Memory #2: Crowd surfing is always a part of any music festival. You’ll always have those few brave souls that feel the need to launch themselves into the air like they just don’t care. I really dislike crowd surfing, mainly because a lot of crowds don’t understand that you must pass the person, otherwise they land on people (the crowd at the Klaxons set at P-fork just couldn’t get this concept) and it hurts like hell. My second Lolla memory is about the concert battle scar that I’m most proud of.

I, Lisa White, was kicked in the face at a Weezer concert. That’s right, a freaking Weezer concert. Their music is the soundtrack to nerdy skinny pale kids with dark glasses all over the world, yet somehow I get a black eye in a crowd of dudes that are half my size. I partially blame Weezer. Their set was totally on fire, they played all the hits, and me and a billion other geeks were,  well, “geeking out.” They launched into El Scorcho, and I was rocking out, all smiles to the cute guy in Buddy Holly (typical) glasses and having just a great time. It was toward the end of the song, the part that really starts to rock it out, just listen, you know the part. All of a sudden, this chubby (and shirtless, another festival staple) dude pumps his fist in the air, and launches himself, thus launching his foot into my face. Buddy Holly glasses ducked and looked sympathetically (and terrified) at me as I clutched my eye. As soon as I realized that I wasn’t bleeding, it was back to the music at hand, but the rest of the weekend I had a pretty sweet black eye. No need to tell the friends that I was in a bar fight, I wore my Weezer concert scars proudly.

Bonus story! During the same set, I befriended the 15 year old kids in front of me. They were bitching about drivers education (oh you know how that is), and then asked if I had any pot they could buy. Being the elder in the situation, a small part of me totally felt like pulling a mom moment and yelling “hey little buster, you know better then to smoke that wacky weed!” As the show started, Weezer played their (at the time) current radio single Beverly Hills, and at that moment, the 15 year old turned around and yelled to me, “THIS MY JAM!” Never have I felt so old. These kids knew nothing of the blue album. Only when high schoolers try to buy pot off you and make your musical taste feel vintage can you truly feel like an adult, right?

Tags: concert injuries, Crowd surfing, Lollapalooza, Weezer

I’m sort of (hugely) a nerd. I like video games, I read message boards, I watch GNR’s “You Could Be Mine” video from “T2: Judgment Day” on Youtube on a fairly regular basis, probably about once a week.

My biggest nerd downfall is the amount of cartoons I watch. I understand that watching cartoons like Family Guy and other shit on Adult Swim is fine, but I go deeper than that. I watch Camp Lazlo everyday before I go to work. I find The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy funny. Hell, I even own the Legend of Zelda: The Animated Series on DVD (to be honest, it was a gift…but I do enjoy it).

My favorite cartoon ever is Futurama, so I was glad when it was confirmed for a second go earlier this year. It didn’t have a release date for awhile, but ta-daaa.

Futurama is back, and now we know in what form. The show will return on November 27th as a full-length high-def film sold on DVD. It will be followed by three additional films, and each film will be divided into four episodes each to be aired on Comedy Central. So, that’s 4 DVD movies or 16 new episodes depending on how you look at it.

Sadly, Futurama will not be appearing at Lollapalooza.

Tag: Futurama

WGN Radio awaits our arrival.

We sat in a pretty swank guest room. Greg is as calm as ever.

We aren’t in college radio anymore.

Stu-Stu-Studio

I kept wondering what would cause them to use all of these mics at once.

Apparently we get a file next to Spin Magazine. WE’RE HONORED!

Tags: Brian Noonan, WGN Radio

Hope everyone is listening to Greg and Wes right now on WGN radio! I sure am, I even downloaded the evil RealPlayer, showing just how much I love the Heave boys.

So as the boys are kicking off more of the Lolla countdown on the radio, I thought I’d start a more personal countdown to Lollapalooza. Since Lollapalooza made its home stay in Chicago, I’ve been front and center each summer in Grant Park. Lolla in Chicago has come a long way since the one small field of the first year to a true destination festival. And along with any music festival, you have some pretty fun and crazy memories, and Lollapalooza has given me a fair share.

Over the next week I’ll be sharing my top memories of the festival in Grant Park, and waiting like a school kid for candy for next weekend!

Memory #1: One thing that is always a constant at music festivals is alcohol. Yes, tipping back a few under the sweltering sun is a great way to spend a lazy afternoon rocking out, but tipping back a bottle or more can lead to some pretty hilarious stories for your friends, but a walk of shame for yourself. The best Lollapalooza shaming happened to a friend of mine last year.

I lived only a few blocks from the festival, so my apartment became Lollapalooza central. Me and the roommate had friends down from Michigan, and the whole group were party people ready to have a blast at Lolla. One of those friends were a bit overzealous though, and had a bit too much pre-game drinks . Once at the festival, we lost said friend after her crazy drunk self ran away. We spent most of the day texting and calling her, thinking of all the worst scenarios in our head. We prayed that she was found by paramedics, and kept vigilant with our texting and calling.

Once back at the apartment, we finally heard from her. Relieved, she appeared soon, a bit worse for wear. The last thing she remembered was she ran away and climbed up in a tree to get a better view of the festival. Under the tree was a fellow Lollapaloozer, and she struck up a friendship with him, and that friendship blossomed into a “hey we’re drunk and we love Lollapalooza, let’s make out!” The next thing she remembers, and this is the really awesome “I can’t believe I did that part of the story,” is she awakens in a portable toilet. Yes, you know it’s been one helluva weekend when you wake up in a porta-potty and survive the walk of shame to tell about it. To this day, my roommate and I still refer to her as drunk Lolla friend, and that is just one memory that I’m sure she’ll share with the kids someday.

Moral of the story, have fun, but pace yourself. No day can be totally rad if you wake up in a portable toilet.

Tags: Lollapalooza, portable toilets

Wes and Greg are busy getting their drink responsible sleeping on tonight, but wanted me to let ya’ll know that they’ll be slithering into WGN Radio late Saturday night to speak on our hot topic of the week — Lollapalooza.

If your ears weren’t fond of our articles upon articles about the event posted earlier this week, hopefully they’ll be more receptive of our comment and insight later this evening. Wes and Greg will break down all the important stuff Lolla looks to bring for a whole half hour: from 1-1:30 a.m. CST on Sunday, July 29…otherwise known as Saturday night.

You can listen online through WGN’s website (if you’re unfortunate enough to have RealPlayer installed on your computer), or Chicago folks can just tune their soundboxes to 720 on the AM dial.

This time that’s actually the name. Kidapalooza. No bull. That’s what the section of Lollapalooza dedicated to kidZ is called. The more you think about it, the more awesome it gets. Because let’s face it, it can be easy to get lost in the salty hedonism of rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop, and (to some extent) Snow Patrol.

That’s where kidapalooza comes in—providing you with an outlet to regain the starry-eyed wonder you started off with, or a good place to dump the kids while you hit the beer tent and finish off a pack of Newports. I mean, you’ve only got two hands, right!!?  

In all honesty, a concert is never an easy place to be with a child, but here are a few of the services and activities offered at Lolla that just might be worth your time and attention. 

1) Tag-a-kid: Yes, that means exactly what it sounds like it means. When you visit the Information Tent, you can tag your offspring with individualized wrist bands. That way, if your kidz are stupid enough to walk away from you in crowd, but smart enough to turn themselves in to park officials, you can be contacted right away. I’m also hoping that for an extra $20 they’ll let me tag and hunt any kid not claimed at the end of the day. 

2) Hip-Hop workshop: My kidz already know how hard it is out here for a pimp trying to make the money for the rent, but they don’t know how to scratch records! But, thankfully, they can learn at 12:15 pm on Sunday, August 5^th. (Seriously, it sounds cool and I want in.) 

3) Playstation interactive area: So that they will be able to completely ignore the fact that they are outside. 

4) Tattooz by Small Paul: Your kidz can get all sorts of body art, rub-on tattoos, and face painting. They will look cooler than you do, despite the fact that you are 20 years older and can see R-rated movies. 

5) Gibson g-pad: Reportedly, anyone can come to this tent and rock out on Gibson stuff. How can you resist a free chance to look cooler than you ever will again in the future?

Tag: Lollapalooza

So we’ve been having a debate for nearly a week now at HEAVE over the best song written about drugs or drug use. Is it purely subjective? Of course. Still, we haven’t been shy about our opinions, and we wouldn’t want you to be either. So here’s the big three that we’ve been tossing around — what have we missed?

Ryanp: “Running to Stand Still,” by U2, from “The Joshua Tree”

So many musicians attempt to relate the experience of intoxication by embodying the voice of the user. In “Heroin,” (see below) Lou Reed is all about power, climax, depression and release. The more junk that rushes through his veins, the more the song’s tempo quickens. The sounds and the words are an attempt to capture something of the rush and the crash of the needle as it happens.

In “Running to Stand Still,” Bono and U2 take a step outside, and instead describe the squalor of a heroin-addled woman. And to that end, the scene they paint is one of perpetual relapse and frustration. The song is all about connection and dichotomy, and the relationship between desire and the fear of self-destruction is represented as a series of impossibilities:

Sweet the sin /
But the bitter taste in my mouth /
I see seven towers /
But I only see one way out /
You got to cry without weeping /
Talk without speaking /
Scream without raising your voice /

While the scenery Bono evokes is real — the seven towers refer to the Ballymun neighborhoods of Dublin, a slum area notorious for its poverty and drug problems — the only viable option for the woman is the destruction of reality. That “one way out,” to my mind, can only refer to either suicide or a trip from the needle. Ultimately, the song concludes in a note of powerlessness:

She runs through the streets /
With her eyes painted red /
Under black belly of cloud in the rain /
In through a doorway she brings me /
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea /
She is raging /
She is raging and the storm blows up in her eyes /
She will suffer the needle chill /
She is running to stand still

The song seems made for a grand climax — the music builds to a crescendo that never comes. Instead, it drops off, unsatisfied, like someone suddenly etherized. For all her rage, the woman is left with puffy eyes, burst veins, and the numbing sting of the needle. The force of her anger is redirected inward, and becomes one more moment in a series of oblivions.

---

Greg: “Heroin” by The Velvet Underground, from “The Velvet Underground and Nico”

“I had not taken a bath in a year nor changed my clothes or removed them except to stick a needle every hour in the fibrous grey wooden flesh of heroin addiction. I did absolutely nothing.”-William S. Burroughs



Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Tim Buckley, Gram Parsons, Brad Nowell and Shannon Hoon were just a few of the casualties of heroin in music. Kurt Cobain, David Bowie, Miles Davis, James Taylor and Arthur Lee (singer of Love) all are surrounded by dramatic and interesting stories of heroin use and addiction. “Trainspotting” and “Requiem for a Dream” are two semi-recent movies that paint a repulsive and upsetting account of the dangers of heroin dependency. In spite of all this I have to admit that heroin use is still intriguing to me. I am in no way trying to glorify drug use, but there is a certain rock ‘n roll charm to substance abuse that I can not shake.



The Velvet Underground song “Heroin” completely embodies what my perception of heroin use is. From Moe Tucker’s rhythmic beating of the toms pulsating like a jacked-up heart to Lou Reed’s lyrics about not caring about anything after taking a hit. To me, this is the best simulation of drug use in music form. But hey, what do I know, I’ve never done the stuff.

---

Evan: “Beetlebum” by Blur, from “Blur”

Unlike Greg, a cast of drugs have come and gone in the short (and likely now shorter) years I’ve been alive to consume; it makes it easier when I imagine them as tidy, upstanding families of cocaine, the two-and-a-half kid (gram?) kind that secures luggage atop red-cell station wagons, highwaying their way down veins. I can only say the substances know these routes well, and I’d imagine consider regions of my brain as summer lake houses of sorts.



Through saturated highs and subterranean lows, I’ve come to envision the influences as analogized best (beyond a ’50s era road-tripping family, apparently) by an awful, inconsiderate girlfriend that, while granting the occasional comfort, is more adept at and prone to eroding your vital organs. Blur’s “Beetlebum” off their under-appreciated 1997 self-titled captures each of these painful concepts, conveying the numbing apathy that drugs (and likewise awful girlfriends) induce. Like other of the band’s songs, Damon Albarn is said to have written the tune after his ex-girlfriend Justine, and particularly her own issues with heroin: frontman’s girlfriend drug-of-choice since 1972.



A dizzying verse lullingly mirrors the muddyness that drug abuse brings about; Graham Coxon’s two-chord slide sounds like an engine struggling to start, alongside lines like “Get nothing done / Just get numb,” the verse may represent Albarn’s own difficulty with substances and serve as criticism toward his former gal pal. The chorus’ descending falsetto enters:



“And when she lets me slip away /
She turns me on and all my violence gone /
Nothing is wrong, I just slip away and I am gone”

and Albarn’s tall melodies here offer a contrast to the duller sections, letting the listener observe the high and low moments of addiction equally. “Beetlebum” accurately represents the daze and quiet danger that drug use brings about, but succeeds because it doubles nicely as a wavy, sexy song that depresses and impresses.

Tag: Best of lists

There are going to be points during Lollapalooza that you become conflicted by which band to see and which stage to head to. Greg and I have broken down some of those tough decisions you’ll have to make.

Regina Spektor (Greg) Vs. The Hold Steady (Wes) - Day 2, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

I will give you three of the best reasons to see Ms. Spektor on Saturday. First, she has a keyboard player that drinks wine and has a handle bar moustache. Second, Regina Spektor used to be in the band Lifter Puller. Lastly, Regina Spektor’s latest album Boys and Girls in America was one of the best records of 2006. Oh wait, just a second…I’m thinking of The Hold Steady. Screw it, go see The Hold Steady.

This isn’t even an issue. Nobody should want to see Regina Spektor, period — let alone when she takes the stage at the same time as The Hold Steady. If you don’t see the Hold Steady then you don’t like yourself. You like yourself, don’t you? Don’t break my har-he-he-he-he-hE-HE-He-heaarrrt. See The Hold Steady.

My Morning Jacket (Greg) Vs. Modest Mouse (Wes) - Day 3, 6:15-7:15 p.m.

Live Modest Mouse is energetic, spastic, and frenzied. If you value these qualities above precision, mood, and a singer that kind of sounds like Neil Young, go right ahead and see Modest Mouse. But keep one thing in mind. Most of the guys in My Morning Jacket are bearded or at least semi-bearded. I don’t think Isaac Brock can even grow a beard. Eat it, Brock!

I enjoy both of these bands, but Modest Mouse is my favorite band ever. I enjoy them live, I really enjoy the new album, and I really really enjoy the fact that Johnny Marr is now in the band. Isaac Brock has cut himself on stage before ON PURPOSE, and I think we all go to shows secretly hoping someone dies. Well, here’s our chance. If neither of them do it for you, then just go watch Flosstradamus.

Interpol (Greg) Vs. Muse (Wes) - Day 2, 8:30-10 p.m.

I am going to lay this out in a very simple manner. Back in 1775 the United States entered a little conflict known as the Revolutionary War. Who were they fighting? The British. Who lost the war? The British. What nationality are the members of Muse? British. Go see Interpol. The singer sounds like David Byrne. God bless America!

Greg brings up very good points, but he forgot to mention that Muse is actually better than Interpol; and thats kind of important. We are also pretty much guaranteed to hear “Knights of Cydonia,” which almost started the Great Cowboy Revival of 2006; what is more American than cowboys? Lastly, Matthew Bellamy uses a keyboard that looks like its straight out of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”

Leaving Early (Greg) Vs. Pearl Jam (Wes) - Day 3, 8-?:?? p.m.

This is, by far, the easiest decision you will make all weekend. Pearl Jam is the last band on Sunday night. That means that by skipping out on Eddie Vedder and the Cruisers you will get to avoid traffic if you drive, catch an earlier train if you’re from the suburbs, or go get smashed for way less money in a bar somewhere if you’re spending the night. Who wants to stand around listening to a guy singing about how he wishes he was a Christmas tree with a bunch of pseudo-hippies who think it’s 1995? Not me.

I’ve always felt that The Cruisers could have survived without Vedder, but thats a different argument for a different time. I live in Chicago, and I don’t work on Monday. I guess I’ll stay just so I can tell people I saw Pearl Jam after their wing gets built at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lollapalooza is always full of surprises anyways. Last year we were promised The Smashing Pumpkins — this year we’re getting Nirvana. Eddie Vedder can do some crazy things.

Tag: Lollapalooza

In his last column, Wes pointed out that Lollapalooza is going to be all about hard decisions: Do I take the train or try to drive? If I split up with my friends will I ever find them again? Should I really be making out with this girl? Tricky, for sure.  

But don’t look so tense, not every decision is going to be arduous and hard-fought. In fact, when it comes to picking which performances to see, the simplest way to reduce the stress of devising your Lollapalooza schedule is to eliminate the bands we can describe as less-than-must-see. It’s like the SAT’s, but instead of antonyms and synonyms it’s Iggy Pop cutting up his chest with shards of glass.  

To that end, I’ve made a small list of artists and bands—three for each day of Lolla—that you can comfortably skip with the knowledge that I will look on and nod approvingly.  

Friday, August 3^rd:

The Polyphonic Spree 2:30-3:30 on the Bud Light stage – Part of me wants to recommend these guys, even if only for the fact that it’s a marvel they can fit all 25 members onstage, but I can’t ignore the fact that their bombast feels forced. Yes, I get it. You all sing and dance together and you all wear white robes simulating a cult. Great shtick…sort of.  

Sparklehorse 3:30-4:30 on the Adidas stage -  Mark Linkous is a wonderful lyricist. The litany of musician friends that contribute to his albums always produce wonderful results. And yet Linkous’s vocals are always a giant “if.” If he has his voice in check, Sparklehorse is something special. If he doesn’t, the band is something to skip.  

M.I.A 4:30-5:30 on the Bud Light Stage – I won’t lie: I love Maya Arulpragasam. Who couldn’t? She is tough as nails, blisteringly smart, and she doesn’t give a shit what you think of her. On top of that, “Angular” is an amazing album that probably should have won the Shortlist Music Prize and the Mercury Music Prize. Still, her music is all about movement, chaos, and groove, and I think that it is heard better indoors where it can echo against itself. I just don’t see it translating very well to a venue like Lollapalooza. I’ll bite the bullet if I’m wrong on this one, though.  

Saturday, August 4^th: 

Stephen Marley 2:30-3:30 on the Bud Light stage – Is it unfair to compare him with his father? Of course. But that doesn’t change the fact that it inevitably happens. And lord knows that Marley is trying to live up to his good name, but the music never really rises above vaguely likeable.  

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah 4:30-5:30 on the AT&T stage – They have their moments, but on the whole they are just vastly overrated. Go check them out and you’ll see what I mean.  

Interpol 8:30-10:00 on the Bud Light Stage – I have nothing against Interpol, it’s just that they happen to be playing at the same time as Muse, who bring down the house every time they get on stage. Literally. Watch out for falling pieces of badassness. 

Sunday, August 5^th: 

Rodrigo y Gabriela 1:15-2:15 on the Adidas Stage – The novelty of this duo wear off for me after about ten minutes. I would rather just listen to some good thrash metal than hear a folk rock team cover it. 

Amy Winehouse 2:30-3:30 on the Bud Light Stage - Everything will be going swimmingly, until Winehouse whips a bottle of Jack Daniels at a fan and throws up in her beehive while forgetting the words to her own songs. It’s a shame too, because the album is a masterstroke.

 

Iggy and the Stooges 4:15-5:15 on the Bud Light stage – Wow, I’ve literally suggested that you skip 75% of the Bud Light stage shows. I swear that it wasn’t intentional. And really, I would like to give Iggy and the boys the thumbs up, but the moment has basically passed. Being a punk idol in your heyday only gets you so far.

Tag: Lollapalooza

Looking at the Lolla schedule can be an intimidating task. You have your bands that you’ll want to see no matter what, you’ll have your bands that you have no desire to see, and you’ll have your bands that you want to see but you don’t want to face the risk of losing your friends for the rest of the day because they didn’t want to see the band you wanted to see. Who would’ve thought a music festival could put your social circle in such jeopardy? One of the things that you need to do before you show up to Lolla is devise a plan. I’m going to make this a little easier for you by giving you three bands a day you have to see. At the very least it’ll be a common ground in which you can meet up with your friends again.

Friday August 3, 2007

Chin Up Chin Up 1 to 1:45 on the Citi Stage - A great band to see in the early stages of the festival. Not only are they local boys, but they will probably open with “This Harness Can’t Ride Anything,” which should be your slogan for Lolla 2007.

Silversun Pickups 5-6 on the Citi Stage - “Lazy Eye” got some radio play around the Chicagoland area, but the whole album is well done. You might only want to catch a half hour of their set, though. Blonde Redhead plays the Myspace stage at 5:30. I’m quite sure that means you won’t hear the hit, and everybody wants to hear the hit!

Daft Punk 8:30-10 on the AT&T Stage - You may think this sounds like a no-brainer, but I can’t stress the importance of you seeing this show. Daft Punk very rarely plays in the United States. It also gives me the chance to bust out the robot and actually mean it.

Saturday August 4, 2007

I’m From Barcelona OR Tokyo Police Club Bud Light and AT&T Stage from 12:30-1:30 - Apparently this is the other country portion of Lolla. Both use keyboards, both like to sing in harmonies. You really can’t go wrong. Personally, I’m going with Tokyo Police Club; but only because I’m From Barcelona has like 25 members, and I saw the Polyphonic Spree the day before.Cold War Kids 3:30-4:30 on the Citi Stage - I hated these guys before I heard them because I disliked their band name. What can I say? The Cold War still stings. Now I’m quite the fan. Who else are you going to see at this time, Motion City Soundtrack? You could, but as Dwight Schrute said, “It’s your funeral.”

The Hold Steady 5:30-6:30 on the Myspace Stage - You can call them a “buzz band,” but I prefer to call them good. I’ve seen them live a couple times and they don’t disappoint. I expect more of the same from America’s favorite bar band. At least check out a song or two, the sheer joy they bring to the stage should give you your second wind for the day.

Sunday August 5, 2007

Iggy and the Stooges 4:15-5:15 on the Bud Light Stage - I’m not a big fan of these guys at all, but I’m ALWAYS up for seeing an actor from “The Adventures of Pete and Pete.” My dad may think I’m a tad bit cooler for seeing Iggy Pop in concert, too. We shall see.

Flosstradamus 6-7 on the MOTO Mindfield - Support your local musician; and dance in the process. Flosstradamus has potential to be the funnest show at Lolla. There will not be a still rump* in the house. A perfect way to celebrate the fact that Pearl Jam will be taking the stage soon.

TV on the Radio 7:15-8 on the Myspace Stage - Greg and I listened to “Wolf Like Me” when we were hungover and driving to our college graduation. Music exists for reasons like that.

Pearl Jam - Everybody likes the song “Yellow Ledbetter.” I’m not really looking forward to this, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to hear “Better Man.”

*This is the first and possibly only Wreckx-N-Effect reference that will be made on HEAVEmedia. I hope you enjoyed it.

Tag: Lollapalooza