For 11 hours straight, Friday through Sunday, a maxed out crowd of 100,000 music lovers mills across the mile long Grant Park in Chicago. All of these concert goers share the space with food vendors, security, volunteers, and musicians concentrated around eight focal points: the stages.
If there is one thing that repeatedly impresses me at Lollaplooza, it’s the quality and quantity of sound. This year, for example, Nine Inch Nails at the Bud Light Stage could be heard a mile away during breaks in The Killers’ set at the Red Bull Sound Select Stage. Add all the other stages in between and you have a recipe for could-be chaos. And yet, the masters behind Lolla’s sound engineering have somehow figured out how to be blasted by Imagine Dragons from across three softball fields without losing your hearing in the front row… while also preventing interference with the rave happening just a hill away at Perry’s Stage.
Which brings me to one of the highlights of the entire festival: Perry’s Stage, named after Jane’s Addiction frontman and Lolla founder Perry Farrell. Just two years ago, this electronic-focused stage was just a tent. This year, it was a headliner-worthy nexus. Thousands of kids (mostly kids- I definitely saw some older bass-heads head banging on the sidelines) literally ran to Perry’s field as soon as the gates opened at 11am to get to the front and stayed there all day. And with this year’s line-up, who could blame them? Dillon Francis, Modestep, Flux Pavilion, and Steve Aoki—this is just the first day! The stage also hosted Dog Blood, Baauer, Knife Party, Adventure Club, Dada Life, and Major Lazer (keep in mind, this is still an incomplete list).
The party physically did not stop until the last show was over each night, pyrotechnics and all. It looked exhausting and I was grateful on behalf of the crowd for the efforts made by security to hydrate everyone within reach. The stage and field were managed with visible care and love for the ravers and I think everyone, from the kids in the front row smashing their eardrums to the hammock chillers on the sidelines, enjoyed the show.
If I had to choose one moment of electronica-lover bliss, which is incredibly difficult to do, I would have to recall Baauer’s set on Saturday. “Harlem Shake” hype aside, he’s one of my absolute favorites. Consequently, I’ve been following the online bitch feud between him and Azealia Banks. The fight has been publicly fueled by Banks via Twitter and quietly mitigated by Baauer via interviews as each tries to claim original ownership of “Harlem Shake.”
Anyway, Banks was originally cast as a B level headliner for Lollapalooza this year but, in yet another fit of drama, had to drop the show. Baauer probably laughed his ass off when he heard. His response? During his set (and later again that night when he supported Kendrick Lamar’s Lollapalooza aftershow), Baauer worked some of Azealia’s famous “212” samples into his set, matched with grotesque videos of twitching eyes and a mouth that could have come from Banks’ “Liquorice” video. His sample of choice was a loop of Banks’ line “when I hit that dip get your camera” dubbed over with Baauer’s signature beats which made “dip” sound more like “bitch.” Even without this lyrical change, the sampling was an audible slap in Banks’ face. While it wasn’t subtle, it was definitely not as dramatic as whatever Azealia will dish out once she figures out his trick.
The stacked line-up at Perry’s was representative of the musical charge that flowed throughout the park all weekend, making Lollapalooza 2013 the most exciting three days of my short life to date. It’s a humbling experience to tread amongst 99,000 strangers and realize that you are all intrinsically connected through one love. For a weekend, we forgot about the chores, the struggles, the differences. For three days, we lived for music. Even if some of the artists had issues with each other, they were able to use their feuds constructively to create a unique and interesting show for their audience. Basically, music reigned and Lollapalooza proved its sovereign understanding of what makes a music festival great.
When it comes to music, Chicago, arguably, does it better than anyone and Lollapalooza is at the forefront of the charge.
Words By Kyle Karnuta for WhiteRaverRafting.com
Photos courtesy of Lollapalooza
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