(Then half-way through the day I re-taped and bandaged my feet because my shoes ate through the tape. That's some serious rubbing by my shoes.)
Oh, and day two was Emily's Birthday! What a wonderful way to celebrate, in Chicago for Lollapalooza, wish we were all so lucky!
The first place we headed was the family friendly side and we thought we were stronger than we were. Because instead of going ahead and sitting down, we stood and watched Rogue Wave.
Well we stood and watched them for maybe two songs, then we decided to not kid ourselves, it was too hot to try to stand anything out. So we found a spot on the hill and relaxed there as we watched Rogue Wave.
Before we went to Lolla, they had 10 free songs you could download from bands that would be playing. Rogue Wave was one of the free songs, and it was this one, Stars and Stripes.
Next, was Blues Traveler on the other stage in the family friendly area. It is so nice when all you have to do to see the next band is turn your head slightly. That's about all I can put up with in that kind of heat.
Blues Traveler was a fun older band, you probably remember "Run-Around" from back in the day. (Oh and you can see the dragonflies flying around in this video, when I got back from Chicago I saw something on the news about the heat wave causing there to be lots of dragonflies.)
Then, we made our way for the first time over to the north end of the park, a.k.a. hippie-ville. Unfortunately, we would spend more of the rest of our time on this end of the park just due to the better bands being lined up to play there. But we saw part of The XX as we positioned ourselves closer to the other stage to see the next band that was going to be there.
Up next was Grizzly Bear. Let's play how many hippie-like things can you identify in this picture? Also, if you will note the women on the left side just in front of the stage wearing green. It took us so long to figure out why she was standing there dancing and doing hand signals. Then, the band informed us she was doing sign language. You know, for all those deaf people that spent hundreds of dollars to go to a concert featuring music they've never heard. I mean I am all about the Americans with Disabilities Act and the rights that all citizens have, but they would have to spend good money on something when they can't enjoy the main thing music provides.... sound. Still trying to figure that one out...
But you might recognize one of Grizzly Bears songs from this commercial:
Here they are playing that song live:
But somewhere shortly through that concert we were beat down by the heat and decided we needed to find somewhere shaded. So we found what would ultimately become our favorite hangout, the Bloggie stage (that is it's actual name). Though, you couldn't actually see the stage when you were sitting down, you could hear it and most importantly, IT WAS SHADED.
We did plan ahead for the concert and scrounged up something to sit on at my apartment before we left. Though we had plenty of sheets, towels and blankets to choose from; we went with an old curtain I still had. It was light, thin, small and therefore easy to carry for three days. That curtain (wow it sounds funnier when you call it what it is) really saved our lives, in addition to the shade. See the shaded Bloggie stage was surrounded by dirt. Not a blade of grass in sight. And we were wearing dresses, not what you would want to sit on dirt in.
Anyways, we saw Deer Tick in that fabulous tree lined spot.
Sometime during that show, or just shortly after it, i was discussing with Emily how much of a feat it was if a person could finish one of their sport bottles of wine. See, they sold only Budweiser beer or wine. You could buy wine by the glass, or better yet, by the sport bottle. Seriously, that is what it was called, sport bottle. And that is what it came in, but with no straw just a close-tight top.
So anyways, since it was rounding five o'clock and it was still pretty steamy, I told Emily, "I think anyone that finishes a sport bottle of wine solo before five deserves some sort-of medal." And about 15 minutes after I said that we saw a girl get carted out of the middle of the concert on an ambulance chair. She had obviously returned the red wine, all over herself (and let it be noted, she looked VERY happy, strangely). To which I turned to Emily and said, "no wait, they do give you a medal for finishing that bottle before five, it's the hospital wristband you get when they pump your stomach."
It makes me cringe just thinking of drinking red wine during the heat of the day...uhhhhh, gross.
After that (back to happy mode), we saw what became my favorite unexpected band of Lollapalooza: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros. Maybe it was because I was finally thinking clearly seeing as to how the sun was no longer dragging the life out of me. But really I think it was because they are really good and have calm catchy tunes. This band also has a tune you might recognize from a commercial (which also happens to be a car commercial):
Here's them playing that actual song (and I hope you have taken some anti-nausea medicine today):
But this is my favorite song Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros play, Home (still need that nausea medicine though):
And not to do a little overkill on this band, but what the heck, I may as well. This is the video I took. If you watched the last video long enough, they mention all the people that are in the trees. I was trying to take a picture of those people. But I didn't know it was on record, so that is why it is sideways at first, sorry. But besides wanting to show you the people in the trees (and it is hard to pick out them all), I want you to notice the lady that faceplants at the very end on the bottom right of the screen. I didn't even notice that until I watched the video at home, great video timing!
Next, we moved back to the hippie area and saw Cut Copy, the one good thing about this side is the beautiful views!
And to top it off for the night we saw Phoenix. I had heard of them before I bought tickets to Lollapalooza, but after I knew I was going to see them I started really paying attention to their music. And I really love their music! They have exciting catchy music that you can listen to over-and-over. And the views during the show were amazing! This is their song Lisztomania:
So this night we had decided we would go to the Belve Nights thing, especially since it was Emily's Birthday. But first we needed a real meal, so we stopped at this famous Chicago restaurant, you may have heard of it, it's called Bennigans.
Okay, so not a unique place, but it was on our short walk to the Hard Rock Hotel and it was not packed (when we left the Green Day concert was still going on, probably the bigger crowd).
When we got to the Belve Nights thing we had to check in at the table again, and again, our name was not on the list (why was there an online RSVP if it's not going to do anything?). So we dropped the name Giant Noise, we were not asked about Claudia, but they just gave us wristbands and off we went.
To the line that was wrapped around the corner and not moving, at all. Apparently, you should not stop at Bennigans and go straight there to get in. But we didn't know that. So we waited, TWO HOURS to get in. The time did fly though. And we were talking to the people in front of us. There was three of them, one of them was not able to get a wrist band and I am not sure what plan they had at getting the third person in, but we suggested going back to the table and dropping the name "Giant Noise." So he did, and it worked, but instead of giving him a wrist band like we got, he got a stamp.
As it turns out, that stamp is VIP on that particular night, and the wrist band is for regular people. I am not sure what they heck kind of system they have going on there when it comes to giving out VIP or regular designations, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with random probability.
But it all worked out fine in the end, Jon was nice enough to get us drinks with the good mixers back in the VIP section. By the time we made it in all the good bands had already played (doesn't bother me though, cause I hadn't heard of them anyways). But, we did get to see this girl. She just popped up on the bar and started playing out of nowhere. And sorry I don't have a name, they didn't give one. But she played a dang good fiddle... or would that be a violin?
And then these people came on. I have no clue who they were; but from what I remember there was a lot of yelling, anger and transvestites. To say the least, it wasn't the most appealing show I've seen. I'll spare you the video of this show.
But once again, we shut that place down. Then we made our merry way home.
And once again, we decided to try to watch Vanilla Sky. And once again, I woke up in the morning and the computer was dead and still in our bed. Can't get mad though, it was a sign of another great day!
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