Together We Have Music

by Mackenzie T on may 29, 2011

Lollapalooza was the first festival I have ever been to in my life. As a seventeen year old, that was a rare thing. Most people say you can’t love music as much as I do without going to a few dozen festivals by the time you hit your teens. But, there I was two years ago in a gorgeous city with one of my best friends about to experience three days of fantastic music. Friday morning, Leah and I were in a frenzy; we woke up late, ate breakfast way too fast, and got completely turned around on the way to Grants Park. I thought this was a sure sign that the day was going to be a bad one. Then, just as we had our arms suffocated into the armbands, the sky opened up and rain poured down on us. Our programs were soaked by the time we reached the main stage on the left, and I forced a smile trying to hide the fact that I was disappointed with the weather. But, my smile turned real when I looked at all the people around me. We were waiting for Manchester Orchestra to start, and the crowd’s energy was infectious. In a corny, cheesy way to put it, it was like magic. When Manchester started there was no stopping the feeding of the energy; my body was moving, my head was nodding, and my fist was flying to the beat of the music. As Leah and I waited for White Lies to approach the stage, we chatted with the people around us. To come from a smaller town and meet people from all over the world is incredible to me. And then one of my favorite moments from that weekend happened. The rain poured down on us when White Lies arrived in front of their instruments. It was a warmer day, and from all the dancing we had done earlier, the rain felt joyous on my skin. I remember looking up into the skyline and noticing the skyscrapers. It was in that moment I realized I was in Chicago, listening to one of my favorite bands in the middle of Grants Park. I had Leah to the left of me nodding away to White Lies’ British accents, and a girl from New York to the other side of me screaming her head off. It was in that moment I fell even more in love with music because it brings all sorts of people together in one moment to share the same interest. Corny? I know, but music does that to me.

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