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What I Learned at Lollapalooza 2011 (Best, Worst and Most Noteworthy)

The beauty of a big music festival: its amoeba-like ability to dish out a unique and cool experience to every fan who makes the trip and lays down the cash. Here, the most memorable moments the 20th anniversary festival handed my way.

1. Biggest, baddest rock concert: My Morning Jacket’s powerful Saturday night set looked and felt like a kick-ass rock & roll experience from back in the day—enhanced about a thousand times by layers of indie elegance (think “Circuital” riff rippling into summer sky…). Amped by the nonstop energy of Jim James laying it down with powerhouse guitarist Carl Broemel, the crowd rocked out to “One Big Holiday” at a level I’ve never seen before or loved so much.

2. Coolest shoes: Walk the Moon’s Nick Petricca walks away with this one. His mid-air leaps gave everyone—including the Cincinnati band’s pumped hometown fans—several good looks at his neon-green tennies during the group’s playful indie-pop performance.

3. Scene-enhancing haircut: The sleek, angled bob that Phantogram’s Sarah Barthel rocked was a perfect visual match for duo’s dreamy, experimental electronic music, and she knew how to shake it.

4.Surprise & delight-filled show: Coldplay’s mix of emotional alt megahits and lilting new tunes would have been pleasure enough, but in the band’s usual form, they layered in multiple sensory experiences: fireworks, colorful bouncy balls, a dynamic video show, graffiti-inspired guitar art, and Chris Martin’s high-on-life, he’s-gonna-fucking-kill-himself way of flinging himself across the stage.

5. Most challenging cultural shift: No, that buzzing in my bag was not my phone—it was the vibration of the band. And while the speakers were plenty ample, phone bandwidth was an issue for the festival’s 90,000 fans, making it almost impossible to share great finds with friends elsewhere in the park or back home (who maybe would have hated us for it, anyway).

6. Luckiest serendipitous pick: Who to see and who to skip? It’s the most stressful decision (OK, the only stressful decision) a rock fan has to make at a multistage event. At the urging of fans we met at the Drums’ set, my husband and I made a last-second decision to stick around for British breakout artist Ellie Goulding vs. heading to over to hear Cee Lo on the Music Unlimited main stage. We loved Goulding’s ethereal electro-folk sound and later talked with some fans who described Cee Lo’s performance as miss-able.

7. Biggest regret: Blowing my chance to see rising indie-pop stars Foster the People. It was my bad for having booked a Friday Megabus into the city, assuming the earliest acts would be the festival’s lesser known (and my efforts to rebook were futile). Don’t even remind me that I could have gotten into the after-show if I’d had my act together. Lesson learned.

8. Top “girl” moment: The Joy Formidable’s Ritzy Bryan—in a pink knit dress and black tights—did every female in the park proud, shredding it like the guys, then destroying her Fender Strat by slamming it into a huge gong as an ominous inflatable cat head looked on and fans went berserk at the end of an intensely cool, fuzzed-out set. Also notable: Little Hurricane’s sweet-voiced drummer, C.C., wearing a poofy powder blue dress, dished out some original rhythms, her arms seemingly overtaken by aliens whenever the duo’s gritty blues numbers called for high gear.

9. Most idyllic place to grab a nap: I hesitate to share how nice the vibe was on the tree-shaded hillside northwest of Playstation Stage. The summer buzz of cicadas and chatting fans, along with City and Colour singer-songwriter Dallas Green’s rich, lovely tenor and gentle banter with fans, made this one of the most satisfying moments of my weekend.

10. Best eats: It was all over once I tasted the Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs pulled turkey sandwich with three extra pumps of the stand’s tangy-sweet barbecue sauce. The folks with Franks ‘n’ Dawgs fare looked pretty happy, too.

11. Nicest surprise: Every line I stood in was short and moved quickly.