Monday, August 3, 2015

Lollapalooza 2015 {Friday}


On Friday (July 31,2015) we went to Lollapalloza. This was our 3rd time going, and Cris' first time.  The first thing we did was take the obligatory selfie in front of the Lollapalooza sign.
Then we went straight to the "bar"to get beer, aka stay hydrated.
We made it our mission to stay hydrated as well as mix it up with some sweet 8% beverage from bud..
The first set we saw was Sza.
I had not previously heard of Sza before (as I live under a rock most of the time) but she was pretty good and had a nice voice.
After listening to a few of her songs we walked over to Perry's stage for Peking Duk.
Again, I had never heard of Peking Duk before, but they were laying down some nice beats so we stuck around and listened for a while.
Their set was full of energy and really entertaining to listen to.
Then we walked back over to the Samsung stage to hear Glass Animals. I have heard of them before, and do enjoy their music quite a bit and was very excited to hear them play live. And I was so happy to hear songs performed live that i've only heard on my ipod.
Next up was Tove Lo and I was excited to hear her perform too. (Friday had a bunch of bands I wanted to hear!!) We ended up too close to the stage and suddenly we were in a mob of people. Also, the sound quality was terrible for her. She kept gesturing to the microphone (to get the attention of the folks in the sound booth) but they didnt see her and consequently we could barely hear her singing.
After a few songs of Tove Lo, we got out of the crowd, took a deep breath and then started walking around.
I started taking artsy photos.
And then we watched Cold War Kids- ANOTHER band I wanted to see! (Maybe I dont live under a rock after all)
Cold War Kids was awesome. I saw a guy with a Chicago flag and had to go take a photo.
All of this listening to music got us hungry so we decided we needed food- and after hearing Pete mention a lobster corndog earlier in the week, we knew exactly what to order for lunch. And it was so OMG DELICIOUS.
Next up was the band I was *most* excited to see: Alt-J!!!! I own several of their albums and love the creativity in their music.
Their set was AMAZING! I knew all of the songs they played and had a huge grin on my face the entire time.
Post Alt-J we walked back to the other side of Grand Park to see Sir Paul McCartney (who I was also super excited to see.)
The field was filling up fast and we found a nice place near the back to avoid being trampled.
And then this living legend began to play. It was so incredible to hear someone who has had such an influence on music over so many years perform. He is so ridiculously talented- playing guitar, ukulele, piano without blinking an eye when switching from one to another.
He began making jokes about the loud bass music playing from the stage near us. Which after more songs devolved into the loud bass music being called shit- (and I couldn't have agreed more).
He sang Beatles songs as well as his own music. I was in awe listening to Paul McCartney perform live- a guy I grew up listening to thanks to my daad's love of the Beatles. I had the biggest smile on my face singing along to "let it be," "Paper back Writer," and many other favorites.
He sang "Live and Let Die" and there were fireworks. It was so damn cool.
Then he performed "Hey Jude." I got emotional during this song-remembering that I played the piano part to it while I was in 8th grade jazz band. I never thought I would hear it performed live, by freaking Paul McCartney!!
Paul encouraged the crowd to sing along for "Hey Jude" and it was amazing and everything I could have ever hoped out of a Lolla experience. We left after that song because I had a raging headache due to dehydration. Plus, I couldn't imagine how the show could have gotten any more perfect after that (I'm sure the rest was equally as amazing!)
It was a fantastic day where I got to hear some of my favorite bands perform, and I was so ridiculously happy.
I had one hell of a day getting to spend time with some of my favorite people in the world (L and Cris) while listening to some kick ass music.  I can't wait for next year!

6 comments:

  1. I wondered if "Live and Let Die" was the song for the fireworks (maybe your video had sound, not sure)! That was the only one of his that I could think of that'd go really well with something like that! I wasn't very excited about this year's line-up, but yeah, Paul McCartney would have been pretty cool to see. Totes jealous.

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  2. Looks like a blast. Sadly my age is showing through because I haven't heard of 99% of the bands you saw, LOL!!!

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  3. Oh man, that would be so cool to see Paul McCartney perform those songs!!!!! Amazing!

    Hope you are feeling more re-hydrated today! Friday was quite toasty!!!

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  4. I was reading an article on the Trib's site about "older people at Lolla" (30-50s). One of the comments nailed it right on the head of why I don't go to Lolla (well, other than not being able to afford it right now) - it's not about the music. It's about the "party." I love live music, but I hate crowds. And heat. And direct sunlight. But I'm sad I miss all these cool bands. Oh well. Maybe I'll get over it once my budget is more accomodating :) I did watch the livestream of Florence and the Machine last night, she rocked out!!

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  5. One of my coworkers went to Lolla and saw Paul McCartney also. He said that it was an incredible show and that Paul is obviously very well-experienced in performing. I would have loved to experience Hey Jude and Live and Let Die in person!!!

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  6. Sounds like a ton of fun! I've never been to a huge concert like these, so maybe next summer!

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