after a fun night out in wicker park and sleeping in a nice and air conditioned apartment, i was a little weary about getting to the festival at 1230 pm, knowing i would be in the hot sun for 8 or 9 hours that day, but thanks to nick dropping me off downtown, i was able to get there and be in place 3 or 4 people from the stage at about 1215 to meet up with karen, louis and nikki. even those first 15 minutes were completely unbearable but we sort of forgot about it once friendly fires started.
friendly fires – white diamonds
their show was an hour of non-stop beats, dancing, and even some electronic jams. i was expecting big things from their live show and got even more than i wanted. having never been to a 1230 show at lollapalooza, id have to imagine it was one of the best, highest energy 1230 shows out there, especially for such a hot day. even though nikki had to sit part of it out thanks to david guetta at soundstage the night before, and i almost passed out in the middle of it, im so glad i made it there in time. lead singer ed macfarlane was a total rock star. manning the dj equipment throughout the set, he danced and flailed all over the stage and even sang a whole song almost in the middle of the crowd in the open area leading to the soundbooth. and though it could have been cliche and cheesy, he totally pulled it off.
after the dancing in the heat almost did us all in before the day even began, we decided it was time to chill in the shade at perrys where we spent the next hour or two. i hoped to make it to the other side of the park to catch bat for lashes, but with the intense heat it just wasnt going to happen. i took a nice little nap under the trees during car stereo (wars) which was, as the name suggests, a mashup dj. some good stuff, and some not great, but it was still enjoyable. then i split off on my own and decided to post up at the citi stage for the better part of the rest of the day.
after eating another order of those delicious french fries (still cooked to perfection), i made my way up close for gang gang dance. i dont know much about them other than a few songs, and that their music is very out there and electronic and experimental, and as the weekend seemed to be all about electronic for me, i decided i wanted to check them out live.
when their show began, it was equally as weird as i thought it would be. they started out with about a 10 minute abstract drum/dj type thing that didnt really have a steady beat. i think they were trying to work out some technical difficulties throughout the first half of the set. when that was done, they went into the two songs i knew, house jam and vacuum, which were both great. the last half of the set was straight up dancing and the crowd was loving every minute of it.
this was one of my favorite shows from the weekend as well. lead singer liz bougatsos reminded me a bit of maryann from true blood. as the show progressed and she continued with her temptress dances, the clouds began to roll in. at times she started screaming out “let it rain! let the rain fall down!” to the incessant cheers of the crowd who, after sweating for hours, would have gladly welcomed a downpour, and im sure the crowd would have gone nuts if it actually rained at that moment, like it appeared it would. had she actually made it rain with her rain dance, it would have been the show of the weekend.
once that ended, i posted up for passion pit. im still not sure if this was a good idea or an ill-conceived mistake. karen made it up to the front with me only to leave shortly after when she realized was a disaster it was going to be. the show was excellent but the crowd was awful. really, who crowd surfs to “little secrets” (posted below for reference)? the same drunk people kept going up over the crowd time and time again. and then there was the group of deerhunter fans loudly and obnoxiously cheering “A-T-L! A-T-L!” throughout the entire show (as well as the better part of the gang gang dance show). there were definitely some fun moments being up close in that crowd, but the bad outweighed the good and i didnt even attempt to take out my camera for this show.
the best part about sticking it out was that, finally, after many attempts, i was able to make it to the front row, right in the middle, hanging on the rail for deerhunter. the show began pretty uneventfully, but after a song or two, we learned that lead singer bradford cox was all hopped up on some b12 shot he got and that he thinks he has H1N1. he kept telling us that all he saw was a sea of faceless flesh, and he looked a few times like he was going to pass out. well, i think he always looks like hes about to pass out because of his insanely tall and lanky body, but thats another story. then he started referencing lou reed and snoop dogg (both playing at the same time as deerhunter) and even started playing a few tunes for 10 seconds at a time. outside of the entertaining weirdness of the commentary, the show rocked hard. it was tough to hear the vocals at times but i think it was just cuz i was right up there. “nothing ever happened”, one of my favorites of theirs, was especially great with a nice jam on the ending theme. i took a ton of pictures too.
so then it was time to head back across the park for some mstrkrft fun, and after another batch of delicious potstickers i was back at perrys. i decided i didnt want to see janes addiction or the killers and after a failed meetup attempt with ursula and karen heading to the killers, i closed out my festival alone at perrys with deadmau5 (which, much to my surprise, is pronounced deadmouse, and not deadmaufive). i made some new friends in the crowd and had a blast, and after running into nikki one more time, it was time to call it a weekend, but not before taking 2 last extremely blurry shots of perrys.
i dont really know how i made it back to nicks apartment that night without passing out/collapsing, much less showered and packed up to leave first thing in the morning to head up north. the 5 nights up north, however, proved to be just the relaxation and recovery period i needed.
quick tidbits about the weekend:
favorite shows – miike snow, friendly fires
biggest surprises – miike snow, gang gang dance
best area ever – perrys.
only people i didnt run into – little lauren and molly. somehow i ran into everyone else i knew that would be there without even trying.
favorite food – star of siam pot stickers and french fries from stand i cant remember. actually, i think thats the only food i ate on the festival grounds all weekend, minus the next item on the list.
best deal ever – the GIANT slice of watermelon for only $2
best idea ever – bringing my camelpak after not planning on bringing it, but then seeing the weather forecast for the weekend.
festival lessons learned: dont be afraid to branch out on your own, or youll likely miss many of the shows you want to see most. and you will always see less shows than you think you will.
tomorrow, back to our usual shtick. i hope youve enjoyed my recap and often bad/blurry pictures. one day ill get a nice camera (and, in my dreams, a press pass).
