LOLLAPALOOZA 2007

Nick Meador

I was fortunate enough to attend Lollapalooza again this year, for its third time taking place as a one-weekend event in Chicago’s Grant Park. I had been mentally preparing for this since spring, when I bought my ticket at the Early Bird price (they quickly jumped from $165 to $195).

Lollapalooza 2006 was an unbelievable experience, highlighted by the circus explosion of the Flaming Lips on Saturday afternoon and a monumental performance by 16 members of Broken Social Scene on Sunday evening. I knew this year would be different, because the international music climate has changed in the past year. We find ourselves even further entrenched in the “indie-goes-mainstream” mentality when webzines, music blogs and word-of-mouth are more pertinent than any FM radio stations or corporate marketing ploys. For me, this meant that I was familiar with, and excited about, many more bands than in 2006.

The festival line-up seemed flawless. Of course, there were the requisite mainstream acts – Pearl Jam was placed in the Sunday night headline spot – to help boost ticket sales. But in reality, the 2007 line-up could only be described in one word: diverse.

Genre practically disappears when so many various sounds are molded together. I remember vividly how my heart raced as I viewed the band list and saw Daft Punk sitting proudly at the top. I had an idea of which bands I would want to see right away, but after the official schedule was released in mid-June, I started to realize that no amount of planning could prepare me for what was ahead.

I drove to Chicago with my girlfriend and brother, in the Toyota Prius belonging to the latter (to limit carbon emissions and save on gas money). I freed my mind of expectations, charged my digital camera batteries and bought all the bottled water I could fit in my backpack. Here’s how it all played out.

Day 1- A goregous day leading up to a one of the most anticipated events: Daft Punk

Day 2- The ups and downs of music festival line-ups

Day 3- The last day included a diverse number of bands, some unique, some cheesey, and some making the day, the event, worthwhile

The end…
I left Grant Park at this point because my little brother had to be at work in Detroit the next morning at 8 am. I missed the chance to see Café Tacuba, who are perhaps Mexico’s most popular rock band. Plus, I didn’t get to watch, and later bash, TV on the Radio. A part of me also wanted to say that I had seen Pearl Jam. Oh well. It was an amazing, incredible, spectacular weekend that words can’t really describe, and yet I’ve dispensed 4600 of them while attempting to do just that.

I look forward to the Lollapalooza 2008 line-up announcement sometime around next March. But for now, I’ll look at my Lolla pictures regularly and concentrate on all the great indoor shows coming to Michigan this fall and winter. Stay tuned to MusicEdge. It’s going to be a wild ride…

Now enjoy the movie at the top of the page that compiles all my photos and video clips from the entire weekend. The background music for each day’s segment comes from a band who played that day.