Lollapalooza 2018
The festival changes a little bit every year, some of these are great, some bother me. This year there were a lot more areas of the park devoted to the "V.I.P. experience", or some such bullshit. The hills near the main stage, where many concertgoers would relax in the shade, were blocked off in favor of more space for the "platinum" level customer. There were gated off areas, as always, directly in front of the stage where the privileged could stroll up, yell "Wooo" a couple of times during the one song that they actually knew, and then disappear back into their air-conditioned cabanas, or whatever they call the posh tent complexes that have been erected. They have private lounges and premium viewing platforms, concierge service and spa treatments. I don't know any of these people personally, but I can almost guarantee that they are all assholes.
I wanted to buy a concert shirt to support one of my favorite bands Thursday morning. This used to be an easy thing, just give your money to the guy and he gives you a shirt. Not anymore, now you must get into a gated-off lane that snakes back and forth until you can finally get your chance to give them some of your money. That is, unless you are part of their cashless program, where you tie a credit card number to your festival wristband ID, then you get to go straight in, and there is no waiting for an available cash register with the rest of the festival rabble. There are people standing at all of these areas making sure you go into the correct lane. We decided to go when it was not as busy, no line outside. They still made us walk through the maze of gates to get in the front door. I went in, picked out a shirt, got in the line for poor people, and waited to pay. The life kind of left me and I found that I just couldn't be a willing participant in all of this. I handed my shirt back to the guy who gave it to me and left. On the way out, they searched my bag to see if I stole anything. Nothing in there but the tiny bit of dignity I managed to retain.
There has always been a strong corporate presence at this festival, but this year it started to bother me in a way that doesn't seem to bother the generation that makes up most of the Lolla attendees. Maybe it bugs me more now because I'm not a targeted or desired demographic of these advertisers. But really, do we need a Tito's Vodka stage and lounge? We know that this is really the famous Petrillo Band Shell, so just call it that and get your greasy name off of it. Not to mention, this fest is targeted towards young people, let's not glamorize the vodka so overtly. Having a Bud Light stage doesn't seem quite as bad, Bud Light isn't going to hurt you, most likely. Let these kids grow up and be in the world for a while, by then they will be ready for some hard liquor.
There has been a lot of complaining by me and I apologize. That is out of my system now and I feel better. I still like going to the festival for a lot of reasons - the beautiful environment, great food, and the music. The music, people! That is what this is supposed to be about and we heard a lot of it.
This was the first year that I can remember where it did not rain a drop. That is unheard of. We paid for that dryness with a fine coating of dust, dirt, and dried grass that the wind would deposit on our skin and into our eyes with every breeze. It was hot, with a merciless, constant sun. The weird part is, I actually didn't mind it. I like being in the heat. We are all wilting together, earning this experience. It is August now and autumn will be here soon enough. The last days of summer slip by no matter how tightly you hang on, but here in a steamy field for a long weekend with nothing to do but listen to music and eat great food, you can absorb all of the summer that you can handle.
I won't go into a breakdown of every band that I saw this time, but I will say that we focused on the rock groups this year, with just a couple electronic acts thrown in. I just wanted it loud and constant for some reason. There were plenty of good performances, but for me, Portugal. The Man was amazing, Franz Ferdinand was my favorite, and the rest just fell in line somewhere after them. Next year I hope to attend all four days and I can guarantee that there will be moments when I feel old, sad, tired, hot, frustrated, excited, elated, and ultimately, spent. Live music has the ability to take you somewhere that you just can't get while listening to a recording. Those thrills and moments of surrender in a field, baking in the sun with 100,000 other people, are worth it all.
