The foreboding message of ‘Chicago has some of the worst air pollution in the world’ had little impact on crowds streaming in for the second day of Lollapalooza. As expected, a noticeable juxtaposition stood out amongst the standard festival-goer attire – pink cowboy hats and crop tops reading ‘dump him’ contrasted starkly against black oversized t-shirts with nearly imperceptible band logos – the only commonality shared being, oddly enough, fishnet stockings.
While the headliners on Day 2 of Lollapalooza could not have attracted more opposite crowds, there was much to be said about the middle card of the day, featuring artists fresh and well-seasoned to Grant Park, all creating a fever pitch in the gritty yet remarkably pleasant weather that afternoon.
Our day started in a deeply packed crowd of mostly teens, anxiously looking to elbow their way up closer to the rail to get a glimpse of Lollapalooza freshman Gigi Perez, kicking things off the afternoon on the T-Mobile stage. Having risen to stardom during the COVID-19 pandemic after departing Berklee College of Music, Perez, like many peers her age, had sought refuge (and a platform) in TikTok to reignite her career in music – a decision that would land her amongst some of the biggest names in contemporary music just 5 years later.
Gigi Perez
Ravyn Lenae
A Chicago native and former long-time patron of the festival herself, Lenae’s performance, deeply ethereal and melodic, harkened to Lollapalooza’s commitment to R&B in recent years, recalling especially Raye’s performance just last year.
Foster the People
Few bands remain in the millennial zeitgeist as well as they do. Emblematic of the recession-proof, highly experimental lack of genre conformity that defined the mid-2010’s, Mark Foster and company returned to Lollapalooza with explosive intent, reinvigorating the eager optimism that has eluded many of us in recent years and, hopefully, giving those with post aughts birthdays a taste of what it meant then to be truly young, unburdened, wild and free.
Of course, the ‘zoomers’ had their opportunity to show us their hand a little later that evening as Wallows closed out the Lakeshore stage later that evening. The delight approached critical mass at lightning speed that evening as the band serenaded deeply devoted and ‘rushing to headliner’ fans alike, giving us a properly alternative send-off before the clash of the headliners in just an hours’ time.
While we were unable to catch a good vantage point for either Korn or Olivia Rodrigo that evening, the sounds that carried and echoed off of the buildings surrounding the loop and beyond said more than enough – a truly spectacular ending to another evening of music and promises of many more memories to come.
