Lollapalooza Chile - Condensed Version

I wrote a really long post about my long weekend working for a music festival and then I my favorite proof-reader kindly pointed out that it was 3.5 pages long... single spaced. It was an awesome weekend, but its description does not need to take up that much of your time. So here is the quick version, the longer version is below.

My friend Manuel Gomez helped me get a gig at Lollapalooza Chile in the press office where he would be working. Man and I drove to Santiago on Wednesday for the Regina Spektor concert and stayed overnight at Manuel Gomez's house. In addition to being amazingly talented, the Regina is a dynamic and charming performer. Man left for home on Thursday morning and I moved my stuff to stay with Macarena, Manuel Gomez's sister. I met my really fun and nice workmates and got to watch the festival being built from the ground up.

On Friday night Manuel Gomez was in charge of managing the press photographers for The Hives' sideshow and invited me to come along. The Hives are  these adorable, very-blonde, very-blue-eyed Swedish guys in tuxes and top hats. They jump all over the stage making fools of themselves, flirting with the audience and the cameras. And I got to stand in front of the front row. I received a wink.

My job from the press office was to be the liaison in the artists' village where all the artists were hanging out. My job was not hard, and I had a lot of time to ogle the celebrities. I sort of made a fool of myself in front of Hot Chip, but they were SUPER NICE about it and I started to realize that most musicians are actually really down-to-earth. I got to talk a lot to the tour manager of the Hives and Bon Iver and he confirmed this theory. (And as we all suspected Justin Vernon is a REALLY GOOD GUY.)

I got to accompany a couple of guys from Nas's band to the Kaskade concert and because of their connections we watched the set from backstage. Kaskade's manager scooched over on the speaker he was sitting on to make room for me. So I got to watch Kaskade, perched next to this enormous black guy, while being the attaché to Nas's entourage.

Sunday morning was really slow, so I started to take advantage of the "All Access" wristband they had given me. It turns out All Access really means all access; I climbed up some stairs and all of a sudden was on the stage where Keane was playing. I joined a small cluster of people on the edge of the stage. This was really the high point of the festival for me. Imagine standing on a stage, looking out at a sea of tens of thousands of people, with the Andes in the background and a warm breeze on your face, listening to british men sing their hearts out. It would be hard to beat that feeling.

I got to watch Franz Ferdinand from the same position. There were more people and less warm breeze, so it wasn't quite the same, but it's hard to complain about being on the stage while such a great band is playing.

I had dinner with a kid who was in Resina Lala, one of the South American bands. He was totally sweet and gifted me a CD and a pin. The whole band, despite being adorned in heavy-metal costumes with spikes on their shoulders and nether regions, was really adorable. They're on YouTube in case you like that kind of music coming from cute, basically adolescent Colombian boys.

In the evening, my friend Macarena was in charge of the press pit for Nas and I got to go with her. And then I walked a few hundred yards to see Deadmau5.

Man came to the festival late Sunday night and we watched The Black Keys together. After The Black Keys we walked through the artists' village together. Man thought the dressing room signs would make good souvenirs. In the process of asking permission to take the Franz Ferdinand sign we were invited inside to talk to the guys in the band. They offered to take a picture with us, but they were a little tipsy and between the three of them and two of us it was a bit like herding cats and the picture didn't get taken. But we were there, you gotta believe us.

There was a bit of an after party, which was fun and included a few more celebrity sightings, but Man had to work the next day and I had to drive home through extreme exhaustion, so we left early. Again, I have to say a HUGE thank you to Manuel and Macarena for getting me the gig and hosting me in their homes. Seriously, this was a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.