Lollapalooza 2007
August 5th, 2007I used to think that the reason I invested less passion and effort into Lollapalooza was that since I saw it after Coachella, it always felt like a bit of an afterthought. But since I didn’t go to Coachella this year, that excuse doesn’t hold up. There are two reasons I put less into Lollapalooza.
- It’s not only hotter than Coachella, it’s stupid humid too, which I have only so much tolerance for.
- Since it’s in Chicago, it’s just so freaking easy to leave at any time.
I’ve thought about this, and while one is certainly a BIG factor (especially on Sunday this year), truth be told, the location is actually a bigger factor. If there’s a lull in the schedule, a few lousy sets or storm clouds on the horizon – I can be on the air-conditioned train home in 15 minutes and be home, showered and napping in 45. I must be getting old, because each day that second option got very attractive in the early evenings.
However, don’t get me wrong. I had a better time this year than I have in previous years at Lollapalooza. I planned out my route better, tried to get closer during the sets and researched bands better prior to the festival. One big disappointment though was the cancellation by CSS. I was really looking forward to seeing them after having watched their Coachella performance online.
There wasn’t really much I wanted to see on Friday other than the Black Keys, so I basically treated Friday like a warm up day. Saturday was an incredible day – perfect weather and fantastic sets by Tokyo Police Club, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Interpol. Sunday was a hot day, but I had a great time seeing the 1900′s, Heartless Bastards, The Black Angels and Iggy and the Stooges. The Stooges set in particular was great, since it corrected by concert karma from years ago, when I skipped out on Iggy’s set at a small festival in Milwaukee.