Our recap may look a little different today. We stayed pretty centralized at the same stage all day in anticipation for j-hope’s highly-anticipated debut performance as a solo act. I knew that Army had been lining up since as early as 4:00 AM the morning of (which Lollapalooza discourages) and I knew from a writing perspective I wanted to be in the mix of that and feel that energy for the historic performance. See our full day at Lolla on Sunday below.
DJO
Joe Keery started the month of July celebrating the release of the final two episodes of Stranger Things Season 4 and finished it with a magical set at Lollapalooza. Keery lived in Chicago for a few years, and noted that in his set and how unreal it was for his band to take the Lolla stage on Sunday. The band even shared a new song dedicated to his time in the Windy City. Their set had its own atmosphere. The soft psychedelic sounds echoed across Grant Park and the band alternated face melting guitar solos. Keery’s vocals shimmered on songs like ‘Chateau.’ The band is a must see on festival stages or any time they play in a city near you.
Charli XCX
We wrote in our preview article that Charli XCX could be headlining Lollapalooza and the artist proved it in her set on Sunday afternoon. I wish I could put into words the euphoric feeling that swept across the giant crowd as thousands of people in unison sang Charli’s iconic ‘I Love It’ with her. The artist played an incredible pop set and the energy radiated in Grant Park as she played. XCX danced nonstop on stage in an impressive rate, but the fans in the crowd moved nonstop with the popstar as she performed hits like ‘Boys,’ and ‘Vroom Vroom.’ But no matter the song Charli XCX was making the crowd move.
The Kid Laroi
Charlton Howard aka The Kid Laroi made his Lollapalooza debut on Sunday. The young Aussie rapper took the stage to a chilling visual of his body being stuffed into a car in a video storyline that went on throughout Laroi’s set. Laroi took time to give tribute to the late Chicago native Juice Wrld during his set, who he collaborated with before his passing. Laroi carries that emo-rap baton with songs like ‘Stay,’ ‘Savage,’ and ‘F*ck You, Goodbye.’ All of which he played to much applause from the Lolla crowd. One thing I think that could elevate a Kid Laroi set is incorporating a live band. J-Hope who took the stage after him did and it really enhanced the performance and hearing a live band backing Laroi would add a lot to the emo-rap delivery.
J-Hope
If you can’t tell from our recap the J-Hope headlining set at Lollapalooza was highly-anticipated for many but also Lollapalooza. I wanted to experience the set along with other Army members there to support the BTS star. Hours before Hobi took the stage you could see homemade ‘Hope World’ merch in the crowd, some screen printed on shirts. Others painted on the pockets of pants. Having a Hobi-palooza shirt was an exclusive club I sat coveting as the day went on. Midway through The Kid Laroi’s set there was a sudden push where I was standing of Army members wanting to get the closest spot and best angles to see J-Hope’s historic headlining set. J-Hope became the first South Korean act to headline a major U.S. festival mainstage on Sunday.
The artist debuted songs from his highly-celebrated debut album ‘Jack in the Box.’ Despite the album being less than two weeks old fans sang along with songs like ‘More,’ ‘What If…,’ and ‘Pandoras Box.’ Hope also engaged the crowd throughout the set and with every sentence he spoke screams carried over the crowd.
His set had everything. The set design was impeccable sporting a giant jack in the box that Hobi popped out of along with visuals on the video screen. His dancing throughout the night was electric. A band backing him created an extra layer that really elevated the performance. Then j-hope shined on the stage solo. After performing with the iconic BTS and now being alone on stage the K-pop star owned every bit of the Lolla stage. The performance was one of the best of the entire weekend and proved to be a coming out party for the K-pop star.
