On Aug. 1, Lollapalooza began its 19th year at its famous Chicago location, Grant Park. As expected, hundreds of thousands of fest goers showed up for one of the largest and longest-running festivals in the world.
It’s somewhat of a euphoric experience to witness your favorite artist while surrounded by some of the world’s most beautifully sculpted skyscrapers towering behind the stages. Simultaneously, on the downtown streets outside the festival, food and t-shirt vendors, street performers and vibrant rideshare bicycles and cars also benefit from the crowd.
But let’s be real, for Black folks, going to Lollapalooza means having an open mind and being open to different forms of music. The festival features a wide range of genres, including hip hop, pop, electronic dance music (EDM), alternative rock, R&B and everything in between.
“You find out you like some of this music. Just by walking past and listening,” Ubin told The TRiiBE. (He didn’t feel comfortable sharing his full name). In town from Indiana, Ubin, 32, came to Chicago for Lollapalooza.
When talking to his friends, he said their perception of the festival was all wrong. “Everybody [was] like, ‘Man, I thought that was just some crazy, hippie stuff.’ I’m like, naw, it’s lit!” he said.
Since this wasn’t his first Lolla, Ubin said he was prepared for how extreme the weather and crowd conditions can get. “We stayed hydrated. We stayed drinking water even before we came here to the festival,” he said.
As temperatures peaked at 88 degrees by noon on Thursday, festival goers settled into a steamy environment. At 1:45 p.m., heavy metal band Freshwater put on a stunning performance in front of a raging crowd at the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage. And yes, Black people were present.
Fans also enjoyed Texas rapper BigXthaPlug performing on the IHG Hotels & Resorts stage. The crowd added an unexpected energy to the Texas trap music. Despite the weather, they still moshed, fired up about the opening day.
Warning, at Lollapalooza, there’s no avoiding the rambunctious teenagers in the crowd. Many are from the suburbs, and wearing fitted NBA jerseys with swim trunks. One white teenager in particular decided to urinate in the middle of the mosh pit during BigXthaPlug’s set. There is a difference between these fans and genuine hip hop lovers, who usually don’t mosh at rap shows.
Day one rounded out with fans singing along to the sounds of sets by South African sensation Tyla, pop star Kesha, and then headliner Megan Thee Stallion. Many fest goers said Megan brought in the largest crowd they’ve seen in previous years.
The festival grounds span a mile from north to south in Grant Park. Within that mile, hundreds of thousands of people flood the festival grounds, which consist of eight stages. The TRiiBE spoke to Ashley Williams, 31, who came from Northwest Indiana to attend all four days of the festival.
“It was a lot different than what I remember from last time,” she told The TRiiBE. “It’s a lot more crowded — at least Thursday, it was a lot more crowded.”
She attended the festival in 2022. This year, though, she said she could barely move through the passing areas.
“I know I had the wrong shoes on. It was a lot of walking back and forth, I didn’t feel prepared,” she said.
Although Williams had tickets for all four days, she told us that she decided to not go on Friday due to fatigue. “I was just drained,” she said.
With limited shade and seating options, and hard cement pavement, festival goers had to be comfortable sitting wherever they could, and prepared to walk a lot. Large crowds made it hard to navigate from stage to stage, and refill water bottles at a number of different hydration stations.
Sexxy Red, Veeze, Victoria Monet, and the School of Rock Allstars performed on Friday before Grammy Award-winning singer SZA’s headlining show.
During SZA’s performance, multiple people passed out — seemingly from exhaustion — in the packed out crowd. People held up their cell phone flashlights to signal medics to certain areas, sometimes chanting, “medic, medic.” Fans stood shoulder to shoulder for most of the show.
Friday also featured a special “pop up” stage, hosted by Chicago rap group Pivot Gang and the John Walt Foundation, in which they gave a couple of hometown artists a platform to perform music right next to the Buckingham Fountain.
Although she missed performances by Sexxy Red and SZA, Williams said she was pleased to find seating and adequate shade on Saturday.
Saturday was unique. The day opened and closed with DJ Skrillex. Later that day would be performances from the Deftones, Killer Mike, as well as Future and Metro Boomin among others. While temperatures soared around 90 degrees by noon, the crowd was surprisingly still in good spirits and showed tons of energy as Future and Metro Boomin closed out the night on the Bud Light Stage.
The underrated set of the day would have to go to Killer Mike. His set featured five of the best soulful background singers. He eloquently went through his catalog, including songs from his three-time Grammy Award-winning album, MICHAEL. It was a “spiritual experience,” he said to the crowd.
During his show, he honored his idol, the late deputy chairman of the Illinois Chapter of The Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton, who was assassinated by the Chicago Police Department in the 1960s.
Sunday was the last day of the four-day festival, and it seemed to be the least attended. On August 1, single-day tickets were still available for Sunday while the other days had been sold out. Vince Staples performed at the Bud Light Stage early in the day, drawing a formidable crowd.
Blink-182 closed out the festival, but their tourmates, Pierce The Veil, outshined them a little bit. Their music seemed to resonate more with the young crowd. There’s also good reason to believe that by the time Blink-182 took the stage at 8:45 P.M., whatever was left of the crowd was exhausted, as temperatures once again peaked at 90 degrees on Sunday.
Underrated Sunday performance goes to rapper and singer Teezo Touchdown, as fans really enjoyed his set at Tito’s Handmade Vodka on Sunday. He was joined on stage by Chicago’s own Chance the Rapper, who said a few words about the young star. “I gotta say, this is one of the most inspirational artists that I have known,” Chance said.
Appearances from Chance, and a Thursday set by house music icon DJ Farley “JackMaster” Funk were unfortunately Chicago’s only Black representation at the fest. Pivot Gang was there on Friday, but they didn’t perform.
“You guys should be happy that you’re here, witnessing this, ‘cause trust me, Teezo Touchdown is an artist to stay. If you’re here, you believe in Teezo’s dreams, and if you’re here, you believe in your dreams,” Chance said.
All in all, going to Lollapalooza requires a little planning, a lot of water, an open mind, and some friends to share the moment.
The post Lollapalooza 2024: Black Chicagoans embrace diversity at music fest appeared first on The TRiiBE.
