While we don't claim to be music journalists, we will give you a couple quick things that stood out to us on Sunday (unfortunately the only day we could make it this year):
- Beats Reign Supreme - the Perry's stage at lollapalooza has grown and grown and grown some more over the past 5 years and again it seemed like this was consistently the most fun place to be. However, on Sunday night the crowds that enjoyed the beat popping house, trance, techno, hip-hop music made their way to Butler Field to enjoy Toronto based DJ Deadmau5 turn the North end of Grant Park into a flat out rave. Amazingly and to the delight of the crowd, Deadmau5 seemingly started his set early to coincide with the final rainfall of the festival. Once the first beat hit the speakers the sky's opened up as rain greeted the glow stick waving, gyrating, happy people bouncing around the park.
- Wow this Food is Good - Throughout the day we had a tough time making a decision on what food to try. Last year we went with the Lobster Corn dogs (which were back at the event this year as well and subsequently sold out), this year we had Tikka Chicken on Flatbread as well as a healthy helping of Garlic Fries. While this might not sound very exotic, remember that this is a festival with 90,000 people.
- Grant Park is Grant Park - After going to Union Park for Pitchfork,the Dave Mathews Caravan at Lakeside (down on the South Side), and countless other neighborhood festivals, it's clear that Grant Park is the best place for a festival in Chicago. Besides it being easy for everyone in the city to get to, the scenery is just beautiful. It's not everyday you get to stand in the middle of a park with a beautiful skyline and soak up amazingly diverse music. However, the one thought that crossed the mind on Sunday was with the massive rainfall and the massive amounts of people how will the park bounce back? By Sunday night it didn't look like it was in good shape. The mud ponds and the trounced grass didn't look good. Hopefully Lolla didn't destroy the grounds...we will have to go back today or sometime soon to see how it looks post-Lolla.
So there are our thoughts. Lolla is obviously about the music, but it's clearly also about many other things now.
Oh and if you didn't believe us about the Deadmau5 rave, check out these two quick videos we found on YouTube:
8 comments:
I agree with your review. I attended all 3 days and saw the major acts. For me the highlights were Coldplay and the insanity at Deadmou5. Food options were great and drinks were reasonably priced. I wish they had hard alcohol but that problem was solved by many by sneaking some in. Crowds were in their best behavior. Didn't see any fights or altercations...Great weekend overall and it's a great thing to be able to walk home afterwards
Grant Park is not near our home, it is our home. We can lay claim to all of it,from Roosevelt and Michigan all the way to Millennium Park, a 15 minute walk along majestic Michigan ave through Grant Park stopping at some fest for dinner or dancing at Summer Dance by Balbo and Michigan, than stopping at the art institute (used to be free thurs after 5pm, then head another block and your in mind blowing Millennium Park where you can see world class live music as well as world class public art. The Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium are all our as well. The trail along the lake all the way up to Navy Pier-OURS. (again 15 minutes by bike) I can go on, but for those of you who actually get out of your condos and enjoy this awesome neighborhood we live in, we'd bitch a little less. Panhandlers and rowdy west side kids who take the Roosevelt Bus are all part of our city, I lived in the heart of Lincoln Park and saw panhandlers everyday and when you see those rowdy kids, use some street smarts, after all this is Chicago, a major metropolis where shit is gonna pop off once in a while. Don't let a pretty blue light over Wabash and Roosevelt scare you. I lived in the South Loop for a very long time before moving to Phoenix, and I miss it there desperately, and that scene though the park I described above is something I did at least 4 times a week, including winter where you can grab a large Dunkin Doughnuts coffee, bundle up, and walk down Michigan ave, all the way down to Mag Mile, if its too cold hop on the bus or train. South Loop, "Best Hood In Chicago". Hey Sloopin, good job with the blog, it's how I know more about what's going on than my friends who live there.
Bravo Anon 5:32!
Does anyone know what will happen to all the ruined grass in Grant Park? I ride my bike thru it everyday to work, and can see it from my office in the Prudential Building. A week ago, it was green & today it's all brown and muddy.
You would be amazed at how well a mature lawn can recover. Im sure there are areas that will need to be re-seeded but basically it should be good to go. By the end of August I bet you wont even notice. As far as the baseball diamonds...they can regrade those and power wash the stonework/sidewalks. Good as new
Went back home for my first Lolla in 4 years, and completely agree Sloopy! Amazing view, great park, awesome music, and now great food.
The family youngsters loved Perry's and it looked fun. The crowds are great and peaceful and a great representation of this nation's youth. Every act I saw was gracious. No hassles whatsoever, though an exit to the south would have been nice (was there one?).
Gotta mention too that the absolute highlight of the weekend was the Cage the Elephant show. One of the best shows I've ever seen. I hope some of yous caught it too.
Don't get your hopes up on the lawn, Soldier Field has proved that the Parks Dept. has no idea what they're doing when it comes to growing grass...
The difference between how the Parks dept handles Grant park and how they handle Soldier is the P district doesnt have an ongoing fued with Ulysses S Grant...unlike the the bears. Its one of the greatest parks in the midwest. I'm sure it take precedence over the bears
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