Lollapalooza I

Yeasayer. Gogol Bordello. Bloc Party. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks. Radiohead. Day one of Lollapalooza in Grant Park, Chicago.

Y: Cute hipsters with some good sounds. Frontman Chris Keating is fun to watch. He touches the synth like it's giving him an electric shock. I am standing right near the front to the right, and I become slowly deaf in my right ear from having my head turned slightly to watch Keating. Lolla sound is heavy on the bass and drums, and after an hour of Yeasayer pounding in my chest I'm happy to get very far away from the stage. It's 3 in the afternoon. Everyone is melting, burning, sweating, shirtless. Dan and I go to the Whole Foods Market tent and they give us free olive chips. We nap in the shade.

GB: These Eastern European/Lower East Side gypsies are a lot of fun. Eugene Hütz is like a sexy pirate-gypsy Borat. When they sing 'Start Wearing Purple' fans wave purple t-shirts in the air. Hütz gets shirtless. He is very fit. In the crowd people sing and dance. I think about Claire and take lots of pictures.

BP: Their set is a bit up and down; at times lacklustre, other times energetic. Some people sing badly in my ears and I wish that the sound people would turn up Kele Okereke's vocals. Kele is splendid in Obama t-shirt, bright red shorts and sweet Nikes (SB dunks?) in orange, yellow and black. The camera zooms in on his sneakers and I yell 'Nice kicks!' and some kids turn around and give approving smiles. I take a lot of photos of the giant TV screens, but I can also see Bloc Party in miniature when the crowd parts.

SM & J: I love the Malk. He's a beautiful man. Tall, thin, guitar skills and dashing good looks. Permit me a tangent: on my first night in Chicago I met Brook at Vito & Bruno's apartment. Brook came from Missouri with friends Max and Ryan. When I met Brook he was drunk and had vomited all over himself on the train. He was wearing a Sonic Youth t-shirt and I told him about seeing them with the Feelies in Battery Park on July 4. We traded taste in music for a while and hit Stephen Malkmus and Pavement. At this point Brook grabs my upper arm and kind of squeezes with his fingers in a spidery way. This is apparently how he shows appreciation. Brook has a very large man crush on Malkmus, and for good reason. The Malk has the skills. He played a great set with the Jicks and I only wish I knew more of his stuff. He does play Pencil Rot and Baby C'mon off Face the Truth. Looooong guitar solos. At the end of the set Stephen says 'OK you can go and see Radiohead now' - most people are already there as the Malk finishes just before Radiohead start. Don't worry Stephen, I came just for you and laughed when the guy behind me yelled repeatedly 'Fuck Radiohead!'

R: WELL. From low expectations I was catapulted to extremes of musical fulfillment. Me and Radiohead go way back. I've been a fan since I was 12 years old. When I saw them play in Sydney on the Hail to the Thief tour I was sadly disappointed. I missed out on floor by a second, I'm fairly sure they didn't play my favourite song and after waiting for so many years to see them, the tension killed my chances of enjoying the show. After this terrible anticlimax I decide to see other bands, and Radiohead and I part ways. By the time that In Rainbows is released, I feel we've been separated long enough and we start to see each other again in a casual, friendly way. Sometimes we have run ins on the street and it's like, Hey Radiohead, haven't seen you in a while. How's everything going? Nothing too serious.

AND THEN. Watching the stage from very far back, perched uncomfortably on the right angle of two fences, I realise that I know all the words to all the songs and so I know Radiohead better than any other band at Lollapalooza. The barricade I'm perched on surrounds a metal structure with a large hot air balloon at the top. I'm not really sure what the balloon is there for, but I notice that the metal frame is perfect for climbing. I propose my plan to the stranger sitting next to me. He's interested, but worried about security. So I bide my time and work up the nerve. He leaves and about 15 seconds later Dan shows up. I ask him if he wants to climb and he says yes, straight up, and we go. It is even easier than I thought and we end up with a view over the crowd to the stage, perfect sound quality and front row seats for the fireworks that ensue. Soon after our daring escape from the crowd below, people begin to appear on the frame. For the next few songs the structure becomes crowded with people. On the ground they gape and take photos. We start a second story on structure, and we begin to resemble a family of monkeys hanging out in a tree.

The absolute highlight of my night (of my life) is when they play Lucky. My favourite song. And I am the king of the Radiohead's Tower (named after the Sear's Tower, ever present on the Chicago skyline). I sing at the top of my lungs with not a care for those around me; it's too loud for anyone to here me anyway. I film the whole thing, but my camera moves around wildly as I punch the air, turn around to film the family, and carry on in various ways. I am filled with ecstasy. It's the pinnacle of my life - my favourite song, sung by my favourite band, and I'm in a city far from home, being independent, hanging out with a kid I met along the way, and I was bold and went out on a limb (literally, on the structure) and I am doing what I want to do and I am happy. It was a moment I will not forget too soon. It's gonna be a glorious day.