The Youngest Senior Citizen's Guide to Lollapalooza!

I'm not a fan of being outside or large groups of people, but put an amazing musical festival in the mix and you have my favorite time of the summer - Lollapalooza  About five years ago I started getting really into music and going to concerts in Chicago. Some shows I saw with friends, but the majority I saw by myself. It wasn't uncommon for me to listen to a band for the first time on Monday, look up where they were touring on Tuesday, by a ticket on Wednesday, and then hear them live on Thursday. After a few months of that, my friend Annika and I decided that we should go to Lollapalooza. Neither of us had shelled out more than $200 for a concert ticket before, but after looking at the three day lineup, we pulled the trigger and have gone every year since then. 2014 marks year 5 for us. We've learned a lot of lessons along the way that I thought I'd share here.

Lesson the First: Create Your Ticket Getting Strategy

Oh the days when Lolla tickets didn't sell out 20 seconds after they went on sale. Those were good years. Unfortunately, almost every year since our first year has been a crazy stressful experience. The past two years we weren't able to get tickets, but our friends were able to get in and bought 4 tickets. There are usually four types of tickets (besides the VIP tickets) that go on sale. The order is usually the lottery/secret sale-souvenir tickets, early bird 3 day pass, regular 3 day pass, and regular single day tickets. Here's how to get tickets:

• Follow Lollapalooza on Facebook or Twitter to get updates when the tickets will go on sale. Apart from this year, they've done a secret sale where they sell a handful of super discounted tickets online without officially announcing it. 

We won a pair of the souvenir passes one year and I'm pretty sure we've used up all the good fortune we'll ever have again. (It was worth it).

• If you're going with multiple people, have everyone log onto the site when tickets go on sale. Your odds are at least one of you will get through and can buy tickets for your group.

Lesson the Second: Do Your Research

After they release the lineup, listen to everyone who will be there. You can use their player that's on their website, but that typically only has a few songs on it. I use Spotify, YouTube, and Setlist.FM to do my listening research. Figure out who you like, who you hate, who you'd like to see perform live, and who has the least annoying fans.

Lesson the Third: Tough Love Time

All right so the schedule has finally been announced and all the bands you decided you liked in your research stage are playing at the same time. It's okay. Be smart about the schedule and remember that you have to be flexible. You're not going to see everyone you want to see, but you will get to experience some bands who weren't even on your list that will become your new favorites.

Planning our day - notice the highlighting. Now we've moved into the 21st century and use the Lolla app on our phone.

Also, think about the bands that you might not get the chance to see.

We had a great view of the Postal Service's last show (besides the show at the Metro they played right after this)

Lesson the Fourth: Pack A Bag - Things To Take With You

• Tickets (seems like a no-brainer, but I literally forgot mine the first year and had to go all the way back to get them)
• Fully charged cell phone (even though you probably won't have service)
• Money - bring a credit card and cash, they have ATM's there, but why get charged the fee if you can just bring enough with you
• Factory sealed water bottle or empty bottle to refill for free at their water stations

Small umbrella - it's rained almost every year we've been there for some amount of time. It's also good for blocking the sun when it's 800 degrees out.

• Plastic Ziplock bag for your phone for when it rains
• If you have room, it's worth it to put a garbage bag at the bottom of your bag in case it does rain so you can protect your stuff

Blanket to lounge on (we buy the cheap throws at IKEA)

• Kleenex which can double for toilet paper when they inevitably run out of it on Day 2/3
• Hand sanitizer - see above  

Sun block - it's hot out there

• Bug spray - if you're like me and get eaten alive in the summertime
• Mini-first aid kit - I just bring Band-Aids and a little tube of first aid cream for minor cuts

Lesson the Fifth: Relax!

Lollapalooza is a huge event and running around to the different stages is not the best way to spend your weekend.

• Check out the merch booths and if you want to buy a shirt, do it when you first get there to ensure you get the shirt and size you want

Spend time at the wine lounge - they usually give away a bunch of free stuff and it's mostly shaded

Eat your heart out at all the delicious food vendors - food at Lollapalooza is basically a less expensive version of Taste of Chicago with less suburban families and more hipsters (Hello, Rainbow Cone)

Enjoy the beautiful views of the city