Lollapalooza III and ensuing adventures

Soon I'll forget what happened on the third and final day of Lollapalooza, so it's about time that I updated this thing. You may be wondering why I didn't deliver on the night. There was a lot of rum involved.

I wanted to wake up early and get down to Lolla to see The Octopus Project, but it was not to be. I did arrive earlier than any other day, split with Dan while he hopped the fence (successfully, third day in a row) and went off to see White Lies and the following: Brazilian Girls, Amadou & Mariam, Saul Williams, Gnarls Barkley, The National, and Kanye West.

WL: Just after the first song ended I turned to Dan and said 'These kids should stick to the Joy Division sound and quit the emo shit.' They weren't all that bad, but their lyrics were a bit naff. Their last two songs showed a little more maturity. Again, the smaller stage seemed to overcompensate and pump out chest-pounding volume.

BG: Sabina came onstage wearing an amazing puffy white dress and holding a white parasol. They put on a very entertaining show, but in the heat I decided that the ground was the best place for me, and there I sat amongst the legs and shoes. I stood up right at the end for the song Dan had been waiting for, 'Pussy pussy pussy marijuana.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd8we4UAogc

A&M: These guys were amazing! We arrived and jumped straight onto the back of a conga line that weaved through the crowd. When the line stopped we had an instant dance party and everyone went nuts to the beats. It was hot as all hell - I drank the rest of my water, sweated buckets, got a stitch and kept on dancing. I didn't take a single photo; I was having so much fun. When it was over we all looked at each other with goofy grins and shuffled off to the next band.

SW: If Sabina from Brazilian Girls gets the award for best dressed female performer at Lolla, then Saul Williams gets the award for best dressed male performer (and Wilco the best dressed band!). He wore a green t-shirt, yellow jeans and a blue feathered mohawk. He was all energy, running around stage, jumping on things, getting the crowd excited. We were packed into the tiny Citi stage area - a bad choice for the Saul Williams to Girl Talk schedule. When Saul finished there was a bottleneck of people coming and going. I kind of freaked out and pushed back through the crowd - a girl asked 'Are you for real?' My answer: 'Yes.'

GB: I was excited about hearing these guys perform some new stuff but sadly the crowd was not. I assumed that they were all hostile Kanye fans and gave up asking people not to talk, instead pushing my way to where it was loud enough. They were stingy with the volume for Gnarls - no doubt saving it all for stupid Kanye. So, a slightly disappointing show.

TN: I don't know these guys at all, but they have their fans. It wasn't a bad show, but I think you really need to know the music if it's slow and sad. Hearing these guys for the first time was not the most exciting thing in the world. But I am keen to have a private listen and reassess.

KW: Kanye was explosive. And who could expect any less? He's fairly committed to being the best thing you ever saw. I walked around the area trying to find a good vantage point and eventually decided to climb up another structure - this time a much smaller one. I held on with one arm while I used the other to punch the air. A guy below me kept looking up and grinning at me, so eventually I came down and had a chat to him and his friend. They were really into it - I pretended to know all the songs and danced along with them.

Later they told me they had both lost their cool jobs due to the economic recession. Bummer. We walked out of Lolla together and parted ways when I went to meet the boys from Missouri... who were nowhere to be found. I stood around awkwardly, wondering what to do, borrowed a cell phone from a Canadian who wandered off and had to call me to get the phone back. I patted a police horse, watched the Canadian's brother being fake handcuffed by a photo-happy policeman, thought about going up to some bars and eventually decided to head back to the ghetto in a taxi.

When I arrived home the kids from DC (who I had barely spoken to so far) offered me as much rum as I could drink. After barely eating for three days (I saved money by eating an apple for breakfast, free samples from the Whole Foods tent, and occasionally a midnight 6-inch sub) I was rather susceptible to the effects of alcohol. In a very short time I was plastered. And then, without warning, everyone went to bed, leaving me to stumble around the hose and write drunken emails. The next day, everyone cleared out and I sat around feeling sorry for myself. I was starving hungry, with no food and absolutely no desire to leave the house. All of my clothes were dirty. I was alone in the apartment. It was raining outside. This was most definitely the end of Lollapalooza.

I ordered Thai take out online with my credit card (why is this not available EVERYWHERE?) and then a great thing happened. I received a reply to a couch surfing request I'd made the day before, in an effort to get closer to the airport and avoid missing my plane to Toronto the following day. So I packed up, headed out and went to meet Matthew at his work at De Paul university. His co-worker gave me cheese and capsicum, an orange and a cup of tea. We sat around chatting until they had made up their 8 hours of work, and then headed off into most unusual weather - tornado warnings for Chicago! It rained and stormed on the bus home. Wind whipped down the street and lighting lit up the sky. Huge puddles formed on the roads. Matthew gave me his jacket in preparation for the dash to his apartment. When we arrived, I breathed a sigh of relief. Not only were we safe from the storm, his place was clean and nice and his house mates were lovely and friendly and polite. Matthew made me spaghetti-o's and a grilled cheese and we watched old episodes of the Simpsons. Chip baked brownies and I admired his domestic skills. Later, I played them some songs on the guitar and lulled everyone to sleep. It was a perfect night and I couldn't have been happier. I'm so grateful to Matt for taking me in and being such a nice person.

Lollapalooza was wonderful, but I felt like my time in Chicago had been quite confusing, sometimes depressing, rather limited by how far South I was staying, and generally not all that great. I did meet some lovely people and get to hang out with Dan again, but I never really saw the city. The public transport system was hard to navigate (and I like to think of myself as someone who 'gets' public transport) and I frequently got lost and disoriented. I thought of New York all the time and was disappointed by how unlike New York this Midwest metropolis was. In Chicago the birds of fortuity did not alight on my shoulders. But I did meet some great people, such as Seth from Arkansas and Heather from Toronto. The greatest fortune I had was meeting Matthew and his friends. A great start to my couch surfing adventures.