What is the purpose of Lollapalooza? It is not as fashionable as Coachella or as folksy as Bonnaroo. In an increasingly packed music festival season, does Lollapalooza remain viable? Last year, I questioned its purpose because of the weakness of its lineup with Eminem and Kings of Leon among the headliners. Eminem had just played the festival previously in 2011.
And it’s true, the lineups continue to remain relatively weak. This year’s festival included Florence + the Machine headlining on Saturday. Their presence felt neither necessary nor relevant. Although they put on an interesting show (that was eventually cut short to battle against the second storm of Sunday night), I questioned why bigger acts – from Kendrick Lamar to Nicki Minaj – couldn’t have made an appearance. With Metallica on Saturday night and Paul McCartney on Friday night, the festival organizers stuck to “safe”, non-diverse acts.
It feels like their choice of non-diverse, utterly safe headliners and performers pales in comparison to the earliest years of its reincarnation when Daft Punk made a rare US appearance after years away or even its original touring years in the early 90s which featured the likes of Siouxsie and the Banshees or the Jesus and Mary Chain.
But I no longer think that matters. The traditional summer music festival functions in a much different realm than something like Pitchfork Music Festival, which continues to thrive by focusing on its ability to “break” new artists. In contrast, Lollapalooza is there to fulfil a desire. They are “accessible” in many ways, occasionally diverse, and fuelled by the collective experience.
Friday’s headliner was the much-beloved Paul McCartney, who brought the family-friendly quotient up to its highest point in years. McCartney represents numerous things to audiences – a Beatle, a solo star, a Rihanna collaborator – and he made sure to hit on all of these areas during his two-hour set. McCartney gravitated from electric guitar to piano to acoustic guitar, giving proper due to his vast catalog (the audience was especially enamored of Maybe I’m Amazed) and even bringing Brittany Howard of the Alabama Shakes on stage.
Speaking of Howard, she literally brought the festival (or at least part of it) to a halt as the Shakes’ sound was cut off due to a technical difficulty. Luckily the situation was resolved within a couple of minutes and the group jumped right into Don’t Wanna Fight.
Gary Clark Jr’s smartly crafted songs and pensive energy, like the charmingly bratty Charli XCX, brought the actual rock back to a festival that began with the prime draws of the 90s alt rock scene. Although Clark’s music is more rooted in the sort of subversive Americana rock of Bruce Springsteen and Buddy Guy, he found a strong and devoted audience as the brutal heat of the day finally broke.
Scattered throughout Grant Park are a series of stages showcasing a little bit of everything – from trap and EDM to classic rock and electro-pop. If you attended this weekend, you would have heard the “brat pop” of Holy Child, the neo-soul of Lion Babe, and the avant R&B of FKA Twigs. You would have heard the garage rock of Bully or local favorites Twin Peaks. You would have even heard a group like Twenty One Pilots which incorporates pieces of indie pop, rap and rock into their strange, hybrid music. Another performer, BORNS, had fans swooning over his anthemic pop songs. In blistering heat on Sunday afternoon Zebra Katz jumped and danced around on stage, before descending into the audience where he personally hugged and played sweetly with the crowd.
Yes, Lollapalooza may be a crazy behemoth, but it is also a rare opportunity for many young artists. It is not every day that an up-and-coming musician gets the chance to potentially perform before hundreds of thousands of eyes and ears. “I love you,” he repeated at the end of his set, surrounded by audience members in the middle of a dusty grass field. The admiration and appreciation could be felt all around. The festival might not be the coolest one around, but its ability to capture welcome, loving moments between artists and fans and between fans and their friends, is important.
