Friday
The highlight of my day was the one thing that got me out of bed and got my ass to the park early and that was Hey Champ performing on the Main Stage at 12:15. The guys kicked some serious dance-rock ass. It was really cool to see the guys on the big screens by the stage! I think I took more pics of the screens than I did of them!! Needless to say I was super proud, although maybe not as proud as Papa Steve :)
The one thing that sucked about Friday was the RAIN. I was waiting for all the newspaper, magazine and online headlines to read "Mudpalooza," but I did hear of one "Rainapalooza" front page. I have this theory that people are okay with rain at music festivals bc Woodstock made it look so cool. Anyway, every time it rains I think how glad I am that I bought my green Marmot rain jacket (even if it did cost $100). It was still pretty cold though, my little fingers turning white, saved only slightly by this year's Lolla koozies. Speaking of holding beers, this year the fest was selling cans of beer instead of cups, including 24 oz cans which I thought was a great call bc it meant less frequent trips to the bar. Unfortunately those big cans were gone on Saturday, likely because they could become dangerous projectiles if thrown, but bartenders were saying that people just got too drunk. 
Speaking of 24 oz cans of beer, I think they were getting to my head by the time I was alone watching of Montreal on the Vitaminwater stage and my girl Brynn took off to the other end to see Andrew Bird. (I should mention that I skipped his set bc I was lucky enough to see him Thursday night at Schubas) I decided to take a trip to the porta-potties, and when I came out I saw Tom, Dan and his girlfriend standing right there on the stairs and Tom says they were just talking about me! So I took the crew over to the "BAR" where my buddy had been hooking us up all day (tip: get a friend at the bar). We pretty much ended the evening there in front of the bar. Most everyone joined back up with us and we had a little party in the background of Depeche Mode's set.
Every night after the fest, Tankboy and I somehow or another always ended up back at the Hard Rock Hotel party thanks to his Chicagoist "press" credentials (I had no press access this time around. sadface.). The girl who checked us in looked really familiar and when I finally placed that she looks like that chick from the Bachelorette, he asked me her name (Jen Schefft), and turns out she was the one he had been communicating with back and forth about credentials and party info via email. While it was nothing quite as wild as last year, it was still fun, and--I'll be honest--pretty cool to be part of such an exclusive party.
We didn't stay there too long, as Tankboy was going to shoot the Lykke Li aftershow at Bottom Lounge. I really really wanted to go to the show, but in the cab on the way there, I decided I had had enough to drink and needed to go home. But, the night ended with me locking myself out of my apartment and sleeping on the neighbor's couch... long story, not really worth it here.
Saturday
Saturday was a little different in that I never made it to the festival proper at all. There wasn't anyone I was dying to see that day (which fueled some thought about heading to STL for the night to attend my ten-year high school reunion--which I didn't). The day started off with Tankboy and I witnessing a car wreck downtown on our way to the Playboy Rockstar Brunch. Luckily no one was seriously injured, but there were two pretty pissed off women.
The brunch wasn't quite as glam, or sexy as it would sound, but it was still very cool. The food was gone by the time we got there, so we hit the drinks instead (luckily we had eaten at Treat on the way). We ran into Saam and Steve shortly after arriving so we hung out with them and the rest of the Hey Champ crew. There was a bunny ice sculpture shots were being served from, a "makeout room" where Saam had his picture taken with a playmate (again, not as racy as it sounds, in the slightest), DJ Mom Jeans on the decks, and in one of the rooms there was a photo from the back of Radiohead's stage from Lolla last year, and wouldn't you know, there was Tankboy in the photo pit.
From there I had planned on going straight to the fest, but the sweltering heat was a bit of a deterrent and the crew was heading up to the Hard Rock so we went along. I figured I would spend the afternoon there and have an opportunity to go home, change, let the dog out, etc, before Hey Champ's show that night at LaSalle Power Co.
LaSalle Power Co pissed me off to no end with their pretentiousness (Maybe one day I will describe the events that took place here, but I do not feel like getting all riled up about it again. Know only that I will never attend a show here again and I will slaughter them in any preview I have to write.), and I ended up taking off for Hard Rock. Lucky for me, I arrived just in time to get in with Tankboy bc the place was crazy outside. He was taking pictures as Passion Pit and Santigold played. I found myself in the middle of the room when GZA took the stage with Santigold and the place went crazy with people throwing up Wu-Tang signs and I decided I prob didn't belong there so I went back by the bar and met this guy Roy. Totally thought he was trying to hit on me, but heended up being really cool and Tankboy and I spent most of the evening talking with him about music biz stuff. Turns out he was there as the stage manager for Yeah Yeah Yeahs.Sunday it was back to the fest. It was still hot, but it was a fairly chill day. I spent most of the day camped out on the north end after running into my old co-worker friend Devin at Dan Deacon. Brynn and Bart supplied the blanket, and Ryan eventually cheated his way in to meet us. We saw Neko Case, Dan Auerbach and Lou Reed (who set off the delay that would create much ire for me later on). It was pretty cool to see the legend on stage, even if he did look older than dirt (he didn't even put on his own guitar!).
Then, it was time for Jane's Addiction to take the stage. Apparently Band of Horses didn't get the message though because they played through their first few songs, including their over-the-top helicopter opening. I even heard that they came back out TWICE and said "one more song?" --the second time my friend Tim thought they were joking. Needless to say the soundbleed was AWFUL and pretty much ruined "Mountain Song" for me. The whole thing can be encapsulated by my single tweet from the evening: "Band of Horses. Forever on my shit list." I understand that they started late because Lou Reed started late and went over his set time, but Jane's still started ten minutes late and they could have shared the 20 minute overage. But most of all, Lollapalooza is Perry's house and you have to respect the host.
Ok, I'm done. Besides that, the show was amazing. Perry Farrell was never meant to do anything but front this band. There were so many stand out moments, the best one for me I think was just hearing "Been Caught Stealing" live. The dancers were dressed as the cover of Nothing's Shocking, drummer Stephen Perkins played against doctor's orders, Perry's kids took the stage, and there was even a marriage proposal at the end--by a photographer Tankboy and I know!! (My friend and I were actually giving him ring advice after the Metric show a few months ago!) The best part though was when Tankboy turned to me and pointed at a single tear coming down his face... I have never seen him cry. He had seen them at the first Lollapalooza and he was crying at seeing the original Jane's Addiction lineup together again. I think I love him even more now, heh. (The moment was made even more precious by Brynn telling me that her husband thought that until that moment he thought the lead singer of Jane's Addiction was a girl. I asked her if he got the significance of the "Perry's" dance tent, and she said she had explained everything to him.)
[PS-Check out Tankboy's amazing pics of Jane's Addiction.]
The Hard Rock that night was much more tame than the night before. Ra Ra Riot and Chairlift played and I met fellow GB-er Lisa in line (and I had to tell these kids to step back "five-feet" from me after gushing about being in the vip party and then asking me to take their picture with a disposable fuji and then spilling a drink on my foot. Take your slurpee cup--yes I can see that it is filled with beer--and stand over there, kids.)
Monday I took a much needed day off from my day-job to rest, write and take in the weekend. But, if you're already ready to start thinking about next year, tickets are already on sale! (geez...)
One last thing...
Happy Anniversary Tankboy.
1 comment:
Five feet!
Post a Comment