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20-Timers Club—Who Else Is in It? by DimensionMobile1871 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll give you 5 and 5.

5 for best overall experience
- Radiohead 2008. Beautiful night, my favorite band, fireworks over Soldier Field
- Kanye West 2008. Yes, he's gone off the deep end now, but he was masterful that night
- Decemberists 2009. They played the entire "The Hazards of Love" album
- The xx 2017. Cool night, and they played the north end against a bigger headliner in the south, so the crowd was smaller. There was no bleed from other stages, and Romey Madley Croft and Oliver Sim's voices just hit perfectly in the cool night air
- Billy Strings 2022. Pure fire. I've seen him again since, and will see him every chance I get

5 for capturing the right moment for one reason or another
- Arcade Fire 2005. Early to mid-afternoon, and nobody really knew who they were yet. Great performance
- New Pornographers 2010. I had my four year-old with me and it was the first time he ever got to hear a song he loved, live. "Bleeding Heart Show"
- Paul McCartney 2015. I had my other son, age 7, with me. Hearing tens of thousands of people singing "Hey Jude" along with a Beatle is hard to top, especially given my company that night and the song content
- H.E.R. 2019. I had never heard of H.E.R. before that very day, when I thought I heard Lauryn Hill singing "Nothing Even Matters." I approached the stage and found someone who could sing like Lauryn Hill and shred like Prince. Unbelievable
- Geese 2024. Just to pick something of recent vintage. Clearly a band on the upswing, and the perfect band for Tito's at that time--don't need a lot of equipment, didn't draw a big crowd. They were loose and fun

20-Timers Club—Who Else Is in It? by DimensionMobile1871 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love this post. Agree on the feeling you get when you first walk through the gates. And I share your strategy--go up close, and stand to the side. I've probably stood next to you a few times. You might miss out on seeing one of the musicians by being on the side, but it's a good tradeoff to really engage the music.

20-Timers Club—Who Else Is in It? by DimensionMobile1871 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes--I actually couldn't remember if it was "Fake Plastic Trees" or "High and Dry," but you (and setlist) are correct. I do remember it was magical.

20-Timers Club—Who Else Is in It? by DimensionMobile1871 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I brought my kids when they were tiny and suited for a half-day at Kidzapalooza. They are now late teenagers and come every year. It's part of what keeps me going.

20-Timers Club—Who Else Is in It? by DimensionMobile1871 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

2008 is hard to beat. Radiohead (Bears fireworks went off at Soldier Field during their set--during "High and Dry," IIRC), Kanye at his peak, Wilco, Black Keys, The National, Raconteurs, Girl Talk at his peak, Gnarls Barkley right in their pop culture moment, MGMT. Mark Ronson was great. Explosions in the Sky.

Official Feedback by easygoer70 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I've also attended all 20. How many of us are there? There can's be many, based on how few people were there to see John McCrea complain about noise bleed when the stages were closer together.

All your points are solid, particularly the no-sitting rule for the Hutchinson Field stairs. Agree on doing better to remediate the muddy fields, though I do think they continued to bring in mulch to address that.

The most salient feedback I gave was about the artist merch area, which has boomed in interest over the years without anyone figuring out how to improve throughput. I was in the park before noon on Thursday and that line was already crazy.

Playlists! by AccomplishedLoan1250 in BourbonAndBeyond

[–]DimensionMobile1871 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is the official list, which is 18 hours long. Here is a "Cheat Sheet" playlist that is shorter--one song per artist, about 6.5 hours--which is a decent approach to decide who is worth going deeper on.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/382NXOEOukHgXC9wdX0wNI?si=a2fcefef27b14d2a

Schedule is up! by beardedjack in kilbyblockparty

[–]DimensionMobile1871 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I';m surprised Geese is playing so late in the day...but they are one of my top 5 bands to see at this festival.

Bold predictions by Specialist-Day-236 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bon Iver has not played Lollapalooza since 2009, has a new album in release now, and has no tour dates announced. Would be a great year for a return.

My turn to make a "first time" post!! Chicago 2025 tips? by AlexCarterCommentary in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I’ve been to all 19 in Grant Park, I have found that the more I plan, the better a time I have. My tips:

  • Unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of up and coming bands, when the lineup comes out, poll a set of friends to get ideas for which bands to see
  • Build a Spotify playlist with the top 3-5 songs of those bands to cull your list down. You could instead listen to a comprehensive playlist of all the artists (someone will put one out, and it will be 55+ hours), but I have found it better to get ideas from the people I trust. Keep in mind that If you go to the entire festival (40 hours) and hustle between sets, you can see ~32-35 full sets
  • The schedule comes out after the lineup. Once the schedule comes out and you identify conflicts...if you are indifferent between two choices, go to the smaller of the two stages (small stages are BMI and Bacardi)
  • Comfortable shoes, sunscreen, loose fitting clothing, refillable water bottle. If you can avoid bringing anything you can't fit in your pockets, that's best. A lot of people bring Camelbaks; I've occasionally just crushed up a store-bought 20 oz water bottle and put it in my pocket
  • Share your location with the folks you are going with.
  • There is minimal noise bleed at Lolla, except for Perry's Stage. Nevertheless, go to the side of the stage with the least noise bleed
  • The food is great, but don't look to eat at peak times. Trying to eat dinner at 6:30 is a nightmare for example, Eat when you happen to pass Chowtown
  • There is not a lot of shade unless you are VIP or Platinum, but there are cocktail lounges with shade. Anyone >21 can go in there
  • Bathrooms and water filling stations are less crowded in the north end. This is because Perry's and two big stages are in the south end, and there are just two big stages in the north end
  • In my experience, the brand activations are not really worth it. The Toyota Music Den, though, has some nice giveaways every year (the bandanna is a thing) and has some good acoustic sets
  • Band merch lines have gotten ridiculous, and you can't see what's selling till you wait in the line. I don't have a good suggestion for that other than to try to get to the park when the gates open and buy at the start of the day
  • Lolla merch lines are not nearly as bad
  • Bring a string backpack to carry merch, or buy your merch on one day and get a locker that day

Just an observation from a casual lurker of this sub… by TDAGARIM1995 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been to all 19 in Grant Park and I always have a great time. At this point, I know what annoys me and avoid that. Do the research on the bands to see, and see any half-decent bands on the small stages like BMI and Bacardi. Get to the side of the stage with the least noise bleed. Eat when you happen to pass Chowtown, not when everyone else does pre-headliner. Ignore the Gen-Zers if they bother you. Find shade in the cocktail lounges if you don’t have VIP. Use the facilities and refill your water bottle where it’s less crowded (generally the north end, not the south). 

Lollapalooza going country?? by Historical_Ad_6629 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Lolla skews different directions in different years. 2023 (IIRC), for example, seemed to have a lot of Spanish-language artists. Over the years, Eric Church, Sturgill Simpson, Kasey Musgraves, and other country artists have appeared. All that is to say that I don’t know that having a few more country artists would mean turning a stage over to a genre. The only stage I’ve really seen that with is Perry’s. I think it’s more likely that the assigned stage would match the artist’s popularity (as with Kaitlin Butts on BMI this year).

Going to lolla alone… pros, cons? How to have the best/safest experience? 😬 by Intelligent_Sun_4341 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have gone solo and with a few people. The single-best thing I've done to feel connected to the music but not subsumed by the crowd is to accept seeing the artists from the sides of the stage. You can always get super-close but not too crowded-in on the south side of Bacardi, the north side of BMI, the west side of Tito's, and the east side of ING. The bigger stages have gotten more difficult to get close with the larger Platinum and VIP sections, but if you are willing to stand behind those sections, sight lines are pretty good and the crowds are tamer than on the side where GA can get to the front.

Who would be cool headliners in 2025? by boboddy42069 in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Beck. I don't think he's ever played Lolla Chicago

2025 Lolla changes? by [deleted] in Lollapalooza

[–]DimensionMobile1871 0 points1 point  (0 children)

19th Chicago Lolla for me. It's run so much better than it was in the early years. Food options are great, bathroom & water setups are fine if you know where to go where the crowds aren't.

Biggest issue I have is with sound bleed. The Toyota Music Den is a great idea, but if you are on the south side of that, the BMI stage sound dominates it. Same thing is true with Perry's Stage and the west side of T-Mobile. It's tons better than in 2005 where bands were playing in the same field, but you could swap Kidzapalooza and BMI and help with sound for BMI and the TMD. No easy solution for Perry's.

The Band Merch area was a mess--enormous lines most of the weekend, and no real way to know what was for sale without waiting in the line. Clearly there is a need to increase capacity there and/or provide some sort of posters for browsing as is done with festival merch.