At the tender age of 16, we attended our first Lollapalooza Concert. Sonic Youth, Pavement, Hole and Cypress Hill were playing, and boy, did we get our ass kicked in the crowd. The only respite we had was coming home to a shocked mother, who tended to our cuts and bruises while berating herself for thinking Lollapalooza was some sort of lollipop renaissance fair.
Mom's older and wiser now, and so are we, which is why we're considering the concert packages available at The James Chicago when we attend this summer's Lollapalooza, featuring Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine and that other `90s favorite, Nine Inch Nails.
Don'tcha just love Montreal? Above or below ground, there's never a lack of great food, cold beer, and lively nightlife. And if your French isn't up to parlez vous, no worries, English is the second language.
One of our favorite times to visit is late June/early July during the annual Montreal Jazz Festival, which takes over the city like one huge block party for the masses. This is a time when the world's leading international artists ascend on Montreal, performing day and night for 250,000 of their fans.
Catch a few sets on the live stages set up on the streets and in the parks. Purchase a ticket for one of headliners at an indoor concert venue. Or hit one of the clubs after midnight when the musicians meet up with each other to jam into the wee hours of the morning.
On the recommendation of friends, this year we're foregoing hotel points and checking into Le Petit Prince Bed & Breakfast for our stay.
Woke up this morning after yesterday's cubicle dream and reality set in. We're not rich and/or famous. But that doesn't mean we'll never be able to make our way to Venice before it sinks.
And while we thought we'd have to trade down, way down for a hotel so we can manage to throw in a gondola ride and tix to Italy's Heinekin Jammin' Fest to see The Police, enter Arco Antico Guest House. Sweet. Despite the somewhat drab decor, Arco Antico has great guest reviews and terrific rates. Sixteenth century palazzo stay here we come.
Come June 20-22 there won't be any singing under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice, 'cuz everyone will be rockin' out in nearby Mestre at Italy's Heineken Jammin' Festival. Since its inception in 1998, each summer 100,000 fans from all over the world have flocked to the country's premier rock fest, listening to a roster of such notable bands as Bon Jovi, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Cure.
This year the rock fest takes place across the Venice causeway in Mestre's Park San Guiliano overlooking the Venice lagoon. Sure, you won't get serenaded on a gondola, but you'll enjoy three performance stages,a Green Village, Sports Village, DJ Zone and camping area.
Iggy & the Stooges, the Sex Pistols, Linkin Park and Chris Cornell will be responsible for getting the fans warmed up the first day, with the important closing slots will be filled by The Police, Alanis Morissette, Counting Crows and Baustelle, among others. The list keeps expanding.
As we've mentioned previously, hotels in Venice cost a pretty penny. And while it would've been nice to find some offering special packages for the event, no such luck. So we checked for cheaper hotels in Mestre near the concert venue and one stood out with terrific reviews, The Golden Tulip Tritone.
Speaking of Palm Springs, Coachella takes place this weekend, starting on Thursday April 24. The hipstery music festival features a wide-range of musical acts from famous bands to underground faves and even some celeb stints (See: ScarJo Sings!).
The gig brings out a ton of people from all over the West Coast and beyond, who pretty much camp out for the entire weekend thus making traffic, parking, will-call, drinking, public displays of air-guitar skills and the like pretty freakin' messy.
Oh yeah, and hotel rooms, motel rooms and campsites book up fast.
This year, Coachella decided to unveil their own On-Site Lodging which is described as "Luxury Site Accommodations."
This new exclusive lodging area will include Breakfast (served 7am - 11am - menu will be posted at a later date), limited capacity, restrooms & showers, general store, food vendors, roaming food and ICE vendors, free private parking lot, drop off area, cell phone charging stations, added security, ATMs, recycling tent (bottles, camping gear) Outdoor chairs, shade tents and outdoor lighting, local newspapers, shuttles and more! (Massage Therapist for extra fee).
The beds are air mattresses and sleeping bags (which will be donated to the homeless after you use them) and are promised to be of the best quality.
But the shizz is expensive. A two-person tent with two onsite-camping tickets is going for $700. A four-person tent bumps up to $1,400. And the six-person tent is selling for $2,100. However, each ticket is good for the entire weekend.
LAist doesn't think it's all that more special than the regular campsites although the ATM is a big plus. And if you were interested in staying in hotels, a quick look at Expedia shows hotel rates are jacked up with motels even starting in at around $200 a night. These on-site tents might be the better way to go.
Coming up over the Memorial Day Weekend is the Soul Beach Music Festival, taking place from May 21 to 26 on Aruba. It's the eighth year that this festival's been run--and the fourth year that it's taken place in Aruba--and some of the singers this year include Erykah Badu, Sinbad, Wyclef Jean and Sean Kingston.
A bunch of hotels are acting as hosts for the festival, and one of these is the Occidental Grand Aruba on Palm Beach. It's an all-inclusive resort with almost 400 rooms and suites, plus six restaurants and five bars; plenty of space for fun and action, and probably the right kind of resort to chill in during a soul fest.
The Occidental Grand still has rooms left for the whole festival week, and a deluxe room for two (all-inclusive, of course), starts at $2,280 for five nights. Along with meals, this all-inclusive price also includes activities like sailing, snorkeling, kayaking and tennis, in case you run out of steam at the music festival. Personally we might hang too long at the concerts to make the most of that, but it's nice to have the option.
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by jennm
