Hissy Fit Against the Machine

First I must apologize for my California related entries petering off. I had some interesting (read: whiny, ranting) things to say, but that's not really where I'm at at this point. Since the trip I have spent my summer in Lansing (Monday - Thursday) and in Chicago (Friday - Sunday). There's no question that I have spent more time in this city this summer than at any other time, and I think I picked a good year to do so.
This may seem trivial, but Dark Knight came out this year, and while this maybe my perspective I feel like every one's eyes are on Chicago because of it. I mean, they literally are, the movie was shot here, but I really want to believe that people who aren't from the area are appreciating how beautiful the city is. They probably aren't, for whatever reason, but I am, and I like to pretend other people are as well. I feel like most Americans can recognize New York as the quintessential American city just from seeing it in movies and on TV. Chicago is truly a world class city, as well as a great American city, and it's good to see it get its due on the big screen.
Last night was another reason I was proud to be spending my time in the city. Some friends and I went downtown to stand outside of Lollapalooza to see Rage Against the Machine. I've loved Rage for many a year, and never got to see them live. I didn't have a ticket to Lollapalooza, but that didn't seem like a reason not to see them as long as they are in what is almost my backyard. A pair of my friends staked out a spot just West of the stage outside of what I think was the media entrance to the festival, they stayed there for most of the day, and we came down for Rage's performance. Walking down Michigan ave, and hearing Zack de la Rocha's voice echo off of buildings was one of the most surreal things that happened this summer. Walk/running down the street to the sounds of "Know Your Enemy," cutting through parks, in haste made my weekend.
We met my other friends at their spot during the second time Zack stopped the show and told the crowd to calm down. The spot was in front of some tennis courts, and quite a few people (maybe 200-250) had gathered to look at the screens on the stage through the trees. The sound was great, although we couldn't see much except ambulances and police going by on the street in front of us. After a few songs and some relative calm, the band went into "Calm like a Bomb." Someone in our little crowd yelled "THEY'RE LETTING PEOPLE IN!" and before I knew it I was running towards the allegedly open gate with a few hundred drunk sweaty freeloaders who just saw their chance to get $80 worth of concert for free. The adrenaline ran high until I was about 2 feet from being inside the gates, when I looked to my right and found myself staring up the nose of a horse. I looked up, paused, and turned around, walked back towards our spot, feeling quite defeated. It's not worth getting messed up just to get into a concert. The majority of the people who tried to get in the gate turned around after the very swift police reaction consisting of mounted officers, ATV's and eventually a few squad cars and a paddy waggon. I was reassured that my decision to turn around was the right one, when a friend of mine who did get in came back shortly after I did, reporting that the police were tossing anyone who didn't have a wristband. Later that evening I ran into a friend who was inside but had came out to stand with our little crowd. He said the sound was better where we were standing than it was inside, unless you were close, but close to the stage was were all the injuries were happening.
The small crowd calmed down after the little incident, and there were a row of mounted police permanently posted in front of us for the rest of the evening. I'm pretty sure the show was stopped early because there was a long pause before the last song, and the set was only 10 or 12 songs long. Our crowd was calm and the only other sounds beside Tom Morello putting his guitar through an oscillating wood chipper were the police helicopters flying overhead.
When the show ended there was the expected mass exodus toward the train. The returning crowds shutdown most of the streets in the loop. Every so often a person would yell something and the whole crowd would just start cheering for almost no reason. There was a man wearing a suit holding a bible, preaching on the corner, and to me, the true definition of faith was this man standing, preaching, and thinking he would reach some of the people in the drunk, sweaty crowd that surrounded him.
That evening was one of the many great memories I've made in the city this summer, and no matter where I've been or where I'm going there's nothing like being in Chicago in the company of good friends (or crazy concert goers).