Lollapalooza Aftermath: How to Survive a Music Festival
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Well, after a grueling 12-hour cross-country car ride I’ve returned to Rochester sunburned, exhausted and broke. Was it worth it? Hell yes.
You’ll find those three characteristics in pretty much any college student who attended Lollapalooza this weekend, an annual three-day musical festival held in Chicago’s Grant Park which featured top-notch draws such as Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Kanye West and countless others.
What can I say about these acts that hasn’t already been said? Honestly, not too much. Seeing bands that are now being elevated to legendary status on the big stages amongst some of the most interesting new innovators on the smaller stages is an experience like none other.
So instead of telling you about how “totally awesome the Radiohead concert was!” (which it was by the way), having been to a few large music festivals now I thought I’d just give a few tips to consider next time you go to a festival.
- Festivals are DIFFERENT than concerts so prepare accordingly. When you’re at a festival, you’re in it for the long haul. To see 10 different bands on eight different stages, there’s a lot more you have to take into account. Spending all day walking around in hot weather (or barely trudging if it’s day three), you need to make sure you’ve got good walking shoes, sun block and plenty of water. Nothing is gonna kill your buzz quite like seeing the band you’ve waited all summer to see while being dehydrated, cramped or burned. Make sure you take care of yourself so you remember more of the show than just the singer going “What’s up Chicago?” before passing out.
- Festivals are expensive so CUT YOUR COSTS. While this frugal student would never advocate sneaking outside food or drink into a festival, bring as much food or water in as the festival allows, the price on everything goes way up once you step inside. If the festival is a long way away, bring sandwiches and fruit for the ride rather than getting that tasty rest stop food. (Personal note: a rest stop chain named Fazoli’s advertises food that is fast, fresh, and Italian. I guarantee you they only delivered on two out of three).
-Plan ahead but be FLEXIBLE. When a festival publishes its performance schedule, one of the first things you’ll probably end up doing is figuring out what you want to see. As an eclectic music lover there’s no doubt that as soon as Girl Talk has ended his explosive DJ set of mash up music you’re going to want to immediately run to see the Parlor Mob’s intense new brand of hard rock. What you failed to take into account is that its 100 degress outside, you’re out of water and the next stage is actually about a 20-minute walk from where you are from. And your friend has to pee. Badly. The great thing about music festivals is that there is A LOT of music to see but accept you can never see all of it so plan for what you are dying to see and be flexible in seeing whatever else you can.
- Finally, a lesson I learned for the first time at this particular festival: If you’re up close for a heavy metal show, prepare to get SLAMMED. Having camped out for a close spot for Nine Inch Nails’ festival concluding performance, I was probably a bit naïve in assuming most people wanted just wanted to bob their heads and throw their devil horns in the air. Seconds after the band took the stage the crowd surged forward into a mosh pit, feeling the weight of about 10,000 people pushing up against me from all sides. Being a big dude, I faired ok for my first time (crowd surfing my way outta there a few songs in) but smaller people in the crowd were definitely overwhelmed, especially if they weren’t expecting this (thankfully nobody seemed to get too hurt). Case in point, feel the crowd out before hand and know what you’re getting yourself into. If the dude in black eye liner and fishnets is jumping up and down and losing his mind before the show even starts, chances are he’s gonna get a little rowdy later.
Well, time to hit that dusty trail. See you at the next show (I’ll help lift you out of the pit if it’s a bit much).
