I get more and more important everyday...

So, instead of boring you with tales of how INCREDIBLY AMAZING AND BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS Rage Against the Machine was or how Kanye West literally lit up the city with his charisma (and arrogance) -- even if his music is kind of lame -- I want to remind everyone of the reasons we go to music festivals.

Music Festivals, such as Lollapalooza, are a community. They are somewhat like church for the hippie/heathen crowd. You go to create a fellowship of sorts with your fellow concert goers -- to bond over the heat, the amazing music and your desperation for water. Maybe you share some of you wine, or the candy you snuck in because in the end, we are all one big happy Lolla family.

I feel the need to do this because of two very unnerving incidents I saw at Lolla this year that were totally counter to the spirit that ought to pervade this type of event.

The first time something happened I was sitting with my roommate watching Lupe Fiasco (who was incendiary, btw) when she noticed a phone randomly in front of us. I picked it up and began asking around us to see if it belonged to anyone. Finally I asked the guys in front of us if it was theirs. They said no, but asked to see it. I assumed they had a reason for asking for it, and offered it to them. They grabbed it and started playing with and then passing it around. I figured they were going to call the last call on the phone and try to return it. I mean, that's what I would have done. Then I noticed them pocket the phone and get up to walk away. I was completely shocked. I never even considered the possibility that they intended to steal the phone. Maybe they brought it to lost and found? I doubt it though. I just wish I had not given it to them, or asked for it back after a little while, or even stopped them when they walked away because that is not acceptable behavior.

The next incident was an even more egregious ethical lapse. At the Flogging Molly show (which ROCKED MY SOCKS OFF) on Sunday someone grabbed a kids hat and threw it up in the air. The crowd was batting it around as the guy ran after it trying to get it back. It was a brand new cubs cap. The woman next to me grabbed it when it bounced by her and swiftly put it in her bag. I witnessed all this, so when the guy came walking by asking if anyone had seen his cubs cap I said, "That woman has it. She just stuck it in her bag," and pointed right at her. I had to repeat it several times to get his attention and the woman just kept standing there looking smug. He asked her if she had it, and she denied he. He gave up at that point (maybe to avoid a fight? I'll never know). I was aghast.

Talk about lacking in character! To steal a fellow Flogging Molly fan's hat and then lie about stealing it? A new low for concert goers everywhere.