So when Kari was diagnosed with MS last fall, no joke, one of the first things she asked me (nearly in tears) from her hospital bed was, "what are we going to do about lollapalooza?" Not even lying, she wanted to know that if she wasn't able to walk anymore, I'd be able to get her to the front like the guy we saw at Kendrick Lamar last year. It sounds totally cheesy, but live music is just something we do and it's been a huge part of our relationship.

Well, fast forward 10 crazy months and aside from needing an arm through some rough terrain, Lollapalooza was absolutely no thang for Kari. No handicapped pass was needed, we had a blast, saw some amazing shows, walked ~60,000 steps, and hung out with some good friends.

As far as music goes, 2014 was loaded with hip hop and great, danceable music. Here's who I saw.

Friday

• Iggy Azalea - was wayyyy too crowded. Her show sounded fun, but the crowd made it not really be that fun.
• Portugal. The man - I didn't know these dudes. They weren't really my style, but it was way less crowded than Iggy Azalea, so that was nice.
• AFI - This was my second time seeing these dudes. They sound so good live and put on such a great show. I can hardly believe that dude's voice. And neither could this guy.
• Broken Bells - Whoa. These guys sounded great live. I think I liked their live sound almost better than their studio sound.
• Lorde - Sounds almost unnaturally good live. We chilled out back for this one, but it was great background music.
• Lykke Li - Also sounded really good... and played some more nice, chill music before Eminem.
• Eminem - Totally redeemed himself after the last time I saw and hated his live performance. This time around was just grimey, nasty, awesome Eminem tunes. Plus guest appearances from Royce da 5'9 and Rihanna, whaaaat?

Saturday

• Z-Trip - Uses real turntables and is awesome. This was a nonstop party.
• The Temper Trap - I had no idea I knew who these guys were until I realized I knew about every song they played. Super fun set... Bonus points for the lead singer looking a bit like my buddy Nathan.
• Fitz and the Tantrums - Sounded pretty decent, but I didn't really care about them too much. Whatev.
• Nas - sounded pretty terrible to me, but other people said it sounded great... so I must've been in the wrong spot. Either way, it was hilarious that you could barely see the stage through all the smoke wafting out of the crowd.
• The Head and the Heart - Talented folks, but I wasn't feeling it live.
• Outkast - got a bit slow a couple times, but holy shit. Seeing these dudes perform was amazing. They sounded great, each did some solo stuff, and of course sparked a ton of memories from rocking their tracks since like high school, heh.

Sunday

• Cage the Elephant - there's no way this could've compared to the first time we saw them... but they still sounded great live. Love these dudes
• Chromeo - so damned good. These guys just straight up throw a dance party with a super fun vibe. It's awesome.
• Flosstradamus - the last time I saw these dudes was at this super tiny stage at lolla 2007. This year, they rocked a huge, super live show. So good.

...and that was our ninth Lollapalooza in the books.

Here's what the rest of it looked like