Lollapalooza 2012

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I'll go ahead and do my own lil' review now that I've read your guys' reviews.


Friday:

Arrived into Midway around noon, had a friend come in to O'Hare and make her way down to us. Checked into the hotel, and left for Grant Park which took an extra hour to get to so we didn't get to the park until just before 5:00pm.

Die Antwoord - First show. Went only because my friend Darcy was a huge fan. Considering I expected absolutely nothing but crap, it was slightly better than that. Bearable, which, honestly, was more than I could ask for.
The Shins - Dead tired by this time, so we just hung out behind the soundboard and arrived late. They were okay, although I think the distance was what made it just 'okay'. Laid down on the grass and just absorbed the music.
M83 - Unlike the rest of the crowd, I stayed and left just after Reunion because the crowd sucked ass. They were OKAY, but now I'm definitely seeing them in Orlando in a month because I feel as though I didn't get a fair chance to see the real M83.
The Black Keys - At this point we're destroyed from the long day. We didn't actually enter the field... just watched from the distance. I already am not a Black Keys fan, and the oontz oontz interruption from Perry's made it that much worse. Was not pleased. We almost fell asleep and left by 9:00pm.

Saturday:

Delta Spirit - Arrived for the start. It was hot, we were far out. Wasn't really feeling it. Disappointed. Didn't even stay for the second half, decided to check out Neon Indian instead.
Neon Indian - Good stuff. Never listened to him before... definitely got to check him out now though. Wasn't really too attached to the crowd though. Left half way through to get a spot for The Temper Trap though.
The Temper Trap - Yeah... about that. The Temper Trap is what really threw me over the edge and made me want to plan the Lolla trip. Real disappointment that I was standing in that crowd and they didn't even take the stage. Instead, we were told to leave the park. Not rescheduled.
fun. - Everyone came to see their favorite band We Are Young. Worst crowd ever. Overfilled with people who knew nothing of the band. I'm afraid to go to a fun. show now, because I can only expect the same crap. They weren't that bad, but the crowd really ruined it. Should've at least been on a main stage.
Washed Out - Mediocre. Really like their music, but really not good performers at all. No showmanship. Don't know what you're doing telling us about your technical malfunctions but I'll be dead honest, I would not have noticed otherwise. Really disappointed, expected much, much more.

- Okay I'll stop bitching now, things turned around big time -

Bloc Party - Holy crap do I regret staying the whole set for Washed Out. I love crowd connection. I loved the chatter, I loved the music, I loved the crowd despite the mud. I loved Flux, specifically. Truly marked the turn of the concert for me, because it was all awesome from here.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - They were great. Lost my shoes to the mud, but I didn't care because I was having so much fun. Way better than in Tampa. All I could've asked for. Loved what Flea had to say at the end, and really liked how they modified their set to lose the 15 minutes.

Sunday:

Bombay Bicycle Club - One of the other acts that really threw me over for wanting to go. Phenomenal job. Did a great job at gathering first time listeners and pulling them into their music. I liked the setlist order, and I thought they sounded exceptional live as opposed to their studio. Perhaps could've done a smaller stage though.
Dum Dum Girls - Only watched them for a spot at Gaslight. Can't complain. L7.
The Gaslight Anthem - Pretty good stuff. Odd setlist order, but at least it wasn't too cliche. Crowd was phenomenal, one of the best day crowds for sure.
Of Monsters and Men - Thought that this massive crowd showed up for Gambino or for the band 'Little Talks'. I was wrong. The crowd was pretty good. I feared a 'fun.' crowd, but it was pretty good. Of Monsters did a good job bringing the crowd into it, too. They sounded great live.
The Big Pink - Favorite act after The Temper Trap. Favorite act of the weekend. Exceeded all expectations. Did things really different from what I expected, and did a good job at grabbing the bunch of obnoxious Gambino fans. Fuck them. They were the worst, and would've ruined The Big Pink given the chance.
Childish Gambino - The crowd was... interesting. Fuck them. Gambino was good, but I just don't like his music. Someone stole my shirt and a suntan lotion thing from my backpack during the squishapalooza, and there was nothing I could do about it. Thankfully though, it could've been a whole lot worse considering the other compartment had my $300 glasses and my phone charger, which went untouched.


Top 10
1. The Big Pink
2. Bombay Bicycle Club
3. Red Hot Chili Peppers
4. Bloc Party
5. The Gaslight Anthem
6. Of Monsters and Men
7. The Shins
8. Neon Indian
9. fun.
10. Die Antwoord

Top Ten:
1) The Big Pink
2) Bloc Party
3) Red Hot Chili Peppers
4) Of Monsters and Men
5) Black Sabbath
6) Kaskade
7) Gaslight Anthem
8) Los Jaivas
9) Madeon
10) fun. (themselves even if the crowd was just atrocious)

HM to The Verve Pipe, again, that is unironic.

So we were pretty close there.
 
Here's some pics:

Crowds n stuff..

M83 -

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The Gaslight Anthem -

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The Big Pink -

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Cram-bino -

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Refugee location at a friend's hotel. Damn was that hotel nice. A view of Grant Park right before the brute of the storm -

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Me...

Hanging with my good preacher friend, damning me to hell -

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Mourning the loss of my shoes, Sunday night (right) -

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Midway final shot with our group minus one -

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So there's some shots of my spots and of myself. That'll tell you if you managed to bump into me or not ;)
 
Oh. Yeah. That. Those lunatics will find anywhere that young people are located and do their crazy preaching. We see them all over our college campuses all the time. Almost expected to be outside of Grant Park telling you that you're going to hell.
 
It was a group of people preaching outside the festival, not an actual friend of his, I don't think :p.

Nope, I don't think I ran into ya, LN7, but it looks like you were happy, despite all the problems :slant: :wink:.
 
As a religious person, I was even put off by those preachers. They called people today stupid when it came to the Bible which was the complete wrong choice of words, first of all. He means ignorant. Calling people stupid isn't going to bring them over to listen to what you have to say.
 
Oh, right, my bad. I took it literally. I was gonna say, probably don't hang out with that dude at a festival :lol:

So glad that doesn't happen here.
 
You looked at that photo and thought he and that dude were actual friends? COBL.....
I'm beyond the point of being surprised by things Cobbler does.

Starting @ ~ 40 Seconds in you can see me on the rail. You may not be able to see me because I was pushed back a little bit at that point, but I was fist pumping like a madman:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_BDoHcEleE
 
I'm beyond the point of being surprised by things Cobbler does.

Starting @ ~ 40 Seconds in you can see me on the rail. You may not be able to see me because I was pushed back a little bit at that point, but I was fist pumping like a madman:

The Big Pink LIVE @ Lollapalooza 2012 - YouTube

Those guys, or people like them, are at sporting events as well.

Smashley, I looked but didn't see no Bashley.
 
Oh, right, my bad. I took it literally. I was gonna say, probably don't hang out with that dude at a festival :lol:

So glad that doesn't happen here.

Sheesh, you must have some odd opinion of me then :lol:

The people I was with were the ones who are in all of the pictures. The ginger, the blonde, and the other one. And then the one behind the camera, Darcy.

And then we had a group part 2, filled with friends of friends. We met up and mixed around several times.
 
I'm beyond the point of being surprised by things Cobbler does.

Starting @ ~ 40 Seconds in you can see me on the rail. You may not be able to see me because I was pushed back a little bit at that point, but I was fist pumping like a madman:

The Big Pink LIVE @ Lollapalooza 2012 - YouTube

I'm also in that, but the quality is so low that you'd have to know exactly where I am and exactly what my friends look like to make us out.
 
I was bouncing that entire show. Way more motion than anyone else around me, especially when they came out and played my favorite song, Velvet, first. I flipped my shit.

Also, I assume you hated them because they were Gambino assholes? Did you by chance hear the fuck who started chanting 'Donald Glover' in between songs? I was just like... buddy... shut the fuck up.
 
Random pics from Lolla:

Am I crazy or does it look like this backpack has a snooty face?

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View of the storm:

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Washed Out:
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The Sears Tower disappearing behind a cloud:

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I've got more, hang on.
 
I was bouncing that entire show. Way more motion than anyone else around me, especially when they came out and played my favorite song, Velvet, first. I flipped my shit.

Also, I assume you hated them because they were Gambino assholes? Did you by chance hear the fuck who started chanting 'Donald Glover' in between songs? I was just like... buddy... shut the fuck up.

I loved that first track. I don't know their first album as well, but every song was great.

I mentioned in my long-ass review, but pretty much he wouldn't shut up about how much he pitied The Big Pink because they had no fans on the rail and she TALKED during "Velvet".
 
Well fuck her. Aside from The Temper Trap, The Big Pink was my 2nd favorite act in the lineup going into the weekend. Like I said, I poured out all of the energy that went to waste for The Temper Trap into that act. Every word of all of the songs (but one, I just didn't seem to recognize?). That's crap. No fans... no you're just an ignorant fuck who doesn't know enough about music.
 
I don't think you missed a huge deal. I've seen them live and they were very good, but a long way down on my list of great bands I've seen. Don't like their new album either.
 
Yeah they were really bugging me, it was funny, I went to see The Big Pink almost on a whim. Can't believe how amazing they were.

Those tumblers I mentioned seeing, they were great (These are video links, you have to click them):













If you don't want to watch all six of those, at least watch the last one.
 
I don't think you missed a huge deal. I've seen them live and they were very good, but a long way down on my list of great bands I've seen. Don't like their new album either.

I think the new album misses some depth but is strong on top. They're coming to Orlando though in October, so I'll get my chance again. Conditions was phenomenal though. Either way, saying I haven't missed much and actually seeing it for myself are two completely different things.

Something I've learned a lot about recently (in life in general)... I'd rather be disappointed knowing I've seen or tried something than to just not know at all. What are those words... if you never try you'll never know.
 
Finally got my phone to upload the pics!

2/3rds of The Big Pink:
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All of The Big Pink:

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Pikachu, Waldo and a Panda

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Kaskade:

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Wristbands!

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Chairlift:



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The most inexplicable pinball game EVER!

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More Chairlift:

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The Verve Pipe:

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(I'm sad this picture came out so dark, just because you probably can't see Cookie Monster :(

Gaslight Anthem

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The lead singer of Of Monsters and Men looks SO much like a guy I work with:

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*Almost* all of Of Monsters and Men:

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THE CAKE!

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I had to use my panoramic app to get the whole band:

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Awesome multi-instrumentalists
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Holy shit, that's a goddamn cake.

Nice photos, guys, and good writeups. Sounds like it was a good time outside of the storm and some crappy crowds. Keep on rockin'.
 
The cake was so fucking funny. The girl was chatting with the crowd and she's like, "Oh what a scary mask you have on." to some guy in the back and then suddenly she got this look on her face and she goes, "WHAT IS THAT?! Is it a cake?!" And, obviously we couldn't see what she was seeing, so I kind of was thinking she was acting a little silly about some kind of sign or balloon...then they pushed the thing to the front rail and when I saw it I about died laughing.
 
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