Lollapalooza.(Sunday).2011

Lollapalooza.(Sunday).2011

Grant Park, Chicago, IL

August.7.2011

The last and final day and I have been having so much fun. So excited to see The Cars. Never seen then before and I came close to seeing them at The Hollywood Palladium. Once I saw the ticket price, I was, "no way, $70.00?!". I'll pass and wait until Lolla".

We went to Perry's Stage (it looks so much like The Sahara Tent from Coachella's dance tent) to catch Daedelus. I never heard of him before until last nite and he was good. He is not a DJ. He makes music by hitting these buttons that create beats and samples. I don't get it, but he is a show to watch. Both performances didn't not display what he is doing up on stage. I found out by Raquel showing me a YouTube video. They should, so people could see that crazy machine he is working on. I thought he was mixing with his computer and touching knobs on the mixer.

I was looking around the Perry Stage and I noticed that they opened up the ceiling. They had fans on almost all the pillars. There was an emergency tent just ten feet away. I guess this is the place with more incidents then any other stage around the park. Sure enough, I see a person being wheeled off to the emergency tent.

I went to the Music Unlimited Stage by myself. There was a good amount of people here for The Cars. I saw old and young (maybe the young are here to get closer for Arctic Monkeys). The Cars came out and they sounded GREAT. They did not do much, but the crowd was really into it, singing along to the hits and the new songs. If you have not gotten the new Cars album ("Move Like This"), you are missing out on a well done album.

After The Cars, I went to get something to eat before I head back to the Music Unlimted Stage. I looked up and I noticed black clouds slowly coming over the park. I knew right away that it was gonna rain real soon, but I still wanted to see Arctic Monkeys. Sure enough once I got to the stage, it started to rain. Then it pour down. People where not moving. I though they where, but no. They loved it and we noticed that they started to cover the equipment. Some people where shouting "Rain or Shine!". I wanted to leave, but I said to myself, FCVK !t. I am drenced and it feels good. The body heat from the people around me kept me warm. It was not bad, but they did delayed the show. They did not cancel (that was a good thing).

It was 45 minutes of non-stop pouring rain and then it stopped. The sun was slowly coming out and they started to uncover the equipment. People started cheering and then chaos broke once they hit the stage. People started to mosh, body surf and push to get closer. I stood behind when people started to push forward. It was getting crazy, but it was a GREAT experience. I am here watching a English band and getting that European festival feel that I see all the time in the NME. It was a good thing that I decided to stay then to leave.

The Monkeys played a good 45 minute set that passed there scheduled end time. I think The Foo Fighters let them play longer because the rain started right when they where about to go on. There was no other band playing on the other stage. Plus, fans waited in the rain for the Arctic Monkeys and It was there BEST show I have ever been too. They sounded incredible. Alex Turner (lead singer) cut his long hair. He is rocking a rockabilly new look and it's working for him.

When the show was over, there was a MAD rush of people to get to the front for Foo Fighters. I was doing good on not getting any mud on me, but I stepped in a huge puddle of mud, nice. My shoes and my legs where covered in mud. Now I am getting the REAL experience. I headed to The Perry Tent to catch Modselektor. That place was CRAZY, but in a good way. I saw people dancing in the mud puddles, just having a good time.

Modselektor was not catching my intrest one bit. There visuals where weak. The people where more entertaining then them. I walked around the tent just people watching. I was having a really good time and soaking this up. Then once again, another down pour. Thank GOD I finished my ice cream on time or I would of been bummed.

Today was the last day and it was the BEST from from all the other days. Thank you Samy, Raquel and Elaine. You guys are the best and thanks for a GREAT time. See ya next year.

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - AW3SUM!

Lollapalooza.(Saturday).2011

Lollapalooza.(Saturday).2011

Grant Park, Chicago, IL

August.6.2011

We arrived to Lolla around 2pm and we made a plan to have a meeting place. It was at are favorite food stand that sold Pulled Pork Sandwichies (YUMMY!) next to a ATM machine. Samy and the girls told me I should have the Pull Pork, they had it last nite. I told them I was eye balling it yesterday. We all got one and it was delicious that I wanted another one, but I decided to wait until later tonight. The food here again is so GOOD and reasonably priced. Sorry, but Coachella has some $H!TTY a$$ food and expensive.

We headed to the Bud Lite Stage to catch Friendly Fires. It rained late last nite and this morning, but it cleared in the afternoon. The fields where a bit wet and muddy. We got to the Bud Lite Stage and Friendly Fires where on. They had a busy crowd and I wanted to go in, but it was HOT under the sun. Yesturday I was under the sun alot that when I arrived back to the hotel, I took off my shirt and I had a wife beater tan. Nice.

Friendly Fires once again threw a GREAT show. It seemed they did not mind the heat because they where sweating from all that shaking and moving. They are always a fun band to watch because of the energy they bring to the shows. The new stuff from PALA (album title) sounded great. It's another MUST GET album.

After Friendly Fires set, we headed to Google+ Stage to check out DOM. I don't really know much about them and I wanted to check them out. I only have one track from them, "Living In America" and it's a good little funky dancy song. They come out and they played there first song. I was not into it at ALL. I was hoping to like them, but it was not happening.

After half a song from DOM, we went to checkout Chain Gang of 1974 (my favorite NEW band of 2011). They really bring back the 80's sound with a contemporary twist to there music. Even the lead singer (Kamtin Mohager) dances like one of the members from Tears For Fears 80's video "Mad World" (LOVE the way they dance on that video). They really bring back my childhood day's; I think that could be the reason why I like them so much. Besides me liking them, ALOT, the new album (Waywaid Fire) is...AWESUM! They did not disappoint and today, they did not D!SAPPO!NT.

Kamtin Mohager (Lead Singer) did his signature thing and that would be; bring down the mic stand and sing in the crowd. He only did it for one song and went back on stage. This is my third time seeing them and they brought !T. It's cool that they got to play this HUGE festival and he was gracious about it too. It was also great to see that people where into them. WATCH OUT for this band!

We went back to Google+ Stage to catch The Drums. They where already on and my gang decided to go there different ways. I moved up closer to the stage but it was a little tough because there was alot of mud puddles. I found an okay spot and The Drums where not The Drums. It could of been the heat and it looks like they are losing that fun energy they use to have. It could of been the heat or the jackets they wore. It's HOT and HUMID and half of the members are wearing jackets. They are crazy, but sure enough, they took them off after the last three songs. Jonathan Pierce (Lead Singer) announced that there new album will be coming out in September and they played a new song called "Money". It's catchy.

After The Drums set, I went to met up with my gang at are meeting spot and we had pulled pork, again! Yummy. I am not gonna $H!T for a week. We all headed back to the Google+ Stage to see Lykke Li. It was a packed crowd. This time seeing her, she brought it, but I think she is wearing the same outfit she wore at Coachella two years ago. It looked like a heavy duty Glad trash bag. It must be for the rain, who knows. Towards the end of her set, they played a K!LLER Knife song (Silent Shout) that they just jammed into and it was the...$H!T. That was my highlight from her show for me. ROCK ON!

After her set, half of my crew wanted to see Eminem and we parted ways. I went to get some ice cream that I kept looking at and it was the...$H!T. It was so good that I wanted another, but I'll save until tomorrow. Day 2, over and out.

\m/ \m/ \m/ \m/ - AW3SUM!

Pre.Lollapalooza.2011

Pre.Lollapalooza.2011
Chicago, IL
Thursday.August.4.2011

I was schedule to arrive on Thursday, but of course the plane gets canceled and it had to happen in Boston, MA. Logan Airport is STILL under construction. It's been how long, 10 years already? They need to get there $H!T together. First, when I arrived to the airport, the check in person kept looking at my papers and my ID alot. I started to think that, I am not on the list to go on this flight. He looked at me and gave me my stuff and told me, "who booked this flight for you?". I said, "me, why?". "You put down Mrs", he said. "Oh $H!T, I did not realize that. I should of double checked. That what happens when you rush, right? To be honest with you, I am going threw a transition". He laughed and he told me, "you might not get in because you have Mrs". I was nervous when he told me that, but you know what, I got in. That was the red flag and that's when everything went down hill. The flight was scheduled to leave at 1:30pm. Everything was fine at first. They boarded first calls and all that other stuff. Then they stopped boarding the plane. The announcer told us that the plane needed a valve to be replaced. Then she said, "we ordered the part and it won't arrive within a hour and it's going to take another hour to replace it. So we need to stop boarding". People started to come out from the plane and they where P!ST. Now my flight will not leave until 3pm. There where some people runnning around complaining because some have connecting flights. Three o'clock came and they announced that the flight is not ready. "They fixed the problem, but the part had a leak. We will not board until 5pm. The flight is not going to be canceled, we will take off today", said the flight attendent. Some people started to get restless. I texted Elaine on whats going on. Elaine is one of my friends who I am gonna met up with at Chicago with Raquel and Samy. We all went to Lollapalooza last year and had so much fun, that we decided to do it again this year. So once again, we boarded the plane. I texted Elaine that I was boarding and to leave my hotel key at the front desk. We boarded the plane and everyone was seated. They shut the door plane. We started to hear strange noises for about five minutes and then they told us, that they where still fixing the problem. Some people started to get up and got off the plane. The stewardess told us, "If you have a connecting flight, you should get off the plane". So twenty percent of the people did. Thirty minutes passed. Another ten. "They are still fixing and they should be done, soon". Twenty minutes later, we started to move. We parked for a couple of minutes on the run way. All of a sudden, we heard the noise again. The plane turned around and docked again. "We have to turn around because the part they installed seems to be not working very well. Sorry, but we have to cancel the flight", said the Pilot. We got off and people where furious. They wanted answers and refunds. I went to the ticket booth that was far away. They booked me for a flight tomorrow and gave me a free hotel and meal ticket. I grab my bag from baggage claim and hopped on the Hilton bus. They gave me my room and I texted Elaine. I called Gary and told him the whole story. Once I got off the phone, I odered room service and turned on the TV. I wanted to see Project Runway and they did not have Lifetime. FCVK, really! I looked for MTV and NO! DAM! I was pist. I was at the tipping point. If something else would of happened, I think I would of went off on someone. I decided to call it a night. FUCK YOU Boston!

Lollapalooza.2010 (Sunday)

We where getting a bit burned out so we left the hotel room around 3pm. We arrived at the fest around 4 to catch Erykah Badu. She was at the South Side of the park. Today was HOTTER then yesturday and I was flop sweating like crazy. Erykah came out and she was sporting this crazy bleached out Mohawk that looked gold when the sun hit it. But of course she was great. She was blowing a whistle like a crazy GYM teacher that I was gonna drop and give her 20. Of course she had to do a crazy thing. That's why I like her.

After that great performance by Erykah.Badu, we went to see MGMT for Samy. We walked to the North Side and we stood there for about 5 minutes and we (well he) decided to leave. He was not digging it. So we went back to the South Side to catch Cypress Hill. His sister Racheal wanted to see them so we went. We we arrived, she wanted to go deep inside the crowd and I was like.......no. So Samy and I stayed in the back and once they came out, people pulled out there lighters and lit there joints. FCVK. Almost everyone was smoking around me and offering, but I declined. I was inhaling second hand pot smoke and I was getting hungry. This is my very first time seeing them live and they where good. Alright South Gate. Represent! They look like Gay bikers with those leather vests.

I was getting hungry so we took off and left the girls behind. We got are food and eat it and we went to checkout Felix Da Housecat. I was BORED and so was Samy. What's goin on? Tiga was boring. Come on guys. Go back to what you are known for. I know I know. That was it for the last day of lollapalooza and I had a blast with Samy, Elaine and Raquel. Cool concert people. Maybe next year again? Let's see.

Lollapalooza.2010 (Saturday)

$H*T! Today is.........HOT. We went to the BMI stage which was in the middle of the park by Lake Michigan. We went to check out Dragonette and.........We headed to the North Side of the park to catch The xx and once again, they where Awesum. Perfect for a hot day. Calm and soothing. After The xx, we walked around for a bit. Samy and I went to check out A.F.I. on the South Side and they KILLED IT! Davey (lead singer) came out with a black jacket with stuff shinning on the collor. Just to let you know, it was HOT and he was giving us a performance of a lifetime. Davey was crawling and screaming like a crazy banshee. You go girl. That haircut he had was fierce by the way. Have not seen that since the 70s on my uncle Juan fom La Puente. Feathered on the front and shaved from the side. A.F.I. knows how to put on a show. The last time I saw them was maybe 4 years ago in Long Beach for DecemberUnderground tour. That was an AWESUM show.

We went back to the North Side to catch Cut Copy. Just to let you know, it's a walk to the other side of the park, I mean a walk. give or take 15 minutes. So we sat down and you could hear Social D from the South Side. That is crazy. I guess Mike Ness wanted to pump up the place. ROCK STAR. Cut Copy went on and I was excited to hear the new tunes. They gave one out for free just last week and it's okay. It's different. Kind of folky. It's going to take a couple of listens to get use to. They played there hits and they had us dancing. I noticed that they too are all nicely dressed. They have that early Joy Division look. All grays. Nice. They played a couple of new songs and I was not to crazy feeling it.

We left Cut Copy after 30 minutes into the show to catch Empire of the Sun at the Perry stage (shameless). When we arrived, this place was packed with crazy kids. I noticed that there was no glowsticks around to be found, but it was insane to get around. Some people where leaving to catch Phoenix and Green Day. Once Empire of the Sun came out, it got.....CRAZY! It felt like I was in L.A. When people don't give a $H*T. They would step on you and push you out of the way to to get close to the front. $H*T. Other then that, they where......GOOD. They blew me away. It reminded me of Fischerspooner a bit. The dancing and the costumes. Very performance art. The visuals where okay, but that was alright. The whole show was.......I was just blown away and thank god I bought a ticket to the All Sold Out shows in Los Angeles. That is going to be a awesum show indooors. Yea. Day 2, gameover.

Lollapalooza.2010 (Friday)

I can not believe how clean Chicago is. It's a bit like San Diego but better. This is my first time here and I am here for Lollapalooza w/my friend Samy and my new friends Raquel and Elaine. The hotel is only 30 minutes from Grant Park, walking and it was not a bad walk. We got to explore the city. When I woke up in the morning, it was humid. When we came out in the afternoon, it was over cast and humid still, but tolerable. We left the hotel room around noon and we arrived to the fest around 2pm.

When we arrived, I was blown away. I liked what I saw. They had a huge inflatable Lollapalooza sign in front of the park and to get in, it was fast and quick. No hour wait like Coachella. They have it together here. Even the bag search was quick. I think I can get use to this. We where inside in less then 7 minutes. LESS THEN 7minutes, COACHELLA! Once inside, I looked around and this reminded me a bit like the Detour Festival in downtown Los Angeles. You get to see cool bands surrounded by the city scape. It looks amazing.

We walked around a bit to get to know the venue. I can not believe how huge Grant Park is. We walked passed The food court and the selection they had was really good and cheap. They even had deep dish pizza here. That takes about an hour to cook. We had deep dish pizza the first day we arrived and it was......GOOD (Gino's babe ROCKS!). We walked to the South Side of the park to catch The Big Pink. When we got there, the view was........Amazing. Then I noticed they had two stage sets here facing each other from a distance and I was wondering how that was gonna work. I did not look at the program carefully, hold up. Let's talk about the program. That thing was a pocket size book. It had pictures and a small bio on every band that was performing, with the set times and map. This place is winning me over. So impressed. Back to the stage set-up......The way it is set, one band plays first and when that band is over, the other band goes on at the opposite stage. It's the same set up at the North Side of the venue.

The first band we saw was The Big Pink and they where good once again. After that we went to see Devo. While we where waiting for them, I saw this guy stop in front of us and I was looking at him for a bit. Then it hit me, that is Erol Alkan! I took a quick pic of him. Cool. Devo went on and they where AWESUM! What a great performace from them and they had really cool visuals. For pulling 50 something, they sounded great and so much energy. They even had 4 costume changes. Right on......Devo. I need to see this show again indoors and at night. After Devo, we walked around and It's a walk the the North Side.

I wanted to checkout Neon Trees and I was not having them. Let's move on. We went back to the South Side to catch Hot Chip and once again, they killed it. They are dressing so nicely and well gromed. Check them out. No more baggy shirts and pants. Everything all nicely tailored. They don't look like geeks anymore. I miss that. After that we left to get some food. We passed by Chromeo and they opened up witha new song that sounded promising. We ate and headed to catch Lady Gaga. Now it was only Samy and I. His sister and her friend went to catch Erol Alkan. We did too and he was good. But once Tiga went on stage and he was playing a lame set. What is he doing? I liked the stuff he use to play back in 2003. So we decided to leave after 15 minutes and headed to see Gaga. We arrived and the place was getting full with Gaga Monsters. She went on time but she sang behind this huge curtain projecting her shadow on it. The curtain was lefted almost half way through her song. The stage was cool. It looked like a Broadway musical. She had her dancers and I leaned over to Samy and said, "is that Grace Jones?". But of course I was kidding around. We only heard 3 songs and left to catch The Strokes. Boy was that a SHOW!

This is my first time seeing The Strokes and they Kicked A$$. They had this really cool old school Jumbo Tron on the background that displayed simple visuals in red. What a differance from Lady Gaga's outragouas stage. Simple sometimes is better and it showed here. The Strokes played the hits and from what I hear, Mr Casablancas was a bit tipsy. Rock Star. I did not see the person helping him (Julian Lead Singer) back on stage when they did the encore. Thats what Samy told me. ROCK STAR! Other then him being a bit messy, they sounded great and I would not mind seeing them again in the future. Day 1 is over. A-