Headstash's LOLLAPALOOZA Review Guide
- By Hannah Epstein
- Published on August 09, 2011
August 5-7 – Chicago, IL
15th year – Estimated attendance: 90,000 each day (270,000 total)
2011 Lineup: Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and a bunch more over at http://lineup.lollapalooza.com/
Festival Website: http://www.lollapalooza.com/
--
Friday and Saturday the weather was sunny with highs in the mid-80s. Sunday was another story with temperatures slightly cooler and two torrential rainstorms marring an otherwise beautiful weekend of weather.
Five Highlights
Muse opens their set with explosive "Uprising." Muse’s front man Matt Bellamy is not only a virtuosic guitarist and pianist – he’s also an incredible performer. Right out of the gate, the band played with unmatched vigor and proved to organizers and fans alike they deserved their headlining spot.
Keller does it for the kids. One of the most tranquil spots at Lollapalooza was Kidzapalooza, a woodsy area devoted to children’s music and activities. Most acts on this stage were unknown to the majority of the adult crowd, except for perennial jam band favorite, Keller Williams.
It was quite a sight to see hundreds of hippies dancing to Keller’s songs about mom’s farting and taking baths.
Eminem's Slim Shady medley. Towards the end of his incredible headlining set on Saturday night, Eminem took the audience back to his earlier, angrier days with a medley of “My Name Is,” “The Real Slim Shady” and “Without Me.”
Even though Eminem is famously sober (his current tour/latest album is called “Recovery for a reason), he still performed these songs with as much enthusiasm and self-referential irony as he did at the beginning of his career.
Grant Park. After having attended rural festivals like Bonnaroo to All Good in remote locations, I was grateful to be in the middle of one of the greatest cities in America and a beautifully scenic park for Lollapalooza.
Artists from Muse to Titus Andronicus commented on the breathtaking skyline and the unique venue for a multi-day outdoor music festival.
Perry's Tent. There are very few rock festivals where you can rage to electronica for the entirety of the festival. From noon until 10:00 p.m. there were people dancing to the beats of Girl Talk, The Cool Kids, and Daedalus to name a few, and the tent provided a great place to groove whenever you wanted to.
The Sony Stage. Ironic that a stage sponsored by a company that makes stereos and speakers had sound issues throughout the entire weekend. The real losers were the fans and up-and-coming indie bands like The Pains of Being Pure At Heart and Portugal. The Man. They could have really used the positive exposure that the festival provides.
Three Surprises
Rain dancing. Despite two epic downpours on Sunday, thousands of people stayed at the festival, dancing in the mud to The Foo Fighters and Deadmau5. The rain actually ended up literally bringing everyone closer together with attendees running to get under cover to those rocking out in the open.
Muse can jam. The hard rockers band gave Bellamy several breaks, but instead of talking to the audience, bassist Christopher Wolstenholme and drummer Dominic Howard jammed and improved several times with intensity that matched their own songs..
Missing a little sumthin'. Despite the high quality and diversity of the lineup this year, it was odd to attend an outdoor music festival without having the presence of jam bands and their passionate fans. Grace Potter and Keller Williams were the only familiar staples and there were plenty of hippies at the electronica tent, but it would have been better with some Umphrey’s McGee or Phish to mellow out the festival.
Bruno Mars and Skylar Grey sat in with Eminem.
The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl introduced festival founder Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction during his headlining set.
Atmosphere
The crowd was mostly normal-to-hipster-looking people with intermittent children and older adults. While there was no unifying style, many people were wearing T-shirts of bands performing at the festival. As Deadmau5’s closing set approached, more and more were rocking the glow colors and lights.
Best Pictures
 |
| Photo Credit: Hannah Epstein |
 |
| Photo Credit: Hannah Epstein |
 |
| Photo Credit: Hannah Epstein |
 |
| Photo Credit: Hannah Epstein |
"You had a lot of choices for who to see now, but you chose correctly." – Muse's Matt Bellamy said amidst raucous applause. The British rockers played at the same time as their fellow countrymen, Coldplay.
"Hey kids, who likes dogs? I do, too. But this song isn't about dogs. It was inspired by a guy named Snoop Dogg. But he's not a dog either." – Keller Williams during his kids show.
--
Check out our coverage of all your favorite summer festivals in our 2011 Festival Guide.
What did you think of Lollapalooza? Highlights, lowlights and surprises. Let us know in the comments below.
- SnowGlobe 2012 Taps Deadmau5, Chromeo, Big Gigantic, Beats Antique
This year's SnowGlobe Festival, set to take place from December 29 - 31 in South Lake Tahoe, announced its lineup this afternoon with super producer Deadmau5,...
- CounterPoint Announces Daily Schedule
Set for September 27 to 29, Atlanta’s own CounterPoint Music Festival has released the daily artist schedule for the festival’s inaugural year. With headliner...
