To add a dark cloud to a Lollapalooza full of dark clouds, there’s this anecdote from the Chicago Sun-Times: Two 19-year-old men were charged with assault Sunday night near the Chicago fest after punching an 11-year-old girl. And what caused the men to lash out at a child? She wouldn’t give them her souvenir Lollapalooza beach ball, depriving them the opportunity of annoying everyone standing near them in the crowd. That type of shit doesn’t happen at Bonnaroo. Maybe they were just pissed off the Alabama Shakes set was cancelled due to inclement weather the day before.
According to the police report, the two men approached the girl and her mother while walking on East Jackson Boulevard and demanded that they hand over their beach balls. When the girl and her mother refused, one of the men struck the young girl in her stomach. After the incident, the mother flagged down a police car and told them what transpired. The cops soon tracked down the two men, probably because they were the only people on East Jackson Boulevard carrying around beach balls. The teens were arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, battery, and intoxication by a minor.
But Lollapalooza wasn’t all rain clouds and violence! For the highlights from this year’s fest, be sure to check out all of SPIN’s Lollapalooza 2012 coverage.
And don’t miss our gallery of Lolla 2012’s mud-covered, mask-wearing, candy-color-haired fans.
