Tag Archives: lollapalooza

Apparently, I am the reason why Lady Gaga is blonde now

Music, , ,

Over the weekend, my sister called me and said that E! Online was reporting that Lady Gaga said she changed her look from brunette to blonde because she was once mistaken for Amy Winehouse. I found the same story in The UK Sun this week.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But this is what Lady GaGa used to look like:

I think it would be easy to mistake her for Amy Winehouse, especially if she was sporting a makeup job similar to Winehouse. In fact, I know it would be…

Because I did.

Here’s what happened, excerpted from my original post about a 2007 Lollapalooza afterparty:

“Standing next to me was a short, dark-haired, woman with heavy eye makeup who was being fawned over by someone else. “Ah ha,” I thought. “Amy Winehouse, my first sighting.” Despite the “no-that’s-not-her” protestations of my fellow partygoers, I decided to open with a question that would get me an easy “yes” and go from there. “Excuse me,” I said, “are you still touring with the Dap Kings?” She looked me dead in the eye, smiled – with suddenly worrying perfect teeth – and said:

Amy Winehouse: “I’ve never toured with the Dap Kings.”
Me: “…”
Totally Not Amy Winehouse: “I’m Lady GaGa.”
Me: “Ohhh. Um, hi. I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
Lady GaGa: “Who did you think I was?”
Me: “You know, I….it doesn’t matter. Say, you’re from New York, right?”
Lady GaGa: “Yes, I’m from Man-haht-tan.” (in the thickest New Yawk accent ever)
Me: (determined to salvage this opportunity) “And you’re playing the MySpace stage tomorrow, right?”
Lady GaGa: “BMI.”
Me: “Oh-KAY! Well, it was nice meeting you, have a nice night.”

I turn back to Whitney and her friend, who are looking at me as if they’ve just witnessed someone willingly throw themselves through a plate-glass window. “So, that wasn’t her,” I said, confirming the obvious.

So…yeah. It’s entirely possible I’m not the sole person responsible for her dive into a bottle of peroxide. But at the very least, I’m a contributing factor.

Really, Dan Ponce?

Media, ,

When I saw this in Tribune media reporter Phil Rosenthal’s Twitter stream, I thought it was a joke. But then I saw this:

WLS-Ch. 7 reporter Dan Ponce is leaving the city’s top-rated TV news operation to pursue a music career with his a capella group, Straight No Chaser, the station said Tuesday.

Whaaa?

Look, I don’t begrudge anyone their dreams. And if Dan Ponce wants with all his heart to be a full-time a capella musician – and if Wikipedia is correct, said holiday CD did receive a fair amount of acclaim – I hope all goes well for him and he never gets laryngitis.

But I ask you this Dan: When’s the last time your a capella gig got you licked by a winsome blonde:

I rest my case.

A Lollapalooza story you haven't heard

Music,

Lollapalooza is such a massive experience that it’s almost impossible to cover the full story of what happens there. Therefore, most people just end up covering the bands and/or any celebrity crap that goes along with it. When actual news happens – especially when it’s not related to the music – you end up dealing with organizers who aren’t prepared to deal with questions, not necessarily because they don’t want any bad press (although that’s part of it) but also because they don’t understand that real reporters have a job to do: Report the story that’s there. Just like asking questions about the actions of your government doesn’t make you an enemy of the state, asking questions about the story you’re being given by a promotional machine, doesn’t make you a hater of music and culture.

What happened during Rage Against the Machine’s set – inside the grounds of Lolla and out – has been mostly underreported or misreported (with the exceptions of the Sun-Times and Windy Citizen). But at least it’s been covered. There were likely many other stories that fell through the hole in coverage.

This was almost one of them.

I’ve got more thoughts on this, but I’m going to wait until there’s some follow-up first.

Update: As you can see, the post linked to above now includes a response from a Lolla spokeswoman who says “proper safety procedures” were followed. In addition, I’ve created a Flickr photo set of all the photos we have of the incident. You can view that here. I’ve asked some additional questions, which I’ve listed in the post at the TOC blog.

Lollapalooza (again) (and again…and again…)

Music,

I didn’t mention it at the end of the week, but hey: I’m at Lolla.

I’ve posted reviews of Witchcraft & Ting Tings, Sharon Jones, Raconteurs and documented some of general craziness, and the scary craziness like the fans outside rushing an open security gate during Rage Against The Machine.

You can read more reviews from TOC’s music staff on our blog, and follow along with the TOC Twitter stream as yours truly runs up his cell phone bill.