It feels a bit odd to be heading into the first weekend of August and not be heading up to Chicago.
After five straight years of attending Lollapalooza, this marks the second year in a row I’ve missed out on the madness, and to be honest, I might not go back again. Between an increase in costs (tickets, airfare, hotels) and a decrease in bands I want to see, the better option appears to be to stick with five great years of memories (most of which it seems involved strangers asking me for drugs; the strongest thing I ever had was ibuprofen).
I recently took a look back at some of the pictures from past ‘paloozas (note: nobody calls it that; I just wanted the alliteration), and the memory floodgates pushed me to seek out old blogs I had written recapping some of the fun. So, for anyone interested in reliving the experiences (or maybe trying to plan their first trip to the festival), here’s a walk back through some Lollapaloozas (click on the years or daily entries for the links).
2006: The Rubes Crash the City
Note: David, Rachel, Cory, The Beard, Derek and I each made our first trip to the festival, and while we had fun, it might have been better if at least one of us had any idea of what to do. It was like an orgy for virgins – you kind of have an idea of what’s going on, but you really need someone with experience to lead the way.
Also, the recap fails to include the The Beard Torments a Homeless Guy story. Next time you see me, ask me about it.
2008
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Bonus: Jeff Tweedy plays for the kids
The trip in 2008 also led to one of my favorite blogs ever – as almost an afterthought, I tossed off a line about Toby Keith, which led to me being flamed by some of his more passionate fan club members. Be sure to read through all their comments.
Toby Fans Deliver Their Wrath
My Response
The later years, 2009 and 2010, had no recaps, going instead with a ton of pictures (mainly because I was too lazy to write, but also because after playing kickball with Wolfmother and Aaron Paul, of Breaking Bad fame, words just seemed unable to cover it). I leave you with a collection of some of my favorite picutres from Lollapaloozas, including a look at some of my favorite foods and, of course, the traditional Yosh picture.
Thanks, Chicago.
So ... there I was 
I agree that if I met Aaron Paul or even got to hang out with him in any fashion, there would be nothing to even describe the excitement or joy I would have felt.