Lana Del Rey

STAFF MEMBER ATTENDED: DAN GARCIA

CITY: CHICAGO, IL

DATE: AUGUST 1, 2013; AUGUST 2, 2013; MAY 16, 2014

“Since the performances were all in a year, I am going to say one of the best shows I ever been to (again counting them as one) was when I saw Lana Del Rey three times in a period of one year.

The first time, I was in Chicago for Lollapalooza, although I was not exactly sure of my plans. At one point in the weekend, I had zero tickets for anything related to the festival. My first priority was to hopefully see Lana at her sold out show at the House of Blues in Chicago. Although this performance was not at Lollapalooza itself, it was a Lollapalooza Aftershow which actually occurred before her performance at Lollapalooza (making it her first performance, to my knowledge, in the city of Chicago). Tickets however were scalping for hundreds, well out of my price range. Luckily for me, minutes the scheduled show time, my step-dad was able to pull some strings and get me a ticket for face value!. I hoped on a 22 bus from Lincoln Park to Marina City in Chicago and booked it to the show. Luckily, since concerts often start well past the start time, I did not miss any of the show and actually got to be around 6th row. The show was amazing and I could not believe I was in the same room as Lana Del Rey, I had never felt that way about an artist before. She performed all my favorite songs and it was an amazing show.

The show was so amazing that I wanted to do the exact same thing the next day, so I did, at Lollapalooza! I got to the grounds around 1 and just hung out for a bit. Then I left the grounds to go to a Chance the Rapper meet and greet, which later got cancelled. It sucked that he was not able to come but it gave me a good chance to charge my phone. There I decided to go back to the fest, head to the stage Lana was going to perform at, and just watch the acts at that stage that were performing before her. Since there were other great acts (although acts I had not heard of before), time was able to fly by. Also because of how early I was there, I was able to get a spot in the front row. Originally I was in the second row and had room to move, so I just waited behind the couple that looked the most drunk (knowing they would pass out or need to use the bathroom by showtime). After the drunk couple in front of me were escorted out by security for being too wasted, I had a great spot stage-left in the front row!

Finally it was showtime and I enjoyed the show even more than the first time around, which was only 24 hours earlier. One might think seeing essentially the exact same show two night in a row would be boring, and not worth $100+ but I would strongly disagree. Also too, this time I was able to meet her, get my Born to Die vinyl cover signed, and even got a selfie! I couldn’t believe I met Lana, and couldn’t believe I saw her live twice in one weekend.

The next time I saw her was months later in May of 2014. I was not sure if I could go to this concert because it was the same day as my graduation from law school at the University of Wisconsin, and skipping my graduation was not an option (as I had family traveling from North Carolina). Also I did not simply want to go after my graduation and have a spot in the back. So I came up with the plan to go to Chicago the night before, wake up very early to get in line, mingle with Lana fans (hopefully others would be there that early), explain my story, leave to Wisconsin to graduate, then come back to get in line.

I got there around 6 am (easily the earliest I had ever lined up for a concert). Thinking that I may be the first in line, I was actually about the 30th in line. The dedication of Lana Del Rey fans is out of this world. While I was disappointed so many people were there earlier, I was happy to know that I was not the only person in line and other could vouch for my spot. As I waited in line, I mingled with Lana fans and explained my itinerary for the day and that I would be leaving to graduate. Literally everyone I told was completely supportive and understand and were more than happy to held out a fellow Lana fan. Her fan base is serious the best.

After a few hours of waiting, I left to Wisconsin, walked at my law school graduation ceremony, said high to family members, sprinted to my parking spot, and was on my way back to Chicago. Believe it or not, on my trip between the states I actually drove through snow in the middle of May. Luckily I drove safe and still made good time and got there as doors were about to open. I found a good spot, also stage-left, around the second row, and had the time of my life. It was mostly the same setlist as the other two times, but I was so happy that she performed West Coast, as Ultraviolence was not yet released. Again, Lana put on an amazing performance and whenever I have the opportunity to see a Lana show, I will surely jump on it, no matter what the circumstances.” – Dan Garcia