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Chicago, IL

August 3 - August 5

2007

Were you at Lolla 2007?

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

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Daft Punk Crowd Bounce

by voxgirl24 on may 25, 2011

Unbelievable to look up and see 60,000 fans dancing to Daft Punk under the majestic Chicago skyline! More

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The time Perry Farrell hit me with a golf c...

by allison.zalesny on may 26, 2011

It was my first year at Lollapalooza. I was 16 years old and clueless. I was wandering around, very obviously lost with my fr... More

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KOL & Pearl Jam & fireworks 2007

by nelson.bae on may 26, 2011

In my opinion - the best Lolla was 2007. Kings of Leon were at the height of cool (before they jumped the shark) and it seemed... More

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Mrs. Robinson

by pbsmall17 on may 26, 2011

My husband & I first attended Lolla in Cincinnati when it was a traveling show. We loved it so much we decided to start making it an annual trip to Chicago. We are two of the more "mature" festival-goers, but we think it's awesome & it keeps us young! In 2007 we couldn't wait to see the Interpol concert. As we waited for them to start, my husband left to get us beers. I took up a lively conversation with a very nice young man next to me. We compared Interpol to different bands, talked about our favorite songs, etc. As we were talking, his girlfriend showed up, looked at him & exclaimed "What are you DOING?" She draped her arms around him as if she was being territorial, looked at me & said "Coo coo cachoo Mrs. Robinson!" I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants! I couldn't wait for my husband to come back so I could tell him. We got a huge laugh out of it & we never get tired of telling the story!

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My First Lolla Experience Ever!

by darkantiquities on may 26, 2011

My girlfriend and I had heard our all time favorite bands were going to be at Lollapalooza 2007, Muse and Daft Punk. We bought tickets, we found a couple of Canadians to stay with for the weekend. The Canadians we stayed with were awesome and really great people. The weekend in Grant Park was thoroughly surprising and an amazing experience. Over the day on Friday and Saturday, my girlfriend and I made our way to the front of the main stage. We met a wonderful security guard; she was amusing and was very helpful. It was even funnier because we were up against the guard rail for two days straight; we had a lot of photos taken of us. I only found one of us out of the many pictures that we posed for and photographers caught us. I will add this photo to my story. The attached photo has myself on the left and my girlfriend on the left. I also remember how shocked I was to see Perry Ferrell, who was the lead singer of Jane’s Addiction. I will admit my stupidity here and to Perry should he read this. I had no idea who he was until he sang, once that voice rang out I about fainted right then and there. I have been in love with Jane’s Addiction’s sound for many years, but I had not been a huge concert participant. Seeing Perry Ferrell in his outfit, singing his music for the first time live for me, and announcing my band was the most amazing experience I have ever had at a concert. The first day, Friday, was when Daft Punk was due on stage. Daft Punk was my girlfriend’s all time favorite bands, when they came on stage her jaw was on the ground and she looked nearly in tears of joy. Even funnier, there was a tiny Asian guy standing next to her and he looked as awestruck as she did. Daft Punk was amazing I must admit. Their show rivaled any other show I have seen and was just amazing. It was even better for my girlfriend, who didn’t think she would get to see them live at all. The second day was Muse. Muse has been a band I have been passionately listening to for more than 10 years. When Muse went on stage, I cried throughout the entire performance, it was an amazing experience. A few people had to be helped over the guard rail due to overheating, dehydration, and over excitement, in this process my girlfriend and I helped a few people over. One guy decided he was going to try and shove in front of my girlfriend and I set him straight. It was quite funny seeing his face and all 5’1 of me putting him in his place. Everyone around him laughed and jostled jokingly. And funnily enough towards the end of Muse’s set, my girlfriend did not expect to be one of those that had to be helped over the guard rail because she was passing out from the heat and excitement. Our security guard friend helped her over and set her up with a bottle of water and my girlfriend told her and all the guards to not let me over because she did not want me to miss a moment of Muse. All in all our experience at Lollapalooza was among the most memorable concerts I have ever been to. This also gave me a new love for Chicago as a whole. I would love to go every year, if only to see Perry Ferrell, although this year is a plus for me since Muse is returning to Lollapalooza.

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Up Close and Personal with Iggy Pop

by willfan09 on jun 04, 2011

It was a typical hot and humid day in Chicago What better way to spend it than to see Iggy, front row Waiting shoulder to shoulder at the north end of the fest To see the Godfather of Punk and his leathery chest They took the stage and opened with "Loose" Iggy showed us the raw power he could produce During "I Wanna Be Your Dog", I met Iggy's eye He got right in our faces...and gave us high fives Then "No Fun" began and the fans crashed the stage I thought to myself "This will be front page" By the end of the set we were all beat to hell As we bid to The Stooges, a final farewell Thank you, Perry, for an combo that'll be tough to top LollaPalooza and Iggy Pop!

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Daft Punk in the Flesh

by lubes317 on jun 15, 2011

Lollapalooza 2007 was my very first year to the fest and Friday was by far my favorite for many reasons... A day of greatness leading up to the laser-beamed finale. The afternoon was absolutely perfect -- rays of sun and huge clouds that seemed to spout out of the skyline, bright blue sky, and I was surrounded by friends who came from near and far to celebrate our love of music. I had been wanting to see The Polyphonic Spree for some time, so it was quite a treat to see them, especially in such a wonderful daytime atmosphere. Later in the afternoon, my friends and I made our way to see moe. (one of my favorite bands to see live), secured our usual front row spots, and rocked out for the next hour or so. During their set, I may have indulged in a bit of psychedelics, which definitely enhanced the rest of the evening a bit. ; ) After moe., I recall the frantic buzz of the crowd exiting the stage area and making my way through the sea of people to meet up with more friends near the backstage entrance. Somewhere mid-conversation, I had a VIP bracelet slipped on my wrist, one of my friends grabbed me, and before I knew what was happening, we were already backstage. Walking past the lounge area filled with musicians, sexily-dressed women, and security in yellow, my eyes and ears were open to all of the happenings that surrounded me. As my friend and I made our way around the path, a trailer set further back caught my eye. A blur of turquoise and white poured out of the trailer door and down some steps. As I looked closer, I saw it was Perry Farrell and the rest of Satellite Party and they were getting ready to take the stage. Our excitement growing, we quickly walked the path so we could check out the rest of the backstage area and then find the way to our spots for the Satellite Party set. The next sight was the most memorable of them all - Daft Punk (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter) were hanging out to the right of us WITHOUT their helmets on! Now how many people can say they saw Daft Punk in the flesh? ROCK. Satisfied with our backstage adventure, we scurried out of the VIP area and back into the crowd with our other friends. We claimed a spot in the a ways back in the center for Perry & Co. and danced hard to songs from their new album, as well as a few Jane’s Addiction greats. I was on cloud nine...Rock n Roll Heaven. As the late afternoon sky became dark, some of my friends went their separate ways, but a few of us stayed together for the EPIC Daft Punk dance party. The lights, the sounds, the people -- everything was amazing. It was my first time experiencing the French duo and I hope it was not my last. Friday certainly set the par for the weekend...

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Living the Dream!

by dennis.vorreyer on jun 16, 2011

My name is Dennis Vorreyer, and since 2005 I have been a regular attendee of Lollapalooza. In 2007, I signed up for the Lolla texting service, to get updates on times and contests. I received a text about the "Gibson Guitar Shredding" competition and as a 14 year old kid who played guitar, I thought, well... why not? I didn't consider myself a great guitarist, but I thought it would be fun. So I went and entered the contest, it was set up almost like a Crossroads guitar battle with two players onstage trading licks. The judge was Tad Kubler, of The Hold Steady, who were playing later that day. There were maybe 3 or 4 other guys who went onstage before me, played for a little, and then came off the stage. I was the last to go, and after hearing the other guys play, I thought I might actually have a shot at winning. As it came time for me to pick my last riff, I busted out the tapping portion of "Eruption" by Van Halen, always a recognizable song, but to have this little kid on stage play it, everyone, including Tad was very impressed. After that, we waited around for a little while and then they announced that I had won! I could barely stand I was so excited, and my prize was going to be a brand new Epiphone guitar. But Tad was so impressed with my playing, that he actually gave me the Gibson Les Paul junior that he played, and to this day it is still one of my favorite guitars in my collection. But my story doesn't end there, after that Tad invited to come backstage and watch their set from the side. This was not part of the contest, and completely unexpected, but I went and was incredibly grateful for the opportunity. When I got backstage about an hour before their set, Tad asked me if I would like to play onstage with them during their closing song, "Killer Parties." I didn't even know the song, but when it came time to go onstage, Tad just yelled the chords at me, and I finished up the song with them. This experience was right after I had joined my first band, so to go from playing in front of a group of 20 or 30 people made up mostly of my family, to playing in front of THOUSANDS of screaming fans was a dream come true for me. I could have walked off that stage, and died happy. I had lived my dream of playing a huge rock show. But my story doesn't end there... Several days after the festival ended, I was at work when I got a phone call from someone named Jeff Leeds, who said he was with the New York Times. I laughed when I heard that voicemail, and passed it off as a joke. But then he called again the next day and I answered, and he told me he wanted to include me in a story for the paper. At 14 years old, I said the only thing I could thing of... "I have to talk to my parents first." So after a little bit of research, and realizing this guy was with the Times, he called me back, and we did a short interview about the importance of cell phones and their integration with cell phones. I had my story published for anyone in the nation to read, and I was mentioned alongside some of my favorite artists like Korn and Perry Farrell. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/arts/music/15conc.html Lollapalooza 2007 for me, was more than just a weekend of great music. It was a life changing experience. I got to do more in the span of a week, than some musicians accomplish in a lifetime, and I got to see for myself, exactly what it feels like to play in front of a crowd of thousands of screaming people. And to think... all of this happened, because I was just a little kid who wanted to play guitar. I never dreamed what that text about a guitar playing competition would turn into.

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2007

August 3, 2007 – August 5, 2007

HARDER, BETTER, FASTER, STRONGER

In 2007, the Chicago Park District and C3 Presents locked in Lollapalooza at Grant Park for the foreseeable future. Coincidentally, this year’s festivities proved to be an unqualified success, with Lollapalooza’s appearance outperforming even The Police’s most successful tour date from their highly acclaimed reunion that year. With genre heavyweights like electronica megastars Daft Punk, indie-rock innovators Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and grunge godfathers Pearl Jam atop a bill that included sought-after artists from all over the musical spectrum, the festival catered to its broadest audience ever.

As always, there were some unexpected delights. A then virtually unknown act from Brooklyn, keyboard-and-drum duo Matt and Kim were bumped to one of the main stages after Brazilian dance-pop act CSS pulled out at the last minute - catapulting the pair into the spotlight. Meanwhile, little known Lady Gaga, who would go on to achieve tremendous future success of her own, was featured on a sparsely attended side stage with her then sidekick Lady Starlight. Just another instance of forward-thinking for Lollapalooza.

Festival highlight

IGGY WHIPS UP A FRENZY

Punk “godfather” Iggy Pop and the Stooges whipped fans into a frenzy during their set, going so far as to bring fans on stage, revisiting the raucous, fabled shows from their early days.

Culturally Speaking

  • The original iPhone is introduced.
  • Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is arrested on dog fighting charges.
  • Radiohead releases In Rainbows as a digital download in pay-what-you-want format.
  • Bob Barker retires from The Price Is Right after 35 years.
  • Brittany Spears shaves her head.
  • Amazon releases the Kindle.

tour stops + dates

August 3-5, 2007
Grant Park, Chicago, IL

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