On Sunday, August 8th, (day 3 of Lollapalooza festivities), I stopped by the Hard Rock Hotel to check out the Music Lounge & Express Rocks! at the Music Cafe. The event, hosted by BMF Media Group in conjunction with the Hard Rock Hotel, was open from 11 am to 6 pm throughout the weekend to artists & invited guests.
Express Rocks! at the Music Cafe, located on the 2nd floor, served complimentary meals courtesy of China Grill, & although I came rather late, I was just in time to enjoy a roasted veggie wrap with chips. The menu also included appetizers, like chicken satay, & the all-American favorite, your basic burger. Refreshments & cocktails, provided by Cafe Bustelo, smartwater, FUZE, UV vodka, & Dos Equis, were of course abundant throughout the day as well. Guests were able to dine while watching live performances at the Express & BMI stage, located at the end of the dining room. On Sunday, performers included: Chiddy Bang, Stars, Purple Apple, Neon Trees, & John Garrison.
Moving up to the 4th floor, the Music Lounge offered a variety of activities, from massages & manicures, along with spa & facial treatments by Spa Soak in the FUZE Refresh Lounge, to hair touchups by Red 7 Salon stylists in the Garnier Fructis Rock Star Salon. Guests were even able to get a fresh tattoo by local studio, Code of Conduct, if they so felt inspired by a weekend of rock & roll. There was even a room that offered sneakers among other exclusive freebies to the truly “VIP.” Among some of the noted guests that stopped by that day were pop star, Ke$sha, & Hero’s star, Hayden Panettiere, for whom the game room & adjacent balcony (with a beautiful view of Michigan Avenue) were closed off temporarily for their private enjoyment.
After a quick trip home to refresh & get dolled up for a night out, I came back to the Hard Rock for the last of the Belvedere Nights. I met up Chris Free & some of our fellow writers, & we started off the evening with a “Happy Birthday” toast to Chris. The party was in many ways similar to Friday, with perhaps a slightly bigger crowd & tighter security, & drinks were provided by Belvedere Vodka once again. Performances were held in the main room, which was packed. I was particularly excited to see French electro-synth band, Phoenix, who were supposed to DJ, but sadly they never showed. However, we were all able to enjoy & dance to British folk band, Mumfurd & Sons, & the atmospheric tunes of Aussies, Temper Trap. I also ran into some dear Californian friends of mine of the band Dawes; they were there to party, but they actually got to perform at Lollapalooza over the weekend. Among other notable guests, was Zoe Kravitz, daughter of rocker, Lenny Kravitz. The room where Express Rocks! at the Music Cafe was held was actually converted into the VIP section for the evening’s festivities, (something I was not aware of on Friday), & so it was interesting to see the dramatic change between a casual day-time “cafe” as it was converted into a dimly lit lounge, adorned with comfy leather couches, fitting of any club.
Lolla, as always, is an eventful & jam-packed weekend…one that takes at least a week to recover from! But it is always a memorable & good time.
Please enjoy the photos below from Hard Rock’s Belvedere Nights by Chris Free:
Mumford & Sons
Temper Trap
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