Lollapalooza was much calmer after day one.
PawPaw Rod and Victoria Monét were obvious crowd favorites for the second day; however, it was the later sets that drew the most fanfare, including Sexxy Red, Stray Kids and SZA.
Day 2 — Sexxy Red
I was skeptical about Sexxy Red’s set, but she drew in a massive crowd who seemed very into her performance despite the rapper being visibly drunk and continuing to drink onstage. Despite the heat of the day, Sexxy Red performed in cropped sweatshirt and booty shorts around 5 p.m. on the Bud Light stage, accompanied by a live DJ against the backdrop of a giant red baseball cap that read “Make America Sexxy Again.”
The rapper ran through a few of her own songs including “Skeeyee,” “Get it Sexxy” and “Pound Town,” as well as performing a few covers such as “We Are Young” by Fun and “Party in the USA” by Miley Cyrus — which was an interesting choice. The crowd seemed into it, but I found it painful to listen to.
Sexxy Red’s set felt a little too long, especially considering she was just up there doing whatever she wanted to with seemingly no plan. I also think she sang “Get it Sexxy” two or three more times throughout her set, but her back up dancers made up where the rapper fell short.
There were also a few songs where three of what I am assuming were Sexxy Red’s friends joined her on stage, still holding their drinks and purses, to dance and sing along to whatever song was playing. The rapper did come back out for an encore, but only after her DJ prompted the audience to cheer for her to come do another song, which was just a repeat of an earlier performance.
It was … not my favorite performance of the weekend. I’ll leave it at that.
Day 2 — Stray Kids
My favorite performance, however, was on the same stage a little later in the evening. Stray Kids, one of Friday’s headliners, had potentially the loudest crowd of all four days. The South Korean boy group also had the longest set of any of the headliners, performing 8:30-10 p.m. on the Bud light stage while SZA headlined the T-Mobile stage.
Accompanied by a live band, the 8-member group opened with “S-class” and ran though 19 songs — including “SUPER BOWL,” “Lonely St.,” “Charmer,” “My Pace,” “Miroh” and “Chk Chk Boom” — and reprising three more in the encore.
READ MORE: Lolla Day 1: Sights, sounds, sets that stole the show
I made it until “TOPLINE” before I had to put in earplugs — don’t get me wrong the music was incredible and I had more fun at their set than anyone else’s, but between the live band and the screaming fans chanting along, protecting my hearing was necessary.
A set list of 20+ songs, each with high energy and elaborate choreography back-to-back with very few breaks is impressive in and of itself, but each of the band members seemed perfectly in their element, even engaging with the crowd, their live band and splashing water on fans (and each other).
Despite enthusiastically debating onstage whether to break the rules and play “one more,” Stray Kids’ set ended promptly at curfew with “Haven.”
Day 3 — Skrillex
Day three opened with Skrillex, who drew an impressive crowd on Sonny’s stage at noon and again at 8:15 p.m.
Bree Syb, a Chicago resident, said she bought her tickets specifically for the DJ.
“That’s who I came for,” Syb said. “I’ve been a longtime Skrillex fan. It was really good.”
However, Syb said she has been coming to Lollapalooza for the last five years and the variety of music offered in just four days in Grant Park is what keeps her coming back.
“It’s not just one genre, there’s multiple genres,” Syb said. “It’s extremely big, there’s lots to do. I just like the fun of it. Dressing up is fun; the music is fun.”
However, New York resident Amanda Mendez experienced Lollapalooza with her friend group for time this year.
“Me and my friends decided to just do like — we do a girls trip every year, and we decided to do a music festival this year,” Mendez said. “I’m really excited. Yesterday, we started the day with PawPaw Rod, and it was like a fun little funky way to start the day, and I feel like Kyle Young’s kind of the same vibe to start tomorrow.”
Mendez said she was most excited for Hozier’s set on Friday, but the overall experience had been great, including the hidden freebies scattered throughout the festival grounds and vendors that guests can explore.
The Killers closed the night on the T-Mobile stage, going 10 minutes overtime to play “Mr. Brightside” and “All These Things That I’ve Done” again during their encore.
Across the park on the Bud Light stage, it was a totally different story.
Day 3 — Future x Metro Boomin
Future x Metro Boomin’s performance was nothing short of a disaster. The duo went onstage more than 30 minutes late following a fight among Lollapalooza staff members. Once onstage, they only performed about half of their allotted hour-and-15-minute-long set due to curfew cutoff at 10 p.m.
On my way out for the night, one (obviously inebriated) festivalgoer told me the story of how people had been fighting in the crowd, rushing the barricades and passing out. He had even lost his shoes during the wild performance.
“If you were at Metro Boomin, you would understand,” he said, pointing to his dirty socks.
Day four of Lollapalooza did not see nearly as many attendees as the first three days. Many of the stages during the day brought in much smaller crowds. It wasn’t till the sun set that people started to come and fill the park for each set.
Conan Gray and Pierce the Veil were fan favorites at 6:45 p.m., drawing very different but equally dynamic crowds on their respective stages.
Day 4 — Two Door Cinema Club
Two Door Cinema Club performed in IGH Hotels and resorts stage. The three-piece band’s hour-long set was incredibly fun and chill, and also the last performance of their tour.
“It feels so good to be back here. It’s been a long time since we’ve played Lollapalooza, so thank you for having us,” Kevin Baird, the band’s bass guitarist, said before launching into a newer song called “Wonderful Life.”
The rest of their set included songs off their 2010 album “Tourist History” such as “Do You Want It All?” “Something Good Can Work,” “Eat That Up, It’s Good for You,” “Undercover Martyn” and “Cigarettes in the Theatre.” Two Door Cinema Club closed out their set with arguably their most popular song “What You Know.”
Zeds Dead was a heavy hitter for the EDM lovers at 8:45 p.m. on the Perry stage, incorporating parts of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’s “Pure Imagination” into the music towards the end of the set.
Day 4 — Blink-182
However, it was Blink-182 who inevitably stole the show later in the night, closing the festival on a nostalgic note.
“This is awesome! Thanks for sticking around for our band,” Mark Hoppus, the band’s bassist, told the crowd.
Featuring “Up All Night,” “More Than You Know” “Stay Together for the Kids,” “Not Now,” “I Miss You” and “Down,” Blink-182’s performance drew a shockingly large crowd, catering to the fans who have loved the band since their height of their popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
For more information, visit lollapalooza.com.
Contact Arts & Culture Reporter Chloe McGowan at 317-762-7848. Follow her on X @chloe_mcgowanxx.
