Lollapalooza 2013

Having missed last year's Lollapalooza I made sure I got tickets for this one, and because practically everyone in the office was going, the 3-day pass seemed like a good idea. After all it's not like a camping festival and apart from the first day there was very little in the way of mud! The venue is Chicago's Grant Park, surrounded on three side by skyscrapers and on the other side by Lake Michigan, which makes for a great city meets festival atmosphere. I arrived earlyish on the Friday with minimal to zero plan, no idea where anyone was and a barely functional phone (someone should find a way to improve cell bandwidth during large gatherings of people). Luckily within thirty seconds I bumped into someone I knew, which given that 160,000 people attend over three days and given the amount of time it took to find people later on, was pretty astounding. Luminous pink headband acquired from random drunk guy, I was ready to begin. Here are some of the highlights...

On the Friday Deap Vally were a really fun female, alternative rock/pop duo with some grungy guitar riffs, and Ghost were a great satanic metal band who everyone should check out if they get a chance to see them live. Queens of the Stone Age rocked pretty hard and then I had to choose between Nine Inch Nails and The Killers for the final act. I went with the former and was not disappointed although everyone said The Killers also put on a spectacular show.

Saturday was a bit more chilled - sitting under the trees listening to The Dunwells (folk rock from Leeds) was particularly good. I then stayed around the main (read "more popular") stage for the finale of The Lumineers and Mumford & Sons. We were pretty far back for the end but it still sounded ok and  there was room to dance manically without accidentally killing someone.

Sunday started with Alex Clare who you may know for certain Internet Explorer ads! Despite this dubious fame, his alternative bluesy rock tinged with electronica and a keytar was fun to listen to. Vampire Weekend was a highlight of the weekend with an energetic set and excitable crowd. Finally I decided to see Phoenix rather than The Cure, which turned out well as Pheonix also put on a really entertaining show and are probably more of a festival band than The Cure.

Overall a successful weekend!