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Chicago, IL

August 4 - August 6

2006

Were you at Lolla 2006?

We want to hear from you — share your best Lolla story below!

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My First Brush With Lolla

by margaret.guleke on may 25, 2011

My fondest memory of Lolla was my first go-round. My boyfriend, friends, and I decided to make the trek at the right bold age ... More

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once in a lifetime

by Will Mcphail on may 26, 2011

2006 was a Great year for Lollapalooza many amazing artist and bands. This was my frist year and was my fav. year!!! Kanye West... More

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Time for the Kids to Rock!

by toledotop on may 27, 2011

It started with Jordan, Maya, and Jackson- a 6, 4, and 2 year-old .... traveling with mom and dad, from Ohio to Chicago.... with their three-day passes and a desire to check out their first rock festival!!! Of course, mom and dad had been to a number of the traveling Lollapaloozas....Cincinnati, Ohio; Milan, Michigan, and Raleigh, North Carolina; flaming helmets with the Red Hots, naked, taped, and explosive Rage, and the genius of Devo. Little did this family know, though, that Kidzapalooza was now waiting for them! What--- Patti Smith, Peter DeStefano, and Perry on stage ?!!! Was this some sort of strange dream? Hula hoops, break dancing, hair painting, and the Q Brothers making live DJ discs for the festival's sonic youth?! Amazing and...yes---- this was really happening!!!!! Our little kids loved everything around them that weekend---- the rocking music (Matisyahu, 30 Seconds, Poi Dog, etc., etc.), gorgeous park and lake views, the music "petting zoo", the t-shirts, and painting ceramic tiles for the Washington Park playground area. Running around with Perry's son, blowing bubbles, and enjoying a gorgeous weekend. I'll never forget our newly turned, two year-old, Jackson (August 1st) totally rocking out and dancing to a white clad 30 Seconds to Mars, as fans pointed at him and laughed in amazementl! So many new sights and sounds for the kids to take in and enjoy.....so many people taking the time to tell us how cool it was to bring our kids to the festival. And in the end it became one of the best moments of our summer and of our kids' lives. So, a big thanks for all the festivals and all these great memories.....hope to see you August 5th-7th!

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Loss Of A Guitar

by iloveraccoons on jun 07, 2011

I had moved to Chicago two months before the renowned Lollapalooza festival was going to take place. During the time I was the epiphany of a poverty stricken college student and ticket prices were 1/3 of my rent payment. Being a dedicated fan of the headlining band (Red Hot Chili Peppers) I sold the one valuable thing in my possession, my Gibson Les Paul Electric Guitar. The festival had outweighed my dread in the end. Not knowing the band at that time, I had introduced myself to a chill guy named Greg Hill. Which I had later discovered was the fairly popular, MuteMath, guitarist. I pathetically elaborated how I practically sold my "child" to buy tickets. Out of pity he had given me the number of a local guitar shop where he said they would hook me up with a decent guitar. The shop had given (no cost) me almost a replica of my Gibson. Five years later I no longer live in Chicago but still own the stunning guitar. I'm having some Lollapalooza withdrawal symptoms!

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Lollapalooza set me free!

by jacquelind5 on jun 19, 2011

     Lollapalooza 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and hopefully 2011 The year is 2006. I am sitting at my sign shop, working. The phone rings and my daughter calling from college, very excitedly confirms, “mom, you like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, don’t you?” I tell her, “yes, you know I love the Chili Peppers, why?” She laughs and says “then let’s go to Lollapalooza”. I remind her that her father and I own a company and I can’t just run off to Chicago. She persists, “aw, come on, you like Jack White also, right?” “His new band, The Raconteurs are playing as well.” As I had not heard The Raconteurs yet her friend brought a cd for me to listen to. Although my husband and I had already started a downward spiral in our relationship and I knew he would resent my going off to have fun at a rock n’ roll festival (I’ve always enjoyed live music but he felt I should grow up and act more responsibly) I called her back and said “Yeah, why not, let’s do it”! I fly to Chicago from Florida with my daughter, Sage. We meet up with Adam, Tiffany and Kevin, three additional college-aged friends of hers, in Chicago. I’m thinking they‘re thinking, “oh great, a mom”. Two minutes into checking in to the Silversmith Hotel, we are laughing and cutting up, knowing that we are all likeminded rock n’ rollers. As the trip for me was about the RHCP, I told Sage no matter what we are to be up front for their show. So we got in place for the Queens of the Stone Age, to see them but to also be able to creep up front when they ended. Sage wanted to see another band on the other end of the park, and as I wanted to keep my place at the stage RHCP were to play, I stayed. I told her I’d be with the kid in the kangaroo hat and to find me when she returned. I stayed and partied with the kids all around me. Sage and her friends found me at my spot with the kangaroo hat boy which was very close to the front of the stage. I had a perfect view. Or so I thought. As soon as RHCP took the stage it seemed as though everyone in front of me grew three inches in height. Standing on the tips of my toes I still could see the stage. The music starts…oh la so fun…uh oh, here come the crowd surfers. I realized that with passing people overhead I would not be able to dance and enjoy the music so I grabbed my daughter’s hand and made it to the front so security could pull us out. We ended up in a great spot on the side of the stage, right in front of Flea dancing around in his psychedelic jumpsuit. In front of us were a group of teenaged girls and their mother chaperones. As soon as I got there I started dancing to the music. The girls glanced at me and very slowly started moving to the beat. I smiled a big smile at them and encouraged them “get down & boogie”. Next thing you know, all the girls are dancing their hearts out with huge grins on their faces.  < with kangaroo hat boy I fell in love with Lollapalooza and with Chicago. I found myself thinking about and anticipating the festival all year long, as it was the only bright spot of fun in my mostly sad and lonely married life. My daughter and I have been back each summer since 2006, sometimes accompanied by my youngest daughter, Jordan. Unfortunately, this year, the 20th anniversary finds me going through my divorce which will render me financially unable to attend.  Ironically, this is the photo my husband gave to the sheriff’s office in order to identify me with to serve my divorce summons. It is a picture taken at Lollapalooza, the year the mud ate my shoe and I danced barefoot in a crowd of 220,000 +. It’s only rock n’ roll!     

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Overwhelming oneness

by andy.a.reid on jun 21, 2011

I've been to every Lollapalooza since it was reinvented as a one-weekend Chicagoan blowout, and, I'll admit — for the first one, as an excitable tenth grader, I was only there to to Weezer. But in 2006, I went back, more prepared to soak in the glory that is Lollapalooza, three days of music and paradise in the urban oasis of Grant Park. I distinctly remember one moment. It probably lasted 20 seconds, but I'll remember it for a lifetime. Heading back toward the Red Hot Chili Peppers on the main stage, I stopped dead in my tracks at the apex of a sloping hill which gives way to the expansive field where the stage is set. There were some 70,000 people below me, all enjoying a singularly blissful moment — white, black, rich, poor, young, old, etc., fairly every conceivable demographic was represented in front of my eyes, and they were there, together, not as individuals. In the massive crowd existed an overwhelming oneness that brought tears to my eyes. Every day there are horrible things that happen in this world, unforgivable things that are carried out on the basis of fundamentally shallow differences between people. But for three days year in Grant Park, it seems as if the human race can achieve perfection. I met so many amazing people (including Rick, the security guard, pictured below), shared so many amazing moments. When we begrudgingly left Chicago the morning after, my worldview had changed. I think I was less cynical, more excited to meet people and share ideas and experiences with them. Nothing that happened was particularly unique to my experience, and that's the point. I've never achieved such a symbiotic relationship with so many people. And I'll go back every year until I physically can't. Because a Lollapaloozan experience is truly spectacular

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two first timers

by kittykat on aug 09, 2012

2006 was mine and my nine year old daughters first time lolla 2006. It was pretty amazing watching her dance to voodoo lady up on the hill of the ween concert. She fell im live with lolla that nite. I took her back this year 2012. This will be something we will always share together. Thank u Perry for the great memories.

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2006

August 4, 2006 – August 6, 2006

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS RETURN TO LOLLA

Encouraged by the success of its debut as a single-destination festival the previous year, Lollapalooza 2006 brought a major expansion in the size of the festival, greatly expanding the area it would utilize in Chicago’s Grant Park and giving fans extra room to stretch out.

Lollapalooza’s new focus on independent artists hit a bulls-eye with audiences as the festival began to attract (and re-attract) more concertgoers in their 20s. The 2006 line-up deftly reflected their interests, with prominent stage slots going to indie darlings The Shins, Wilco, and My Morning Jacket, as well as a handful of world-famous headliners like Red Hot Chili Peppers. Further expanding the draw of the festival was a deep lineup of hip-hop acts like Kanye West, Common, Blackalicious and Lyrics Born. Artists from many other genres made appearances in the festival’s largest lineup ever (over 130 artists), including the Spanish reggae of Manu Chao and the Top 40 country-folk of Nickel Creek.

Debuting in 2006, Lollapalooza’s Rock & Recycle program became an instant success with fans, recruiting festival goers to help pick up discarded recyclables for free festival T-shirts. But this was just the tip of the environment-conscious iceberg for Lolla...

Festival highlight

KANYE WEST HAS
60,000 TOUCHING THE SKY

Hip-hop dominated the Saturday line-up at Lollapalooza ’96. Common, Blackalicious, Lyrics Born, and Tonedeff performed, while Chicago native son Kanye West filled the headlining slot. He capped off his set with “Touch the Sky” – and about 60,000 joined him.

Culturally Speaking

  • Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan premiers.
  • Twitter launches.
  • Tower Records closes.
  • One billionth song downloaded on iTunes: Coldplay's Speed of Sound.
  • Nintendo rolls out the Wii console.
  • Patti Smith perfoms the final concert at CBGB's before it closes.
  • Dick Cheney accidentally shoots a Texas attorney while hunting.

tour stops + dates

August 4-6, 2006
Grant Park, Chicago, IL

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