Lollapalooza Day 2: Light sticks are out for K-pop group Stray Kids, though some miss the rock
Lollapalooza was sold out for its second day, as crowds filled Grant Park to see Friday’s headliners, the South Korean boy band Stray Kids and singer-songwriter and R&B artist SZA.
Although early attendance couldn’t rival the opening-day crush for Chappell Roan on Thursday, a crowd had formed by noon at the T-Mobile main stage, with attendees sitting in the front with portable fans. The sun was out and the heat climbed into the 80s, but at least on Friday the air moved with an occasional breeze.
Across the way at the IHG stage, fans were ready to go for Daniel Seavey’s early set.
Samantha Dodd, 22, said she was excited to see the singer, also known for the music group Why Don’t We, but later in the day her favorites were coming out — Reneé Rapp and Stray Kids.
“Stray Kids is the new up-and-coming (K-pop band),” Dodd said. “They’re big. They have everybody and their mom watching them.”
Dodd, from Columbia, Missouri, said she started listening to K-pop when her cousin introduced her to it. Last year, she came to Lollapalooza to see Tomorrow X Together.
David Stalnaker and his wife said they have been attending Lollapalooza for years.
“We went to some of the original ones in the early ’90s, when they were touring companies,” Stalnaker, 59, said. This is their sixth Lollapalooza.
Stalnaker, who’s from St. Louis, said there were a lot more artists he didn’t know this year. Nevertheless, he’s excited to see newer music like Laufey and Wilderado, as well as old favorites later this weekend, like Two Door Cinema Club and Sunday headliner Blink-182.
“Typically, somebody will put together a Spotify playlist of all the bands,” Stalnaker said. “I just kind of sit and listen to them and figure out what sounds interesting and go from there. It’s kind of a dip your toe into everything.”
On the north side of the festival, the buzz was all about Stray Kids, with a crowd camped out in front of the Bud Light stage. Daily capacity inside the Lolla fences is 115,000 for 2024, an increase of 15,000 since a contract extension was signed with the city after 2022’s event. A spokesperson for Lollapalooza organizer C3 Presents, a division of Live Nation, confirmed Thursday that all four days for 2024 are officially sold out.
Andi Kessler, 34, said she had been meaning to make the short trip from her home in northwest Indiana to Lollapalooza for years but Stray Kids’ headlining spot was the push she needed to make the trip.
“The best thing about them is that all their music is produced within the group,” Kessler said. “Which is kind of unique in K-pop — they usually have teams with their company. But they write all their own stuff.”
She’s also excited for IVE, a K-pop girl group performing Saturday.
Kessler pointed out light sticks and photo cards, saying that’s how you can spot the Stray Kids crowd. “People bring them to trade,” she explained about the photo cards, which operate like baseball trading cards. “It’s a really welcoming community and fan group.”
Lollapalooza founder Perry Farrell spoke with the Tribune late Thursday just before Megan Thee Stallion’s headlining concert. He said he still keeps a hand in the festival as a creative voice. “Though not as much as I used to be,” he said. “I dream. I think about how we can utilize what we started.”
Lollapalooza was created in 1991 as a tour for Farrell’s band Jane’s Addiction; it toured annually until 1997, was revived in 2003 and then was recast as a Chicago-only festival in 2005.
Though others chose most of the artist lineup for 2024, “every year I’ve got a few good tasty picks,” Farrell said, including Laufey, performing Friday evening with the Chicago Philharmonic, as well as the Thursday acts Last Dinner Party and Blondshell. (Blondshell recorded a cover of his hit song “Jane Says” “that just warms my heart,” he said.)
Some have asked why Roan wasn’t a day-capping headliner Thursday, but that’s the speed at which music moves now, Farrell said. Roan went from an Olivia Rodrigo opener to a Spotify chart-topper in a matter of months. “That happened so fast,” he said. “It’s all because of the internet that that happened so fast.”
It’s all very different from from Jane’s Addiction’s heyday at the start of what came to be called alternative rock. Does it seem as strange to him as it does to other Gen Xers that alternative music is now considered nostalgic music?
It does, he laughs, but the spirit of what was alternative is still alive now. “The term ‘alternative,’ I’m very proud of it,” he said. “My ears prick up when I hear it. It means we’re not asleep.” He said he loves how accepting younger music fans are now, referencing the crowd for Roan. “We’re all so open with each other.”
On Friday afternoon, in a north-side tent shared with two other nonprofits, Our Music My Body — a group dedicated to consent education and sexual harassment prevention at music festivals across the country — handed out free fentanyl test strips, condoms and sanitary products to festivalgoers.
“We’re really just making sure that people are consenting at music venues and they’re also feeling safe in music venues,” said volunteer Alexandra Burrell. “We come to Lolla every year.”
Nearby, 67-year-old Chicago resident Sharon Foudray was passing out wristbands for suicide prevention nonprofit Hope for the Day.
Foudray said she has attended Lollapalooza around seven times. Her first time at the festival was back in 1992 in Tinley Park, when Lollapalooza was still a traveling tour.
The festival has changed a lot over the years, Foudray said. “It’s better grounds, much more variety in one spot,” she said.
Matt and Stephanie Couch, from Houston, last went to Lollapalooza 11 years ago. They’re back with their three children, ages 7, 11, and 14, and said the fun hasn’t diminished — but the number of rock acts has.
“We grew up in the grunge era, the ’90s, when (Lollapalooza) was a rock festival, and now it’s a lot of alternative, pop, rap,” said Matt Couch, who was wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt. “It’s different. But more rock bands would be great.”
The festival had something for everyone, the family noted.
Their 14-year-old daughter had pushed up to the barricade the previous night for Megan Thee Stallion, while their 7-year-old daughter had spent the day earning a pin at Kidzapalooza, the family-friendly section of the festival.
The family had struggled, however, with what they called “dangerous” long lines at the festival’s hydration stations, which left attendees waiting extended stretches for water on the humid 82-degree day.
In the half-hour before Sexyy Red’s 4:45 p.m. performance, a continuous flow of hundreds of people headed towards the Bud Light Stage, pushing toward the barricades.
Erica Barker, who just moved to Chicago for school, sat on the grass with three friends as the crowds filed in behind them. She said she expected a “high energy” set from Red with lots of dancing. The 26-year-old rapper from St. Louis had a breakout single last year with “Pound Town,” and this year’s “Get It Sexyy” reached Billboard’s top 20.
“There’s been a ton of people who have been waiting for a while,” Valerie Jones-Mohr said.
Late in the day, an audience sat in the grass surrounding the Budlight stage and breathed a collective sigh of relief to the jazz melodies of Laufey. In a break from Lollapalooza’s typical range of genres, thousands also cheered the Chicago Philharmonic’s accompanying orchestration.
“I grew up playing classical music, and I never ever thought that I’d be able to do this, especially at a festival like Lolla,” Laufey said to the crowd.
Midway through her set, Laufey took a seat, joining the Philharmonic and plucking away on a cello during “I Wish You Love.” Later, she brought Raye, who performed earlier in the day, onstage to sing “It Could Happen to You” with her.
“I’ve never gotten to see a full orchestra play before,” said Kacy Cartwright, 23, from Orlando, Florida, who said Laufey was the artist she was most excited to see. “When would you ever see this at a music festival? This kind of crowd where people are singing, but it’s quiet and everyone is being very respectful. It’s special that Lolla allowed her this space.”
This story has been updated to add coverage of Laufey.
