When a festival is organized properly something magical happens for everyone there. It doesnt matter if youre working or part of the 50,000+ fans in attendance. I wish I knew exactly what it was so I could bottle it up and sell it (imagine how much that magic potion would be worth). Last year we werent confirmed to sling cream at Lollapalooza (check out our Lollapalooza 2006 Review until a week before the event. It put us in a little bind but we did our best and gave away a couple thousand ice creams. This time around we knew wed be there months in advance so we had plenty of time to dial in all the details and planned on moving twice as much cream this time around.
Prior to last year I had never been to Chicago. Now I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the city after hitting three fests last year (Intonation, Pitchfork, Lolla) in addition to spending a few extra weeks this time around. Its obviously a huge city and throwing such a large festival right in the middle of downtown is a daunting undertaking. Lollapalooza takes place in Grant Park right alongside Lake Michigan. Imagine an elongated football field wherein, at two ends there are kitty-corner baseball diamonds that make up the areas for the four main stages. In the middle of it all is Buckingham Fountain which, most out-of-towners know from the opening scene of Married with Children. Bessie was parked on the far southside behind the main (AT&T yes everything is branded) stage where Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Muse performed, among many others.
Timothy flew in from LA and after a night at the infamous Apache Motel, we headed out to Pars Ice Cream to pick up a couple thousands treats. With Bessie full up, we drove straight down 290 and right to the heart of downtown. I had already been by the festival grounds a few days before so I knew exactly where Bessie was going to be parked. Our All-Star crew trickled in and things picked up pretty quick. Because of our proximity to the main stage we were able to hear all the bands that played throughout the day. Ghostland Observatory went on early and their mix of dance music and stripped down rock and roll got a crowd of a couple thousand dancing. Right in front of the truck was an asphalt pathway which made for a perfect dance floor for us. With Paige, Meghann, Jackie, and Dameon helping out at the truck, we all had ample opportunity to get our groove on.
Daft Punk is an interesting headliner for an extra large, mostly rock and roll festival. Ever since their legendary performance at Coachella last year theyve stepped up to headliner status on the US festival circuit (check them with Rage Against the Machine and a bunch others at Vegoose). They now dress up in robot suits and bring along their own pyramid to perform atop. While the gimmicks are fine and dandy, the main reason people are there is to get DOWN, and it quickly became what was probably the largest dance party Ive ever seen. Most of the crew ran out to rock it and eventually I locked up Bessie and ran around to the front right side of the stage to let loose a bit with Paige and Meghann.
One of the things thats hard about working at a festival is that you dont have the luxury of partying til 5 in the morning like a lot of the attendees who can just sleep in the following day and arrive at the festival whenever they like. We get up around 7 each day to get ready, load up cream, and get to the festival by 11. The reason I bring this up is because there were two after parties on Friday night that were legendary before they even happened. The Ed Banger, aka extended Daft Punk, crew were doing a gig at the Green Dolphin and everyone knew that was going to go off. A mile or so from there Ghostland was doing a show at Schubas, which I heard was their best show ever. Instead of partaking in the fun Timothy and I headed back to the lovely Apache and I started on a BLT binge which ended 24 hours later with three of em in my belly.
We expected Saturday to be a lot busier but due to some shoddy weather in the morning, it was pretty tame. Dameon stopped by Office Depot on the way down and picked up extra large sidewalk chalk which we used to create a Mandatory Dance Zone and also to direct people backstage to the free ice cream. One of the main reasons we were at Lollapalooza was because Shelby from Fresh and Clean Media pushed for us last year and said that even if it didnt work out for us to sling cream backstage, she wanted us to do so in the media area. As a thank you, everyday Id load up a small cooler and make trips to the area to keep all the press cool. It worked out great because I got to see some familiar faces, make new friends, and do a couple interview spots.
The highlight of the whole festival was actually during this foray into the media area. After giving away ice cream to a few girls, one of them stuck around and mentioned shed gotten ice cream from us at Bonnaroo. Then she said she met her fiancee in front of the truck when he asked her what she was eating and she offered him a bite. The thought of two people finding love at the truck had never even crossed my mind before. I was overtaken with joy and congratulated her and got her email so I could offer my services as a minister…. and ice cream man, at their wedding.
Im sure Im not the first to say this but I loved how they scheduled main stage, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Yeah Yeahs… haha. Even though I didnt get to see either of the bands they both sounded great. CYHSY have some insanely catchy numbers and pulling the best of them from their last two albums makes for a great hour of bounce-around indie rock. Generally a lot of the attention for YYYs goes to frontwoman Karen O. By being backstage and only hearing the music, I had a much greater appreciation for their stripped down sound. They surprised me more than any other band at Lolla and hopefully Ill be able to catch them again soon.
MUSE is a band that most people might not be familiar with but still they landed the headlining slot on Saturday night. Honestly, I hadnt heard or seen them as of a year ago but have since become a devoted fan of their live show (check Forum and Download Reviews). Initially I thought Id stick around the truck but quickly realized that wasnt going to happen. With Bessie locked up I headed out to the main grounds, plastered a smile on face, and enjoyed dancing in the drizzling rain. For the uninitiated, their music is a mix of Rush style arena rock meets modern UK rock. Most of the time theyre a three piece which is surprising for how much high energy sound theyre able to pound out. Theyll be at Austin City Limits and Street Scene in the next couple months so check em out if youre there.
After Chicago I had mapped out a 2,800 mile trip to Ashland, Oregon that has taken me up into Canada and across Highway 1 from Winnipeg to Vancouver. After having been up there once this year, I knew I wouldnt be able to bring any cream across the border. When putting in my order for Sunday I guesstimated that about 30-40% more cream than we slang on Friday or Saturday would be a good amount. It had rained quite a bit the night before and was a bit cloudy in the morning so I figured +/- 1500 pieces would be good. By the time we got to Grant Park the clouds had mostly cleared and the near 100% humidity made it seem a lot hotter than it actually was.
Later in the day Paige and Meghann loaded up the bigger cooler and headed a mile across the festival to the far stage to take care of a bunch of the crew working over there. We were moving a lot more cream than I had expected but it worked out perfectly because we ran out right as My Morning Jacket was taking the stage. Theyre one of the best live rock n roll bands in America, hands down. This time around they recruited the services of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra to back them up during their hour long set. Right as I was locking everything up Perry Farrell came by and we loaded him up with a bag full of treats and snapped a quick pic. After that it was time to lose myself in some southern fried, psychedelic, indie, jam rock…. with full string section. I was overwhelmed at how good they sounded while grooving along with Jackie, Paige, and Meghann. Ive seen MMJ a few times but this show really solidified their status among the best music, musicians, and live show out there.
After MMJ, Jackie and I carried the dance party over to TV on the Radio. Its fun to have a dance partner whos just as bonkers as yourself. During Province she leaned over and said, this is my dads favorite song. WOW! My dads cool and all but not that cool. They appropriately wrapped things up with Staring at the Sun then the sea of people flooded south to secure their positions for Pearl Jam.
We headed back to the same spot where wed been for the other main shows but everything was different. Gone were the young, happy, dancing people and in their place were the tall, 40 year old, drunk dudes with their bleached blond hair girlfriends on their shoulders. Jackie couldnt really see anything no matter where we moved her to so after a few songs we skipped out and I got some dinner and listened to the rest of PJ from backstage. I think the general consensus was that PJ is a really good standard rock n roll band but none of us were really swept away by any of their songs.
One thing I really like about Lollapalooza is that after the festival they kick most of the people out and have a wrap/crew party in the main artist area so all people whove spent their whole weekend working can take their turn at having fun. Last year Flosstradamus DJd and this year…someone else did. Sorry, cant figure out who the hell it was. It doesnt really matter cause there was music and a whole lotta people wanted to dance. Timothy, who was finally finished shooting, joined in and we got down with the folks from Fresh and Clean, !!!, and the lone Bodyworks Backstage member, Kristii. Sometime after one, we headed back to the truck and to clean up a bit before bidding Lollapalooza a fond farewell. Im still not sure what makes this festival so magical but if I do, I might let you know.
Thanks to everyone who helped make Lollapalooza 2007 such a success. Without Levis and Jakprints on board thered be no way for us to be there. Without the awesome crew, Meghann, Paige (both of ya), Jackie, Dameon, Timothy, Michael, and Gooch, thered be no cream or review. Thanks to all the folks at C3 Dirk, Kamaal, Judy, Charles, Lisa and Fresh and Clean Shelby, Rob, Brittany, Marcy who make Lollapalooza possible. Thanks also to all the kind people that offered places to crash while in town Billy and Nicole, Dawn, and Scott.
Until next year… bon voyage!
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