Saturday in the Park – Day 3 at Lollapalooza 

 After 18 hours of Lolla on Thursday and Friday we decided to take our time getting into the festival on Saturday.   We took the morning and afternoon to walk around the city and check out downtown. 

Arrived at Lolla just in time for one of my daughter’s favorite bands, TV Girl.   To my surprise it was not a girl at all but 3 guys.   TV Girl, out of San Diego, formed back in 2010 and gained popularity on TikTok over the last couple years which has led them to national tours and Europe later this month.   The indie pop group puts on a great show and drew a big crowd on the Bud Light stage.   Bud Light might not be too happy though as lead singer Brad Petering thanked Bud Light for making a great stage and said they are much better at building stages than making beer.   Might be moved to the T-Mobile stage next time… 

While I was up by the stage my wife made a friend.  She had secured two chairs in a shaded area next to a similar aged concert goer.  We began talking about the show and the different artists we wanted to see.   Of course, we do the ultimate name drop and tell them how we saw Perry Farrell the other day.  He seemed impressed.  We proceed to talk about the Lollapalooza documentary. (Check it out on Amazon Prime).   The more we talk the more we realize that this guy is more important than he has let on.  Turns out that he worked on Austin City Limits and was part of the team that came to Chicago to bring Lollapalooza back.   We were so proud of seeing Perry Farrell from afar and this guy has worked with Perry and is part of the reason we have the festival.  My wife was in her element, as a lifelong event and radio person she was so excited to ask about all the behind-the-scenes things that go into such a big event.  Never know who you are going to meet at Lolla.    

We said goodbye to our new friend and headed across the field to catch some of Cannons’ show.  I do not know if it were where we were standing or the sound board but we could not hear the great voice of Michelle Joy so we headed over to see the beginning of The Deftones.   

The Deftones came out hard and fast right from the jump.  Can’t believe this was the first time I have ever seen them, but it will not be the last.   Quite easy to see the experience come through as Chino Moreno got the crowd amped up and jumping right away.   Shots of the crowd revealed some extremely excited fans that held up signs even one crying girl whose sign said this is her 11^th show.    Deftones released their debut album in 1995 and then hit their stride in 2000 with a Grammy and a run of platinum albums.  They have continued to tour and put out music for their loyal fan base. 

Just enough time to grab some food and a drink before checking out Skrillex.   Skrillex was listed as performing on Sonny’s stage which was not on the map.   It turned out they renamed Perry’s stage for just one night in honor of Skrillex’s real name Sonny John Moore.   Skrillex beats are unique to him and the crowd was the most diverse mix as both teens and their parents both had someone they grew up on.   The only drawback was the start of the show was too early and the laser show and lights are not the same at sunset as they would be at night.    

Time to race back over to the T-Mobile stage to see The Killers.  The lights dropped and Brandon Flowers appeared on stage and spoke into the mic: “Shouting affirmations into the mirror you got to give the world irrefutable proof that you are who you say you are.   We are the Killers and we are a great rock and roll band! Here let me show you!”,  and went right into “Somebody Told Me.”     

What a way to kick off the show!!!     

Their setlist included all of your favorite hits for 90 minutes but my favorite moment was their cover of Erasure’s ‘A Little Respect”  The Killers have a love of New Wave that has influenced them throughout their career, and it was a great moment for their music and the music they grew up on to come together in a sing along with 100,000 people.    

Meanwhile a very different experience was going down at the Bud Light stage on the other side of the park.  Metro and Future were scheduled to start their show at the same time as the Killers but ended up coming out about 30 minutes late.   My daughter said they had to stop the shop multiple times throughout their set because the mosh pit was getting too intense and dangerous.   One thing they learned that night is that the Chicago curfew is no joke because they cut off the power right at 10pm and left Future and Metro in the dark with a couple of songs left to perform.    

Time to head to Shake Shack for some late-night food and hear all about the very different festival the teenagers went to before our long walk home. 

One more day to go!!!