Lolla: My Rock and Roll Dream
By April on Jul 28 Filed In Chicago, Live Music, Lollapalooza 3 Comments
Can you believe that Lolla has existed on and off since 1991!? I was there….
Fast forward to 2010, and it’s that time again, only now instead of it being a traveling festival complete with Jim Rose Side Show, (and if you miss that part, go say hi to Mr. Lifto while he’s tending bar at Casino El Camino!) it stays put in Grant Park in Chicago. Because Perry Farrel will have to do without me again this year, I’ll share my list of bands that belong under April’s MUST SEE list with all of you!
Because I’ve been on a HUGE LCD Soundsystem kick lately, my list of bands include stuff that my LCD LastFM station plays.
Hot Chip: Man, most of us have been given burned (yes, illegal) CD’s from friends of music that just wasn’t a turn-on, so you completely ignored it after one half-hearted/uninspired listen and Hot Chip is one of those bands for me. Sheriff Ricketts (nickname of an ex-coworker) burned me some HC a few years back and I thought that it probably wasn’t my thing. What was I thinking!? I love the marriage that exists between traditional rock n’ roll instruments and electronica. A little emotional, (read: NEW WAVE) a little trippy, and pretty freakin’ good. Are you going to check them out for me? Well, grab a can of Sweet Leaf Tea and get your dance on. Mmm k? Thanks.
Hot Chip – Ready for the Floor (Live on Jonathan Ross 2008)
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Cut Copy: This Australian band plays happy dance music with vocals that aren’t annoying. There are a few bands that play on my LCD channel that when I look down to see who it is, I smile and think, “of course it’s —–. That’s why it’s so awesome!” Cut Copy is one of those bands (the other is usually The Juan Maclean-see him throw down if you get the chance, by the way.) and since I can’t go and get DOWN to CC, I think you need to for me. We all understand that one of the biggest challenges facing festival goers of today, besides insanely-long beer lines and disgusting port o’ potties is figuring out how to see all of the bands that are on your list without missing any. Well, I’m here to say that it’s about impossible but if you at least pick a couple of bands that just make you want to dance, you’ll sweat your need to pee out (saves on waiting around for a port o’ potty) AND you’ll discover a really great band. Is there anything better?
Social Distortion: If you’ve been reading my festival music blogs over the last couple of years, then you’ll know that I usually take a moment out to write about one of the old skool bands that always end up on the bill. Well Lolla 2010 is no different and since Rosemary already wrote about seeing Devo, then my pick has got to be sexy Mike Ness and his band, Social Distortion. Social D was my first punk show and my first mosh pit at the young and impressionable age of 15. I had bright green hair for that show and unfortunately, since I had added more green to it that evening, once all of the sweating happened, it bled everywhere. I have a friend that was 2 years older than me that recorded the evening for his communications class, so somewhere out there is video proof of that night, but I’ll digress on that one for now…I remember watching the Screaming Trees rock out as the opening act and slipping on the beer-soaked floor, which caused me to fall down a lot in the pit. I was on the ground a while and starting to freak out a little when I realized that I should just grab someone’s pants and tug on them to let them know I was down there. I tugged and some big, old(er) punk rocker looked down, picked me up and literally threw me back in the frenzy. It was so awesome! I realized that night that as much as I loved the mellowness of my new wave (read: BIG HAIR-lots of hair spray) lifestyle, my soul also yearned for something raw, loud and full of energy. I feel like I found it that night. A $7 ticket changed my life. I just know that you’ll have a good time if you go see them play. Be sure to tell Mike Ness that I said THANKS for helping to redirect my teen angst!
I hear so many cool things about that town and hope that one day I’ll get to ride a bike around Chicago, taking in all of the great stuff to see, do, hear and eat. It’ll be there when I get there!
Have a great time and make sure to come say hi to our SWEET Tea’m while they are working the booths. They will be working hard, slinging tea, trying to keep you guys hydrated and smiling. It’ll be that much easier to get between those giant stages.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by April Riggs and Sweet Leaf Tea Co., Jacquelyn Jeanes. Jacquelyn Jeanes said: RT @SweetLeafApril: It's all right, all my rock & roll dreams-My post on #Lolla: http://bit.ly/cGowZB Can u dig? [...]
I think you would dig Blitzen Trapper, too.
Sheriff: I feel like I’ve dug what I’ve heard by them. Too bad you moved, send me some music!!