind of music I like, and if you can get past all the cons, you’ll probably have a great time.
My trip to Lolla was very last minute. I found out less than a month away that I’d be able to go. I didn’t exactly have the money saved for this trip, so I scrambled up whatever I could, and found the cheapest way to get there. I took a 20-hour bus down and stayed at a hostel a few blocks away from the venue. Again, I planned this all a few weeks before the festival, so I was unable to convince any friends to come with me. So I went alone. There’s something nice about going to a festival alone. No fighting with your friends about which band you should see, no trying to find them after you inevitably decide to split up. When you’re alone at a festival, especially out of state, you’re forced to meet new people, make new friends. You also tend to pay more attention to what other people are doing.
This was my first year at Lollapalooza. So when I arrived, the layout took me a by surprise. The fest was spread across Grant Park, with a main street cutting it down the middle. It reminded me of the many block parties I’ve been to in New York, except there were no arepas or deep-fried oreos.
My first show on Friday was Hot Chip, a favorite of mine for quite a bit now. I got to the stage about a half hour before they went on, and squirmed my way up as close as I could. There weren’t a lot of people there, but most of the people who were there were actually waiting for the Weeknd, who was playing at the same stage four hours later. But that didn’t get me down. Hot Chip came out and put on a show. And those of us in the crowd actually there for Hot Chip stepped up and danced enough to make up for it.
Alt J was up after Hot Chip. And though a few more Alt J fans made their way in, the crowd was still heavily made up of the Weeknd fans.
Ignoring that, they did an amazing job. The lights and visuals really complimented their performance. The contrast in Joe Newman’s and Gus Unger-Hamilton’s voices is even more prominent live. If you love Alt J’s music, then you’ll love them even more in concert.
The sun started to set, and the city lights started to shine. Looking at the tall buildings that surrounded the park, I felt at home, except for the swarm of dragonflies. This was definitely not something you see in New York. But I asked around and other people seemed confused by them too. So hundreds of dragonflies aren’t the usual at Lolla, good to know.
Day one was coming to a close, but before the night ended, I ran over to the Pepsi stage to catch Flying Lotus. It was a smaller stage, hidden behind some trees. There weren’t a lot of people there, since everyone was either at the Weeknd or Paul McCartney. But everyone who was there was a fan. Flying Lotus’ set was the first show that day where I saw people really getting down. The crowd couldn’t be more into it. Flying Lotus’ alter ego, Captain Murphy, came out to do a few songs. He ended with a bang, with people yelling for an encore even after crew members started dismantling his setup.
Saturday was bright and sunny. It was day two and the festival was booming. People are hanging out, smoking joints, having fun. It’s kind of hard not to have fun — the atmosphere is contagious.
There was definitely a dust problem at Lolla. With people kicking and dancing in the dirt, along with some high speed winds, I found myself in many dust storms. My all black apparel had a hint of beige and I had to pat myself down like a rug to get out the dust that was now embedded into my clothes.
Tame Impala was one of the few bands I saw on Saturday. This wasn’t my first time seeing them but it was the first time I’d seen them since their new album, Currents, came out. They played new songs from the album, such as “Eventually and “The Moment.” And while I enjoyed the dream pop sounds of Tame Impala, I ran into the same issue as the day before. Metallica fans had taken over the Samsung Galaxy stage. It really wasn’t a problem until the man right next to me starting screaming “Metallica! Metallica!” DURING Tame Impala’s set. Not cool.
If you haven’t heard, day three was briefly evacuated due to severe weather concerns. When they announced this, the sun was still high in the sky, so people were a bit confused. But as we began exiting the park, I saw what they were talking about. The sky turned gray and a huge lightning bolt struck across it. Luckily, I was staying only two blocks away from the venue, so I and a friend I had made went to CVS, bought some beer, and hung out in the common room of my hostel while we waited for the festival to reopen. That took less than an hour.
Now that the storm had come and gone, festival goers returned to Grant park to continue the festivities. No sets were canceled, just moved back. Fortunately, I was still able to see who I wanted to. First, I caught Marina and the Diamonds for a bubbly pop performance. She was wearing an all black plastic cat suit, and somehow she didn’t pass out.
Next was A$AP Rocky. Boy was that a show. Lets just say he saw some people moshing during his set, and encouraged everyone to do it. So we did. People could barely stand up cause we were being pushed from every angle. I wrapped my arms around my camera as I braced for impact. I probably would have more fun if I didn’t have my camera with me, but with that being said, I had an amazing time. A$AP really engaged with the crowd, and there wasn’t a moment when people weren’t dancing. Oh, and did I mention he brought out Vic Mensa?
To end the night, I set off to the other side of the park to catch Florence and the Machine. I needed a break after A$AP, so I enjoyed Florence from afar. After seeing Florence and the Machine twice already this summer (Bonnaroo and Governor’s Ball), she finally played my favorite song: “Cosmic Love.” My heart tells me she played it specifically for me, but it is one of her top three most played songs in concert, so maybe not. Florence’s voice was beautiful, as always, but she was unfortunately cut short due to the return of bad weather. She closed Lollapalooza out with the very popular “Dog Days.” Everyone sang along for this last song, and the weekend ended with us all dancing in the lightning.
Photos and review by Brittany
