After an incredible day one at Lollapalooza, Day two at Grant Park had a lot to live up to. The lineup is absolutely stacked with a hard decision with their headliners on who to see between Machine Gun Kelly and Dua Lipa. It was an amazing day. Read about it in our reviews below.
Flipturn
Flipturn remains a dynamic live act that no one should miss if they have the chance. They crushed the Discord stage to start off the day at Grant Park for us. We heard the band play their hit song ‘Chicago’ live for the fourth time, but there was something special about them playing it at the giant Chicago music festival stage that was electric. The band continues to impress and recently released an impressive new single ‘Space Cowboy.‘ The band also played ‘August’ much to the crowds delight as they swayed with the band to their exciting hit song.
Del Water Gap
Del Water Gap took to social media after his set to say “lolla i loved you soso much <3” and the truth is Lolla loved him right back. The artist took the stage suited in a trench coat and the beginning notes of ‘Better Than I Know Myself’ echoed from the Coinbase stage to enormous applause from an adorning crowd. The artist sounded even better live than on his recorded tracks. The artist also played a cover of Avril Lavigne’s complicated which was immediately loved by the crowd. He played a near perfect set with awesome covers, playing hits like ‘Ode To a Conversation in the Dark,’ ‘High Tops,’ ‘Perfume,’ and more.
Wet Leg
Wet Leg was a Lollapalooza treat. The band made its USA Festival debut on the Discord stage to a rather giant crowd. The post punk group hailing from Melbourne brought an amazing sound to the tightly-packed mid-day Lolla crowd. The duo of Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers made it look easy a top the stage playing crowd favorites like ‘Wet Dream’ and ‘Ur Mum,’ which they dedicated to bandmate Josh Mobaraki. The band has been quite busy over the years with wildly popular tours and Friday at Lollapalooza they proved why. This set catapulted Wet Leg into one of our favorite rising groups and was a highlight of our second day at Lollapalooza.
Cordae
Cordae took over the T-Mobile stage and in his set paid tribute to late Chicago rapper Juice Wrld at the beginning of his set. Cordae got his start opening for Juice Wrld and promised to not have a set without honoring the late rapper. His respect was paid via a performance of ‘Lucid Dreams.’ He played the fan favorites of ‘Have Mercy,’ and overall the entire set of Cordae was a highlight of Day two, especially with his touching tribute to Chicago’s own Juice Wrld.
King Princess
The festival stage became the perfect venue for the Lolla crowd to celebrate the release of King Princess’ highly-anticipated second album ‘Hold On Baby.‘ The 23-year-old singer songwriter stole the show on Friday. Her performance of ‘1950,’ was the most memorable of the performance of her set. It was an awesome experience to celebrate the newly-released album.
Glass Animals
Glass Animals was one of my most anticipated sets of the weekend and while it was a fun performance it did not quite live up to expectations. The band was well-loved at the T-Mobile stage. So much so that lead singer Dave Bayley shared the stats and that Chicago is their most listened to city. “This may be the biggest crowd we’ve ever played to,” Bayley shared, with a humongus smile on his face the entire set. Their set design was fun and had a floating basketball hoop, and hotel looking pool on the set. Bayley could be seen singing hits like ‘Heatwaves,’ ‘Gooey,’ and more on a literal diving board. Bayley is an incredible producer and the music of Glass Animals is very great and I love it. However, at least on the Lolla stage, it did not translate to being the best live performance.
Machine Gun Kelly
Machine Gun Kelly continues to be a dynamic live performer. Entering the stage to My Chemical Romance with an incredible pink studded leather jacket, and overall pop punk attitude he bore on stage was an incredible way to end night two. MGK took the fans on a journey including songs from his experience in rap with songs like ‘Floor 13’ and ‘el Diablo’ from his “Hotel Diablo” album. Despite the humongous festival crowd surrounding him at the main stage Kelly shared about the last time he was at Lollapalooza and slotted for a 1:30 PM slot and this engagment made the giant crowd feel a bit more intimate.
The artist also included a few collaborations with friends including bringing Iann Dior for ‘Fake Love Don’t Last’ and Glaive on ‘More Than Life,’ but perhaps the biggest highlight came from the unexpected appearance from Avril Lavigne on the Lollapalooza stage for a sing-along with MGK for their song ‘Bois Lie.’
Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa took over Grant Park with thousands of fans flocking to sing the English artists headline set on the second day of Lollapalooza. In her headline debut the artist shined, literally, her glittering jumpsuit was fabulous and fans erupted in cheers as she took the stage to ‘Physical’ from her 2020 album ‘Future Nostalgia.’ The song was very fitting for the nostalgic theme as she performed in the 1970’s glamour suit.
Lipa and her four-piece band as well as team of background dancers owned every bit of the Lollapalooza stage. Highlights of the night included “Love Again,” “Levitating” and Cold Heart” from her collaboration with Elton John, who appeared onscreen in a recorded video to perform his part.
Dua Lipa was quick to show appreciation for the headlining nod noting that this was her third time playing the festival playing slots at 2:00 pm on a small stage and now she has elevated to the main stage. Lipa also left a call for action for the Lolla crowd.
“Stand up for women’s rights, stand up against racial injustice, stand up for the LGBTQ community and stand up for each other,” she said.
