More Foo

So, I didn't watch the MTV VMAs the other night, but I did watch the video that they won Best Rock Video for:



Even more hilarity today as my friend sent me their 2011 tour promo video. (NSFW, hot buns.)



Oh, and look what else I stumbled upon today…a Rolling Stone feature on the Foo Fighters that follows them on their first tour in 1995. And it ends, where else, at a truck stop outside Chicago…

Celebrity Kickball: Year Dos

Tankboy played in DO312's annual Celebrity Kickball game again this year--this time inside Lolla grounds--and I was on hand to take pictures. But, my favorite picture was taken of me with a certain star from Breaking Bad (no, it's not the RV).

One of my favorite moments of the game was someone yelling from the field that they lost an outfielder because they had to go sound check for their set. File that under things you don't hear during a normal sporting event. Check out the JBTV video below for some other highlights from the game.

Gimmie Some Vinyl

I went to Longman & Eagle last night for the opening of a little art exhibit featuring the works that Jonas Torvestig did for Peter Bjorn & John's latest album, Gimmie Some. He designed the three thumb cover art, but on display were twelve separate acrylic tiles with different variations on the theme--one for each track on the album.

I even got to meet the guys in the band since they were on hand hosting the opening. I always feel like a total heel whenever I actually talk to celebrities or musicians that I like...folks that I admire I guess...but they were really nice and they signed the 7" box set that I bought there. It's super cool, it has all Torvestig's corresponding prints on the sleeves inside. Oh, and it's numbered. I'm pretty sure I heard it was a limited run of 300. Pretty cool. Now we just gotta get that record player fixed...

The band will be in town through the weekend playing small shows as part of their All You Can Eat Tour. I'm super stoked to see them again tonight in the place that I first saw them back in '07 after the whole Young Folksplosion--The Empty Bottle.

Strange Storms

Today there was yet another fatal concert stage collapse at the Pukkelpop music festival in Belgium (while Chicago band Smith Westerns were performing), adding to the tragedy of last week's Indiana State Fair stage collapse that left five people dead. And this is on top of a Cheap Trick stage collapse and The Flaming Lips lighting rig falling down during storms (luckily no one was killed in either). Many are obviously questioning the structural integrity of these temporary stages, but what about the crazy weather? Of course summer is always filled with dangerous storms, but doesn't it seem like there's been a deluge of them this year? Maybe we just forget how bad it gets from year to year...Regardless, the question turns to how soon people should be evacuated in situations like this, but where is it safe to take cover at an open air festival where all the structures are temporary? This question did cross my mind a few weeks ago at Lollapalooza as I sat at a picnic table about 50 feet behind the main stage watching crews roll up the stage's back wall as the winds picked up and a storm rolled in.

Anyway, I don't have the answers, but I do have one way we can help out a Chicago landmark that was all but destroyed in a hail storm earlier this summer. Eric Mahle has organized a benefit tonight at Lincoln Hall to raise funds to restore the Garfield Park Conservatory after the hail shattered panes of the glass house, putting the many rare plants inside at risk. I've only been to the Conservatory once for a wedding a few years ago, but I will say I was in awe of it's beauty. Tonight we'll do good while having fun and watching live music, all the while thinking of those who lost loved ones in Indiana and Belgium doing the same.

Chicagoista

Even though I've already penned the occasional piece over at Chicagoist, today is my "official" debut with a preview of Reggie Watt!

All I can say is that it took me some time, and almost a year off from writing regularly, to finally accept the invitation. One year Lollapalooza burned me out, the next made me miss it.

I guess, as a friend said, it's come full circle. We used to refresh Chicagoist all day long at work (shhh...don't tell my bosses!). It's how I met my boyfriend, and now he is my editor. That was one of the obvious reasons it took me some time, but I was able to cut my teeth and create my own voice over at Transmission, and he was a mentor the whole time. So I'm pretty confident we won't "fight more" (unless it's over who's going to cover a show!).

N-E-WAY, enjoy this little Reggie Watts ditty as a preview for his shows this weekend:

"My Hero"

A truly epic moment at Lollapalooza 2011 when the sky opened up as the Foo Fighters began "My Hero." Even Dave embraced the rain. Notice the crew scrambling to cover all the equipment at the front of the stage!

Foo-tastic

So, that little Foo Fighters show at Metro? I wrote about it for Chicagoist. You should read it.

It was crazy fun. Plus it was awesome to see other music folks geeked out about a show--before and after.

Oh, and I got to meet drummer Taylor Hawkins backstage at Lollapalooza. He was super cool (duh). Thanks to Ernest!

Me and Taylor hangin out at Lolla. 

Tankboy: Lolla Expert

So, my boyfriend was on TV this morning. Apparently Fox Chicago News considers him some sort of Lollapalooza expert or something.

In all seriousness though, you sounded great, baby!

Fence Jumpers, Rain Don’t Spoil Lollapalooza: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Meant to Lolla

Well, looks like it was meant to be. I didn't buy a Lollapalooza pass this year because I wasn't that stoked about the lineup and I frankly just didn't want to spend the dough. Maybe I was a little jaded after covering the fest last year and then my writing burnout that shortly followed. Besides, I figured the weekend has become more about the surrounding parties and after-shows anyway, so I could go to some of those and be completely satisified...and not exhausted and covered in dirt and sweat (and honestly, the older I get, the harder it is to hang all day and all night!).

But here I am with a wristband wrapped securely around my wrist--one with pretty awesome access at that. My boy Tankboy was able to score it for me so I could watch him play in the now annual Do312 Celebrity Kickball game on Saturday.

This would have been my first year missing Lolla since it's Chicago rebirth. I guess that wasn't meant to be.

Holy Hell

Holy hell, I'm going to see them. RT @foofightersnews: Holy Hell, Foo Fighters To Play Metro http://t.co/nI0Kp3Z #foofighters

Sir Paul

“Are you sure you don’t want to take somebody else?”


“Are you really going to pass up an opportunity to see a Beatle!?”

Absolutely not. Especially when you put it that way! My thinking was that someone like a Beatles fanatic, or one of our parents should rightfully go over little ‘ol me, but I quickly realized what a unique opportunity* it is (I mean, what other band has members so distinctive that you would actually call them A fillinbandnamehere?!), and one that my boyfriend wanted to share with me.

The man in question is, of course, Sir Paul McCartney. Last night Tankboy brought me as his +1 to see his “On The Run” tour at Wrigley Field. You might expect a performance from something or someone so legendary to be uber professional and stuffy, but then you have to remember this is the guy who wrote songs like “Helter Skelter” and was part of a very small club who defined rock as we know it. Of course still wildly pro, Sir Paul gave a rather informal performance--interacting with the crowd, making jokes, telling anecdotes (from his seemingly endless catalog) and just plain goofing off and dancing between songs.

Besides being nearly 3 hours of hit after hit after hit after sing-a-long hit, the most memorable moment of the night by far was “Live and Let Die.” I sure would like to have seen the look on my face through this and a couple of other songs! As Tankboy said, there was fire everywhere--puffs of flames and explosions on the stage, fireworks behind the stage (to get an idea of how close we were, I could feel the heat on my face--but at 23 rows back, that gives you an idea of how much fire there actually was!); it was pretty damn cool.

Thanks again to my lovely boyfriend for bringing me! It was such a contrast from the night before, when we were at a friend’s place for a small, intimate outdoor house concert from singer/songwriter Megan Burtt--not to undercut either! Both are incredibly unique experiences, from one end of the spectrum to the other. I get to experience some pretty amazing things, and I feel lucky for every one of them!

*So unique, that over several conversations on the subject of taking kids to see Sir Paul, I concluded that if I had one, and my partner had two tickets, without blinking I’d say, “take the kid.” Having seen a Beatle will be a much rarer and coveted experience as time presses on.