"Mind. Blown. Upon entering the heavenly gates of Lollapalooza for the first time, it was impossible to not feel the energy of the hundreds and thousands of people inside. Grant Park is HUGE—it's gorgeous and it perfectly accommodated the crowd of all-ages (seriously, I saw some elderly gentlemen who looked like they just stepped off the golf course, as well as some babies with mohawks). The next three days were wild. Shirts (and some pants) became optional. Pacifiers were in. Wine was sold in sport bottles. We sang, we danced, we sweated, we evacuated.

Friday
What can I even say? I saw Black Sabbath. Friggin’ Ozzy Osbourne! I couldn’t believe it. He sang, screamed, swayed and had his own little headbang move going on. Yes, they played “War Pigs,” “Iron Man” and “Paranoid,” and yes, everyone completely lost it. Legendary. Enough said. Other noteworthy Friday bands: First Aid Kit, Dr. Dog, The War on Drugs, Tame Impala, Metric, Passion Pit and The Head and The Heart.  Major shoutout to Charity Rose Thielen of The Head and The Heart, with whom I became slightly obsessed, from her rocking it out on the violin and melting the audience with her powerhouse voice. She once tweeted, “Life goal: becoming the female Jimmy Page”. I die. 

Saturday
On Saturday, aka Evacuation Day, we started off with Milo Greene and then Bear In Heaven. We caught Neon Indian (pictured above) right before we had to evacuate the park due to the impending apocalypse (seriously, people freaked). Before evacuating—I love how intense that sounds—frontman Alan Palomo had some kind words of advice for those who may be “experimenting” for the first time: “It’s going to be okay. Just drink lots of water.  It’s going to be awesome.” Thanks, Alan! Let’s hope everyone felt safe after that. Washed Out played after the storm (no pun intended!) and Red Hot Chili Peppers closed out to a muddy, smelly and extremely pumped crowd. Nothing like a mud slip 'n’ slide to play in during “Suck My Kiss”. Other Saturday awesomeness: Twin Shadow and Santigold.

I saw some seriously amazing outfits during these three days. I spotted this tank from a mile away. Check out that mullet! The staggering question of “Dudes or Dudes?” made it even better. Turns out this tank was representing a wondrous event called “Dudefest”…obviously. A close second to this tank was an “I’m Perkisizing” tee (Heavyweights, people! One of the all-time classics). I took a creepy distant picture of it and unfortunately forgot to ask where the man got it. So, if anyone knows where to get a Perkis Power tee, please let me know. Besides the amazing tees and tanks, there were other random items being thrown into the mix. In no specific order: an Alf doll (terrifying), a 12-foot clown with a spinning head (exorcist-style and even more terrifying than the Alf doll), inflatable helmets, unicorn balloons, and I definitely saw at least one person “riding” around on a stick pony (you know, those toy sticks with a horse head on them). Just your average festival crew.

Sunday
Sunday had a sad vibe to it because it was the last day of the fest and I couldn’t see the final performances because of my flight time. Sad. However, I did get to see Florence + The Machine. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but had heard she was incredible live. No disappointment there. She has the whole ethereal goddess thing down and her flowy, gypsy witch-like maxi dress didn’t miss a twirl or frolic. I was into it. She also got the audience to make friends by telling us to hug the person we were next to. What more can you ask for? (Sorry to the random man next to me for my forceful embrace—Florence made me do it!). Some of my favorite shows for this day also go to Trampled by Turtles, Dum Dum Girls, Sigur Ros and Amadou and Mariam.

Overall, it was an incredible, eclectic festival that left me in a zombie-like state of mind on Monday. I saw some ultimate performances by new favorites and old loves. Lollapalooza did a fab job of showcasing the best talent from all walks of music life.

Oh, I almost forgot! I want to give some love to the sign language performers—holy crap. That cannot be an easy task and they killed it. Air guitar never looked so good. Even Ozzy gave his performer a hug. Rock on, guys! 

I want to end this little post with a lovely inspirational quote from Flea of RHCP, “Be nice. Be gentle. Be kind… and f*ck shit up.” See you next year, Lolla!" -Vanessa