The Rainbow Ends At Grant Park

by victoriasunkz on may 24, 2012

August 6, 2011 should have been one of the most depressing days of my life. I had begged all my friends to go to Lolla with me, but by the time we got a group together it was already sold out. I was crushed. How many times a year does Eminem have a concert, let alone one an hour from my house? Exactly. So when I heard my favorite artist, my idol, was playing at Lolla I was completely and utterly but understandably ecstatic. But now my one chance had disappeared with the last ticket sold. All I could do on August 6 was sit and sulk while my older brother zipped around the house, unable to control his excitement over what would happen at Lolla today. Before leaving, he promised to send me a video of Eminem. Great. Instead of moping around all day I decided to stop by a friend's house to see if that could change my mood. I was there for about 3 hours before I got the call. "Can I come pick you up?", My mom anxiously questioned over the phone. Confused, I agreed but questioned her why. "Cameron bought you a ticket. You're going to Lolla". I'm surprised my friend didn't end up in the hospital with my sudden and extremely loud scream. I hurriedly told her to come right away. On the car ride over I must have asked 50 times if we were close. Once we pulled up, I jumped of the car, hollered a goodbye to my parents, and sprinted to meet my brother at the gate. He greeted me by handing me my ticket. I swear to God angels sang when he placed that strip of paper in my hand. As soon as we got through the gate my day really started. Falloutboy is one of my all time favorite bands, but I've never had the chance to see them in concert. So being welcomed into Lolla by hearing Patrick Stump sing "This City" wasn't a bad way to start the day. Afterward we went to eat, both famished from the excitement. I remember saying to my brother "This is the only place you can sit on a curb and eat and have Ellie Goulding serenade you 200 feet away". We finished quickly because there was another surprise in store for me. I found myself 5 minutes later waiting in line to meet Patrick Stump. It was like I had just stumbled upon a pot of gold. The meet and greet was surreal; him chatting with me about English teachers (he went to my high school) and me gaping at him in awe and probably stumbling over every other word. Unfortunately, all meet and greets come to an end and soon we found ourselves racing to see Cee lo Green and stake out good spots for Eminem. The crowd was already enormous, so our chances of getting near Eminem seemed slim. Luckily I have an unusual but very useful skill of sneaking through crowds. With my brother in tow I weaved through groups and around all types of people until we hit a wall. Of people. Needless to say, it's a little uncomfortable waiting over an hour in an incubator made of body heat with not even enough room to move your arm and scratch your nose. But even the relentless fans, we endured. And as soon as the music began, the background story hit the T.V. screens, and the spotlight feel on Em, I realized I would have suffered through much worse to see this. The crowd surged forward and I, being determined to make it as close as humanly possible to the stage, ran with them. The only word I have to describe the rest of the concert is indescribable. I know, so descriptive. But I have no words to describe the energy that surged through the crowd that night. My brother put me on his shoulders to see better. Looking out it was amazing to see all these thousands of people united through the power of this music. I looked ahead and saw Eminem maybe 25 feet away from me. Wow. As the last chords of "Lose Yourself" hung in the night air and people began to disperse, I stood there for a while taking everything in. It was hard to believe, but hadn't I been sulking at home earlier today? I was literally dripping in sweat and my purple Converse were now black with mud but I didn’t care. I quickly snapped a picture of the stage.This would certainly be a night I would remember for the rest of my life. So thank you Lolla, for making a girl's dream come true. Thank you Perry Farrell for creating this festival that now gives me something to look forward to. But most of all, thank you people and artists of Lollapalooza. Thanks for making the festival like a huge family, and I'm honored you welcomed me in.

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