{"id":31737,"date":"2022-08-01T02:47:08","date_gmt":"2022-08-01T02:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lollapalooza-comes-to-a-close-with-a-big-day-for-j-hope\/"},"modified":"2022-08-01T02:47:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T02:47:08","slug":"lollapalooza-comes-to-a-close-with-a-big-day-for-j-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/lollapalooza-comes-to-a-close-with-a-big-day-for-j-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Lollapalooza comes to a close with a big day for J-Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lollapalooza came to a close Sunday in Grant Park with a lineup that included Chicago acts Horsegirl and Beach Bunny and end-of-the night boldface names Green Day and J-Hope \u2014 the latter the first K-pop headliner of a major American music festival . It also ended with Mayor Lori Lightfoot announcing from stage that contract talks with the city had been resolved, with Lolla to remain on the lakefront for another decade.<\/p>\n

Overall, the four days of Chicago’s biggest music fest were both eventful, with wish-you-could-have seen-them main stage sets by Metallica and Dua Lipa, and less so for 2022. Despite high rates of COVID-19 locally, Lollapalooza did not require masking or vaccination for entry, following the lead of the Chicago and Illinois departments of public health.<\/p>\n

All weekend long, an announcement had been anticipated with an agreement between Chicago and Texas-based C3 Presents, a division of Live Nation. The Tribune reported that the city’s amusement tax had been central to negotiations.<\/p>\n

Sunday night, fest founder Perry Farrell took the Bud Light Seltzer stage before J-Hope to say he was proud the Lollapalooza was back in the park. He then introduced Lightfoot, who greeted the audience with a very rockstar \u201cHello Chicago!\u201d<\/p>\n

She then announced that \u201cby decree,\u201d Lollapalooza’s contract would continue: \u201cFor ten! More! Years!\u201d She unfurled banner with 2032 inscribed at the bottom.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, Jim Wright was with a group of Chicagoans watching Horsegirl on the north end of Grant Park, standing on asphalt at the Tito’s stage. They had heard about the young Chicago band but hadn’t seen them live before. \u201cIt would be exciting,\u201d he said, \u201cto see them later in a smaller venue\u201d \u2014 with more intimacy and less baking sun overhead.<\/p>\n

Lollapalooza had a total impact on the Chicago economy of $305.1 million last year, according to a study by research company AngelouEconomics that was commissioned by C3. It also paid $7.8 million in rent and fees in 2021 to the Chicago Park District, and \u201cdirectly and indirectly employed 16,804 workers,\u201d stated the report.<\/p>\n

According to attendance figures provided Sunday, Lollapalooza did not sell out Thursday but did on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a capacity crowd of 100,000 attendees.<\/p>\n

With Chicago’s skyline beaming behind the Bud Light Stage, rapper Erika Banks had the crowd roaring. Festivalgoers cheered as Banks had fun alongside her audience: \u201cI’m gonna be honest with y’all, I’m turnin’ up with y’all so hard that my wig is about to lift off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans entered the crowd already dancing as Banks asked whether or not she could \u201cbring girls onstage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes you can, this is an Erica Banks show,\u201d a male voice declared on the stage. The rapper scouted out a line of girls who were brought onto the stage to dance with her for her final song \u2014 \u201cBuss it,\u201d a strip club anthem that fueled several TikTok trends after its release.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever my girls come onstage, I need the crowd to encourage them. So I need the crowd to yell, throw that (expletive),\u201d Banks yelled. The crowd cheered Banks and her impromptu background dancers for a song that began with a sample of Nelly’s \u201cHot in Herre.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the CoinBase stage, R&B singer and rapper Audrey Nuna had the crowd swaying side to side in unison to the song \u201cmolars.\u201d Nuna said, \u201cI have a tattoo of a tooth on my leg so I wrote this next song about teeth and feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nuna followed with a performance of singles \u201cSouffle\u201d and \u201cBlossom,\u201d ending the latter song by exclaiming, \u201cShoutout to my grandma for being on this song with me.\u201d At the end of \u201cBlossom,\u201d Nuna’s grandmother’s voice can be heard speaking in Korean \u2014 Nuna has previously stated that her work is inspired by her grandmother.<\/p>\n

Despite never having heard Nuna’s music, Bianca Lopez, who was attending Lollapalooza for the first time since the pandemic, said she could call herself a fan by the end of the set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was here with my friends who came here kind of early because they wanted to camp out (before J-Hope). It goes to show that the audience does like diverse artists and I think we should diversify Lolla a little bit more, like more Latino artists, more Asian artists,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n

Manuel Osario, who attended Nuna’s performance with Lopez, noted a less chaotic Lollapalooza experience this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s definitely a lot more of a chill vibe this year. I feel like pre-pandemic, it was pretty hectic in terms of the amount of people and just how the interactions were on stages. I just remember a few years ago when 21 Savage came we were not even right at the front and it was like, the amount of people you couldn’t even breathe. And I feel like now it’s a little bit more like people give you your space unless you’re right at the front.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Festivalgoers watch Italian band Maneskin perform on the final day of Lollapalooza. <\/span>(Erin Hooley \/ Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

That said, on Saturday surging fans in front of stages interrupted sets from both Chicago rapper Lil Durk and Big Sean. Both the artists and managers at the Solana x Perry’s and T-Mobile stages, respectively, took steps to have crowds step back and make room as security pulled out those in distress.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don’t want nobody passing out. We don’t want no deaths,\u201d Sean said. \u201cWe want this here to be 100% safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The attention to audience safety comes after a tragedy at the Astroworld music festival in Houston last year, when 10 fans died in an overpacked crowd to see rapper Travis Scott.<\/p>\n

Also, Lil Durk reported on social media<\/a> that he was injured by pyrotechnics during his set; videos show him holding his shirt to his face after stage explosions apparently went off in front of him. He later posted photos of his eye bandaged. \u201cDue to the incident that happened at Lollapalooza in Chicago on stage, I’ma take a break & focus on my health,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Security has been another Lollapalooza topic, with the festival coming less than a month after the Fourth of July mass shooting in Highland Park. Police have been a constant, if mostly background, presence inside the fence and out (since 2021, the city’s Office of Emergency Management has not released figures about arrests or medical transports until after the festival). Along with uniformed police walking and biking the grounds, there have been officers on Polaris vehicles patrolling in camouflage, badged as FBI and Counter-Terrorism teams. Though not authorized to speak on the record, an officer told the Tribune they’d been at Lollapalooza in past years as well.<\/p>\n

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Festivalgoers watch Italian band Maneskin perform on the final day of Lollapalooza. <\/span>(Erin Hooley \/ Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Tribune has learned anecdotally of multiple instances of pickpocketing at the festival. Luke Laurence, a student at the University of Chicago at Lollapalooza to help report for the Chicago Maroon student newspaper, said his phone was taken from his pocket in a mosh pit for the 100 Gecs on Thursday before he realized what had happened. He knew of other people who had also lost phones.<\/p>\n

When he went to the Apple store in Lincoln Park for a replacement, the staff was well-versed to advise him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey told me, first go to AT&T to get a new SIM card, then come back,\u201d Laurence said. \u201cThey said, ‘We’ve been dealing with this all day.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Los Angeles indie band The Mar\u00edas were a major draw late in the afternoon on the Tito’s stage, opening with a sultry live take on \u201cCalling U Back\u201d from their 2021 album \u201cCinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our first Lollapalooza,\u201d said lead singer Mar\u00eda Zardoya to cheers. \u201cThis is my first time attending Lollapalooza. We’re the Marias, thank you so much!\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell was earlier on the T-Mobile mainstage with Porno for Pyros, delivering an electric set. Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan joined him as a guest; Farrell had joined Corgan for a benefit concert for Highland Park July 27 and the two have announced a joint tour starting this fall, with Farrell fronting his band Jane’s Addiction.<\/p>\n

Farrell apparently spilled the beans on Lightfoot’s announcement early this week, telling WGN-TV that a contract extension had been reached. Both C3 and the city subsequently walked back his disclosure.<\/p>\n

Also Sunday, Italian rock band M\u00e5neskin informed its T-Mobile audience that Lollapalooza was the band’s first time in Chicago: \u201cIt’s our first time here for us, I gotta say we (expletive) love this city \u2026 and weed is legal. \u2026 For us Italians, it’s a dream come true.\u201d At another point in their set, the band’s lead singer Damiano David declared that the band \u201cstands with Ukraine\u201d before performing their new single \u201cGasoline,\u201d which was written as a protest song in Ukraine’s honor.<\/p>\n

End of the weekend belonged to J-Hope and Green Day.<\/p>\n

After an unfortunate intro with a badly soiled rabbit as hype man, Green Day came out to thunderous applause to began with a full-bore \u201cAmerican Idiot,\u201d Billie Joe Armstrong dressed in a Metro T-shirt.<\/p>\n

Clarification: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Erica Banks’ name. <\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n