2008 Woodie Awards
Music lovers unite in Windy City
By Alex Butler, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Arts & Living
Editor's note: This is part one in a series about the Lollapalooza festival.
CHICAGO - As I sit in the lobby of Chicago's O'Hare international airport, I'm struck at how much the terminal reminds me of Lollapalooza. The resemblances are almost uncanny: dazed and confused people roaming around in all directions, everything is overpriced, all types of people huddled in groups trying to figure out some sort of schedule, and absolutely no one over the age of 40 is having a good time.
But Chicago's most prominent music festival is now packed up and gone, and the music has stopped. A tornado is blowing through the Windy City and I will spend the good part of a day sitting in this exact gate, waiting for a plane that will never come and recounting the three days that rocked the Midwest.
Now, Chicago has a lot of things wrong with it. In addition to the mounting crime rate and ungodly weather patterns, the city remains one of the nation's most segregated. Drive on one long strip, and it's possible to touch base with the city's countless boroughs - through Italy, Pakistan, Korea, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Thailand, Spain, China and India to name a few.
In each neighborhood, I'm told, it's possible to live life as you would in any respective country. Traditions are kept intact and English is secondary in most of these areas - but around Loyola College in Roger's Park, diversity is well understood. Roger's Park takes great pride in the student population and its respective influence around the area.
This area of the city that embraces diversity is the perfect home base for crowds from all over the country during their Lollapalooza experience, a place for them to rest for the next day. Unlike the sister festival, Bonnaroo, where the idea is to camp out with fellow festival-goers for the entire three days, Lollapalooza turns its audience loose on the streets of Chicago at the end of each night.
The city gives Lollapalooza a very unique atmosphere, as well. The shoulders of Chicago's skyline are much different than any field in Tennessee. Grant Park, where the festival was held, is located in the eastern half of the city, almost bordering the shore of Lake Michigan.
CHICAGO - As I sit in the lobby of Chicago's O'Hare international airport, I'm struck at how much the terminal reminds me of Lollapalooza. The resemblances are almost uncanny: dazed and confused people roaming around in all directions, everything is overpriced, all types of people huddled in groups trying to figure out some sort of schedule, and absolutely no one over the age of 40 is having a good time.
But Chicago's most prominent music festival is now packed up and gone, and the music has stopped. A tornado is blowing through the Windy City and I will spend the good part of a day sitting in this exact gate, waiting for a plane that will never come and recounting the three days that rocked the Midwest.
Now, Chicago has a lot of things wrong with it. In addition to the mounting crime rate and ungodly weather patterns, the city remains one of the nation's most segregated. Drive on one long strip, and it's possible to touch base with the city's countless boroughs - through Italy, Pakistan, Korea, Poland, Sweden, Ukraine, Thailand, Spain, China and India to name a few.
In each neighborhood, I'm told, it's possible to live life as you would in any respective country. Traditions are kept intact and English is secondary in most of these areas - but around Loyola College in Roger's Park, diversity is well understood. Roger's Park takes great pride in the student population and its respective influence around the area.
This area of the city that embraces diversity is the perfect home base for crowds from all over the country during their Lollapalooza experience, a place for them to rest for the next day. Unlike the sister festival, Bonnaroo, where the idea is to camp out with fellow festival-goers for the entire three days, Lollapalooza turns its audience loose on the streets of Chicago at the end of each night.
The city gives Lollapalooza a very unique atmosphere, as well. The shoulders of Chicago's skyline are much different than any field in Tennessee. Grant Park, where the festival was held, is located in the eastern half of the city, almost bordering the shore of Lake Michigan.
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Bea
posted 9/02/08 @ 4:25 PM EST
I'm confused as to weather this article is about Lollapalooza or the city of Chicago. At any rate, this article is not at all informative. There is absolutely nothing about any of the actual MUSIC at this music festival. (Continued…)
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