Lollapalooza
Fan-fucking-tastic, really. I mean, I'm not going to do a full recap due to the laziness, but I guess I'll point out the highlights (and, uh, lowlights?)
Right, so, we (Me, Anna, and Dave) decided to get there pretty early, so we stopped off for breakfast in Chinatown first. We got the actual location of Lolla at 9:45ish and there was already gaggles of people there. > . <
So, we're waiting in line to get in under the beating sun. Mind you, there was absolutely no shade, and it was close to 90 degrees. Of course, everyone from the hotter climates are probably yelling, "ZOMGWTF that's not hot at all!" But seriously, with no friggin shade, it was hot enough for me. So, 11:00, the time the gates were supposed to open, comes and goes. And we continue to broil. Some guy behind was getting pretty pissy about the whole thing, which was hilarious, really. "I really love all the standing. This is what I drove 13 hours for. I think good improvements for next year would be MORE STANDING! And, well, I dunno if it's possible, but MORE SUN!" So finally, the gates open at 11:30 and we muddle our way through. ("No! Why are they letting us in? I wanna STAND in the SUN some more!")
We get accosted by security guards who think we sneaked in because we didn't have the three day wristbands. Yeah, mister, like I'm going to come right out and say whether or not I sneaked in to you. After reassuring them that we were, in fact, just too poor to afford three days of this standing shit fun, and were not criminal deviants, we go to the merchandise booth. Which turned out to be not the best idea, but this shall be explained later.
What we had wanted to buy was not yet for sale, so we immediately go over to the stage where Panic! at the Disco will be playing at later. Or, at least, we try to. They've sectioned off the entire area of several large stages and a few booths, and apparently, they will not be allowing people in right away. This does not prevent several hundred people from STANDING in front of the area, in the SUN, waiting for them to open the erm, gates, or whatever. We have a small group powwow, the ending being a group Fuck This. So, we go sit in a grassy knoll nearby, in the lovely shade. We sit for about ten minutes before we look up and see some girl pointing and screaming. O-okay, I guess it's time to go in. There's bushes in front of where we're sitting, so we go through those and I see one of the most humourously horrifying sights I've ever witnessed in my life.
Right, so, you know in the historical films where everyone is running into battle? With the screaming and weapons-waving and all? Picture that. Now replace the weapons with cameras and fans, and subtract about half of all clothing from everyone, and you get what we saw. It was psychotic. I mean, like 500 people were just dashing flat-out toward the same damn stage as we had to get to.
We walk demurely, shaking our heads at the stupidity and insisting we would never be so stupid as to run like asses along Grant Park- oh shit, let's just do it. So we run too. When we do get to the stage, we're fairly close, so I guess the moronic running payed off.
There's waiting (STANDING in the SUN). Anna and I have a fangirl moment when we realize we can see members of P!atD if we crane our necks the correct way. They leave. We wait. Finally, the Subways begin to play.
I thought they were damn good, actually, and have downloaded their entire LP as of now. At the time, though, what really stood out was the language the lead singer used. "God, you're all so fucking beautiful. I just wanna fuck all of you." Those Brits. This happened every time he spoke, which prompted a shitload of audience interaction on our part, haha. They finish.
Alright, so at this point, P!atD won't be playing for another hour. Still STANDING in the fucking SUN. We manage to insinuate ourselves into the second row of people, which is pretty friggin awesome. I'm already mostly deaf from The Subways' performance, so I don't say a word to Anna or Dave without screaming it. I suspect the communication challenge was shared by all, as nobody really minded.
Panic begins to play after indeterminable waiting. And then all hell breaks loose.
My God, I don't know if I can put the horror that ensued into words. The shoving. The pushing. The jumping. MY GOD, the JUMPING. Within the first song, we were sandwiched together to the point where you could not stay upright without leaning on someone else. And then, this stupid girl to the left of me is so overcome with love for music in general, she begins jumping up and down and pumping her fist in time with the music. Now, normally, al I would do is snicker at the stupidity and move on. But the Stupid Jumping Asshole, who henceforth shall be known as SJA, seems to not realize that there is NO FUCKING ROOM FOR THAT KIND OF SHIT. Undeterred, she continues, bouncing on people's feet and smacking them in the face with her hair. God, the stupidity should be a punishable offence.
Anywho, Panic plays. We get pictures. The crowd screams and is vacuum-packed. SJA jumps.
P!atD really was awesome. I probably would have enjoyed them more if my entire focus hadn't been on staying vertical and not getting trampled, but seriously, I would do it again. And that's saying a lot.
Right, so, after Panic we realize we stand an icicle's chance in hell of getting close enough to see any of the other bands we wanted to see. Everyone else did what we did: camped out at the stage of the band they wanted to see since they got there, assuring themselves of a spot up-close, and assuring everyone else that the likeliness of seeing said band was slim to none.
We walk. There was a lot of walking involved, actually. We get our overpriced P!atD merchandise. We find overpriced food and take part. Well, Anna and Dave take part, and I stare incredulously, wondering what the hell kind of chicken would be worth $9.00 a plate. That chicken better have fallen from the heavens.
Alright, so after it hits us that we will never get close enough to properly enjoy another band, we go ahead and go by our friend Julie's house, collapsing there appropriately. Instead of tossing us out on our asses and laughing maniacally as I would have done, she feeds us and lets us regain mobility. Such a nice person. XD
And that's pretty much it. I mean, I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but this entry is long enough as it is. Perhaps if I stop being so lazy, I'll upload some pictures.
Right, so, we (Me, Anna, and Dave) decided to get there pretty early, so we stopped off for breakfast in Chinatown first. We got the actual location of Lolla at 9:45ish and there was already gaggles of people there. > . <
So, we're waiting in line to get in under the beating sun. Mind you, there was absolutely no shade, and it was close to 90 degrees. Of course, everyone from the hotter climates are probably yelling, "ZOMGWTF that's not hot at all!" But seriously, with no friggin shade, it was hot enough for me. So, 11:00, the time the gates were supposed to open, comes and goes. And we continue to broil. Some guy behind was getting pretty pissy about the whole thing, which was hilarious, really. "I really love all the standing. This is what I drove 13 hours for. I think good improvements for next year would be MORE STANDING! And, well, I dunno if it's possible, but MORE SUN!" So finally, the gates open at 11:30 and we muddle our way through. ("No! Why are they letting us in? I wanna STAND in the SUN some more!")
We get accosted by security guards who think we sneaked in because we didn't have the three day wristbands. Yeah, mister, like I'm going to come right out and say whether or not I sneaked in to you. After reassuring them that we were, in fact, just too poor to afford three days of this standing shit fun, and were not criminal deviants, we go to the merchandise booth. Which turned out to be not the best idea, but this shall be explained later.
What we had wanted to buy was not yet for sale, so we immediately go over to the stage where Panic! at the Disco will be playing at later. Or, at least, we try to. They've sectioned off the entire area of several large stages and a few booths, and apparently, they will not be allowing people in right away. This does not prevent several hundred people from STANDING in front of the area, in the SUN, waiting for them to open the erm, gates, or whatever. We have a small group powwow, the ending being a group Fuck This. So, we go sit in a grassy knoll nearby, in the lovely shade. We sit for about ten minutes before we look up and see some girl pointing and screaming. O-okay, I guess it's time to go in. There's bushes in front of where we're sitting, so we go through those and I see one of the most humourously horrifying sights I've ever witnessed in my life.
Right, so, you know in the historical films where everyone is running into battle? With the screaming and weapons-waving and all? Picture that. Now replace the weapons with cameras and fans, and subtract about half of all clothing from everyone, and you get what we saw. It was psychotic. I mean, like 500 people were just dashing flat-out toward the same damn stage as we had to get to.
We walk demurely, shaking our heads at the stupidity and insisting we would never be so stupid as to run like asses along Grant Park- oh shit, let's just do it. So we run too. When we do get to the stage, we're fairly close, so I guess the moronic running payed off.
There's waiting (STANDING in the SUN). Anna and I have a fangirl moment when we realize we can see members of P!atD if we crane our necks the correct way. They leave. We wait. Finally, the Subways begin to play.
I thought they were damn good, actually, and have downloaded their entire LP as of now. At the time, though, what really stood out was the language the lead singer used. "God, you're all so fucking beautiful. I just wanna fuck all of you." Those Brits. This happened every time he spoke, which prompted a shitload of audience interaction on our part, haha. They finish.
Alright, so at this point, P!atD won't be playing for another hour. Still STANDING in the fucking SUN. We manage to insinuate ourselves into the second row of people, which is pretty friggin awesome. I'm already mostly deaf from The Subways' performance, so I don't say a word to Anna or Dave without screaming it. I suspect the communication challenge was shared by all, as nobody really minded.
Panic begins to play after indeterminable waiting. And then all hell breaks loose.
My God, I don't know if I can put the horror that ensued into words. The shoving. The pushing. The jumping. MY GOD, the JUMPING. Within the first song, we were sandwiched together to the point where you could not stay upright without leaning on someone else. And then, this stupid girl to the left of me is so overcome with love for music in general, she begins jumping up and down and pumping her fist in time with the music. Now, normally, al I would do is snicker at the stupidity and move on. But the Stupid Jumping Asshole, who henceforth shall be known as SJA, seems to not realize that there is NO FUCKING ROOM FOR THAT KIND OF SHIT. Undeterred, she continues, bouncing on people's feet and smacking them in the face with her hair. God, the stupidity should be a punishable offence.
Anywho, Panic plays. We get pictures. The crowd screams and is vacuum-packed. SJA jumps.
P!atD really was awesome. I probably would have enjoyed them more if my entire focus hadn't been on staying vertical and not getting trampled, but seriously, I would do it again. And that's saying a lot.
Right, so, after Panic we realize we stand an icicle's chance in hell of getting close enough to see any of the other bands we wanted to see. Everyone else did what we did: camped out at the stage of the band they wanted to see since they got there, assuring themselves of a spot up-close, and assuring everyone else that the likeliness of seeing said band was slim to none.
We walk. There was a lot of walking involved, actually. We get our overpriced P!atD merchandise. We find overpriced food and take part. Well, Anna and Dave take part, and I stare incredulously, wondering what the hell kind of chicken would be worth $9.00 a plate. That chicken better have fallen from the heavens.
Alright, so after it hits us that we will never get close enough to properly enjoy another band, we go ahead and go by our friend Julie's house, collapsing there appropriately. Instead of tossing us out on our asses and laughing maniacally as I would have done, she feeds us and lets us regain mobility. Such a nice person. XD
And that's pretty much it. I mean, I'm sure I'm missing stuff, but this entry is long enough as it is. Perhaps if I stop being so lazy, I'll upload some pictures.