I have been to many a Lollapalooza and never left disappointed. I may have left a little less sober, but never wishing I hadn't attended. The main reason to go to any music festival is to hear superb musical acts, but what makes big festivals so fun are the extras—the huge variety of food and drink, tons of vendors selling band paraphernalia, Cat in the Hat hats, hemp clothing and the like, and the sounds, smells and sights you can't find anywhere else. At Lollapalooza you could even get your ears, nose, eyebrow or belly button pierced if you felt so inclined. But nowadays you can't just sign a few good bands, swipe and alter a cool festival name and hope for the best, although that seems to be exactly what the creators of UNLV's Rebelpazoola 2006 tried to do.
The first obvious glitch in the master plan was the parking situation. It took almost an hour to find a parking space. And the only good thing about the long walk to the UNLV Intermural Fields was a group of tailgaters who were helpful enough to lend me their bottle opener. Of course, they tried to steal my beverage afterwards, but I stole it back.
Following sets by For Twenty Daze, Swollen Members, Building a Better Spaceship, Thousand Foot Krutch and Unwritten Law came headliners 311, who offered some of their old hits, like "Freak," as well as newer jams. They had as much energy and charisma as ever, as well as this freezing night's biggest draw, though I argue that the best performance of the evening was by Thousand Foot Krutch. I'd never heard them before Friday night, but I thoroughly enjoyed them—their music was heavy with a hint of old-school alternative rock beats mixed with a mess of contemporary hard-rock guitar licks and smokin' vocals. And it was about the time they took to the stage that stage divers let loose and people started to have a little fun—with the exception of the young lady whose dive ended with an ungraceful splat onto the frozen ground. Crying, she was carried off by security, and that's the last I saw of her. (Getting old isn't always fun, but sometimes I'm glad I'm not 18 again; I have to find more creative ways to get my feet off the ground, but at least I don't have to worry that some stoner will drop me.)
The event could have been called The Black Hoodie Festival. Not a lot of variation in apparel for the kids in attendance, but it turns out that hoodies were a blessing, as it felt like one of the coldest nights in a long time. Maybe the best place to be was in the thick of the crowd, just for the body heat, but I couldn't bring myself to claw my way into the pack. Anyway, the frigid temperature leads me to the main problem of that evening: the lack of warm beverages. The folks at UNLV could have made a killing if they had only had the foresight to put up a few stands serving coffee. Even beer would have helped. Or both. But as far as I could tell, the only choices were water, soda or Gatorade. And if that weren't strange enough, the only thing on hand to eat were burritos, chicken or nachos, and with only two booths the lines were tremendous. With no re-entry, the kids who got there at 2 p.m. must have been hard up by 11, though the first 1,000 UNLV students to enter were given food vouchers to Rainbow Bar, so they had a place to warm up after the show. According to an article in UNLV's The Rebel Yell student newspaper, vendor booths sold out weeks before the event. If that's true, then the vendors must have sold out of everything early and packed up by the time I got there.
As for me, having a press pass turned out to be a huge bonus, as I could come and go as I pleased. After a few hours I needed a drink, so when my man ran to Starbucks I downed a refreshing and much-needed beer at the Hofbrauhaus, then made my way back to the fairgrounds just in time to catch my newly beloved Thousand Foot Krutch.
Regarding the next Rebelpalooza, if there is one, somebody needs to think about the needs of the people who pay their whopping $25 entry fee. At least pay someone to brew some coffee. Hell, hire me next year and I'll whip it into shape. Though I can't promise body modification, I'm sure I could deliver something worthwhile—including a hoodie booth with a wide variety of colors to choose from.