DONE! Done wallowing in self pity...I can only indulge in that for so long. I haven't been very verbose about it in my blog but I have been quite miserable with myself lately. However, worked some things out this weekend and feel a bit better. Went to Lollapalooza this evening. I got there early enough to see the Distillers on the second stage, and Queens of the Stone Age, Incubus, Audioslave, and Janes Addiction on the main stage. All were fab. I especially liked QotSA. I wish I had seen more of the bands on the second stage. I hadn't heard of any of them before. But, I really don't like going to festivals like that anymore. Too many people, too many drunk people, too much standing around in the sun, sitting on wet grass, waiting in lines for food or for the restroom, etc. Maybe I'm too old for that sort of thing.

The Bellydance Superstars/Desert Roses

As part of the show, I got to see the Bellydance Superstars/Desert Roses. They performed during the interlude between Incubus and Audioslave. Even with the
projection screens, and my glasses on, it was difficult to see what they were doing clearly from the lawn. Evenso, the impression I got was that it looked very "chorus line," watered down, beginner dance class, stiffly choreographed, packaged for the masses, but polished and well-executed (maybe too polished). They used a medley of music
that sounded like a mix of Arabic pop and electronic stuff from Oojami. One song was clearly Hakim--I like him. At one point, a live drummer came out onto the set and played accompaniment for the "drum solo" choreography. The reaction of the audience seemed indifferent. I could probably recreate every move for you because it seems they only knew 5 or 6...but I can see the challenge in putting on such a production. They probably spent most of their time on moving around on the stage and keeping synchronized, because that's what you see from the audience. You can't see small
moves and isolation at all. They also did some flashy moves that exploited their costumes--some of the ladies had those long gossamer capes with wings...don't get me wrong--I was totally thrilled to see bellydancing on a big stage and glad to see these dancers getting this level of exposure.