It’s another glorious, sun-dappled morning in Grant Park, PopWatchers: Lake Michigan is the color of the Caribbean Sea, and I’m sitting at the BMI stage Read the full post.
Aug 3
2008
10:23 PM ET
Lollapalooza 08 Saturday: We Rage happily, if not safely
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Unfortunately, I was not inside to see Rage but from outside it ROCKED!
I was involved in this “fence breaking down” event. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. I must admit I did not see how it started but I did see it finish. Somehow the 6ft high fence was opened and the 150-200 people I was standing with 10 minutes earlier rushed through to the promised land. I do not believe “fans” from outside opened the gate. When I saw the hoard of fans walking at a fast pace into the park I told my friends “let’s go”. Just as I got to the opening I turned to locate my friends and instead was met with a CPD horse’s head. Scared the s— out of me. At that point I calmly walked back to my previous location to continue enjoying Rage from a distance.
The Chicago Police Department did a GREAT job all evening long.
I’ve been scouring reviews of lolla all morning and this is the first accurate and objective review of rage I’ve read yet. Great review! I started about 100 feet from the stage and managed to swirl through the crowd to the front railing a few times. Like another reviewer I was DESTROYED during queens two years ago and was way better prepared this time. If you were self aware enough to know your limits in terms of crowd position, this rage show (my first) was an unrivaled experience of truly roucus rock and roll. So good to read a review by someone who realizes it’s appropriate to go a little nuts at a concert and doing so doesn’t constitute hypocricy just because you (or morello) are from the suburbs!
I was at the Rage show, and let me tell you, it wasn’t just the people in the pit that were out of control, the drunk frat boys were out in full force that night. My friend and I were standing by the soundbooth after respectfully working our way up. Suddenly, after the SECOND time they had to stop the show and tell people to chill, four people slam into us on their way to the mosh pit. Not to mention the group in front of us that kept tripping over themselves and landing on us. Rage played an awesome set, I just wish the fans would have respected it more.
Wow RATM was unlike anything ive ever done…. I made it to like the tenth row but the path to getting there was a violent one… Such a good time…. People have to understand that the fans are not there to hurt eachother. Smashing bodies together is one thing but people are not punching and kicking eachother… Its all in good fun… However if you are a smaller person, I recommend that you stay far away from the battlefields that surround the 1st 100 yards of the stage! Great show, great time! This is coming from a devout jam band fan as well…. Theres nothing like letting it all hang out at a metal show like RAGE! As for the p***ies that were complaining about getting “bumped around” in the crowd, I think Hannah Montana tickets are for sale now boys maybe you’ll be better suited for that haha! Lolla rocked the world this weekend but Rage rocked Lolla! Peace.
Wow, what bar were you at, because I said that to my buddy. I was at the Logan after the show. Anyway, the showmanship was crazy by Rage, so glad I got to be there.
The song that sounded like “Some Russian workers’ song” is the “Internationale” the anthem of the revolutionary movement around the world. It comes from the French revolution-the Paris commune to be exact. The original is in French and what played during their set was, in fact, in Russian. Don’t worry, it’s just an essential part of world history, not the sort of thing a magazine like EW concerns itself with. Great review though.
The Ha Ha Tonka song you mentioned is a cover of Missouri-based bluegrass band Big Smith’s “12″ Inch 3 Speed Oscillating Fan”. Great song. Ha Ha Tonka is cool, but they definitely have a lot of room to grow.
I was further back in the crowd at the Rage show and it was still the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced…people were moshing all around us…I got hit in the face, I saw a guy choking a girl in the mosh pit after she started hitting him in the head, and people had to pull them off of each other…and I saw two random people start making out and then having sex a couple feet away from me…it was soooo crazy but it was awesome! But afterwards, watching thousands of people storming the streets shouting and yelling Rage lyrics after the show was definitely something I’ll never forget.
It’s a shame you didn’t get to see Lupe Fiasco. Although you glanced over him as fodder for the youth… He put an amazing show, and continues to be great, super smart entertainer. He wowed the crowd.
i agree with the previous poster, too bad you didn’t get to see devotchka. i like mgmt as much as anyone else, but devotchka just brought it. the music was awesome, the stage presence was awesome, and as the guy behind me said ‘it’s just so cool to hear something so different.’
i got pee’d on while waiting for Rage and did i leave? no i didnt. and i feel that nothing else proves ones love for music more than getting pee’d on and brushing it off, just so you can live one of the most amazing moments of your life with some amazing live music.
i feel your pain and we are awesome.
Whitney, I love your reviews about Rage, it’s so obvious you’re truly a fan but PLEASE, it’s Zack, not Zach.
i was there, and rage was the best concert i’ve ever been to. the crowd is something that you can’t fully explain unless you’re there. lollapalooza was amazing this year. great review.
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