A symphony of sound fills the air as different genres collide along the main stretch of road at Lollapalooza. Bodies shake, whether voluntarily or not, from heavy bass and groovy beats. The 33-year-old festival with its history of providing a space for alternative rock artists and all those on the outskirts of the mainstream continues to produce a stacked lineup to keep concert-goers entertained all day and long into the night.
Kaylee Finazzo and Evan Burkey, of Edwardsville, Ill., and Rachel and Julia Flatley, of Evanston, Ill., build a “Lolla Village” in the lawn near the BMI stage Friday afternoon. Lila Turner/Daily. Buy this photo.
Lollapalooza features eight total main stages and three additional smaller sponsored venues that host different artists on a continuous, rotating schedule.
Music has long been a source of unity and connection that reaches across cultures, ideologies and politics. Lollapalooza and music festivals like it exemplify the epitome of this unifying force, bringing together different genres and thus different demographics to all enjoy a whimsical soundscape with one another.
The festival format encourages fans to hear music from different genres and meet new people in the varying crowds. This year, the barricade of every band, from the smallest local groups to headliners, were consistently filled with die-hard fans while the fringes of the crowd filled in with concert-goers simply looking for a new song to queue for their ride back home. No matter what category they fell into, no one could resist the tapping their toe to the beat.
A festivalgoer offers up a rave sprout from the barricade during producer Mersiv’s set at Lollapalooza’s Perry’s stage Sunday afternoon. Lila Turner/Daily. Buy this photo.
Within crowds, fans interacted and traded contact information with newfound friends. In Chappell Roan’s crowd Thursday afternoon, Lacie Johnson took the opportunity to propose to her partner Asiah Curry, surrounded by a ring of Chappell Roan fans celebrating their love with the couple. At a time where gay rights to marriage are threatened, the crowd’s reaction to the union between Johnson and Curry was the perfect example of how love between two people should be received: with more love.
Attendee Lacie Johnson proposes to her girlfriend Asiah Curry in between songs during Chappell Roan’s set at the T-Mobile lawn. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
The Lollapalooza team also sought out ways to increase musical connection from artist to fans, with multiple stages being equipped with American Sign Language interpreters, hard-of-hearing seating and accessible viewing areas for people with mobility issues.
Outside of the fans, Lollapalooza could not happen without its many talented artists. The Michigan Daily’s Managing Photo Editors sat down with some artists from Lollapalooza and chatted with them about the power of performing at the iconic festival, and their connection with their fanbases.
Hayes Warner
Hayes Warner is a rising pop artist from New York City who brought an energetic performance to the BMI stage Saturday afternoon. This performance marks her first return to Chicago since graduating from Northwestern — an emotion-filled and exciting move for the up-and-coming artist who also debuted her newest single, “Predator,” and previewed yet-to-be-released music on the Lollapalooza stage.
“I love artists that just go crazy on stage,” Warner said. “I just love badass women who have extreme energy on stage.”
She listed off a few of those women — Hayley Williams, Blondie and Joan Jett among them. Warner is well on her way to joining those acclaimed “badass women” as she writes music for and about women supporting women — not to mention her incredibly strong stage presence. With songs like her reimagined version of “Just A Girl” with Billy B and Kevin Rudolf and “Predator,” Warner offers up anthems for female empowerment.
Warner saw that message reflected in the crowd as she performed. “I just feel like there is so much support coming from the audience,” she said. “I love getting down into the audience and connecting with other women.” Being a part of Warner’s crowd felt like taking a step into the Barbie movie, with strong feminine energy and the ever-present bond of girlhood.
“A lot of my next EP is about my relationship with other women,” Warner said. “And so it’s awesome to see girls in the audience supporting and honestly making friends while I’m performing.”
Hayes Warner gives a strong dynamic performance at the BMI stage Saturday morning. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
“It’s all about crowd engagement for me, “Warner said. “If there were enough people, I would literally toss my body into the audience and crowd surf.”
“It’s all about talking to people after the show” she continued. “Connecting with people and keeping in touch with them — that’s my favorite part about touring and doing shows.”
Happy Landing
A folksy band with music fitting for long mountain drives graced the Bacardi stage Sunday morning. Formed in the fall of 2020 in the middle of online classes at Ole Miss, Happy Landing came together to help lead singer and guitarist Matty Hendley bring his songs to a live stage. The group is made up of Hendley; bassist, pianist, and lead-singer Keegan Lyle Christensen; bassist, electric guitar player and vocalist Wilson Moyer; drummer Jacob Christensen; and fiddler, mandolinist and backup vocalist Andrew Gardner.
The band said their experience thus far playing Lollapalooza has been “Overwhelming, humbling, and inspiring. To be at such an iconic festival so early on in our careers is such an honor.”
When the band first visited Chicago while on tour two years prior, they biked through Grant Park as Lollapalooza 2022 was being taken down. They made a declaration among themselves on that trip.
“We were going to play this festival someday. At the time it felt like such a far-fetched dream, but here we are now, adding another special Chicago stop to our adventure book.”
The band shared about how they were approaching the crowd energy at a large venue like Lollapalooza compared to their typical concert hall.
“’At any festival, there’s always this sense that you need to prove yourself to the audience, to earn the right to be listened to,’ they said. ‘We always have a good group of fans in the crowd, but it’s those people lingering around the back that we want to bring in and try to give a good show to as well. Everyone we’ve met here at Lolla cares so much about this festival and we hope we can do the stage justice for their sake.’”
The band certainly lived up to their name in performance, with a happy and playful atmosphere that filled the stage as the band members built off of one another’s energy. Gardner hopped down to one of the speakers in front of the stage for his fiddle solo. Hendley appeared smiling behind him on stage, backing Gardner’s frantic notes with relaxed guitar strums. As they continue to blast off in popularity, each touchdown to stage for the band promises to be a Happy Landing.
Ruel
This was Ruel’s first Lollapalooza and it blew out his expectations.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “It’s been more than I thought (it would be) … I’ve seen photos of it and artists playing … It’s always kind of blown my mind.”
Ruel is a singer-songwriter from Sydney, Australia who created his first demo at age 12 that led to worldwide dates performing for record labels. Writing music and performing is nothing new to him and as he’s shared his music with the world, people have come to listen.
“I’m really really lucky to have a spread fan base all over the world,” he said. “From when I was young, I’ve really tried to put the work in, (so) wherever there was even a little bit of love I’ve really tried to reciprocate it.”
Even an entire ocean away from home, Ruel’s barricade at Lollapalooza was full of screaming fans that wildly waved cut-out signs of his face.
Fans line the barricade clutch onto Ruel memorabilia as they await his performance. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to this point with my fans where it doesn’t even feel like fans, it feels like a bunch of people that know me really well and I try to know them back.” Midway through his performance, the singer jumped offstage and ventured to the barricade, leaning himself as far into the crowd as possible to become closer with his fans.
“I love playing shows and I really love meeting fans after shows, backstage or when I’m leaving and there’s people outside,” he said about connecting with people through his music.
Ruel puts on a dynamic show on IHG stage Friday afternoon. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
He emphasized his love to connect in person: “it’s hard to connect over social media for me so when I see people in real time it’s amazing. I love playing shows and I really love meeting fans after shows, backstage or when I’m leaving and there’s people outside … when I can especially talk to people and understand who (they) are” he said.
As for his songwriting itself, Ruel is currently writing his second album. “I try to go into my life and every single moment and just exaggerate the hell out of it … you know, write a break up song about stubbing my toe.”
Blondshell
Sabrina Teitelbaum, known by the stage moniker Blondshell, is an indie rock artist hailing from Los Angeles, California. She debuted in 2022, and over the past year her song “Salad” blew up on Tiktok, garnering her an extensive following.
Blondshell’s inspiration stems from “mostly just people … and anything that feels really intense,” which is very clear in her heavy lyrics and emotionally weighted songs. However, despite her darker subject matters, the songs still managed to act as an emotional buoy, lifting her fans up from the fear that they were going through this alone.
When asked about her famous line, “it doesn’t happen to women I know, I put it in a box in a TV show,” and the song “Salad” as a whole, Blondshell shared how she would like her fans to receive it.
“The most important thing is friends sending it to friends … like ‘I feel something from this and I think you will too.’”
Blondshell sings passionately during her set at the Bacardi stage Thursday morning. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
“I think it’s easy when you’re performing to be in your head about stuff … but I think I feel a lot more connected to people if I’m just present,” Blondshell said about staying connected with her fans while performing on stage.
On Blondshell’s Spotify bio, she keeps it simple: “You wouldn’t sing about getting saved if you didn’t think things could actually get better.” Blondshell shared an elaboration on what she meant by that.
”There’s a lot of heaviness on the album, and there’s not a ton of hope and joy to be honest … but I think if I didn’t feel any hope or any joy, I wouldn’t talk about it. We only complain about stuff or write songs about stuff because we still have hope that there’s a possibility of figuring it out.”
Post Sex Nachos
Post Sex Nachos squares up in the Lollapalooza media area for a round of ping pong. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
A unique band name with a unique sound and an even more unique blend of people. Post Sex Nachos features Mitch Broddon on lead guitar, Sammy Elfanbaum on rhythm guitar, Kevin Jerez on keyboards, Chase Mueller on bass and Hunter Pendleton on drums. The group formed to fill a void of live music that existed in their college town of Columbia, Missouri. When asked about their band name, they immediately jumped into a bantering bit, volleying lines off of one another at a rapid fire pace.
The Daily: “So I’ve got to ask, what’s with the name?”
Elfanbaum: “I really wish we could tell you, but we are legally obligated not to.”
Pendleton: “It’s a blood pact.”
Jerez: “A blood pact in the form of an NDA.”
Mueller: “It’s notarized. Wax seal, y’know.”
Broddon: “What’s more important is that it’s magically binding.”
Jerez: “A curse.”
Pendleton: “The laws of man nor God can break it.”
It was clear from the get-go that this was not just a band, but also a tight-knit group of friends woven together through melodies.
Left: Lead singer Sammy Elfanbaum gives a passionate performance with Post Sex Nachos. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
Right: Bassist Chase Mueller jams out during Post Sex Nachos’ set Sunday afternoon. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
With their highly diverse array of musical backgrounds, it’s a wonder that Post Sex Nachos continually produces cohesive, dance-inducing tunes. Jerez explained their writing process.
“Our influences do overlap in really strange ways … and I think it helps writing go much faster … they spin together in a nice cosmic gumbo.”
Across their different musical origin stories, the common thread is a love for music itself, as well as sharing it with others. The joyful attitude of these bandmates was palpable during Post Sex Nachos’ set at Lollapalooza as an indescribable connection transpired between the musicians and their dancing fans.
Post Sex Nachos keyboardist Kevin Jerez jams out at the Bacardi stage Sunday afternoon.
The band put a heavy emphasis on creating a connection with their fanbase; their original groupies were their best friends in red-solo-cup-filled basements. Over time the band has grown and their fanbase expanded.
Broddon: “We yearn to be close with those people because we appreciate the support.”
Mueller: “We sell our own merch every time because that’s the best way to meet people … It’s our most effective way to say thank you.”
Broddon: “This might be the only show where we haven’t sold our own merch … and it’s because they wouldn’t let us!”
The 5-piece still managed, however, to connect to their fans through their performance. Collective sways and head bobs to the beat showed that at the end of the day we’re not so different, and we can all enjoy Post Sex Nachos. The band that is.
Fans line the barricade at Post Sex Nachos’ performance and sing along to their songs. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
A sweet melody in the rustling of tree leaves, percussion in the clacking of shoes walking across pavement, layered harmonies in laughter between friends. Without music, car rides would drag on, commercials would lack the oomph that truly sells their product and our society would be missing a core pillar of connection. At Lollapalooza, travelers are able to come together and experience unity through the power of music. In an ever-polarizing world, it is essential to find these tethers between us that break through the many barriers we build. As the final fireworks of the festival went off while Lollapalooza patrons headed to their respective homes, every pedestrian turned their eyes to the booming bursts of color showering the sky, uniting us all one last time.
Attendees walking past Buckingham Fountain pause to take a quick picture at the inflatable “Lollapalooza” sign. Grace Lahti/Daily. Buy this photo.
Managing Photo Editors Grace Lahti and Lila Turner can be reached at glahti@umich.edu and lilajt@umich.edu.
The post Photo Essay: Lollapalooza: A beacon of unity appeared first on The Michigan Daily.
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