Rachel and I did not plan on going to Lollapalooza 2017, the annual, 4 day fest that has taken place in Chicago's Grant Park since 2005; just as we had not planned in years past (Read more about the fascinating history of Lollapalooza here!) Because of this, I bought a bunch of after show tickets, for 4/5 nights of the week. We would be going to aftershows Wednesday through Saturday night, shows that take place at small venues across the city after the fest is over for the day, usually ending around 1 or 2 am. Then the week before Lollapalooza was set to begin, that all changed.
As many of you know, my mother is super into sweepstaking and contests. Because of this we have won many things from t-shirts to basketball hoops to autographed memorabilia to concert tickets to vacations. She had been sending Rachel and I some Lollapalooza contests for a while that one of us was regularly entering... So the week before Lollapalooza is set to begin Rachel receives an email that she has won 2 single day tickets to Lollapalooza! We weren't sure what day yet, but we would be going to Lolla, how exciting. Over the weekend, we found out that she won Thursday passes, which had a promising lineup. Woo woo! Then Tuesday August 1st came and we got even more good news. At around 9am my sister texted that she had just received a text that she won two 4-day VIP passes for the fest. Holy cow! Valued at around $2500 per ticket, this was a huge prize, that I can't imagine anyone actually ever paying for! I was hoping to get my hands on these 4-day passes with her and experience Lollapalooza the whole weekend. Then literally an hour after that, Rachel texted that she had just received a text saying she won two 4-day General Admission passes for the fest! Whhhhaaaattttttt!!!?!? Is this a joke? 3 wins for the same event in a week? Wow, some serious luck right there. All of of a sudden we had a surplus of tickets and we were headed to Lollapalooza for the first time ever!
This was Beth's, Rachel's, & my first time ever going to Lollapalooza, and only my second fest. I went to Riot Fest back in 2013. Beth ended up taking her friend Emily with the VIP ticket and Rachel and I would use the 4-day GA tickets. I sold my two Thursday tickets to a couple of my players which worked out well. If you have the time, or just want to listen to some of the music I experienced, watch the 30 minute video below. Now on to my Lollapalooza experience!
My Lollapalooza festivities started a day before the actual fest was set to begin, at an aftershow, or should I say before-show, on Wednesday August 2nd, at Subterranean. This was one of the aftershow tickets I had purchased months ago and I was excited to see Atlas Genius perform that evening. I had two extra tickets and was happy that Aly and her boyfriend Ryan were pumped to join us. We met them at the show and I couldn't believe to find out who the opener was, Even Thieves. A Chicago band that I know personally. 4 of the 6 members had previously been in a band with Jmon and it was crazy to me they were opening for Atlas Genius. They put on a solid set and I ran into the two guys I knew pretty well in between sets and let them know how killer of a job they did. The Australian band, Atlas Genius took the stage in front of a sold out crowd and played some of my favorite jams. They opened up with If So, played Trojans, and even did a cover of the 80s Dead or Alive song, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record). A great start to Lollapalooza. Check out all of the photos & video I took from the Atlas Genius set below.
The next day was the official start to Lollapalooza, Thursday August 3rd, 2017. I took the L down and arrived a little before noon. I had to get our Thursday tickets and then find the kids I sold them to. After a little bit of confusion at the ticket booth, and a little bit of waiting, I got the Thursday tickets, fo free! We had already received our free 4-day tickets in the mail earlier that week so we had those ready to go. The tickets were pretty cool, a nice colorful cloth wristband that once you tighten you can't get off. After some more confusion, and searching through a mass of people, I found the boys, and got them their wristbands. One of the kids tightened his a little and we had to really pull on it to get it on his hand. The cops saw us doing this and came over to check out what was going on. Not even in to Lolla yet and the cops are on to me! I had not eaten yet this day, so I went into Potbelly to get a sandwich before heading into Lollapalooza. After eating A Big Wreck, I walked over and headed into Lollapalooza. There were 8 stages, 1 being a child's "Kidzapalooza" so basically 7 stages to choose from. I spent most of my time over the next 4 days at Grant Park, Lake Shore, Tito's, and Bud Light stages, where the rock/indie/alternative bands were playing. I saw a couple of smaller artists at Pepsi Stage, saw 10 minutes of EDM music at Perry's Stage, and didn't make it to the smallest stage, BMI. After breezing through security, with poncho, map, schedule, and water bottle in hand, I headed toward Grant Park & Lake Shore stages as I planned to spend most of my day there. To make this go a little quicker, I am going to list out each artist that I saw that day, and any important events that occurred around those sets.
August 3rd - Thursday - (Day 1 at Grant Park)
White Reaper at Grant Park Stage - First show at Lollapalooza! Was able to get pretty close for this Punk band. The video screens at this stage are amazing.
Hippo Campus at Lake Shore Stage - Young band from Minnesota that had a pretty big crowd. Enjoyable Indie music.
Temples at Grant Park Stage - What year were these guys formed? They look and sound straight out of the 1970s. No surprise they are out of the UK.
Paper Diamond at Perry's Stage - Was at this stage and show for maybe 10 minutes. Too many high school kids everywhere. Told too many times to get my "mother f#%king hands up by the DJ. Too few people performing and just one guy behind a computer . Too many kids laying on the ground passed out from drugs/alcohol. Did not return to this stage all weekend. No surprise but I ran into a few of my high school players around this stage. Peep the photos.
The Drums at Lake Shore Stage - Indie rock band that I only caught about half of their set since I made the mistake to check out Perry's stage.
Liam Gallagher at Grant Park Stage - Don't know the name? Lead singer of Oasis. He looked so angry when singing, and must have been because he played 3 songs, then walked off stage and didn't come back. His band awkwardly left the stage after about 2 minutes of playing instrumentals until they realized he wouldn't be returning. At least I saw him sing Morning Glory. What a chump. I was also bumped into repeatedly by some Indian guy who was clearly drunk/high and kept smiling at me trying to get me to dance or something. I kept giving him a thumbs up. At least he offered me some weed, a better guy than Liam.
George Ezra at Lake Shore Stage - Rachel gets to the fest after work for this one. He is a solid singer who despite his young looks has a very deep warming voice. Another musician from the UK.
Cage the Elephant at Grant Park Stage - By far the best show of the day. Incredible energy and stage presence. The lead singer bounced around in a purple dress, promoting equality and love for all. The lead guitarist would go into the crowd and play amongst the people. Turns out those two are brothers from Kentucky and they are bringing back Rock'n'Roll. They absolutely killed their set and I forgot how many good songs they have. Do yourself a favor and check this band out if you don't know them. Added this band to my "must-see" list when they come back to Chicago.
Spoon at Lake Shore Stage - Only knew about two of their songs, "The Underdog" and "Hot Thoughts" but they put on a solid Indie show.
Muse at Grant Park Stage - It rained the entire time Muse was on the stage. Luckily we had our ponchos! After 15 minutes of watching Muse, we decided to head over to Lorde.
Lorde at Bud Light Stage - After grabbing a beverage in the pouring rain on our walk over, we made it just in time for Lorde to say, "I'm so sorry they're making me leave the stage because of the storms, I'll be back!" Unfortunately she never came back and it started to downpour. Our ponchos were of no use anymore.
Leaving Lollapalooza - This was an absolute disaster. We almost made it to Lorde and then began our march out of the fest. As it poured and poured, we waited to get out like herded cattle heading to slaughter. Entirely soaked, I figured at this point I would skip the aftershow I was set to go to. Once we were out we headed to the "L." After waiting about 30 minutes and missing two entirely packed trains, I decided I was going to go to the aftershow I had tickets to since we weren't going anywhere. Rachel took the L back 4 stops to the Chinatown stop and she jumped on an empty red line back the other direction. I headed to Reggie's.
Cloud Nothings at Reggie's (Aftershow) - I got to the show right at 10pm, which is when I thought the opener was to come on. Unfortunately I had to wait another hour for them to come out, but I did find a seat in the balcony to rest while waiting. A metal band called Oozing Wound from opened up. It was way too metal for me, but I still watched the entire set. Finally at midnight, the Cloud Nothings took the stage that had a sewer drain in the middle of it. I had front row seats to this heavy rock set which I thoroughly enjoyed. After their set, I took the L home and was in bed by 2am. Solid first official day of Lolla! Check out the photo & video from the day below.
On the second official day of Lollapalooza, Friday August 4th 2017, I picked up McDonald's on my way to the fest. Good thing I did because when I was on the "L" we had about a 30 minute delay because some hooligan had jumped on the tracks ahead and we had to wait until they were removed. While waiting for the train to get moving again, some random guy around my age started talking to me and another guy who looked a little bit younger than I. He wanted to know who all we had seen at Lollapalooza and who we planned on seeing. Not a bad conversation to have, especially since we were killing time, but he had clearly spent too much time at Perry's stage for me. Once the train got moving again and we made it to the fest, we all walked over together together and went in the side entrance off Monroe St. No problem with security again as I made it through smoothly and quickly. I never saw those two again that day. On to the performances from the day
August 4th - Friday - (Day 2 at Grant Park)
PUP at Tito's Stage - Punk rock band out of Canada. Played some jams at my first show at Tito's. Good start to the day
Cloud Nothings at Bud Light Stage - Put on another great show, just as they had the night before. This time with no sewer in the middle of the stage.
Kaleo at Tito's Stage - Very bluesy band out of Iceland who's lead singer is quite the whistler. I was surprised at how good they sounded and how enjoyable their music was. I met a random lady who started talking to me and followed me to the next show.
Tegan and Sara at Bud Light Stage - Ditched the random lady, and met up with Rachel for her first show of the day. We only stayed for the first two songs, then decided to walk over to the other side of the fest to see Phantogram.
Phantogram at Grant Park Stage - Alternative rock band that played some great songs and promoted suicide awareness. If you need help, be sure to get help. Their song, "You Don't Get Me High Anymore" was the highlight for me. They had some cool videos going on the big screens. Grant Park has the best screens.
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness at Lake Shore Stage - If you did not know, this guy used to be called Jack's Mannequin. He even played "Dark Blue" for us. He took a ride out on a giant duck float and played a fun indie show, ending with "Cecilia and the Satellite." We ran into Nikki, Mary, and Alex at this stage.
Foster the People at Bud Light Stage - I met up with Beth, Emily, Rachel, and Nikki again. I didn't know as many of their songs as I thought I would. "Pumped up Kicks" was a jam as anticipated.
The Killers at Grant Park Stage - Rachel, Beth, Emily, and I walked across the park and attempted to get somewhat close for my favorite band from High School. This would be my first time seeing them since 2007. They played a "killer" show including some my favorite songs, "Mr Brightside," "Somebody Told Me," "Human," "All These Things That I've Done," and "When You Were Young." Love this band!
The Walk Home - Rachel and I walked to her work after the show to pick up the stuff she left there. A mere two mile walk, but we enjoyed police dog statues on the way. Unofficially third day complete! I had tickets to a Ron Gallo & San Fermin after show this night at Empty Bottle, but decided to skip out this time. Check the photos and videos from the day below.
We had to miss day 3 of Lollapalooza because we were attending a family wedding for cousins Tony & Julia on Saturday, August 5th. I did manage to make it to an aftershow that night though! My first time at Park West and since I had an extra ticket, Rach's friend Alex went with me. While waiting outside for Alex, I saw a band pull up and head into the venue. I would later find out that it was the headliner of the evening. The venue was super open and roomy. I think they usually have comedians and other stand up acts perform here, so there were several open rows with booths and tables. There was a pit area that I started out in, but eventually moved behind the first row of booths which was elevated above the pit, giving us basically front row seats. Great view! The band 888 out of Denver, CO opened up and put on a solid show. They reminded me a little bit of Owl City. Grouplove took the stage and played a lovely evening of music. They introduced each song with some sort of "punny" saying and played some amazing songs including Shark Attack, Borderlines & Aliens, Tongue Tied, & Colours. After Grouplove finished playing just after 1am, Alex, her friend Mari, and I headed to Frank's for a couple of night caps. After continuing the show playing The Killers and Grouplove over the jukebox, I finally called it a night heading home at 3am. One more day of Lollapalooza left! Quick pics and videos from the night below.
On the final day of Lollapalooza, Sunday August 6th, I picked up McDonald's on my way to the fest for one last time. I decided to go through the main gates this time, and I'm not sure if it was because it was the main gate, or because I was wearing a backwards hat, but security was extra intense today. First the examined my water bottle, shaking it as if it was pure Vodka or something, then they inspected my rain poncho which was fine, I honestly was surprised that had not before. Then the guy had me spread my legs and gave me a swift arm swing right between the legs. I guess kids these days are hiding their alcohol under their crotch to get it in. Instead of hitting alcohol, I was blessed with a sack tap. This day was off to a great start, but the intense security didn't stop there. I went to get a wristband so I could drink. He asked for my ID which was of course fine. Then he asked me to remove my sunglasses, again, fine whatever. Finally after staring at my ID and me for about 30 seconds, comparing the two, he asks me for my zip code... Seriously? People don't get fake IDs that say they are 28. Regardless I got my wristband and headed in to the action. Summary of the bands right meow.
August 6th - Sunday (Day 4 at Grant Park)
Xavier Omar at Pepsi Stage - Only caught the end of his show which was a cover of Nirvana. Sounded pretty good, also my first time at Pepsi stage.
Grace Mitchell at Tito's Stage - Female rocker from Portland Oregon. Enjoyable set. I left her set early and headed back over to Pepsi.
The Walters at Pepsi Stage - High energy Chicago band with a pretty big following. Highlight was when their guitarist, Walter, took off shirt and threw it into the crowd. Drove the ladies crazy.
Barns Courtney at Bud Light Stage - Very happy I left The Walters a bit early to catch this guy. He had a broken foot that had a cast on it, so he "hired" a nurse to push him around on a hospital bed for the entire show. He played an awesome set where he threw his crutches, hopped around stage, and sang his heart out while in the bed. A ton of energy and I look forward to listening more to this rocker from the UK.
Joseph at Tito's Stage - Extremely talented folk trio of sisters from Portland, Oregon. Two of them are twins and one is an older sister. I am excited to hear more of their stuff as they had beautiful voices.
Car Seat Headrest at Bud Light Stage - The kings of long indie rock ballads. I think in their hour set they maybe played 8 songs at most, but some serious jams in there.
Rag'n'Bone Man at Tito's Stage - Big tatted guy from the UK who has a deep voice. I met up with Rachel for this one and we enjoyed the view from the grass.
Milky Chance at Bud Light Stage - Might have been my favorite performance from the day. The chill vibes were strong with the man who looks like Emile Hirsch from Into The Wild. Super good show, definitely check these guys out, as I will next time they come to town.
The Shins at Grant Park Stage - Very chill indie band with some classic songs. They've been doing this since 1996 and sing "Simple Song" and "New Slang." Rachel, Emily, Zach, Nikki, and Beth joined for this one.
Grouplove at Lake Shore Stage - Second time seeing this energy & love filled group in as many days. Very similar to set to their Park West show, maybe playing one or two less songs. The Beastie Boys Sabatoge cover was awesome.
Arcade Fire at Grant Park Stage - The last show of Lollapalooza and it was a doozy. Great songs and the rain held off for their light spectacular set with songs like, "Reflektor," "No Cars Go," "Sprawl II," and "Wake Up." Really enjoyed this set and danced our butt's off.
Getting home - We snuck out of the fest pretty quickly on this day and only ran into one issue on the walk to the "L." A super drunk and bloody face guy who was stumbling toward me and I just nearly evaded. We got on the brown line and headed home. Pictures and videos below.
And that is how my 5 days of Lollapalooza went. My first full fest and first Lollapalooza. Before experiencing it, I didn't think I would enjoy it very much since you have to run from set to set and some artists play at the same time so you miss out. Out of everyone that played this year, I am obviously sad I missed a lot of people Saturday (Vance Joy, Chance the Rapper, alt-j, Head and the Heart, The XX). I am also disappointed I was not able to see Blink 182, Gramatik, Ryan Adams, and Tove Lo who showed her good as usual... Check it out on youtube. Luckily every band who played at the larger stages entire sets can be watched online for free!
So would I buy tickets? I think I would potentially buy a one day ticket in the future if there was a solid lineup. Even though tickets sell out immediately, it is clear that a lot of people resell, especially closer to the date. Going all four days was a little tiring and I think you need to almost treat it as a vacation if you go all four days. Take the day off, plan to spend a good amount of money on food/drinks (16oz buds for $9 and a bottle of wine for $27), and be able to relax a little bit. But overall it was a great experience and I recommend it especially if you have never been before and your favorite musicians are playing.
I hope you enjoyed my first blog/vlog in over 4 months, and if you haven't already, do your ears a favor and be sure to watch all 6 videos above.
More new material coming soon!
Josh