Rain Soaked Rocking

Here we are… in our ponchos. But all the rain up until about 6pm did not stop the ROCKING!

I think many people believe that this summer in Chicago has been one big EFF YOU from Mother Nature but I personally don’t need a ton of scorching heat. I had plenty of that in my summers in Springfield. Where humidity can know how bounds. You know those days where I was up on the lifeguard stand for nearly 5 hours and in at every rotation we would all jump in the water and never want to get out. Or maybe one of those days at the Illinois State Fair where I got heat stroke from drinking one Diet Coke instead of a water. That particular instance I had to go into the Coliseum of all places to cool down with Margaret and Kaitlyn’s help. And that place is NOT cool in anyway but it was the best option at the time. That horse haven has probably become my least favorite place at the Illinois State Fair because of the fact that I now all I can remember is my embarrassing heat induced vomiting incident in 1997.

So sufficed to say I got to thinking which is better conditions for Lolla? The intense heat which I was in when I attended in 2007 when Pearl Jam melted my face literally and musically? Or the rain which lasted for the first 4 hours but was never heavy and then subsided for the final 4 hours and lead to perfect temperatures for outdoor concert viewing? I would take the second option again in a flat second. And when the rain was over for the night and the ponchos came off we all honestly forgot it even rained at the beginning. But KOL was totally dry! Sure we were wet early on but it made for a much more adventure like atmosphere. And led to a lot more muddiness.

As for the music. It was fabulous. Bon Iver, Ben Folds, Fleet Foxes, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird and of course KINGS OF LEON. KOL was pretty much the reason we were there but the other artists did not disappoint, especially the insanely talented Andrew Bird and totally original and awesome Bon Iver. But KOL could not have been any better. The amount of energy that we had for the hour and 45 minutes was astounding. It was way beyond what I ever could have hoped. Hands down one of the best bands to see live. They MUST be experienced live. And I guarantee that I will be seeing them live again.

They without fail saved Use Somebody until the very end and by that time the build up to it was so great. I think the audience sang most of the song for Caleb. He barely needed to do anything. And they played Red Morning Light which I was in no way expecting since it was from their very first album from 2003 but they did me a solid and brought it out for me. And it rocked my world! Caleb (the lead singer) was never someone I ever found all that attractive but you know what happens when you see musicians perform live. The hottness factor skyrockets.

The entire set really was EPIC. I think I was on a KOL high for the whole weekend. And I went to see Spring Awakening as well this weekend... a show I have been waiting two years to finally come to Chicago so I could see it and the KOL high still overshadowed it. Not saying that Spring Awakening wasn't brilliant as I knew it would be but KOL... well they were KOL.

RED MORNING LIGHT! (Try not to let the shaky camera work bother ya... this person was too busy rocking out like I was)



SEX ON FIRE (This vid is much better quality. Oh and I didn't take either of these but I was closer than this chick.)