My (not too) quick Lollapalooza recap. -- (edited)
Posted by
pmb (aka pmb)
Aug 6 '18, 13:00
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Overall: It skews younger every year. 5 years ago I would say the majority fell in the 20-25 yr. old range and there were a good 15% in the over 40 range. I would say the majority now falls in the 16-20 range with only about 5% over 40. That's not a great makeup. The high school kids are much less pleasant to be around.
No liquids could be brought in so I saw a lot fewer stumbling drunk kids this year (though the kids that had a flask that looked like a hairbrush impressed me).
I'm curious how the post-Lollapalooza glitter shortage will affect the economy.
Every year we wonder how much less the women could possibly wear. Answer: This year there were some who were just topless (with glitter or pasties covering their nipples). Lots of lingerie as well.
They used to have a cap at 100,000 people. I heard on Friday they had over 110,000. It's too crowded.
Food was excellent as always. And there is nothing better than seeing these shows in the evening surrounded by the Chicago skyline. The performers all comment on the view. It's pretty spectacular.
As for the music:
Thursday - Didn't get there until 6. Saw Billie Eilish (mostly because she and her producer/brother have listened to my daughter's music and her brother tweeted about it). Crowd was big (and super young). She was fine. CHVRCHES was excellent. Camilla Cabello was fine and Arctic Monkeys were good, though I still don't love their new stuff.
Friday - Again couldn't get there until almost 5. James Bay (very good), Greta Van Fleet (I'm not sure how I feel about it - More below on them) - Brockhampton (fun, though not really my thing) - Borns - enjoyable for the small bit I saw and then Bruno Mars - Very entertaining show. Ridiculously packed. The other headliner was the National who I really like (better than Bruno Mars), but I've seen them a few times before. Kind of wished I'd seen them since it was apparently not at all crowded over there.
Saturday - A fuller day. Started about 2. First, Tank and the Bangas, a New Orleans funk/soul band. Really fun group to watch. Bones - A UK female rock duo. Liked them a good bit. Catfish and the Bottlemen - Really good set. Carly Rae Jepsen - Fine, but the sound was terrible. St. Vincent - Great, interesting set. A little bit of Tash Sultana (Australian solo artist who does lots of solos using a looping machine) - Interesting for a little bit and then got boring. The Weeknd. Decent set. I don't love him, but it was huge crowd and I thought he did a pretty good show.
Sunday - Only there for a short time. Durand Jones and the Indications - classic soul band from New Orleans. Really good. Anderson East - Fantastic set. He's really good. One of my favorites on the weekend. More soul music done really well. The Vaccines - Fun. Rainbow Kitten Surprise - Fun but only saw a couple of songs. Lykke Li - I like her, but it was really hot and the crowd was kind of dead.
I think this may be my last year doing 4 days. It's exhausting and too many teens. I'll probably pick a day or 2 next year unless something blows me away.
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