In our house, the first pancake is always the one you toss. Day one of Lollapalooza is kind of like that first pancake. You spend half the day getting your bearings, trying to figure out where the Citi Stage is and wandering around among the shady groves that make Grant Park one of the most unusual, and crash out-friendly festival grounds around. Invariably you miss half the set by the band you were really psyched about, or, if you’re one of the unlucky ones who didn’t get here right at noon, you wait in a gigantic line that snaked almost a mile down street to get in for the sold out first day.
Go behind the scenes with Gil and see some exclusive video, after the jump!
Let’s get it out of the way early and then I swear I won’t bring it up again. It was hot today. Brutally hot. Brain puddling hot. The kind of hot where fest goers line up in the sliver of shade near the fence and try to hold their beers with just two fingers to avoid losing any of the instantly dissipated chill. Hipsters in skinny jeans and vintage Crue t-shirts could hardly conceal their discomfort, and at some point, they gave up trying.
The good news was there are plenty of sponsored, air-conditioned tents to duck into to get a break, ones where you can get a haircut, or browse your email, because nothing says rock festival like a fresh new faux hawk and a check in with mom to tell her you definitely used the sunscreen she sent. There was also Perry’s Tent, a daytime rave under the shade that featured DJs spinning tunes to a huge, undulating crowd who seemed as pleased as co-founder and tireless huckster Perry Farrell to imbibe in some of his hand chosen drink: sangrias.
Speaking of Farrell, I spoke to him as the day was kicking off and after nearly 15 years of sitting down and getting great quote from the former Jane’s Addiction front man, he gave me what might be the corker of all time. After he revealed that the way he gets through the day is by first taking care of his family and making sure they’re comfortable, then getting his drink on, I asked him to talk about what’s next for Lollapalooza, now that it has set down firm roots on the Chicago lakefront. Wearing white jeans and a white t-shirt that read “Peace Love Revolution,” a bright eyed and clearly amped Farrell explained, “This is our fourth year in Chicago and the way I look at Chicago and Lollapalooza is the way you would look at a girl that you knew in high school that you thought was pretty cute, and you see her now, four years later and she is stunning.”
He’s got a point.
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