Lollapalooza 2010

Yesterday marked the end of this year's 3-day music extravaganza known as Lollapalooza.  I'm still recovering from my Lolla-hangover, but I'm still feeling a high from all of the amazing music I heard over the weekend.

The main entrance to the festival.

Friday, I arrived in the late afternoon after working for the longest 7 hours of my life.  I started the day checking out The Black Keys, who put on a solid show.  I really like their bluesy style, which is right up my alley.  I stopped over by Jamie Lidell's concert for a few tunes, but didn't stay long so I could stake out my spot for the big show of the evening...Lady Gaga.  I never expected to be so excited to see her in concert, but the show was incredible.  It started off a bit slow since she took a little too much time with her personal monologues.  After the first act was over, the rest of the show was a whirlwind of dancing, singing, and craziness that only Lady Gaga can pull off.  I say act because the concert was in 3 acts, plus the encore.  It literally was a theatrical experience.  She ended the show with "Bad Romance" which definitely was the highlight of the evening.

Emily, me, and our new friend from D.C., Ann Marie, while we

wait for Phoenix to start.  It was crowded!

Day 2 was marked with a great mix of bands.  I stared the day seeing Dragonette, who I had read was must-see in the RedEye on Friday.  They were right!  This band put on a great show, and since there were on a smaller stage, I was able to get really close.  Click here to listen to some of the music.  After catching a few songs from Stars, I headed over to see Dan Black with Emily and Mike (two of my Lolla buddies :) ).  I had never heard of him before, but he was amazing!  I didn't stop moving the whole time he was on stage.  Click here for more of his music.  The next highlight of the day was Metric.  The lead singer of this band had so much energy!  She definitely worked the crowd despite the heat and humidity and her energy was contagious!  It definitely got us all ready for what was to come later.  Click here to listen (my favorite is "Help I'm Alive").  The best act of the day (and probably of the whole weekend) was Phoenix.  We were about 50 feet from the stage, and boy did we work to get that spot!  We sat for over an hour waiting for Phoenix so we could be moderately close.  Their show was incredible.  The band was clearly grateful and humbled by the amount of people who came to see them....and they put on an amazing concert to show their appreciation.  Click here to have a listen to some of their songs.

Sitting in the shade with Kristen.

Lollapalooza is definitely a marathon, and by day 3, we were all feeling tired and achey from all the dancing, standing, and jumping from the days before.  I started the day seeing Yeasayer.  Besides hearing that my friend, Kristen, really liked them, I had no idea what to expect.  I ended up loving them though!  They have a electro, rock style with some tribal beats mixed in....a unique style for sure.  Please click here to check them out.  You won't regret it!  After a disappointing set by MGMT, I decided to head over to The National.  I also was not familiar with this band, but heard that most of my Lolla buddies loved them, so I figured they were worth checking out.  After attempting to get up front by Emily and Mike, I decided being 15 feet away from the stage was close enough...and boy was it!  The lead singer of The National started out completely mellow, but ended the show by crowd surfing, climbing the barriers, and screaming at the tops of his lungs.  It was a totally amped up show!    Click here to hear some of their music. 

After a lot of debate, I decided to end Lollapalooza by seeing Arcade Fire, and this proved to be an excellent choice.  Their music has so much depth, especially since they had 9 band members on stage!  It was evident that the audience was truly moved by their music and lyrics.  It was a great way to end the 3-Day weekend.  Click here for some of their songs.

It was an exhausting, exciting, and exhilerating weekend.  It was something I will never forget...until next year comes around, of course :)

I'm thankful for...
111) My music loving friends who like going to concerts with me
112) $3 slices of Lou Malnoti's pizza
113) Sundresses on hot days
114) The kind of music that makes it impossible not to dance along
115) The music scene in Chicago

Live Sweetly :)
Rachel