Lolla-Day-Twooza

Day Two at Lollapalooza in Chicago

After eight hours at Lolla on day one we felt like we were experts going into day 2. We hit the red line and made it to Grant Park to battle the heat and crowds for another memorable day. Using day 1 to get the lay of the land paying off as we knew just where to go to catch our must see. The first act up was Tulsa based Wilderado. This Indie rock band was new to us, but we quickly became fans as they played an impressive set of music from their catalog. Looks like I am going to have to catch them on tour soon. 

A delightful surprise was Tiny Habits on the highly underrated BMI stage. This stage not only has great shade, but also some of the best up and comer singer songwriters. A folk pop trio from Berklee College of Music, the ensemble formed just two years ago singing and recording cover songs in the stairwell of their dorm. They were very aware of how crazy it was for them to now be performing at Lollapalooza. Though they were on one of the smaller side stages it would still be the largest crowd they have ever performed in front of. Their melodic voices and enthusiasm shined in their performance. 

They were even able to overcome a slight hiccup when a member of the crowd needed medical attention, and they stopped the show to make sure someone could come and assist. They picked up right from the chorus and impressed the crowd with their heart and talent. Expect to hear more from them in the coming years. 

A short walk brought us to a vastly different scene as Sexyy Red performed at the Bud Light main stage. We caught her just in time to her doing a “cover” of Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus. I put “cover” in quotes because she played the Miley song and tried to sing along to the track with the crowd. Sexyy had the large crowd in the palm of her hands but after a few tracks we were ready for some bevy’s new finds. 

Our quest for something interesting came quickly as we happily stumbled upon the talented Victoria Monet and The National Parks who both put on a great show. We then caught a few minutes of McKenna Grace a young up and coming singer who might be most well known for her acting roles in The Handmaid’s Tale, Young Sheldon and the new Ghostbusters franchise. McKenna just recently turned 18 and seems like being a pop rock star is in her future. 

SZA was the big headliner on Day 2. We had already seen SZA in Tampa and at Camp Flog Gnaw in LA last year so we decided that no middle-aged white guy should see SZA three times, so we opted for an EDM fav, Zedd. So glad we did as this show was the talk of the night and the festival. Zedd who was born in Germany might be best known for some of his collaborations with Alessia Cara, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande. He had the crowd jumping with hard hitting beats and lights but the piece de resistance was an epic drone show flying high among the Windy City skyline. 

Being a hard rock fan I had to break away for a few minutes to check out In This Moment at the neighboring Bacardi stage. I had never seen them and if I am being honest, I was afraid to. They had come through Orlando with Ice Nine Kills and all the clips I had seen were too intense. I was there for the opening few songs and damn was I glad I stayed as this group kicked ass! Led by lead singer Maria Brink who comes out on stages with a white flowing gown and hood perched on an alter with smoke and flames. It was like a scene out of a Stanley Kubrick horror movie with a great soundtrack. If they make it to a town near you, throw on some black and rock it out! Knowing the crowds would be making a mass exodus, I slipped out the back and made it back to Zedd for the finale. If you ask the teenagers what their fav part of the day was, Zedd was an easy first, but our overly packed red line train turned karaoke was a close second. Two days in the books, two more to go!