THE DREAM IN ACTION

Last night I was at Lollapalooza (#lolla). The day was phenomenal including shows from Airborn Toxic Event, The Hood Internet, Passion Pit, Snoop Dogg, & Band of Horses. I took a bunch more pics and posted them to my flickr. One thing that really stuck out to me all day was the fact that when these bands get up on stage they have a huge voice, the crowd will literally do anything they’re told. I paid a lot of attention to the differences between how certain groups use their time in the limelight and what they say, how they act, and their general attitude. Here are my take-aways from each band with lessons that when applied to business are pretty powerful and actionable. Some are stronger that others but each is valuable in it’s own right. Enjoy!

Airborn Toxic Event

The first show of my day was a band called The Airborn Toxic Event. This bands mission seemed to not be performers but rather musicians. Their act strictly focused on the delivery of their music, which for their style was fine. They all dressed in black as if to say, it’s not about us, we’re not trying to be flashy, we’re musicians and we’re here because you love our music, nothing more, nothing less. Although this was the only band of the day that I had not heard of before #Lolla, I really enjoyed their show. It was a great reminder that you have to be who you are. Airborn Toxic Event are a group of phenomenal musicians (lead singer played multiple instruments in a set and the group includes a very talented female violinist). They don’t focus on performance like a Snoop, for them it seemed to be all about the music, and that worked for them very well.

The Hood Internet
As a local Chicago group, these two DJ’s know how to throw a party. This was one of the less mature crowds of the day but it was a blast! If it weren’t for the blazing sun and practically 100% humidity, I would have thought we were in a club at 2am on a Saturday night. As I said in my tweet, second hand high’s were common at this show and the crowd was super into it. ‘Hood’ reminded me that you have to help your audience have a blast. If you’re product is boring it’s going to die quickly. Create something that people have fun with and they’ll be back over and over again. That’s one of the reasons I love the social web, it’s fun.

Passion Pit
If you haven’t heard of Passion Pit it’d do you well to listen up…

Passion Pit had one of the most loyal followings of any group I saw at Lollapalooza. The crowd was full more than 40 minutes before the show began, and 15 seconds into the first song I ended being 15 ft closer to the stage due to a massive surge from the crowd behind me (passion). For almost half the show I found myself singing along (in a high pitch voice, if you know PP, you know what I’m talking about) and jumping up and down. It was as if I would have been the awkward kid in the corner if I wasn’t jumping along with the rest of the crowd. Their music grabs you and forces you to be involved. The lessons I learned from Passion Pit yesterday was that it’s critical to embrace your community and make them feel involved in your product. Make them feel they are apart of the development process and they’ll be invested in you for the long haul, PP has done this extremely well.

Here’s an account of how Passion Pit got started from tr1be.com:

Passion Pit has made a hell of an impact on the music world since their humble beginnings in 2007. It didn’t take long for people to notice their talent and they were soon signed onto indie record label, Frenchkiss Records. Their EP, Chunk of Change, wasn’t meant to actually be for the world…but rather, it was a simple(rather unsimple really) gift to Michael Angelakos’ girlfriend. Angelakos (lead vocalist for the band) didn’t mean to spread it to the world, but that’s what ended up happening. Flash forward a year and Passion Pit is selling out shows and giving people more than enough to keep them back coming for more, so what did they do? They recorded a new album, Manners, which came out in May of this year.

Then they got the ticket at Lollapalooza, not to shabby. Keep an eye out for Passion Pit.

Snoop

No real introduction needed here, and that’s exactly why I decided to check out Snoop. I saw him back in 2001 at the ‘Up In Smoke Tour’ and what I saw yesterday was no different at all. About 2 minutes into the show he predictably called ask the crowd to “blaze that shit”, and they obliged.

Other than the fact that with a good product you can make it last a very long time, there were no real business lessons from Snoop today. Snoop is always fun and pretty funny. If you were at Lolla and didn’t go, you missed out.

Band of Horses

I closed the day with Band of Horses, which was an absolutely phenomenal show. It was this show that got me thinking about the lessons that could be applied from each show. What stood out to me so clearly during this show was Ben Bridwell’s (lead singer, in image above) appreciation for the crowd. Normally, at concerts the band thanks the crowd profusely for being there and rocking out, but Ben’s sentiments were so much more authentic than anything I’ve ever seen before.

Like bands, businesses wouldn’t exist without their fans, the least they can do is show serious appreciation for those individuals. Ben made you feel like it was you he was thanking and it really set the mood for the show. When Lou Reed played 20 minutes longer than he was allotted, delaying the starting time for Band of Horses, they came out with an incredible anxious energy. Then towards the end of the show, Jane’s Addiction, went on on-time, essentially cutting off BoH. As respectfully as possible, Ben and Band of Horses decided to continue to play another 30-40 minutes because it was clear the crowd REALLY wanted them to keep going and finish their planned set. The group was incredibly humble the entire show and it was clear that they just loved playing music that the crowd desperately wanted to hear. I’ve always enjoyed their music, but I now love this band.

Overall, #Lolla was an amazing experience this year. I was able to scalp a ticket for $60 bucks and in hindsight it was well worth the price of admission. After looking at the lessons from each band this year I’m headed into this week with an inspired and clear focus towards work & projects. If you went to #Lolla please share your thoughts &/or pictures in the comments!