Lollapalooza’s flagship festival in Chicago is a novel expertise for competition goers. Whereas I normally attend solely dance music festivals, I appreciated the number of sounds at Lolla 2025. I used to be largely at Perry’s stage (nearly solely for DJs) to expertise a few of the finest sounds in our favourite style. From Martin Garrix to Dom Dolla to Two Pals to Knock2, there was one thing for everybody. Rüfüs Du Sol superbly closed down the principle stage on Saturday.
Outdoors of dance, headliners included Olivia Rodrigo, Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler the Creator, Luke Combs, Twice, A$AP Rocky, Korn, Gracie Abrams, and Doechii.
Lollapalooza Chicago 2025 wasn’t only a music competition—it was a cultural assertion. With a lineup that fused legacy acts, future legends, and underground innovators, it proved that Lolla nonetheless is aware of how one can lead, not comply with. On the finish of my first day there, I used to be left feeling the Lolla Pretty power.
Grant Park & Chicago
Lollapalooza is an extremely particular competition. You’ll be able to actually really feel the entire metropolis get behind this occasion and showcase Chicago at its finest. I actually just like the daytime power of the fest. As a result of it’s all ages, mother and father carry their youngsters to strive all the brand new meals and go to Kidzapalooza. You’ll not discover festivals as huge as Lollapalooza having a devoted space and stage for teenagers.
Grant Park is completely huge. Positioned proper in the course of Chicago, it’s the good place for a 100,000+ attended venue. Strolling the size of it the primary time, you can be shocked by how huge it’s. With a number of entrances and exits, getting in is a breeze with bascially no wait time.
The Meals and Experiences
There’s extra meals than you possibly can think about, starting from Asian cuisines to Birria Tacos to Chicago’s well-known beef sandwiches and pizza. One in all my favourite components is the devoted Desert Island. When you’ve got a sugar tooth like me, you’ll love this part. Chow City saved foodies fed with choices starting from deep-dish classics to plant-based innovation.
The distributors are a standout from some other competition I’ve been to. Most provide free meals and drinks (so long as you’re prepared to attend in line). The favorites I had had been Bodega De Café Bustelo, Heinz Sauce Cease, Peace Tea’s Mad Peaceable World, Purple Bull Dusty Disco, and Airbnb Haven.
The variety of levels was fairly spectacular. Because of all of the timber and area, there was no sound bleed in any respect, which I beloved. The 8 levels all had their very own sound to them, so that you knew what you had been getting. T-Cellular’s fundamental stage had all of the pop acts, Perry’s featured all of the DJs, Bud Mild had each rap and pop, Lakeshore rocked with heavy metallic and rock, and The Grove had the gang singing rock and nation.
The Music and Headliners
As I mentioned above, due to my love for dance music, I caught to Perry’s Stage largely. I used to be in a position to catch ISOXO, Tape B, Bunt., Dr.Fresch, Levity, Chase & Standing, Marlon Hoffstadt, Sammy Virji, Gryffin, and naturally Martin Garrix. Every of their units was as electrical as I’ve seen them.
ISOXO at all times leaves the dance flooring enraged with power. Dr.Fresch is understood for his daytime uplifting at Lolla, and he didn’t miss a beat. Chase & Standing introduced their DnB throughout the pond and had the gang dancing foolish. Two Pals had a ridiculous drone present. I used to be amazed watching that from one other stage and may solely think about what it felt prefer to be at Perry’s.
Gryffin performed the right mixture of heavy bass and his lovely pop classics. He introduced out a bunch of singers and, after all, his iconic guitar.
Garrix performed the ultimate set at Perry’s to a packed crowd and had everybody’s palms within the air singing to each report. He had laser galore that completely synced to every tune. It was one in every of my favourite units of his. Martin introduced out Lauv for his or her new tune ‘MAD’. He performed an array of heavy IDs and closed on his newest monitor with Alesso ‘Inside Our Hearts.’
My favourite set of the weekend got here from Rüfüs Du Sol who closed the principle stage Saturday night time. This was my first time seeing them stay, and I can’t wait to see them once more. I heard wonderful issues for years, and so they lived as much as all of the hype. They sounded precisely (and higher) like they do on Spotify. Their most well-known songs ‘You Have been Proper’, ‘Music Is Higher’, and the wonderful ending with ‘Innerbloom’. The fireworks present with that enjoying was a second I’ll always remember.
Lollapalooza merely does all the things proper for its attendees. It’s seamlessly run and never overcrowded for being bought out. Lolla exhibits off Chicago at its best, and I might be again. It’s no shock that this model has expanded all over the world. Keep Pretty Lolla!
