Imagine some of the highest chart-topping music artists gathering in a single city to perform a four day long concert. That’s Lollapalooza. Each day, tons of bands and singers come to Chicago, and at the end of the night, two of the most popular music artists perform. 

     Each morning, my friends and I woke up at 8 AM to get ready and leave the hotel even though the singers we wanted to see weren’t playing until much later. However, no matter how early we left, TONS of people were already there when we arrived. 

    The first three days were hot and humid. Everyone was sweaty and sticky, and the venue reeked of body odor. Unlike many other venues I have been to, Lollapalooza had nowhere to sit. If you wanted to sit down to eat lunch, you had to sit either on the dirty curb or the muddy grass.

    Throughout the weekend, I saw a ton of amazing performances from people like Billie Eilish, Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar, Suki Waterhouse, and more. Billie Eilish played her new hit song "What Was I Made For?" and had an amazing stage presence, and Lana Del Rey sounded angelic in her beautifully crafted white dress. However, not all of the performances were as great as those. 

         On Sunday, my friends and I got to one of the stages super early to get a good spot to see Lana Del Rey later that evening. It was muddy and rainy. A couple of hours later, a rapper named Lil Yachty was set to perform. My friends and I knew a few of his songs, so we expected to have a good time, even if he wasn’t our favorite. We were SO wrong.        

       When the music started, I was pushed farther and farther forward by the fraternity boys behind me. My body was squished against the person in front of me, so I tried to push backward to give myself space to breathe. Bad idea.

    I felt my feet come up from off the ground as a mosh pit formed and I was shoved in every direction. I attempted to weave through the sea of sweat and hairy armpits to get to my friend, but as I reached out to grab her arm, I felt an elbow strike the back of my head and fell forward into yet another armpit in my face. Ouch. 

   We saw a few other girls near us huddling together to avoid the mob, and we joined their huddle to protect ourselves. Most of the girls were crying. One girl had been shouting at a man who just knocked out her friend while shoving through the crowd. His reply? “Chill, woman. It’s not that serious. If you can’t handle it then don’t go to concerts.” 

  We ended up staying with that group of girls all night. I guess you could call it a bonding experience. But this experience should have NEVER happened. Someone should have stepped in after the first girl passed out. 

 The experience I had that Sunday really changed my view of Lollapalooza. I would advise any women attending to avoid most of the rap performances, stay in groups, and brace yourself for lots of pushing and shoving. My number one piece of advice? If you see a large group of loud men, flee in the opposite direction.