Tuesday, August 30, 201 1

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RYAN KAMPHUIS ae@technewsiit.com 7

 

Lollapalooza leads crowds to live music acts

By Ryan Kamphuis
A&E EDITOR

Over 250,000 music fans descended
upon Grant Park from August 5—7 for what has
become a Chicago summer tradition — Lolla—
palooza.

For weeks beforehand, event pro—
duction companies had worked to turn the
open grassy areas and baseball diamonds of
the park into a mini—city to host the music fes—
tival. With over 130 acts, 2011’s Lollapalooza
was the largest one to date. The concerts and
headliners at this year’s Lollapalooza had
something for everyone.

Day 1 of Lollapalooza started off
the festival with a bang by quickly achieving
the festival ground’s maximum attendance
of 90,000. Early acts, such as Wye Oak, were
plagued with technical difliculties that made
the performers visibly angry. These early issues
were worked out as the day went on, however.

Day 1 also offered a glimpse at just

 

how much mainstream popularity electronic
music has gained, with the Perry’s DI tent be—
ing constantly jam—packed all day, even be—
tween performances. Highlights of this day in—
cluded OK Go, who played a raucous concert
that fired up the audience, and Ratatat, who
played a trippy—rock concert that went so late
that the event staff shut off the stage lights on
the band.

Of course, the other highlights of
the day were that night’s headliners: Muse and
Coldplay. Both bands played good concerts
that made use of all the special effects possible.
Lasers could be seen all across Grant Park, and
Muse even had fireworks accompanying their
concert at one point.

After such a strong first day, the
second day of Lollapalooza was a letdown. It
wasn’t the fault of the performers, though, but
the fault of the event organizers. Compared to
the lineups of Friday and Sunday, Saturday’s
lineup was quite weak. There were still some
killer concerts on Saturday, however. Some of
the best included Fitz & The Tantrums, who

the audience was rocking with them, despite
the high temperatures and humidity. Minne—
apolis—based rap group Atmosphere played a
set so strong that some people, myself includ—
ed, thought they outperformed Eminem, that
night’s headliner, whose performance seemed
off.

Southern rockers My Morning Jack—
et, the night’s other headliner, played a great
concert that didn’t need special effects to get
the audience pumped up.

Day 3 was a proper close to Lolla—
palooza, with an awesome lineup and powerful
performances. Cage the Elephant’s singer dove
into the audience 3 times in the first 5 minutes
of the performance, and Irish band Flogging
Molly played so infectiously that they made
every member of the audience wish they were
Irish. The day got interesting as it started pour—
ing rain around 5 p.m., causing a rain delay.

While waiting for the concerts to
start back up, fans resorted to sliding and
wrestling in the many mud puddles. Concerts
resumed after the rain ended, but that wasn’t

ing rain again while Deadmau5 and Foo Fight—
ers were on stage, but both played through the
downpour.

Cold War Kids were playing a side
concert during the headliner’s shows, and the
stage they played on was one enormous ankle—
high puddle. But just as with the earlier rain,
the festival—goers seemed to make the best of
the weather.

Overall, Lollapalooza 2011 seemed
to be a huge success. With the biggest crowds
Lollapalooza has ever seen, the vast majority
ofthe people seemed to be having a good time
and enjoying themselves. In a sign of the times
to come, the most buzz was generated by the
DIs performing in the Perry’s tent as opposed
to the rock outfits playing everywhere else. It
will be interesting to see how this affects the
lineup of the next Lollapalooza. And speaking
of the next Lollapalooza, not even a week after
Lollapalooza 2011 was over, the dates for Lolla—
palooza 2012 were announced. So be prepared
to descend upon Grant Park for another three
days of music on August 3—5, 2012.

CELT

muuum 1‘

Photos by Ryan Kamphuis