If you ever wanted to know what beautiful chaos was then the one place for you to check out would be Lollapalooza. Within the magnificent Grant Park, there is another dimension where cell phone service is lost amongst the crowd, everyone is looking for these mysterious people Lucy and Molly, cut off shorts and cut up shirts is the suggested uniform, and literally anything goes. One thing is for sure, everyone Is there to bask in the comfort of some good music. Whether it was basking in the sun at Of Monster’s and Men’s Sunday or swimming in mud at Skream and Benga’s set, people made sure that they made most of their time.
Although Black Sabbath, Wale, Bassnectar and the Black Keys were headlining on Friday, I think the real headliner of the day was the sun playing a full set all day. Still as dedicated as the Lolla crowd is, they raged harder than ever under the beaming sun, really kicking up the energy for Zedd’s amazing set. The German producer played an extremely high turbo electro based set that had the crowd going completely insane with his mix keeping everyone on their feet.
The highlight for Friday had to be Die Antwoord’s South African zef/rave set that was just as theatrical as it was pure genius. DJ Hi-tek donned his infamous prostethetic mask from the “Fok Julle Naaiers”, while pumping out their hit tunes from his PC computer. While half the audience were clearly diehard fans, most were just curious cats making their way over to the set based on the buzz that has been going on in the blogosphere. While confused eyes looked on while they broke into “DJ Hi Tek will fok you in the ass” poured out the speakers, soon Die Antwoord had everyone moving to their vulgar tracks. Yo Landi of course captivated everyone with her helium voice and huge charisma.
Saturday started off as sunny as ever at Perry’s with the growing crowd happily raging to the infectious sound of SALVA and Star Slinger before impending doom began to take over the skies. Before you knew it, rumors of evacuation began and people looked around in confusion until it was obvious that this was real. As waves and waves of people exited Grant Park, there was speculation on whether or not we would return. “What! I’m too drunk to move!” said the guy beside me, which was probably many people’s sentiments.
Alas, the crazy storm cleared leaving us with mud and pent up energy, so we returned back to Grant Park only to rage harder to an unbelievable set from Skream and Benga complete with a giant mudpit at Perry’s and mudslinging. Things got insane when their set ended with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and angsty people (me included) mosh-pitted in the mud with the essence of Woodstock. With the schedule pushed back people still got to see amazing sets from headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers and the ever enchanting Santigold, as well as the other favorites on all of the stages.
Finally Sunday had arrived, and although people were starting to feel the soreness from two days of nonstop partying, it was the final day to enjoy everything Lolla had to offer. A blaring sun promised an amazing day ahead, and Nadastrom got the crowd going with his Moombahton beats, shortly after Little Dragon came on stage while the sun was in full force. While most stood in the shade to enjoy her sultry jazz influenced voice, the brave ones stayed in the middle to enjoy it. Although the sun had dried up most of the mud, there was still a pretty thick amount of the stuff right smack dab in the middle of Perry’s, people took advantage of it, especially for the craziness that ensued during Doctor P’s heavy dubstep set.
Dubstep reigned that day with another excting set from Canadian duo Zeds Dead with their go-to MC Omar Link hyping up the crowd with the bass heavy dub-rap. The real treat for electronic fans came at night when the anticipated set from Justice blew minds with their heart pounding amazing grainy electro sending shock waves and lightening through the feets of a throbbing crowd. A perfect way to end one of the most chaotic and amazing weekends ever. Perry Farrell, I can’t wait to see what you do next year.
