Luxury palooza!

"I'm 45 – I'm too old to be down there," jokes Denver attorney Kathy Young, as she watches a show by Australian rock group Silverchair from the Lounge. She pointed down to the field in front of the stage, where thousands of fans were jammed into tight proximity – a mass of elbows, arms, and sweat. "Here you're more comfortable – you get everything you need."

For promoters of festivals like Lollapalooza, it's a race – ratchet up the luxury quotient for patrons such as Ms. Young, and watch profits soar. As Autumn Rich, who headed the VIP sections at Grant Park, recently told Rolling Stone: "We want premium seats to be more rather than less expensive."

But not everyone was enamored by the rarified air at the Lounge. For some "regular" ticket holders, VIP areas ignore the true spirit of the concert experience.

"It's a little like watching a concert on DVD," says Trevor Best, a dreadlocked 20-something from Midland, Texas. Mr. Best had driven to Chicago with a friend, and spent much of Saturday parked contentedly on the grass. "Up there, you don't see the show like you're supposed to see it – you're sort of segregated."

Caught in a middle of a sudden rain shower on Saturday, Bryan Buchs, a Milwaukee native, suggested that the Lolla Lounges seemed to be "mostly for people who want to say they've been to the festival. But they haven't actually been out there to see it."

Lollapalooza organizers planted one Lolla Lounge alongside each of the two main stages, allowing pass holders a view at the big-name acts. The luxury cabanas, which were stationed on the south end of Grant Park added special viewing platforms, with a clear visual line to the gigantic stage.

Patrick McEneaney, a Chicago native with Lounge passes, says he loved being able to enjoy "all the free stuff, but you do miss being the scene out there."

The 2007 festival was a grab bag of stages – in addition to the large main stages, there were scores of smaller venues, all scattered throughout the park. Pass holders could wander out of the Lolla Lounges for shows by lesser-known bands, and dodge back in to get a killer view of headlining acts.

In a review of Lollapalooza for the Chicago Sun-Times, music critic Jim DeRogatis suggested that the placement of the VIP areas may have actually detracted from the quality of the festival.

The organizers, he wrote, should "cut down on the obnoxious corporate hype and snooty VIP areas, which claim the best parts of the park at the expense of the average paying customers."

On Saturday night, as the rain whipped in over the Chicago skyline, it was easy to see what Mr. DeRogatis meant. Thousands of fans had pressed to the north of Grant Park, angling for a view of popular rock outfit Interpol. There was little breathing room on the lawn, but at the Lounge, backlit by a row of yellow lights, fans could see clearly onto the stage.

Still, regular ticket holders like Prashant Desai seemed happy with their lot. Mr. Desai sat on the lawn in a collapsible lawn chair, a beverage in hand. Asked about the VIP area, he laughed.

"They'd have to bring back Jimi Hendrix for you to get me up there."

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