CHICAGO, IL – JULY 31: Recording artist James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem performs on the Samsung Stage at Lollapalooza 2016 – Day 4 at Grant Park on July 31, 2016 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Samsung)
After millions of people flooded into Chicago’s Grant Park for the fourth and final day of Lollapalooza, they were treated to some pretty good performances from Halsey, Snakehips, HAIM, Vince Staples and LCD Soundsystem. If you don’t have the equipment for your sound system you can get audio visual equipment here. A day that definitely tested the endurance and resolve of a lot of the over 23-year-old’s that attended the festival, roaming the Grant Park grounds for the whole day and making it to the fourth and final day for the first time in the festival’s storied history. With the festival adding the final day to celebrate Lolla’s 25th year anniversary and something they said they will keep now going forward.
Clear skies and mostly agreeable weather were a very welcome sight too, for what at first appeared to be a rain-filled weekend. As the first two days of the festival were filled with rain and several warnings about possible thunderstorms, though luckily for Lolla-goers none of them dampened it enough to cancel or delay any of the performances. Everything actually ended up luckily clearing up by Friday evening and going into Saturday morning at the midway point for all of the festival-goers and it ended up being pleasant weather the rest of the weekend.
While the festival’s first time as a four-day event, drew some pretty good performances on Sunday’s final day of the fest with strong sets from the likes of HAIM’s, Vince Staples and LCD Soundsystem, they were nothing like the lineup from Saturday. Which drew by far the best performances of the whole four-day weekend.
Sunday afternoon, Pop sensation Halsey proved that Lollapalooza is one of the few festivals where you could always make such a big transition from one year to the next, by playing the smallest stage last year at her first ever Lolla performance. To a year later, playing in front of one of the largest afternoon crowds on the biggest stage. While her performance itself wasn’t one of the best of the whole festival, it was still pretty solid and proved that she is a presence to be reckoned with her explosive stage presence and enchanting vocals. Her commanding stage presence with her performance of her hits, New Americana and Hurricane, also brought about one of the more polished and energy packed sets of the whole festival too. In the typical brash fashion of the 21-year-old singer, she didn’t shy away from the heaviness of current events either. Offering, “There’s a lot of shit going on right now. Shit that makes it hard for me to get on stage in a pair of pink shorts and sing these silly songs. Whatever your race, sexuality, class, faith, I hope you’re proud. Diversity in you guys is what makes music possible.” Indeed it is and why she wasn’t the only one to point out about the diversity in the crowd over the whole four-day weekend, with headliner J. Cole on that very same Samsung Stage, offering the same similar words during his set on Thursday to open the festival. It’s why festivals like Lollapalooza are not only able to happen and exist, but do so well and bring in such great revenue and profits for the cities they are being played at when they do happen.
U.K. Electronic duo Snakehips had a pretty solid set on the Pepsi stage, which was one of the more soothing and entertaining dance parties of the whole weekend and came at the perfect timing. As the evening was just starting, but the whole weekend and festival just beginning to wrap up. Easing the crowd into their silky, dreamy beats and remixes of several cuts, while also featuring songs like Soulja Boy’s Crank That in full. The duo naturally wrapped up their time with what they called “their favorite song right now.” Which of course is their own hit collaboration, All My Friends, with Tinashe and Chance the Rapper. While several fans in the crowd sang emphatically along, hoping that both Tinashe and Chance would eventually both come out to help sing and rap their chorus and verses, sadly neither did. Which I think left the crowd somewhat disappointed and sadly earning for more, as being in Chicago and already making appearances two of the first three days at the festival, several people would think that Chance would appear again at least one last time for this set for the final day. No luck in that happening though.
HAIM’s performance on the Bud Light stage in one of the prime slots to close the festival was by far one of the best of the whole four-day weekend and I wasn’t even able to catch but the last 30 minutes or so of their set. Which is when the sisters went into their very remarkable cover of the late Prince’s I Would Die 4 U, that sounded so sublime and perfect, that it’s what truly performance to a whole other level. With the band going on to play two new songs from their upcoming sophomore album and the second song really letting Danielle showcase the strength of her guitar-playing. They closed out their performance with an impromptu, spectacular all-out jam session on the drums for their finale too. Which actually started off a little bit shaky before they got in their groove and then stayed there. Two minutes longer than they were actually supposed to be, but with how great and stellar their performance, the crowd welcomed the extra time and I’m sure would have enjoyed even more. This definitely wouldn’t be the last time you see these girls on a Lollapalooza stage and they can only go up from here. So don’t be surprised to see them on one of the headlining stages in the future.
I got to admit, I’m not one of the hugest or would even really consider myself a fan of Vince Staples, but after hearing how great of a performance he had to close the final day of Lollapalooza from several of my peers, I kind of really wished like I had planned on doing that I would have checked his set out. His set is one of the few I wanted to see over the weekend and didn’t get to that I may regret not being able to see the most, after how great it was.
LCD Soundsystem’s close to the festival was pretty dang good though and the perfect way to close out all of Lollapalooza, as well as the final day of July. Though their Samsung Stage headlining set didn’t pull in even the biggest for the stage that day, let alone for all of the headliners to end the festival, it was by far the best performance of the final day. Especially with how great of a dance party it produced in the crowd, that had people dancing with complete strangers and so full of energy, you would have thought that they got an extra boost of energy. Something you wouldn’t think for especially with a lot of the crowd that had just been their all four days of the festival. That’s when you know you have something good going and are the perfect way to end such a spectacular and great 25th Anniversary of Lollapalooza, that is now one for the history books.