Saturday Lollapalooza Recap

By: Dennis M. Kelly – Tommorow x Together photo by Taylor Regulski for Lollapalooza

Award-winning Choreographer, Director and Performing Artist, Charm La’Donna set the Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage on fire with blazing footwork by four dancers in baseball jerseys that drew me closer and closer to the stage, it was truly remarkable the work they did. The L.A. based artist then took over with her own crew of four dancers keeping the heat coming while performing songs like ‘Be Like That’ and ‘Palm Trees’. Charm La’Donna is another great example of how she should have either been scheduled later in the day or more people need to get their butts to Lollapalooza a lot earlier to appreciate the quality artists that Lollapalooza offers all day long.

And on that note, Liverpool’s, Crawlers received a great welcome to Lollapalooza by playing the Bud Light Seltzer stage, (only one of the two best stages at the festival), so you can’t go wrong with that, right? Opening up the set with ‘Monroe’ and ‘Statues’ off of the 2021 Crawlers EP, Holly kept the crowd hyped while Amy, Live and Harry laid the solid musical foundation that kept the crowd moving along to their great alternative rock beats.

Having Recently signed to Interscope, the band has been experiencing tremendous success with their single releases and have gained a great following globally as a result. Their latest single, ‘Fuck Me (I Didn’t know How To Say)’ has already surpassed ‘I Can’t Drive’ and ‘Placebo’ in Spotify listens and it is no surprise at all how their fans just cannot get enough of Crawlers’ music.

The Crawlers treated Chicago to an unreleased song, entitled ‘Feminist Radical’ and the audience loved it! There was no mention on when it will be released, but that is how you do it, give the fans something to look forward to, and they sure did.!

I didn’t plan it this way actually, but do you know what band is great to follow the Crawlers up with? Meet Me @ The Alter! They kept the great hard punk rocking vibe going on the BMI stage that now has a backing to the stage that blocks out the backlighting so you can see the performers better than in previous years. They played a great mix of their hits, like ‘Beyond My Control’ & ‘Hit Like A Girl’ while introducing the audience to some new songs too like ‘Give It Up’ and this one is, in fact, one of Edith’s favorites and it held true to their other material and was a great rocking song on top of it.

Meet Me @ The Alter have an unusual origin, but perhaps it is not as unusual these days as one would think. Each lived in different states, (Florida, Georgia and New Jersey) and met online making music through YouTube and was later signed by Fueled by Ramen in 2020 and the rest, as they say, is history.

Tucked back in the serene and cozy surroundings at the BMI stage, was a very special guest, and that guest was Chicago’s own, SHURE who was presenting some of their products like the PSM In-Ear Personal Monitoring System and the Axient Digital Wireless which was available at each stage for artists to use.

Senior Market Development Specialist in Pro Audio, Jason Waufle had this to say, “It was a joy to attend Lollapalooza, right in our own backyard of Chicago. We’re proud that so many of this year’s innovative artists and RF coordination / production teams were relying on Shure gear to ensure the best experience for their audiences. It was an unforgettable lineup and event. We can’t wait to see everyone again next year.”

For more information about Shure products, please visit, https://www.shure.com/en-US.

After some interviews and dinner, Wallows hit the T-Mobile stage, opening the set with the great rocking song, ‘I Don’t Want To Talk’ off of their 2022 album, ‘Tell Me That It’s Over’ which was produced by 3x GRAMMY® Award-winner Ariel Rechtshaid. The crowds all over the festival were already at higher (weekend) capacity and a great sea of fans could be seen going all the way back to the Coinbase stage, perhaps further.

A couple highlights from their set were the songs, ‘OK’ and ‘Remember When’, but of course, they kept the crowd very happy for the whole set, so, it really was a great show overall.

Last band for the evening was South Korean, Tomorrow X Together, surprisingly on the Solana X Perry’s stage. I say surprisingly because the stage is usually dedicated to DJs, so it was nice to see a full band here. Another great thing to see this year was more representation for South Korean artists which includes J-Hope on the Bud Light Seltzer stage and American-Korean rapper, Aurdrey Nuna on the Coinbase stage. Keep it up Lollapalooza!

Tomorrow X Together surprised the audience with special guest, Iann Dior who sang ‘Valley Of Lies’ with them on stage. The crowd was so excited for their whole set though and they promise to return again next year, but for now, all they have on their tour page are dates in Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

All in all, another great day at Lollapalooza and one more day to go!!