Lollapalooza celebrated their 10th year in Grant Park with a festival full of good music, green initiatives and tasty food last weekend.
Standout Performances:
Portugal. The Man | Friday
Portugal. The Man played two sets on Friday- one in the kids area of the park and another on the main stage. We caught their Kidzapalooza set to a crowd of mixed youngsters and older fans wanting to watch another set during their main stage performance. Their enthusiasm to play for the kids showed and the lead singer even mentioned that they always try to play stuff for kids whenever possible because they didn't have those programs growing up in Alaska.
Lorde | Friday
At this point, Lorde needs no introduction. Despite having only broken out big only a year ago, she earned her late time slot on a main stage. Lolla attendees packed the area to watch her and she filled the entire field with her haunting vocals seemingly effortlessly. Only between songs when she stopped to speak to the crowd were we reminded of her youth.
Eminem | Friday
In full disclosure, seeing Eminem on the line up back in March finalized my decision to attend Lollapalooza this year. The set turned out to be all I expected and more when halfway through the set Rihanna rose onstage to sing on "Love the Way You Lie," "The Monster" and "Stan." Eminem certainly held his own before and after her appearance by running around the stage and leaving me in awe of how quickly he can spit his rhymes. He built up anticipation by reserving his older hit material for the last half an hour of his set and the crowd exploded when he tore through a medley of "My Name Is," "The Real Slim Shady" and "Without Me."
Fitz and the Tantrums | Saturday
From where we sat on our blankets towards the back of the crowd, I couldn't help but get up and move my hips once Fitz and the Tantrums began playing. Their songs carry that sneaky quality that causes you to sway along to the beat without even realizing it. The late afternoon set time worked perfectly for their vibe of dancy but not full on raging. It allowed attendees to enjoy the set but reserve some energy for the headliners later in the day.
The Head and the Heart | Saturday
The Seattle band's folky tunes fit perfectly in the festival environment. Sitting down in the grass of Grant Park, barefoot, listening to a folk tune while the sun sets and people parade by wearing flower crowns with cut off jean shorts feels like the epitome of summer. The pairing of the male and female vocals in this group also create a truly lovely dynamic.
Outkast | Saturday
Outkast reunion, wow. What more can I say? The group spent an hour and forty five minutes onstage, but it flew by between their hits like "Ms. Jackson," and "Hey Ya!" to watching fireworks go off during their set from Soldier Field behind the stage. Andre 3000 and Big Boi moved around the stage like they owned it, synchronizing dance moves and certainly bringing us a fitting farewell to the group.
Bleachers | Sunday
Jack Antonoff from Fun. sings in his new band on upbeat and hook heavy songs that came to life on the Lolla stage. Despite playing after the first torrential downpour of the day, they truly got the crowd going and reminded them that good music makes standing around in a muddy field worth it.
The 1975 | Sunday
The British band were slightly overwhelmed by the number of people who showed up to watch their set on The Grove stage which was made evident by the lead singer Matty Healy telling the crowd that, "Two years ago we couldn't get 50 people to watch our band in Manchester and now we're here." Despite that and a late start, the band played great, although annunciation is not Healy's strong suit. If you happened across their set randomly, you probably wouldn't be able to understand the words to the songs but you'd probably stick around for the melodies anyways.
Young the Giant | Sunday
Young the Giant played in the slot before the headliners on Sunday, at which point the crowd had experienced boughs of rain on and off for hours. The rain stopped for good half an hour before they took the stage- just in time to feel the energy emitting off lead singer Sameer Gadhia as he bounced between two microphones onstage and egged the crowd on. Gadhia's vocals live take on the tone of each song as he throws emotion into the performance.