Come Rain and Shine: Lollapalooza Days One and Two

The height of summer is here, and with it has come the annual peak of Chicago’s festival season as fans from around the world make their pilgrimage to Grant Park for Lollapalooza.

Days one and two fulfilled any music fan’s dream with genre-benders like Amble and Little Simz, genre mainstays like UK-based indie rockers Wet Leg and pop innovator Lorde all bringing their A-game to the spotlight.

The alt-pop superstar closed Thursday with a string of hits, including Friday headliner Charli xcx coming out to kick off the weekend in riotous fashion. DJ John Summit performed a literally electric set accompanied by grand light and fire displays. 

Charli returned Friday night, showcasing her new album “Music, Fashion, Film” as Chicago legends The Smashing Pumpkins did a hometown victory lap featuring Olivia Rodrigo.

Thursday, July 30

Early in the day at the Airbnb stage, LA-based multi-instrumentalist Marlon Funaki entranced the crowd with his dreamy yet driven fusion of indie rock and jazz.

His echoing guitar instantly captivated the shady stage, leaving entranced audience members swaying along.

As the day went on and the temperature increased, alt-pop duo Haute and Freddy took the midday T-Mobile stage by storm, defying the dry heat to deliver a strange yet stunning set. 

Dressed in attire appropriate for a circus — with a stage adorned to match — Haute’s trademark orange hair seemed to glow against the circus-inspired backdrop, which included a mock puppet carriage.

The crowd roared in agreement for “I Like My People Weird,” a power ballad delivered from the heart from a duo who happily embodied weird.

At 5:15 p.m., Irish folk trio Amble took to the same stage, bringing their blend of modern and traditional melodies to a sea of Ireland kit-adorned fans.

“No matter where you’re from, you’ve heard of Lollapalooza,” lead singer Robbie Cunningham told the crowd. “We’re so honored to be here.”

The crowd danced and jived the evening away to the tune of Ross McNerney’s impressively fast-paced Mandolin picking, eliciting cheers after every solo.

The slower moments demonstrated a different side of the band’s talents, with ballads such as “Mary’s Pub” showcasing intricate three-part harmonies that left the crowd swaying and humming long after they departed.

Across the street at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage, English rapper and actress Little Simz made her Lolla debut in top shape, performing an array of hits that kept the sea of fans at her fingertips.

Despite starting alone on the stage, Simz’ lightning-quick rapping and addictive bass-heavy beats left the crowd completely at her command, being especially electric for her iconic hit “Venom.” 

After the first five tracks, the multitalented Simz started a DJ set, keeping the crowd dancing for more groovy tracks like “Mood Swings.”

“Chicago, you know how to party, right?” Simz asked the crowd from the turntables. “This is the part of the show where you can really party.”

After four songs on the DJ set, Simz was joined by a live band for a victory lap, with her and the crowd only seeming to gain energy as the set continued.

“Name one time I didn’t deliver,” she rapped on bombastic set closer “Gorilla,” ensuring Lollapalooza couldn’t be counted as anything but a stunning success.

Like a modern-day knight suiting up for battle, Wet Leg’s Rhian Teasdale donned a two-piece chainmail crop-top-skirt combo, wielding a translucent neon green guitar. Throughout the band’s hour-long set at Allianz stage, song after song, they performed each song with serpent-slaying vigor.

“Lollapalooza, we’re going to need your help with this next song,” Teasdale cheekily announced before diving into “Ur Mum,” where she asks the audience to scream along with her. 

Even though they were playing at one of Lolla’s smaller venues, the visceral screeches from the audience rivaled those of the main stages. 

Closing the night at the T-Mobile stage was alt-pop mainstay Lorde, who started her set unconventionally with her biggest single “Royals,” instantly captivating the tens of thousands in the crowd.

Featuring mostly tracks from 2025’s “Virgin,” the set was a blend of hits and album cuts, satisfying fans of every degree.

“Melodrama” tracks were especially appreciated by the crowd, as the T-Mobile stage filled with screams to the tunes of “Supercut” and “Liability.”

The highlight of the day came toward the end of her set with a single word: “Girl.”

The camera cut to Friday headliner Charli xcx, clad in all-black leather to perform the duo’s 2025 “brat” single “Girl, so confusing.”

The crowd went appropriately wild, with seemingly every voice screaming “I ride for you Charli.” 

Lorde somehow held the momentum with the following song, “Melodrama” opener and lead single “Green Light.”

The screams turned to sobs for “Virgin” closer “David,” and Lorde capped the hit-ridden set with the infinitely nostalgic “Ribs,” as white and gold fireworks celebrated the end of Thursday and the beginning of Lollapalooza.

The other half of Thursday’s headline bill was EDM DJ John Summit’s pyrotechnic gilded set at Bud Light stage. 

Above the Naperville native’s DJ booth, dancers and acrobats twisted and contorted themselves around levels of ladders and exposed pipes, a la “Newsies” gone techno.

Bright white strobe lights jutted out into the sky, while multi-colored pyrotechnics illuminated the faces of the audience, primarily shirtless teenagers and scarf-wearing young adults. Summit’s presence extended past his youthful audience, with his ground-rumbling bass reverberating throughout the festival grounds. 

The electronic sonic leftovers even reached the Airbnb stage, where the post-punk vulgarities of the Viagra Boys seemed to drown them out at the night one closing show. 

Just as their name would suggest, the Swedish band’s set was unapologetically crude, borderline grotesque. At the forefront of the rowdiness was lead vocalist Sebastian Murphy, spitting out his drink like a human fountain, caressing his exposed torso and frequently hurling insults at his own audience, referring to them as “punk rock losers.”

Yet they returned the vulgar favor. 

During the depraved “Troglodyte,” limp bodies flopped and punches flew freely within a mosh pit as rampant weed smoke polluted the already sticky air, matching the song’s sludgy lyricism.

Friday, July 31

Storming the T-Mobile stage in military drill fashion, Swim and Jadagrace, known collectively as PARTYOF2, brought a braggadocious energy to their opening set. 

Under Friday’s gray, clouded sky, chain-link trapped their band – sporting all camo attire – into their own individual cages as American flags defaced with black spray paint flapped in the choppy wind. A trio of backup dancers served as Jada’s troops, echoing her moves and providing smooth background vocals to an otherwise punchy performance.

The highlight of their set was “FRIENDLY FIRE,” a mutual diss track which had the duo at each other’s throats. Spectators could choose between fans labeled  “Team Swim” or “Team Jada,” with the waving signs making the concert feel more like a punked-out political rally. 

Taking the T-Mobile stage after was i-dle, the third K-pop girl group to perform at the festival. 

They instantly proved their worthiness with bombastic opener “Super Lady,” as the five members, clad in white coats adorned with feathers and surrounded by an army of backup dancers, took the stage by storm.

Without missing a beat, the group packed their eight years of musical diversity into their allotted hour, showcasing the extent of their discography from electropop Korean chart-topper “Queencard,” to hip-hop “My Bag,” pop-punk “Tomboy” and even including their League of Legends collaboration single “Pop/Stars.”

Despite the midday drizzle, the crowd — some dressed in bright blue bob wigs — matched the idol’s energy throughout, waving lightsticks, arms and signs in support.

They closed with English single “Mono.” Released this January, the song embodied i-dle’s boundary-pushing inclusive values, uniting the crowd before their departure.

“Whether you’re from the right, left, East, West, or straight, gay, it doesn’t matter here,” leader Soyeon told the crowd before the track closed their historic set.

Across the park at the Bud Light stage, Slayyyter — the self proclaimed “Worst Girl in America” — braved the rain and cranked up the energy to perform songs from her latest album of the same name. 

Boisterously bursting out of a trailer, equipped with a bedazzled baseball cap, a belt of fishing bait and a fishing pole, Slayyyter began with “DANCE…,” causing the already hyped audience to go even crazier. 

As her set progressed, the energy only grew greater and greater. Fan favorite “CRANK” had heads thrashing across the crowd, while “YES GODDD” saw the artist letting out several gutteral, gravely screams. Not even the falling rain could put out Slayyytor’s flame.

Near the end of her set, Slayyyter, whose popularity skyrocketed over the past couple months, reflected on her new found stardom. Fellow popstar Zara Larsson did the same.

Though Larsson’s set was delayed due to weather complications, she delivered the highest energy performance of the day. 

“This is by far the biggest crowd I’ve ever had in my entire life,” she gushed, peering out into the crowd of thousands.

From start to finish, the Swedish star embarked on a nonstop singing and dancing spectacle spanning her decadeslong career. From dancing in sync with her enclave of backup dancers to “riding” in a cut out of a pink convertible and inviting a fan to dance alongside her on stage, every second of her hourlong set was expertly choreographed.

Despite the weather being anything but sunny, Larsson brought a summery Y2K utopia to Chicago, allowing viewers to join her in her eternal pop paradise.

Capping out the night was Lollapalooza veteran Charli xcx, headlining fresh off the release of her newest rock-tinged album “Music, Fashion, Film.” After a legendary 2022 Lolla set, expectations were high — yet, just like her fictional self in “The Moment,” she sold out.

Sure, the production quality was higher than ever — she stood atop a multilayered platform topped with a comically large speaker flanked by cannons of fire. Yes, she brought the energy — for nearly 90 minutes she sang, strutted and stomped her way around the T-Mobile stage. Yet she neglected the one thing essential to her live shows — her fans, the Angels.

Charli’s setlist consisted largely of songs from her news album and “Brat,” which wouldn’t have been a problem if that wasn’t all she was touring for the past two years. However, the “party girl’s” biggest party foul was the absence of a song she performs at nearly every show, the song that elevated her from underground status: “Vroom Vroom.”

Across the park, hometown heroes The Smashing Pumpkins had the Bud Light stage enraptured before they even walked on. 

As the instantly recognizable riff to “1979” started, the crowd came alive to welcome them and sing along to the band’s biggest song. Frontman Billy Corgan seemed to be in his best Voldemort cosplay, rocking a white painted face and black eyeshadow covered eyes to match his black leather robes.

“1979” might be a difficult song to follow for any other band, but The Smashing Pumpkins immediately one-upped themselves with only four words: “The world is a vampire.” 

The crowd moved like an ocean for “Bullet With Butterfly Wings,” ebbing, flowing and screaming along to the iconic chorus.

The band kept the energy up throughout, though it especially exploded for their first guest artist Yungblud, who had just performed on the same stage. The English artist sang the beautiful “Luna” as the waning moon glowed above.

If the energy blasted for Yungblud, there was a supernova when pop-rock darling Olivia Rodrigo, fresh off her June album release, came out to perform “Thirty-Three,” as Corgan strummed his guitar beside her. 

They went out with a characteristic bang, performing the thunderous “The Everlasting Gaze.” Corgan, holding the hands of his children, victoriously bowed with a radiant smile, capping off the day.

Although severe weather is anticipated, days three and four promise to keep up the energy, with dance pop acts Jennie and Tate McRae headlining Saturday and Sunday, respectively, while Grammy-winning jazz pop singer Olivia Dean and English indie-rockers The xx will play across the park.