Lollapalooza Love

Sitting here, trying to keep my eyes open at my desk, I can't stop thinking about how amazing Lolla was and how weird it was waking up today and not instantly starting to drink and plan out what bands we were going to see for the day.

I would definitely have to say it's been my top festival of the summer with only Summer Set left to go. My only complaint is my broken phone not holding a charge, not getting service and not being allowed to bring in my big camera so I wasn't able to get a lot of my own photos or videos.

Despite that, it truly was one of my best Chicago summer weekends to date. Now for some awards of my best/worst picks from Lollapalooza 2012...

Best Overall Set:

Florence + The Machine -- Her voice is absolutely haunting; she literally brought me to tears. And damn, what a performer. Hopping up and down, running around the stage, spinning, slipping out of time... was that the wrong pill to take? Still can't get her beautiful music out of my head...

Worst Overall Set (Only based on the sets I saw):

 

M83 -- Maybe I was just salty because I got pulled away from Nero to see them, but M83 did not impress me at all. Everyone in the crowd kept looking at each other and asking why it was so quiet, but even with a shoddy sound system, there wasn't much energy coming from the group themselves. Overall they weren't horrible, but I think they could have delivered much more to make up for the lack of volume. At least you know I saw some pretty awesome acts if these guys were considered my worst!

Best Electronic Set:

Calvin Harris -- The Perry's stage was ablaze with hot EDM artists all weekend, but the most fun for me had to be Calvin Harris. Everyone was super excited to be back after the evacuation so the energy was super high while the bass thwomped low through hot tracks like "Bounce," "You Used to Hold Me" and "We Found Love."

The Rain Couldn't Keep Me Away:

Red Hot Chili Peppers -- After waiting around all day for the weather to decide whether or not I would be allowed to see my #1 reason for buying tickets to Lolla in the first place, I was beyond ecstatic to climb on the tallest shoulders I could find for a glimpse of my favorite rockers. While I was slightly disappointed they didn't sing me any "Scar Tissue," I was just as happy with old favorites like "Otherside," "Give It Away," and "Under the Bridge."

Super Depressed I Missed:

Santigold -- I just couldn't tear myself away from RHCP. I know I'll definitely get a chance to see her again though--hopefully very soon! Sucks though; heard it was a great show.

My New Girl Crush:

Emily Haines // Metric -- Absolutely killed it for me. Not sure if it was that sparkly top + leather shorts combo or her head-banging rocker chick attitude, but this front woman's sexy stage presence had me all sorts of hot.

Performance I Wasn't Expecting to See, But Loved:

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis -- My friend Jordan has been talking about this Seattle rapper for months, but I never actually got around to listening to any of his tracks. After seeing his great interaction with the crowd and his ability to keep me jumping around for an hour straight, I have to say I am sold. 

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 , 8

Lollapalooza Preview

T-minus 1 day!

Despite going to school in Chicago for the past four years (well, three since last year was spent across the world), I've never spent a summer in the city until now. Which also means I have never been to Lollapalooza.

Stupid, stupid me.

When I saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers were headlining this year, I jumped all over that and got my Early Bird passes immediately.

Here's a look at the other acts I'm dying to see this weekend...


Nero.

 

The Nero Essential Mix was stuck on repeat pretty much my entire stay in England, where I was first introduced to this dynamic duo from North West London. I had a blast thrashing out at Fabric to their drum'n'bass and dub-step-infused grime symphonies and can't wait to go at it again for a flashback to my time spent across the pond.


Santigold.

My love affair with Miss Santi White has been going on since I first heard Santogold several years ago and with Master of My Make-Believe released earlier this year, I have to say she has done it again. Semi-depressed she's playing the same time as RHCP. I think I might be sprinting back and forth between stages...

 Florence + The Machine.

Sing me some Ceremonials you beautiful, angelic woman.

The Weeknd.

Sex. Drugs. An amazing remix with Florence. What more could you want? I'm hoping they'll do a live collaboration of the Shake It Out Remix for us...

Doctor P.

Another staple introduced to me in London--seriously, people in that city know good music. His mixes with Flux Pavilion and Example first caught my ear and opened up the gateway to a ton of his tracks.

Ready, set, LOLLLAAAAAAAAAAA!

Images via 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Wavefront Music Festival

So I didn't quite bare it all, but instead added high-waisted shorts for a little smaller sliver of skin that definitely gave me the extra boost of confidence to work it all out on the dance floor. 

Crazily enough, I recognized this girl from my fashion post on Spring Awakening and went up to ask if it was her in the hippie chic outfit on my camera. Small worlds collide (some may even call it serendipity!) & in fact, it was her AND she was sharing my style with a cropped-up tank and high-waisted denim cut-offs. 

Unfortunately, the fashion at Wavefront wasn't all that notable minus a few cuties sporting summer's hottest trends like those neon pink skinnies and the adorable bralet with a high-waisted skirt. Otherwise, it was just bikini tops and tutus as far as the eye could see.

Well and the hybird Lady Gaga-Princess Gwenevere-esque, space creature that could be found twirling around above the crowd here and there. 

And some sexy guys to turn up the heat in true Americana fashion.

 

All in all, I think the best part of the day was watching the sun set over the city with sand in my toes and dancing my life away with my loved ones around me.

FEST Follow-Up

The show goes on, indeed! And finally I MADE IT.

Chicago-native Lupe Fiasco rocked the Quad on Friday night while performing for DePaul University's annual FEST concert. 

Despite the typical bitchy sorority girls pushing everyone and acting entitled to be at the front, the show was a blast and our group staked out a pretty awesome spot on the right-hand side towards the front. 

We made it just in time to catch the tail-end of Portugal. The Man's set with their hit "Sleep Forever" off their latest album In the Mountain in the Cloud. 

The slow, psychedelic sounds weren't exactly what I was in the mood for at the time, but others in the crowd said they put on a good show. From the little I saw, I had to agree! 

And surprisingly the rock didn't stop there. 

With a full band and strong drum beats, Lupe's act felt more like a rock show than a rap/hip-hop concert in the best way possible. It was kind of like when Lil Wayne tried to go all rock on everyone with Rebirth, but Lupe actually pulled it off and had me thinking maybe it's time to be a Rockstar instead of a Superstar.

Lupe had us all in a fiasco playing hit songs from The Cool and the uber-political Lasers album, which included my favorites--"Daydreamin" and "Words I Never Said."

Hopefully my videos won't give you a headache! I was definitely trying to multi-task with dancing, getting pushed around and filming all at the same time, but there are still some great shots of Lupe and the rambunctious crowd rocking out around me.

After the sun went down, the real fun started and Lupe lived up to his album's namesake with a Laser light-show illuminating across the dark, night sky.

He ended strong with old-school hits like "Superstar" and "Kick, Push," saving the crowd favorite "The Show Goes On" for one last song to get us moving and rev us up for the post-FEST fun.

Check out the rest of my videos from Friday night on my YouTube channel.

Friday FESTivities

Every year DePaul puts on a mini music festival on the university quad and I am excited to say that TODAY is that day! 

With headliners like Ludacris, Wiz Khalifa and N.E.R.D. in the past, FEST certainly delivers and this year is no exception...

LUPE FIASCO.

and Portugal. The Man. 

After hours with The Cataracs. Yum. 

Here's what I'm hoping to hear today...

1. Words I Never Said - Lupe Fiasco feat. Skylar Gray

2. People Say - Portugal. The Man 

3. Daydreamin' - Lupe 

4. Top of the World - The Cataracs

5. Got It All - Portugal.  

For various reasons, I've never actually been inside FEST before... Always enjoyed the pre-festivities too much!

Here's to my first & final FEST!

Images via 1, 2, 3