Lollapalooza Journal: Prepare early for more fun at the fest

By Rob Janicke

For the second installment of “everything Lollapalooza” for Festival Preview, I thought we’d get into the real guts of the festival-going experience. The bands, you say? Well, that’s a great guess and an obviously integral part of the experience, and I’ll be writing about the lineup in future installments. The ultimate goal of any concert experience is to enjoy yourself to the fullest and get the most you possibly can out of what the festival has to offer. So with that in mind I have a few hints, tips and suggestions from my own experiences and mistakes while attending many, many festival and shows.

Let’s start with what would seem most obvious. GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY AND DON’T LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT THEM! I apologize for the caps there but you wouldn’t believe how many people show up at these events thinking they’ll scalp tickets once they get there. Forget it, awful idea, don’t bother, and don’t question this. If you know you want to go to the show buy your tickets early and move on.

The other part of this scenario is something I’m guilty of myself regarding this very festival. In the early hours of a hot and sunny New York morning back in 1993 I started to make my way, with a few friends in tow, to Waterloo Village, NJ for my third consecutive Lollapalooza festival. Third year in a row!! You’d think I was a cagey veteran at this point right? Well, I FORGOT THE TICKETS AT HOME! This wasn’t even noticed until we were almost half way through our three-hour journey. Folks, make sure you leave the house with tickets in hand…please!

Another thing to take care of early on is your sleeping arrangements. Lollapalooza spans a full weekend, so if you are traveling to the festival, make any hotel, motel, or friends’ couch reservations as early as possible. It gets much harder to find an affordable place to crash as the date nears.

Okay, you made it to the destination. What do you need other than the tickets? Lollapalooza is in early August in the Midwest so considerations for the weather are very important. It will be pretty hot over the three days of the festival so the following items are a must: sun block, toilet paper, baby wipes (these come in very handy), small first aid kit, water, small foam cooler, blankets for night time, backpack, sunglasses, umbrella, poncho (in case of rain), and bug spray. You don’t want to have too much to carry or look after so the list above should be pretty manageable. I would’ve included food and chairs in that list but I know they are prohibited at Lollapalooza this year.

Money is another huge issue with multi-day festivals. You’re going to want to set a budget before hand and do your best to stick to it. That means you should not be buying 12 t-shirts and 50 cds during the festival’s first two hours. By all means buy what you want, but spread it out so your budget doesn’t completely blow up.

Lollapalooza is a very deep festival in terms of what it has to offer. With so many bands playing and so many different things to do and see, it’s imperative to have a schedule with you at all times. You need to know which bands are playing on which days and on what stage. You can absolutely ruin your experience by not realizing the band you wanted to see the most started its set 20 minutes ago at a stage clear across the park. This can and should be avoided by simply knowing the schedule and the lay of the land.

As for your strategy on the grounds of the festival, I recommend that you keep an open mind about the music and the bands you’re not all that familiar with. There are well over 100 bands playing this show and chances are most of them will be somewhat unknown to you. Discovering new favorites is a major part of the fun.

To prepare, I suggest checking out the lineup and researching a few bands you know little or nothing about, including listening to their music. By the time those bands are plugging in and ready to go on in August you’ll have a better idea of whether you’ll want to be in front of their stage ready to rock or walking around the grounds looking at the other attractions Lollapalooza has to offer. Basically it’s a time-saver for you. Do a little research now and you’ll be that much more prepared come August.

To get started on your research, study all the information on the Lollapalooza web site and get oriented to the site, Chicago’s lakefront Grant Park, here and here.