This past Saturday I trekked down to Grant Park and entered my first Lollapalooza. Armed with a hipster headband and my sidekick Lisa (along with hand sanitizer) I prepared for a day of laughs, sun, a beer or two, and of course, great music. What I saw were wayyyyy too many crop tops* and three ladies who literally rocked my socks off.
Our first stop was Matt and Kim, they weren’t a must see for me, but Lisa wanted to go and I like their song Daylight, so I went along. I was expecting them to be a bit more chill, and was I wrong. As soon as they entered the stage, Kim started totally jamming out on the drums, occasionally standing on top of them. Her energy was contagious, and it really set the pace for the whole day. When Kim decided to walk across the crowd, I was smitten. This is what sets Lolla apart from other music festivals.
Photo courtesy of Elle.com
After Matt and Kim we re-fueled and headed over to Ellie Goulding. I’ve been a big fan of hers since Lights came out (just last summer) and regularly listen to her Pandora station. Walking over to her we were both struck by how beautiful her voice is in real life. After belting out her amazing cover of Your Song, she immediately kicked it into high gear with Anything Can Happen which caused everyone to go nuts. It was so great to be part of such a large group all in sync, and I’m definitely planning on seeing her in concert again soon.
Photo via my Instagram
After heading over to the other end of the park to watch The National, The Lumineers and a hot minute of Mumford and Sons, we headed to the performance I was the most excited for: The Postal Service. I had been a fan of that single album of theirs for ten years and could not wait to see them live. Boy, did they deliver. It was a great crowd too, most of the teens in braces were puking up their first beers ever over at Mumford and Sons.
Video courtesy of Billboard
It was also at Postal Service that I officially fell in love with Jenny Lewis. She is gorgeous, and I loved seeing a black sequined cocktail dress at Lolla. She is also insanely insanely talented, not only did she play practically every instrument on stage, she also at one point played her guitar with her teeth. Still not convinced? She ALSO starred in Troop Beverly Hills. Being in one of my favorite bands of all times and starring in one of my favorite movies of all time? You had me at hello! I’m still reeling from the fact that I was able to see them at what they claimed was their last live show ever.
Image courtesy of Flickr
It was so refreshing seeing these women rock on their own, playing their instruments, and garnering amazing crowds. Wish I had stuck with those piano lessons!
*quick note on Lolla fashion: I was a bit underwhelmed, everyone was wearing pretty much different versions of the same thing–crop tops and high waisted shorts. Yawn! Also, that look isn’t very one size fits all if you know what I mean. We are so lucky to live in such a global marketplace that allows everyone to have their own style, I always get disappointed when people don’t take that advantage to be unique.
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