While so many festivals struggle these days, Lollapalooza not only perseveres, but has boomed. One of the biggest music festivals in North America, this year it enjoyed a three-part documentary about its entire history, from touring alt-nineties roots to its twenty-first century version in the center of Chicago at Grant Park. Yes, it’s not what it was, but that’s because instead of wallowing in the past, it has embraced today & tomorrow, with more music than you could possibly catch, Thursday-Sunday, August 1st-4th:
Ever since Lollapalooza extended to a fourth day back in 2016 (QRO recap), Thursday has been a bit of the red-headed stepchild of the festival, not as big as the ‘regular’ three-day weekend. Yet, that has also made it special, between having the energy of a first day to a more interesting line-up. Also, the skies didn’t rain until after the fest was over, always a plus.
It is tough to play early in the day at any festival, particularly as big a fest as Lollapalooza, not to mention the oppressive global warming heat that will eventually make all festivals impossible. Yet Texas’ BigXThaPlug took that challenge and ran with it on the IHG Stage, extolling their crowd, encouraging ‘left side vs. right side’ rivalry that is as old as time and totally still works. They even demanded that both sides open up their pits – it’s great to see rappers embracing the old hardcore tradition of mosh pits, and making it their own.
There are two secret gems every year at Lollapalooza, thanks to our corporate masters. There is the BMI Stage, which might be the smallest stage, but also the only one with full shade for the crowd. And right next to it is the Toyota Music Den, where Lolla artists do special second sets, flanked by automobiles. Toyota had the expansive indie-rock of NYC’s Been Stellar, the kind of music you might not expect to hear anymore at Lollapalooza. BMI had yet more of that in Brenn!, not to mention country gal Goldie Boutilier celebrating the sun coming out (the only stage where you could do so) and self-described “comedy band” Wolves of Glendale with songs about buying a horse and loud cars (unfortunately, the latter sometimes happened at the BMI Stage, right by the Lake Shore Drive).
But admit it, you were at Lollapalooza 2024 – certainly the Thursday of Lollapalooza ’24 – for Chappell Roan. The alt-pop star has become a star very, very fast this year – to the point where there was a New York Times article about her having to upgrade her venues on this tour after she hit it so big. There was her breakthrough Governors Ball appearance back in June (QRO photos), where she overshadowed the artists that came after her (and was cited in The New Republic). For Lolla, she was last-minute moved to the biggest T-Mobile Stage, and there was a crowd of her ‘Pink Ponies’ stretching all the way back to the opposite IHG Stage that she was originally supposed to play. Her on-stage outfits have become a “Femininomenon” all their own, this time dressed like a Mexican wrestler/luchadora, and she played her The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess material (very appropriate for Chicago), her 2024 hit “Good Luck, Babe!,” and more.
And like at Governors Ball, the massive Chappell Roan once again overshadowed other female pop artists, who have longer careers. Most notable was Kesha, who got swapped to the smaller IHG Stage, if later, but had to perform after Roan dominated that whole shared crowd area – but she still rocked her hardest, from 2010 hit “Tik Tok” with its revised opening line, “Wake up in the morning / Yelling, ‘Fuck P-Diddy!” to getting fans to “give me all your clothes!” during “Take It Off”. And then there was The Japanese House, who needed folks to head up to the other end of the long Lollapalooza festival grounds (under the hot sun), to catch them at Tito’s Bandshell.
For something of a reset to fantasies, Lizzy McAlpine shifted to playing seated at the Bud Light Stage. She was endearingly awkward, messing up her lyrics and multiple times thanking the crowd for just being there. Instead of giant exposition, it was intimate revelation (even if she did end 15 minutes early). Camden Cox had the unenviable position of being the DJ to close out Tito’s Bandshell between the final big Bud Light Stage acts, a Lollapalooza staple position for some reason.
And closing out the first day at that Bud Light Stage was none other than Hozier. Taken to heart by so many people when he once asked, “Take Me To Church”, he’s since become one of the rare alt-folk superstars (shades of Bon Iver – both of whom were parodied in a Saturday Night Live sketch). There is always the question with singer/songwriters who break through by showcasing themselves so clearly, whether they can keep it up, but Hozier proved that he does – like he has been on this summer’s festival-headlining tour (QRO photos headlining a fest the weekend prior).
All the headbangers of the nineties lament that Lollapalooza no longer brings the harder sounds (as if Woodstock ’99 never wrecked that sound at festivals…), yet you can still find it, such as the up-and-coming Militarie Gun on Day Two at the IHG Stage. The singer was impressed by all those standing in the heat in the early afternoon, ready to do it all day, saying he could barely take doing his set. There was a song about not being normal, a cover of Blur’s iconic “Song 2”, a mosh pit – it could have been Lollapalooza ’94.
Lolla ’24 also had time for alt-country – something that you might not have found in the nineties edition. Wilderado brought it to the big Bud Light Stage, while The National Parks had their own sweet Toyota Music Den set. Nice guys don’t always finish last.
Still, this year, this fest was kind of designed for gorgeous, energetic alt-pop – particularly female-led (a gender that the original Lolla sorely lacked…). The BMI Stage had the likes of Taylor Acorn and Ava Maybee, while Blu DeTiger at the Bacardí Stage was kind of made for modern Lollapalooza. And then there was McKenna Grace at the Toyota Music Den (even if she looked nothing like her rather mousy Ghostbusters character…).
There were also those who looked to class up the joint, even if less clothes was the order of the day among the fans. Raye brought real class to Tito’s Bandshell, in her long blue dress and tuxedoed bandmates (even if she twice had to pause her show when fans went down at the hard, hot, staring-into-the-sun Bandshell). Meanwhile, Tiny Habits delivered their choral embrace at the BMI Stage.
And then there was Sexyy Red. Booties were shaking even before she came on the Bud Light Stage, and she came out under her sign “SEXYY FOR PRESIDENT” accompanied by faux Secret Service – and her own booty-shaking dancers.
That made for an interesting contrast with the classiest artist of the day (or even whole fest), Laufey, who had the Chicago Philharmonic with her on that same stage. Symphony and even jazz aren’t exactly well-known at Lollapalooza of any era, yet Laufey & co. made it special, including bringing out Raye for jazz cover “It Could Happen To You” by Jimmy van Heusen.
And once again, K-pop came to dominate Lollapalooza. What was a risky surprise a few years ago with J-Hope (QRO Lollapalooza ’22 photos) and Tomorrow x Together (QRO Lollapalooza ’22 photos) has now become a staple, in ’24 with Stray Kids on the Bud Light Stage. Super-fans were in force, and so were the Kids, the eight-member group giving a more rock take on their cross-continental hits (complete with fire & fireworks – and yes, expertly coordinated dancing…).
It was another hot one at Lollapalooza on Day Three, as everything got bigger on the actual weekend. There was naturally more energetic, female-led alt-pop in Dora Jar at the Bud Light Stage, but Natalie Jane went darker, more emo at the darker (well, shadier) BMI Stage. Younger alt-rock came in the form of Friko at Toyota Music Den, while for those looking for ‘the next big thing,’ there was Will Linley at the BMI Stage with his own exuberance, shades of an early Conan Gray (playing the next day).
–While Lollapalooza isn’t the exclusive alt-fest that it once was, it still has what-we-would-have-called-alternative-in-the-nineties, notably the alt-artists who are getting more attention in the mainstream, wider attention in general. On Saturday, there was BoyWithUke drawing a crowd at Tito’s Bandshell all on his own, if a bit awkward, but TV Girl’s Bud Light Stage show lacked some energy. More impressive was Ethel Cain at the IHG Stage, who put in her passion & emotion (which can be tough under the afternoon sun – relief could be found at the Hendrick’s Gin garden party), while Eyedress’s Bacardí Stage crowd at least got some shade. And if Hippo Campus sounded like they were covering Band of Horses on the IHG Stage, that’s a great Band, Hippo likewise the right balance of alt-country & mainstream for Lollapalooza.
And then there was Deftones at the T-Mobile Stage, as the sun was going down. Yes, Lollapalooza doesn’t have the hard rock sounds that once dominated it, but those sounds also don’t dominate the airwaves like they once did (back when there were airwaves). But Deftones were the perfect band to still bring that scream to Lollapalooza ’24 – beloved by their fans (it was notable how many Deftones t-shirts were seen on attendees this day), but also respected & enjoyed by everyone from alt-hipsters to mainstream pop-rock listeners. And you know that the band would it give it their all, even without down-with-illness guitarist Stephen Carpenter.
On the flip side, modern Lollapalooza is famous – or perhaps infamous – for Perry’s Stage. While named after festival founder/Jane’s Addiction frontman Perry Farrell, who was into electronic music long before the rest of America, the stage itself is home to the EDM DJs that a good chunk of Lollapalooza loves, and a good chunk of the fest just walks on by. For Saturday, it was renamed ‘Sonny’s Stage’, after Sonny John Moore, a.k.a. Skrillex, who not only closed it out, but also played a special bonus, late-announced opening set at noon. And if you’re gonna have an EDM stage with the likes of names such as Kenny Beats, it was good to also have an alt-DJ like Four Tet to give it some extra dimensions. And in his closing set, Skrillex acknowledged the stage’s ties to Farrell, that it still needs to be named after Perry – and shouting out the fans who were up front at the rail for his noon set & were still there in the evening, “You guys haven’t fucking moved…”
With two massive headline stages, Lollapalooza is able to bring in two big headliners each night, but you have to choose. There’s usually a difference in genre and age, making the choice fairly easy, but also creating certain expectations. Unfortunately, Future & Metro Boomin’s Bud Light Stage did not live up to the crowd’s hopes, starting with it starting 30 minutes late, not to mention security/safety issues that thankfully didn’t go Astroworld, but also marred it. None of that happened with The Killers at the T-Mobile Stage, who are certainly professionals, if perhaps a bit too slick, a bit too delivering exactly what they did/will do headlining other festivals this summer, from inviting a fan up on stage to play drums – not for the first time – to of course closing out with their twenty-year-old breakthrough “Mr. Brightside”, which they always will close with.
If you’d been doing Lollapalooza since the start (like your correspondent), you were worn out by Day Four. Sunday is always a bit of an odd duck at the festival, as usually not quite as big as the day before, but also your last chance to rock out.
While there was still some exuberant pop-rock like always, such as Waterparks at the IHG Stage, there were notably some moments where country made its way in. More straight-up down-home was Treaty Oak Revival at the BMI Stage with their song about being in the ‘friend zone’ (which actually doesn’t exist), but overnight Georgia hit Teddy Swims played to a big crowd at the T-Mobile Stage. His big, sex-positive hip-hop had almost a revivalist edge, shades of now-country-leaning Post Malone.
While Lollapalooza is better suited to catching the overnight internet hits like Swims and Day One’s Chappell Roan, it can still reel in the ol’ overnight alt-hits, even from across the pond. The Last Dinner Party has made waves on both sides of the Atlantic with this year’s Prelude To Ecstasy (QRO review), and Lolla seemed like the perfect place for them to widen their appeal. However, a last-minute cancellation of another act this day (Dominic Fike got sick) meant a schedule change for other artists, and while technically going from the Bacardí Stage to Tito’s was an upgrade in size, it was not in sound quality (or shade availability), swapping trees & grass for hot concrete. Still, the women gave it their all with orchestral attitude, even if you couldn’t get close enough to develop a crush on each one (each for a different reason), for it to feel like a sin or give me the strength.
While WILLIS closed out the BMI Stage with relaxed blues (and a good crowd), Conan Gray made a triumphant return to the festival, no longer slightly awkward up-and-comer (QRO photos at Lollapalooza ‘19), but now bona-fide pop star – with the fashion to match. Meanwhile, it was nice that indie-pop acts such as Cults and Two Door Cinema Club, both the flavor-of-the-month years ago, are not only still making music, still making wonderful indie-pop, but indeed still playing good stages at Lollapalooza ’24 – even if they were scheduled directly against each other (Bacardí & IHG, respectively).
There haven’t been a lot of big reunions to headline festivals this year, but we have had Tom DeLonge rejoining Travis Barker and Mark Hoppus in Blink-182 on the T-Mobile Stage to close out this festival. What was once a sophomoric punk band has since grown into veteran icon status – but they’ve still got all their silly, stupid, dirty jokes. Yes, there were probably those who were put off by middle-aged guys talking about having sex with the other’s mother or dick sizes, but if you’d made it all the way to Blink, what did you expect? And they didn’t skimp on the hits or the extras, including the not-yet-released “Can’t Go Back” and material from their various side-projects. And it was great to see an actual punk band headline Lollapalooza, like it was the nineties all over again.
Just as Lollapalooza could have just been Jane’s Addiction’s final tour (as the first edition was), it also could have just been something from the nineties that only Gen X remembers fondly. But instead, it was reborn in Chicago in this century/millennium, and has kept up with the times, bringing big acts of yesterday, today, and tomorrow to Grant Park under sunny skies.
-words: Ted Chase
-photos: Amelia Baird (save BMI Stage photos, courtesy of Erika Goldring, and Toyota Music Den, courtesy of Mallory M Turner)
