Lollapa-OH YEAH! {2016}

Ah, yes, yes yes. One of my favorite posts of the year, one of my only posts of the year these days, is about Lollapalooza. While late to give it the sum-up, it couldn't be neglected.

The fest got another day added on this year in honor of the 25th anniversary (which we have now found out will be an on-going occurrence) and while I was amped on a good majority of the headliners and various other artists, money was a factor this year. One day was going to have to do it, and since I had seen Radiohead and could settle for not seeing RHCP (I know, I KNOW). It was all about LCD Soundsystem. I had been wanting to see them for so long, and after their retirement, I never thought the chance would come around. LOW AND BEHOLD!! 

Sunday was the obvious choice, because not only had I really wanted to see LCD Soundsystem, but I also was pretty amped on the idea of seeing Flume. His album, and recently, albums, have been in heavy rotation over the past year. Another sneaker-peaker was Bloc Party and Third Eye Blind, which means aspects of my younger self were very, very satisfied. There's not too much to say, I had a great time, the skies were blue and the breeze was light. Delightful company, great music, and solid surroundings. Who wouldn't have great things to say? So let's break this down;

Third Eye Blind: Well, this hardly counts, but we (by "we" I mean Dan and I) were DEFINITELY there for all of 'Semi-Charmed Life', which is what we all wanted to be there for. Honestly? That was the only full song that we saw by this group that helped epitomize my youth. We got there later than anticipated, but isn't that always how it goes? 

My obligatory festival pose. Give me all the music.

Flume: He played a great set, majority of what I wanted him to play, which was fantastic. It was so satisfying to see him live after listening to him SO much recently. I really just had a great time throwing down constant grooves out in that field, along with the rest of the crowd gettin' down. This was a perfect way to get settled in. Listen to: 'Take A Chance'.

Bloc Party: My high school self was more than satisfied hearing these guys play live. I never really thought that chance would come around. I thrived on Silent Alarm (and it's dandy remixed version) in my teen years and haven't stopped listening to them, just not as much. Since I had really only clung to certain songs off certain albums since then, their setlist didn't strike me as much as I had hoped, but then I had to remember I wasn't seeing them in 2006...Listen to: 'Pioneers'

Dan and I waiting for LCD Soundsystem.

LCD Soundsystem: OH, THE GLORY! The groovin' began immediately. It's hard not to channel David Byrne (Stop Making Sense) when you're dancing along to those beautiful beats. The song selection was perfect, as was the execution of each song. James Murphy's voice floated on summer air better than I could have imagined and the rest of the band filled in the gaps with electric magic. The satisfaction of seeing artists you'd never thought you'd see, is immense. There wasn't too much time to think, as my mind was being flooded with musical greatness, a tinge of herb (contact, of course), and the bottle of wine dispersed into 5 different cups. T'was a phenomenal evening, and I am so happy that I chose the final day of Lollapalooza, as my day. Listen to: 'Dance Yrself Clean'

This year the mood was so different. Normally I have to "come down" from the Lolla experience, but perhaps it was the whole one-day thing. Needless to say, much has been neglected in terms of writing. I have been to a plethora of shows, all worthy of saying something about, in the past three months. Summer always comes as an onslaught. Nice weather is here so briefly, that I'm trying to utilize it the best I can. Frankly, this has been the best summer I've had in years. Perhaps ever. It's been chocked full, and the people I've seen and met! I feel lucky. I am lucky. I am grateful that I got to attend this festival at all.

Here's to next year, although I can hardly believe this year's has already come and gone. TG

Lollapa-OH YEAH! [2013 review]

It's time to break down 

LOLLAPALOOZA.

My summer had been drenched in Lolla excitement. The tickets were purchased before the line-up was released (as were everyone else's that day) and then it was only time for the line-up to be unveiled, and then the anxious anticipation of seeing that actual schedule. I had started predicting the line-up since the last Lolla ended (and I got a lot of them right) and when it was actually released, it split my mind wide open. 

"WAIT WAIT WAIT, SO LANA DEL REY, NIN, THE POSTAL SERVICE, AZEALIA BANKS, ALT-J, DEATH GRIPS, THE CURE, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, THE NATIONAL, 2CHAINZ, AND CRYSTAL CASTLES ARE GONNA BE THERE?!" 

I had requested off work for Lollapalooza for both of my jobs in February. YES, FEBRUARY. I've worked at jobs where somehow four months advanced notice isn’t enough. Once that was done, it was really just smooth sailing and waiting in major anticipation. At first, there was some real stress over the whole interference in scheduling with Lana Del Rey and NIN, but once I had snagged my ticket to Lana’s solo show I felt infinitely reassured that I’d get to see both. Conflict resolved! Game on!

You see, Lollapalooza is made for people like me, and there’s a lot of us out there, who need to just get in the field, gather with a shit ton of people, see an array of bands, meet a bunch of new people, and just dance around like crazy for a few days. I am always so happy to be a part of the whole experience. Dancing is always somewhere within my day, and at this festival, I really amp it up. There are no restrictions; you are just there to listen, to be, and to dance an infinite amount. This year was so much better in terms of its seamlessness. The weather was exquisite, the fest fashion was aplenty, the line-up was absolutely sick, and I was just so happy to be back there again, versus experiencing it for the first time. I went in hard this time. I tried to pack it in and have as much fun as I could. It really paid off. This Lollapalooza was absolutely epic and all I want to do is go back and re-live it. I can tell you, it feels good leaving with only a few regrets of the bands you had missed. This year, there were a handful of shows I wanted to catch, but didn't quite make ‘em work. So let’s delve in!

.       .       .

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2

Bands Seen: Timeflies, Jessie Ware, Atlas Genius, Crystal Castles, Thievery Corporation, Queens of The Stone Age, and Nine Inch Nails

Bands Regretting Missed: New Order and Flux Pavillion

Timeflies: Essentially I had wanted to see this band because of the song called "The Chase". I love that song so much and I really REALLY wanted to dance my heart out to it in Grant Park that day. It's just a good anthem to motivate and make you feel larger than you are. As Lolla goes, you tend to know a lot of the bands, but just a handful of songs from the lesser-knowns. Unfortunately, I missed this jam, and don't even know if they played it, but it was a good set none-the-less. To be honest, I would love to choreograph the next "phenomenon" dance to that song. Can you imagine everyone in Grant Park rockin' my moves? I can.

Jessie Ware: I had heard some hype about her on Spin about a year ago. I downloaded her album and bounced from song to song as it would come in shuffle. I had liked her, but I hadn't really given her the proper listen she deserves. Sometimes when a new female artist emerges, it takes a certain something or an odd amount of time for me to accept it and get into it. However, the song 'Wildest Moments' always caught my attention and unfortunately I missed that in her set too. I also really dig the simplicity of her music video for it. It's hard when you go in the middle of sets or leave early because there's already a chunk of songs you already missed or ones you will be missing out on. Jessie was extremely chatty and friendly with the crowd and seemed genuinely stoked to be included in this years Lollapalooza. Good, she deserved it. I think she will be a few slots higher in the years to come.

Atlas Genius: Didn't we all just go to hear 'Trojans'? I have their EP, but I have only given it a handful of listens and fell in love with their main jam last summer, so dancing to it in Grant Park was a must. I went over there to hear the last three songs of their set after Jessie's. Of course it was their final song and everyone was way amped to hear it live. Let's talk about that music video for a second...my god. I love it. I have never watched it until I linked it in here, but it's captures nostalgia beautifully and makes me feel about 4 different ways. 2:48 has always been my favourite part of that song. I will be watching that video a few more times this month.

Crystal Castles: HOLY MACKEREL! Awesome. I loved dancing to their beats for sure. The way Alice Glass carries herself is very "to the wind" so to speak. She just kind of has that effortless rock and roll thrash-ability to her that makes her very engaging to watch. I have their self-titled album, but couldn't tell you every song on it. It served its purpose as we all let lose in the park. I need to delve into more of their stuff for sure.

 

I was trying to text a few people at the same time, but the
reception, as always, is horrific. I noticed Dan was filming.
I think the train of thought here was; "Oh, you're filming?
Phone away...let me dance then."

Thievery Corporation: Okay, so it's not really "fair" to say that I saw them, because I was technically sitting in the grass patiently awaiting QOTSA, but since they were on Petrillo, it basically took a turn over the shoulder to see the stage. I haven't heard anything that they have done in awhile and I'm most familiar with  The Richest Man In Babylon and the song I fancy the most off that album is 'Heaven's Gonna Burn Your Eyes'. I also knew the likelihood of them performing this would be slim. It's a gorgeous song that I perpetually use as my "takeoff" song when I travel. If you're about to take off in an airplane, listen to this. (break the rules and do it- if you time it right, the wheels will lift off the ground as the main beat hits on 2:19). When I saw them, they seemed to be playing something that I was much more unfamiliar with when it comes to Thievery Corporation, but was still fun to listen to and rather funky. Now that's always fly.

Queens of The Stone Age: WOW. I loved their most recently dropped album and knew that this show was going to be absolutely awesome. Our plan for the day was to camp for QOTSA into NIN and hope that Dave Grohl was going to come out and drum his heart out. However, it still rocked regardless. My high school self was SO happy 'Go With The Flow' and 'No One Knows' were played along with songs from ...Like Clockwork. They were phenomenal and Josh Homme has a double win in my book for rocking a duet with Florence for 'Jackson' (it's a still picture video, you're not going crazy). I don't know what happened during this set, but I got like, "nap-time" tired. I sat down for a lot of the set, rocking out from the ground. I just wanted to take a breather because I knew that NIN was going to rip my face off. It was the perfect set to introduce them and I'm stoked I saw them.

Nine Inch Nails: OH. MY GOD. I was really stoked to catch them because I regretted missing them in 2008 at the last Lolla they were, at which was pretty much the last time NIN toured. I've also been amped on their singles that have been creeping out off of Hesitation Marks. I knew what I was in for because I got the tiniest taste when I saw How To Destroy Angels back in April and it was beyond mind blowing. I knew that if Rob Sheridan was behind the next event and the rest of them for time to come, that it would be absolutely delicious to take in within Grant Park as the city was aglow around them. Dan and I had delved into NIN to get a better idea of what we were in for in the days ahead of the show. We watched the FUJI show which allowed us to confirm our undying excitement. I love knowing that they borrowed their idea for their opening sequence from Stop Making Sense, one of my favourite films ever and how they changed it in a way that made it their own. 

1.      1. Copy of A 2. Sanctified 3. Came Back Haunted 4. 1,000,000, 5. March of the Pigs 6. Piggy 7. The Frail 8.The Wretched 9. Terrible Lie 10. Closer 11. Gave Up 12. Help Me I Am In Hell 13. Me, I’m Not 14. Find My Way 15. What If We Could? 16. The Way Out Is Through 17. Wish 18. Survivalism  19. Only 20. The Hand That Feeds 21. Head Like A Hole 22. Hurt.  ....AKA EPIC.

Set favourites included 'Copy of A', 'Came Back Haunted', 'Closer', 'Piggy' 'Terrible Lie' 'Only', 'The Hand That Feeds', 'Help Me I Am In Hell', 'Head Like A Hole', and of course 'Hurt' made everyone cry at the end. A hell of a closer. I thought they were phenomenal. A huge upset was the fact the monitors weren't turned on, likely due to the band's request to fulfill their ideal stage setup, but I wanted to see them in some closer way. All in all, NIN rocked my face off, and my neck felt the repercussions for days. I really gave myself to the music during this set.

.       .       .

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

Bands Seen: Adventure Club, The National, HAIM, The Postal Service

Bands Regretting Missed: Ben Howard and Matt and Kim

This was kind of a lazier day for us and we strolled in during Ellie Goulding's set, who initially I had wanted to see, but I had cat-napped through the day and got to hear the final songs from a distance.

Adventure Club: we had just sort of sauntered over there to hit Perry's to kick it off. I always love the energy around that area, and I'm so glad it's more open now so people have the opportunity to go nuts. It's a great people watching area too.

The National: I'm a huge 'Bloodbuzz Ohio' song and fell in love with it a couple years ago when XRT played it all summer and I have their album, but have just glossed over it once in the past. I just love his voice and the depth it has to it. Fortunately I was able to hear my jam. Delicious success. As the festival unfolded, I had much better luck of hearing what I wanted.

HAIM: Holy Shit. I had heard A WHOLE BUNCH of hype about these three sisters from a lot of people, and the majority of those people were from the Twit. I didn't know anyone personally who had jammed to their music, but from what I had heard, they seemed very worthy of checking out. I also enjoy waiting to save things for live if I know an appearance will be made soon. These girls were outstanding. I loved their spirit and enthusiasm for playing on that very stage and I can't wait for them to blow up over the next couple years. They would deserve every ounce, I mean, they're only going to get better. Here was a good write-up of the show.

Dan was able to snag this awesome video of the end of their set.
These girls really knew how to take command of the stage and
I'm glad that Dan was impressed with them as well, since I had
wanted to go to see this set. I'm stoked I got this video in here.
Thank you!

The Postal Service: Honestly, this had to have been one of my absolute favorite shows of even the past year or two. I had initially planned to see Azealia Banks, but she cancelled, HAIM moved up, and Death Grips was going to fill in for Azealia. THEN DEATH GRIPS CANCELLED and off to The Postal Service I went. It was sort of a huge blessing in disguise, because I would have chosen TPS over Death Grips, but Azealia may have trumped. Since that had now been tossed around, there was no question. They came on the stage and 'The District Sleeps Alone Tonight' starts up and the crowd was in all their glory for sure. It was memories of 10+ years ago flooding back to you in that field. A sense of ease and memories came over us as we swayed against the skyscrapers. They played EVERYTHING you wanted to hear that night and my high school self was so beyond satisfied. You know, when you aren't going to shows yet, and then all of a sudden they become a huge part of your life, you can't remember the times where you never even fathomed seeing certain artists live. That's exactly how I felt. If someone told me when I was 15 that I would be seeing Postal Service live at Lollapalooza in 10 years, I would't know how to comprehend that. Even seeing them on the line-up didn't proper ignite my excitement- until I heard that song. Then I remembered, and it was love all over again. Just thinking that show makes me so damn happy, it was exquisite. 

1. The District Sleeps Alone Tonight 2. We Will Become Silhouettes 3. Sleeping In 4. Turn Around 5. Nothing Better 6. Recycled Air 7. Be Still My Heart 8. Clark Gable 9. Our Secret (Beat Happening cover) 10. This Place Is A Prison 11. There's Never Enough Time 12. Tattered Line of String 13. Such Great Heights 14. National Anthem (utterly phenomenal) 15. (this is) The Dream of Evan and Chan 16. BRAND NEW COLONY! [I was hoping so hard they'd come out and end with this. I danced my face off to this whole set and completely lost it when they came back on and did the final two and closed it how they did. Definitely some tears for 'Brand New Colony'.] 100% Worthy. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

.       .       .

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4

Bands Seen: Alex Clare, Alt-J, Vampire Weekend, 2Chainz, Major Lazer, The Cure

Bands Regretting Missed: Grizzly Bear, Phoenix, and Knife Party

Sunday was all about kickin' it with a group. Dan and I had solo-ed the first two days, and went with Dirk and Sara to the fest on the last day. We ended up meeting up with Erin and Bailey later in the day for Alt-J and a few other sets. It was good to go solo, and it was good to have a group. Both had their advantages. I was so stoked I found Erin and Bailey and got to hang out with them at the festival. It was a definite Sunday highlight.

Alex Clare: WOW! What a gem. I had no idea, because I think we were all too busy falling in and out of love with 'Too Close'. His other jams were excellent and it was reminiscent of the whole Gotye thing. What I mean by that, is that 'Somebody That I Used To Know' is NOT even near his best stuff and unfortunately, that's what everyone knows. Alex Clare has a lot of other great stuff, but it's just not mainstream yet, and likely never will be. It never quite seems to work out how it should, but it was great to be exposed to more of his music and see the huge crowd he drew in. He was beyond stoked. AWESOME.

ALT-J: Oh, Alt-J, how I love you so. I am so stoked they snagged a spot within this year's Lollapalooza. They absolutely deserve it, and I can't wait to see them higher up on that list in years to come (I can only hope). I saw them back in March and could not wait to see them again. Of course, it's tough to see your favourite bands at such festivals because you either have to make some serious sacrifices, or you have to settle with what you get when you end up meandering up to the stages. I saw them further back than I would have liked, but was with a great group of people that made the spot awesome. I loved dancing to their music out in the park. What an honor to see these guys again.

Me, Bailey, and Erin not taking life too seriously.

Vampire Weekend: Let's be honest, I stayed for about two songs, I wanted to check them out...and they're great, but there were 2Chainz to be seen...

2Chainz: Okay then! Talk about packing them into The Grove stage! My god. Was this show ridiculous/fun, oh absolutely. Was it chocked full of talent? Ehhhhhh...  however, this was an artist to just go see because they were there and it was time to throw down to some rap. Let's talk about how elated I was when the DJ threw on 'Bandz Make Her Dance'...SCREAMING. I was stoked. I didn't expect that, but it made it all very worth my time.

Major Lazer: Rad. I'm not overly familiar with his work, but a buddy of mine briefly introduced me to it and I had kept my eye on the name. It was great to dance to before we headed over to see The Cure. As I said, Perry's is kind of the stage where you don't really have to know the artist in anyway to have a good time and dance. This is also the only stage where neon MIGHT be appropriate.

The Cure: BECAUSE HOW COULD YOU NOT?! I was really excited and thought it was actually going to be packed full of people. To my surprise, the second half of the field seemed more open. I had a ton of room to groove my heart out to 'Just Like Heaven', 'Pictures of You', 'Mint Car', 'Lullaby', 'Love Song', 'Friday I'm In Love', 'Lullaby'...wow, how exhilarating. That's a band I don't anticipate seeing live ever again or can even fathom a time they might choose to tour in the future. It was an excellent choice. I knew Phoenix was rocking out in their usual fantastic festival fashion, but I also knew that Phoenix would be back and The Cure wouldn't. I'm stoked for the people who have been waiting over a decade to see them tour again, and getting the chance to do so this weekend. We ended up leaving a smidge early to beat the enormous crowd that makes it's way out of Grant Park at 10:00pm each festival night. We had seen what we wanted to see and left with overwhelming content. What a great closeout.

All in all, Lollapalooza this year was absolutely incredible. I had the fantastic luck to run into 6 random friends over the course of the festival out of 300,000 people, got to move to a whole bunch of awesome jams, I heard some of my favourite bands absolutely lay it down and send some of the best grooves and tunes into Chicago's summer air, and I had a wonderful ease about things this past weekend. It was so great to experience another Lolla this year and I only hope it continues to be just as awesome in the future.

 Did you go? Who did you see?

x X

Lollapa OH YEAH!

Wow. Just wow.

This past weekend has been something I've been simultaneously in over my head excited for with that tinge of anxiety to top it off. I had never been to Lollapalooza before. I've been enamored with previous line-ups but just never made it happen. Then this year unveiled itself and revealed dozens of marvelous bands that would make their way into Grant Park for the weekend. Florence + The Machine was the real motivation behind the ticket purchase. That, and I was dying to see The Black Keys perform El Camino. There was a slew of other bands that I was extremely stoked to see; Chairlift, Alabama Shakes, Tune-Yards, Polica, Of Monsters & Men, Metric, Passion Pit, RHCP, Little Dragon, etc. I had no idea how this all would unfold as I had never been and also did not seem to have a solid plan in place. As previously stated, I had sprained my foot just two weeks before this weekend. I was so nervous that I would not be able to move on it the way my heart desired- I'm constantly moving, constantly dancing at concerts, I needed my foot to be better and just wasn't sure how it was going to heal up. Luckily, day by day, my foot got a lot better and I knew it would be tolerable for Lolla. However, "tolerable" may be a drastic understatement when I review back to how hard I was dancing on it and how I absolutely threw caution to the wind and would likely have danced on it whether or not it was "tolerable" or not.

When the choice came down to be made, I decided to skip out on Friday night. Why? Because, I have already seen all the bands I was going to see. I had seen Metric twice, The Black Keys twice, and Passion Pit once. Also, I was not going to be going with someone. I would have likely relied on the idea of finding someone, which would really result in my texts getting bounced into "Too many people here! No texts for you!" territory. I just needed one more day, a day where my foot knew the work that laid ahead. Needless to say, this little five-toed marvel healed up quickly and was ready for mild dancing on Saturday. TO THE FESTIVAL WE WENT!

SATURDAY:

Starting the festival day right. We went to Orange and I got these
beyond phenomenal Rosemary-Orange French toast that was very
worthy of ordering all day, every day. This held me over for a good while.

Me dancing by Perry's before the rest of the day unleashed.  I was revved about being
there once I got in. It was great.

of COURSE we took the photo op! My Lolla companion and a great one at that!

I was so anxious, man! Normally I don't enjoy outdoor shows/festivals because I like the idea of the sound and stage being set up exactly for that band, but mostly the fans. It's always nice when everyone goes to that show because they want to see her or are a fan, not because they got trickled into the crowd. I don't know. So we got in, got a feel for the food that was being offered there as well as the stage layout and tried to muster up a plan. We sat down and enjoyed some music over by Perry's as well as Lobster Corndogs, which was a two-fer all in itself and is exactly what it sounds like. Alabama Shakes & Chairlift were two of the artists that I primarily came for on Saturday. So we move on over and settle in for Chairlift that was supposed to start around 3:30. All of a sudden, someone appears on stage and process to make an announcement that the NWS has predicted a serious storm and they have decided to evacuate the park. Of course, my stubborn ass stayed sat right in the lawn until evacuating became more so something that wasn't a lingering choice anymore. So off we went. 70,000+ of us, under all sorts of magical mind-altering substances down the streets of Chicago, trying to find shelter from this "storm" that none of us could see or look up on radar due to the mass flood of people. Somehow, this irritating factor of missing two of your favourite bands became like this adventure, all of us, united through not just surviving Lolla together, but now weathering this beast of a storm and now roaming the city streets. The energy was electric. As we headed more West, we could see that the threat was rather eminent. It was really, REALLY neat to see this roll through. This was the storm of the summer and it was great to see it progress.

It was light...until it became exceedingly dark...and deadly looking.
Luckily we found this nifty little shelter and hung out here for awhile.

COMING DOWN IN SHEETS, I TELLYA, SHEETS!
When this was all over we got mocha and cookies.
So obviously everything was okay from then on after.

So then it was time to make our way back after the rain tapered off. So here we are
at the gates hoping re-entry would be sooner than later. Some silly stuff went on here,
a few chants "LET US IN!' erupted. All in all, the energy here was something you could
ball up in your hands and throw around. Very cool for sure. Gates opened about two
hours after they evacuated us. It could have been worse.

It happens now that they let us back in and we head right back over to the stage to see Chairlift, hoping that it would pick up right where it left off. After shuffling around in the crowd, we found out that Chairlift AND Alabama Shakes had been cancelled for the day. Luckily, I've been wanting to see TuNe-YaRdS for quite some time now and they were playing across the way. She was awesome and did all of my favourite tunes. I felt lucky for SURE. Then after that we had no real plan. We ended up catching Skream & Benga & Calvin Harris over on Perry's before we headed out. I was just hoping that the weather was going to hold up for Sunday. It was initially supposed to be nice weather for the weekend.

TuNe-YaRdS performing on Saturday at 5:00pm.

SUNDAY:

I got this shirt last summer on her Lungs tour and I decided to get a little
fancy with it. It was part of my Sunday Lolla outfit. You best believe that I
wrote 'Florence Forever' on the back of it!

Breakfast. My amazing Chai Tea Latte, my tattoo I drew on
with Sharpies and my 3 Day wristband. Aces.

So I guess I couldn't stray from the whole French toast idea
this whole weekend. It was just the perfect start to the day.
Sugar, carbs, fat, deliciousness...

HAPPY FLORENCE DAY!
These are always the best days. AND IT WAS!

So Sunday had a line-up that I thought might be a little slower for me, but it ended up being action-packed. We arrived at 1:00pm to see Poliça, which was set to start around 1:30. I was really stoked to see them after Marc Alghini told me about them some time in May, I believe. Just before Poliça had started, it was beyond lucky when we got the alert that Chairlift would be playing later that day to make up for their cancellation the day before. HOW AMAZING! What great news to get before the start of the show.

We caught their set and decided to head on over to hang out for Little Dragon. There was a real nice patch of shaded area that still gives off a groovy little view. We camped it there until I decided that just sitting there was not an option with that those kind of tunes going down. So up I went and danced in the lawn like a fool while Dan kept it cool in the shade.

Poliça being beyond rad. Love these guys- totally grooved out during this set, too.

You see, the whole day, for me anyway, was based around Florence. So after we saw Little Dragon, we grabbed some grub, hit the baños, and found a spot for Flo once J. Cole's crowd cleared out. Ah, then came the true excitement about Lolla. Once we had a seat in the lawn within 200 ft feet of the stage for Florence, my excitement and just took off. This was my fifth time seeing her. She was the reason I was there. She is my religious experience; I give my mind, body, and soul to her music when it's performed live in front of me and it's the only way I'll take it.

Was so happy to see her Ceremonials stage all set up!

Dan & I waiting for Florence to appear and cast her spell on the crowd.
Okay, I guess I was just waiting for her to do that...

So of course, as usual, Florence owned my soul. She played an amazing set, that I've seen three times, of course, with small variances and no show is ever really the same with Florence Welch and her fantastic machines [oh, how I love them]. The last time I saw her was in Milwaukee at the end of April. I was really anxious for Lolla because I knew that it was going to have a totally different feel to it. I know that she loves festivals and I wanted to see her exude that energy. SHE DID. She did this phenomenal 'Shake It Out' remix that was dance-y and extraordinary and, um 'BREATH OF LIFE'. OMFG. She was just absolutely amazing. SHE BLEW THAT CROWD AWAY. I'm real thankful that Dan decided to skip ATDI to see Florence with me. I think that she made it very worthy of everyone's time. She was so personal with the crowd and seemed so happy. I think that's so beyond. The reviews for her sum it up so perfectly that that is that she "played a head-lining set during the daytime." She really should have been a head-liner. Apparently she had record-breaking attendance, the other person who beat it was RHCP that played the night before. As the crowd was clearing out for Florence, I heard a boy who had just seen her claim that her show may have actually been "better than the Chili Peppers." I think I went up to him and told him I loved him for saying that. It wasn't creepy at all.

So then of course, Florence Day Gods made it work out that all we had to do for Chairlift was turn around and walk another x amount of feet to hear the amazing sounds that fluttered from the stage. I danced like a fool in the lawn until 'I Belong In Your Arms' came on. I could not resist running into the crowd to dance when it came on. Luckily, there were large gaps in the crowd where I had so much room to dance. I danced through every song and loved every second. I was so glad they played Something and then a few oldies. 'Planet Health' was also unexpectedly slipped in. Last time I saw Chairlift was when they opened for Phoenix back at the Aragon. They were great then, but they have really launched to a new level. I always say a [Blondie/Florence] vibe with them when I describe this latest album. Then, since the crowd was rather thin (really) I decided to try my luck on a setlist, because I knew that'd be like...top notch radsticks. MY ATTEMPT WAS GOOD TO ME! Lookie here!

I was so lucky to get this!

So then it was awesome, because as soon as Chairlift was done launching their awesome, we just had to turn around to the same location where Florence had gotten done just an hour before in order to see Justice. I was real interested in seeing that even though I'm not super familiar with his stuff, but I knew I wanted to end my night with bright lights, a lot of bass, dancing, and great company. ACHIEVED! I ran into one of my friends, Rachel which had low odds but great result!

The crowd at Justice on Sunday night at 8:30.

What an awesome picture to close out the weekend with. I had such an amazing
time here and I can't wait to do it again next year. Rachel took this shot :)

All in all, this was who we checked out/saw: TuNe-YaRdS, Skream & Benga, Calvin Harris, Poliça, Little Dragon, J. Cole, Florence + The Machine, Chairlift, Justice. I am absolutely heartbroken that Alabama Shakes wasn't able to re-appear on the bill for Sunday. It is what it is. Here's to next year! Who was your favourite?!

-T