Saturday, October 1, 2011

My Summer of Music Part II

Festie #3: Lollapalooza (Grant Park, Chicago)
2010 was my first Lolla experience and I immediately pledged to myself that I would never skip out on this fest. I stupidly put off buying my tickets and started freaking out when 3day passes sold out, but my good friend @TurquoiseTaurus saved the day with an extra discounted ticket.








Friday consisted of 8 shows in 8 hours. Trick to see as many shows as possible: travel in small numbers and stick to a schedule. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals, Foster the People, Kids These Days (5), The Bloody Beatroots Death Crew 77, a little Skrill, Bright Eyes, Afrojack, got bored at Muse, and made the right decision by ending the night with Ratatat (3).










Saturday began at Perry's for Super Mash Brothers, ventured around, and found a spot up close for Local Natives (4). I can't wait to see these guys live again. Watching them trade instruments, all taking turns singing was more than impressive. Then back to the tent for Chuckie and Glitch Mob. And finally got to see Eminem (2), which was probably one of my only chances I'll ever get to see that white rapper we all fell in love with in high school. The whole crowd remembered every line from the Slim Shady era to his recent Recovery album with Bad Meets Evil and included visits by Bruno Mars and Skylar Grey.










Muddy muddy Sunday equals few pictures and videos due to all the rain. The day once again started in Perry's for some VH love, but didn't care for The Cool Kids so we headed over to Google + for some Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. Stopped by Switch before heading to Portugal the Man. Great show to see while the storms slowly rolled in. The downpour hit as they finished their set and everyone took off running for shelter. In an attempt to warm up we crossed the street to find cover and the sun returned with a beautiful rainbow. Muddy mess at Arctic Monkeys, listened to Explosions in the Sky for a bit and headed to our finale to get a decent spot. Words can't describe what we experienced at Deadmau5. Joel made an early entrance to perfectly synchronize the music, lights, and rain all hitting the tens of thousands of fans standing before him. Thanks Lolla 2011 for an unforgettable weekend.

15 again at Taylor Swift



Yes I found out T-Swift was in town and ended up with tickets to her sold-out show. My bff Kelli and I sang every lyric at the top of our lungs with 13,000 screaming girls. Taylor loves her fans and truly loves owning that stage. It was a fairytale performance complete with glitter, spinning trees, acrobatics, and Swift flying over the crowd.

Insert random trip to LA





So long story short, an ex of mine got on a reality tv show that included an ex episode. Got a call Tuesday morning and was flown out Thursday for the weekend. The entire situation was laughable, but in all I met some wonderful people, got a free trip to LA, and caught a glimpse of how reality tv is made.

Fourth & Final Festie: North Coast Music Fest (Union Park)









Friday: From the office straight to Hood Internet with my Missouri lovers. Off to the of SBTRKT (or Subtract which took me a sec to figure out) and Wolfgang Gartner where we danced all night and ended day one with David Guetta.










Saturday: The early storm stalled our start when we finally got to the Park, we rushed to see Big Gigantic jam on his sax at the Red Bull Stage. Headed to the local stage to catch BBU (Bin Laden Blowin Up or Black, Brown, and Ugly). This trio hails from Chi city and if you haven't heard of them I recommend checking out "Chi Don't Dance"  From there we had our faces melted by the dirty dirty dubby sounds of Rusko. After that early intense rage, we hung out listening to Common from a far waiting for STS9 to close out Saturday. Sound Tribe Sector 9 was hands down my favorite show of the weekend. These five guys combine electronic with instruments and display a GORGEOUS light show. But the night wasn't over yet, we headed to Congress to continue the dance party. Sebastian, (crazy Frenchman who reminds me of a dictator of electro) Diplo, and Zed's Dead had us dancing till 3 in the morning.








Sunday: Day 3 began with Paper Diamond who had us dancing in seconds and who I can't wait to see again. Gave our feet a rest while listening to Van Ghost then back to Redbull for two back to back sick shows, ATB and Benny Benassi. Then to close out the best weekend of the summer probably my life, I got to melt my face for the first time to Bassnectar. Lorin's disgusting beats couldn't be more perfect to conclude "Summer's Last Stand."

I don't know if it's possible to have a better summer ever again, but stay tuned because although festival season is over the shows don't stop.

Concerts on deck: Pretty Lights, Deadmau5, ATB, 12th Planet, and Skrillex
Festies I need to attend in 2012: Pitchfork, Electric Forest, Coachella, and Austin City Limits

"Music is the only remedy I need."

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Girl Crush: Lana Del Rey



Just fell hard for this hot, sultry brunette singer from Brooklyn. Some bloggers dissed her for having a "previous form" Lizzy Grant and twisting re-branding her as Del Rey, but she's got me turned on wanting more. Her Thanks @themindofskank for my new girl crush. (Image via Pitchfork)


"Kinda Outta Luck" - Lana Del Rey






"Video Games" - Lana Del Rey
@lanadelrey

Sunday, September 18, 2011

My Summer of Music Part I


Summer's over and Fall is here and I sit here ashamed of the lack of effort I put in to my blog these past few months. As I look back and blame work on my laziness, I realize although I should have given it more attention, I have had the BEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE. And I feel like sharing. So here's to Summer 2011: the year of live music, crazy experiences, and almost too many "lucky" occurrences.

Festie #1: Hangout Music Fest (Gulf Shores of Alabama)




It's Friday afternoon and I'm sulking behind my desk knowing my best friends from college are heading to the first day of the Hangout Music Fest.  Not only does this fest have a sick lineup of shows for 3 days straight, you're barefoot in the sand with the ocean breeze in your face as you listen, dance, and rock out to your favorite musicians. Thankfully my luck changed. A friend at work knew an extra seat in a car heading to the fest that night with free wristbands, so I hopped in a car with two complete strangers and arrived to the girls' beach house Saturday afternoon. 





Saturday consisted of Avett Brothers, The Flaming Lips, and Foo Fighters. Took a quick break and headed to the Boom Boom Room for late night Big Gigantic and Pretty Lights.



Front and center of my favorite show of the weekend.









Danced to Girl Talk, swayed to Black Keys, and completed the fest with legendary Paul Simon. 32 hours in a car for 40 hours on the beach with these guys, I'm in every time.

Dispatch at Millenium Park (Chicago)


The happiest moment of my summer was dancing around close friends and singing every Dispatch lyric at the top of my lungs. With the gorgeous city as the backdrop this show was one I had waited to see for over 7 years and it did not disappoint.

Festie #2: Dave Matthews Caravan (Lakeside Chicago)

So I had no plan on attending a Dave show this summer since I have seen at least two every season since high school, but luck had it that a certain musician I met in Februrary was playing in the caravan and set aside a few free 3day passes for me. Another fest for free, ha why not. But the night before I kicked off my second festival, I had won tickets to Flaming Lips at my favorite Chicago venue, the Aragon Ballroom.



Friday at the Caravan




After almost two hours of traveling to the southeast side of the city, we ventured the grounds listening to Drive by Truckers, O.A.R., and of course finishing with Dave's set.

Saturday





Day two took even longer to make it to the fest and we missed Dave & Tim's acoustic show (I'm still salty about it), but we caught a great set by G. Love and Special Sauce. He rocked on the harmonica, played the dirty version of "Booty Call" and showed off songs from his new album Fixin' to Die. Kid Cudi came on next and stole the weekend for me. The crowd loves him and he knows out to perform, not to mention how fucking good he looks up there.



Old shit, new shit I fell in love with Cudi that day.

Sunday



Spent most of Sunday in the lounge where the free alcohol flowed and I got to hang out with my brothers. Though I doubt I'd return to a show at "Lakeside" again, it was another great weekend of music.


Paul McCartney at Wrigley Field 
Though I didn't have tickets, I decided if a Beatle was in town I better stop by. 




Luckily enough got on the roof of the Fire House and watched him finish the show from a great view.

Festivals 3, 4, and more on the way...