At the last minute we got approved to sling cream backstage at Lollapalooza in Chicago. Out of nowhere, Chicago became the hotspot for music festivals in the last two years. There used to be none, now there’s three and a half: Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Intonation and the half being Touch and Go’s 25th Anniversary that’s coming up September 8-10th. With little notice we weren’t really sure what to expect for Lollapalooza. The crew was coming in from all over North America and the only thing we were sure of was that we’d be slinging cream somewhere and that the lineup was amazing.
On Thursday we rolled by Pars Ice Cream and filled the two freezers in Bessie to the max, with over 2000 treats. This was about the same amount of treats we went through at Pitchfork Festival the weekend before and, depending on where we were parked, there might be a chance we could make it through all three days at Lolla. It’s always nice getting on site a day early to get a feel for how everything is set up. As we waited to see where our parking spot was going to be Todd hopped out to scope out the photo opportunities amongst the numerous stages. The main artist area was behind the far south stage and our parking spot ended up being just south of that along one the main access road. This meant we were in an extremely high traffic area, which could be good and bad. We left Bessie there for the night then caught up with Paige and Meghann who had just rolled into town from Tennessee.
When we all arrived on Friday we had a much better idea of how big Lollapalooza actually was. Word was that attendance was expected to be between sixty and sixty-five thousand each day. With that many people out in the field, there would be a lot of people backstage making everything run flawlessly. Paige and Meghann showed up and I broke down the art of cream slinging and the freezer setup. It didn’t take long before I took a back seat when they were around. One of the best parts about our setup was that we could hear the bands that were playing on the two south stages. Things got going early with a rather rambunctious set from Subways. It’s great to see the young ‘ens stepping it up and having a good time while doing it. A bit after their set SPIN magazine brought them by the truck for a photo shoot. Can’t wait to see how those shots turned out.
The Raconteurs were one of the most anticipated bands on Friday and they happened to be playing the stage closest to the truck. Their set was high energy rock ‘n roll with a fun and kick back feel. Like the music you’d imagine Jack White would want to make if he were taking a break from White Stripes. I was hanging out of the back window in the truck when Mr. White said in between songs, “Do you know there’s free ice cream here? If you can’t get it, let me know and I’ll try to get you some.” I looked around in amazement to see if anyone else happened to hear what I just did. WOW! The funny part was that no one on the truck personally gave Jack any ice cream. That’s why I always just try to smile when random people come up and ask for five or six ice creams. You never know where they’ll end up.
As Friday wound down, we were fishing around to see what kind of after parties were going down. If I was going to make it out, this would be the only night I’d have the energy. Dylan, who I’d met a couple months prior at Sasquatch had a suite at the Hard Rock and was the only one staying there. Naturally he felt the need to put it to good use and invited us to stop by. Once we wrapped everything up at the truck and temporarily stashed our cameras and computers at Paige and Meghann’s hotel, Brantley, Todd, Meghann, and I grabbed a cab to the Hard Rock. Once we arrived it only took a few minutes to realize we were at the Hard Rock Cafe and not the Hard Rock Hotel, which was a mile or so away. We did what most other people would in that situation and loaded up some coke bottles with some rum for the walk over.
Outside the main bar area I noticed some of our extended crew. Benjy was barely hanging in there and Colin and Pete, we’re looking to step it up a notch. We all rounded the corner and found an entrance to a party on the second floor. We got there just in time to grab some free Peroni before the lights kicked on and the dancing stopped. No worries, all we had do was get Dylan’s room number and head up stairs. As we rolled in all of us were pretty impressed at how dope the suite was. Couldn’t really imagine a better place to throw a mellow after/impromptu dance party. One of the guys from VHS or Beta was in control of the ipod and we all played our part. Hands down, the highlight of the night was looking over while Cyndi Lauper was playing and seeing Jim James dancing and singing along.
I woke up Saturday racking my brain about what to do about cream for the day. The truck was at the festival and we went through probably 1200 of our just-over-two-thousand stash on Friday. After much thought I decided to just go with what we had and hopefully we wouldn’t run out too early. On average when we do a festival, less than 25% of the ice cream on board goes to artists. Security usually takes up the majority then production right behind that. Our purpose for slinging cream backstage is to thank everyone who helps make a festival possible. That’s why we always try to load up more than we need so that everyone who’s working (at least by the truck) can have at least one. After an early morning onslaught by security that put a major dent in our stash, we had to cut them off. It was a hard decision but, if we did continue the way we were, we would have been out in no time.
Initially I thought there was only one band I HAD to see at Lollapalooza. Many of the bands that were performing had played other festivals during the summer but one that hadn’t, Peeping Tom, happened to be a late edition for a Saturday set. Jackie and I hoped abort a transport golf cart and were whisked away to catch their set. We didn’t have proper Press or Photo credentials but the nice security guard in charge of the stage let us hang around for the first song before giving us the boot. Both Jackie and I were extremely exited to see Mike Patton’s new project and with Rahzel beat boxing on most songs, the resulting mash up had the crowd freaking out. By the time it was done we were a mess. I thought about catching some other music right after but decided cream slinging was top priority.
Once back at the truck I was surprised to see how fast we were running through all the ice cream. Right around the time the sun was setting we gave away the last one for the day. Kendra, who I’d met at Pitchfork was helping out some that day and her and I decided we’d lock up Bessie and check out the Flaming Lips who were playing on the far stage, which was probably a mile away. Our Old Style’s were a great addition but, as always, we didn’t bring enough. I’ve seen the Lips play oh-so-many times recently yet I never get tired of their set. I guess it’s like seeing one of your favorite movies over and over and over again. We danced and sang along then slipped backstage to see about catching a golf cart shuttle back to the south side. Outside of grabbing a few beers, we weren’t even quite sure why we were heading back. I think our reasoning was, catch a bit of Kanye then make it back for some Manu Chao, which was exactly what we did.
As we were making our way down the outside sidewalk in a speedy golf cart on the way back to see Manu, a guy in the golf phrased the Kanye/Manu debate perfectly, “Kanye good, Manu rare” The closer we got the more Kendra and I started to buzz. Did Manu EVER play the US? He surely hadn’t played any festivals in recent memory and I can’t remember hearing anything about any shows around Los Angeles either. Since we were in Chicago, Kanye was the bigger draw. The plus side to this was that Kendra and I were able to sneak our way onto the side stage and get right next to the band. There were maybe sixty or seventy people up there but only a few were truly getting down. Kendra and I hung out behind everyone so that when the music picked up to the familiar rocksteady/skankin’ beat, we could pogo up and down and freak out. We never let up and I was left speechless for most of the set. It was just so different than your average rock n’ roll festival show. Seeing Manu Chao perform was one of the highlights of my three months on the road.
Since we were completely depleted on Sunday I had to wake up early and line up some cream for the day. Called in the order then took the “L” down to the fest to fire up Bessie. She’d been having some starting issues so I wasn’t even sure if she’d fire up. She did and within a half an hour I was loading up a fresh batch for the day. Since I needed to leave the following day for Ashland, Oregon, I had to make sure I didn’t over order and get stuck with any extra stock. We ended up going through over three thousand ice cream throughout the weekend and I swear we could’ve moved a couple thousand more if we had ’em.
Everyone always moves a little slower on Sunday. Ben Kweller went on early on the stage right next to the truck and I thought his overly poppy music would either cure the worst hangover in the world or make you want to kill the whole band. I was not the least bit hungover and was hopped up on come coffee so it was perfect Sunday morning music to me. Throughout the rest of the day I snuck away for an interview with 103.1, we tried to give Anthony and the Red Hot Chili Peppers ice cream, and briefly got some encouragement from the founder of Lollapalooza, Perry Farrell. I asked him if he wanted some cream and he said, “no, but everyone is bragging about you.” RAD! That sure felt good. It’s always nice to be wanted and appreciated, whether you’re slinging cream or anytime in normal everyday life. One of my numerous goals in life is to complement people more often. When it’s sincere, it feels good.
Around dusk we started to run out again and prepared to lock things up so we could make it to the far side to catch home town favorites, Wilco. There was no good vantage point backstage so Benjy and I caught a ride up around the side and entered from behind the crowd. Ran into Jay and hung out for a sec before meandering my way up on the left side of the stage to rock out. Wilco played a couple new songs which sounded great to me and Jeff dedicated a couple, including “‘I’m the man who loves you” to his wife, because it happened to be their 11th anniversary that day. How cute. I think Wilco might be the perfect All American band.
It took a while to get through the crowd but after a while I found myself on stage watching Broken Social Scene. It’s kinda funny cuz I wasn’t even trying to get up there. I was just wandering around in a bit of another world then found myself next to Paige and Meghann as BSS invited Feist, Emily Haines, on stage for a stirring rendition of “Diary of a Teenage Girl”. The touring troupe of BSS has been without Emily and Feist in recent times and it was good to see them back, even if only temporarily. There was something special in the air and everyone could feel it. I hope they stick around for a while.
D’oh, gotta run right now. Long Story. Will plug in last paragraph or two from the mountains or ???
