Lollapalooza 2024 - Day Three Report

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Saturday August 3, 2024 @ Grant Park, Chicago

On day three of Lollapalooza, the sun was beating down on Grant Park and while fans showed up in full force at the larger Bud Light and T-Mobile stages, many of the smaller stages found fans seeking refuge from the heat amongst trees and shade. While the latter part of the day featured some heavy hitters who were worthy of their headliner status, the heart and soul of Lollapalooza on day three was on the smaller stages where acts shared a piece of their soul in the hopes it would connect with someone. These were the moments that hit me hardest. Despite the mass crowds and corporate nature of a big festival, at its core, Lollapalooza is still about music.

Friko 12:50
Local Chicago musicians, hailing from Evanston, Friko hit the stage early on Saturday morning delivering a raucous set of indie rock at the scenic Bacardi stage. Lead Singer Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger were enthusiastic performing songs from their debut albumWhere we've been, Where we go from here. It's always a pleasure to see local musicians at Lollapalooza and Friko, like Beach Bunny who played the same stage several years ago, make their mark early in the day with a charming set.

1:00 Hayes Warner 1:10
Hayes Warner made her Lollapalooza debut at the BMI stage early on Saturday. The New York native lived in Chicago for a while and reminisced about being heartbroken in the nearby suburb of Evanston and how she turned her pain into art. An ethereal cover of Bruno Mars "Locked Out of Heaven" & a reimagined version of No Doubt's "Just a Girl" were highlights in a high energy set which also included "Predatory" from a forthcoming EP.

Happy Landing 1:50
The five-piece indie folk band with anguished lyrics and a heavy dosage of violin, which works in their favor. Happy Landing had an edge to them as their melodies rolled off the stage evoking images of a sing-a-long around a campfire. Violinist Andrew Gardner is as essential to the band as a flashy guitar player was to rock bands on the sunset strip in the '80s and that's a compliment, because while each member plays an integral part of their sound, Gardner was a driving force on "State Line" from their 2022 self-titled EP, which found him circling the stage. The group, which was formed in Oxford, Mississippi in 2020 consists of Matty Hendley on lead vocals and guitar, Keegan Christensen on keyboard, Jacob Christensen on drums, Gardner on fiddle and WIlson Moyer on bass. All members provide vocals that give a Sunday morning revival vibe to their performance.

Josiah and the Bonnevilles 2:15
Josiah Leming has a fascinating history because he may be an unlikely American Idol alums but what makes his time so unique is he was the only contestant to ever not make the Top 24 who had a major label record contract. In 2024, he performs under the name of Josiah and the Bonnevilles. Material from his 2023 album Endurance was performed including "Blood Moon" and "Another Day at the Factory", which have the bones of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska in its DNA. The Americana artist goes deep in his performances selling every song he sings, even the ones he did not write. Country artist Dasha came out for a cover of Taylor Swift's "Anti-Hero" which had the crowd's attention and love, but the showstopper was a cover of Justin Bieber's "Ghost" which was transformative and one of the most haunting moments of the weekend. As the sun shined down on Tito's stage, Leming sat there with his acoustic guitar and his naked voice and channeled his soul that could be felt by everyone. If you listen to Bieber's version, you realize you may have judged a book by its cover but also Josiah and the Bonnevilles have the definitive version of the song that is steeped in the Americana vein and tradition. It has all the heartache of the best Jason Isbell songs and hearing the crowd sing along, it was striking that this was not a moment of celebration but one of reflection and remorse. "I've turned to music at the hardest times of my life," Leming explained before his performance and spoke about his mother died when he was a teen. Every time he sang the lyric of "I miss you more than life", you could feel the pains in your heart of every person you've ever loved who has left you. Individuals come and go in our life, it is one of the few constants, but this performance transcended beyond a cover version into a confessional where I felt his blood swim in my own. I do not know Leming or his mother, but I felt both in my heart for the remainder of the day. Josiah and the Bonnevilles provided some of the most real moments of the weekend. Every note and lyrics was from the heart, and it could not be replicated by just anyone.

Dora Jar 3:00
Dora Jar can best be described as bedroom pop, with its hushed and winking bass and synth lines that are meant for last night listens. Despite the midday set time and on the second biggest stage, Dora Jar performed her breezy synths which permeated throughout Grant Park with her bare and confessional delivery.

Natalie Jane 3:30
A stage and American Idol alum, Natalie Jane has a voice that makes you stand back and notice. Her ethereal and gut wrenching "Somebody to Someone (I Just Wanna Fall in Love)" is a genuinely great pop song. Her set also included a mid-tempo cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley which fit the vibe of the BMI stage, which continues to be a refuge day-after-day.

Tanner Usrey 4:00
With his guitar in hand and mic turned up to eleven, the music does the talking for Tanner Usrey. Born in Texas, the Country-Americana artist wasted no time in seducing the audience with the foot stomping "Blackberry Wine" from the recent Twisters film with Glen Powell. You can almost hear glass beer bottles breaking on a barroom floor as the music seeps through the doors into the night where hearts seeks salvation and redemption is found. Usrey and his band all were wearing cowboy hats, but the music they performed could not be put in one box or genre despite their appearances.

"Take Me Home" poured out of his soul into the grass of the Bacardi stage while "Give It Some Time" had the crowd singing along to every word, but it was the stunning "Beautiful Lies" which was tragic and sacred. The acoustic ballad transcended the hot afternoon crowd and made everyone take pause, especially the lyrics "I can see the heartbreak in your eyes / So keep on telling me those beautiful lies." The music industry is full of people with talent, but Tanner Usrey had something extra most of them did not, authenticity. You believed every word that escaped his lips and every note performed on those guitars. There was something deep and profound about Usrey's set and in a festival known for a lot of glitz and glamour. Tanner Usrey's personal tales were a much-needed balm.

IVE 5:00
The six-piece K-pop female group IVE delivered a knockout set at the south side of the festival in the early evening. K-pop audiences are growing each year with New Jeans performing last year on the same stage and its presence at Lollapalooza is a good thing as it is expanding to fans who may not attend the festival otherwise. IVE hit the stage with each member in different outfits, but all were in shades of white, light blue or cream colors. The six-members of IVE include four members of a former survival show group and despite only being a group for a few years, they hit the Lollapalooza stage with all the focus and determination of a veteran group. Their set included eight backing dancers and a full live band giving them an edge over some of the pop acts relying on backing tracks, proving that even as we move into a more manufactured and digital future, it is the power of a live band along with live vocals that make an act stand out. Their eleven-song set found the group giving their all for forty-five minutes and while it was choreographed, it was executed with determination. Each member spoke to the crowd, endearing themselves to us. Lollapalooza marked IVE's first major festival in America, and by the looks of their set, which included "ROYAL," "ELEVEN," "HEY YA" and "LOVE DIVE," this won't be the last, as their audience will grow with each release and performance.

Ethel Cain 5:45
Ethel Cain's music gives ethereal late-night vibes where you lose yourself after a long day and turn to her music in the hopes of finding answers to your issues and her set was this beautiful and unconventional set. During "A House in Nebraska" Cain let the elaborate and carefully constructed song wash over her as she sung her heart out to the crowd. The music stood in stark contrast to the blazing sun on the south end of the field. The good news is the crowd was large for her set, but one can't help but wonder if the set would have worked better after dusk or on one of the more shaded areas of the festival where the music would match the nature of the park. The cathartic set was exquisite and featured some of the lushest music performed at Lollapalooza all weekend. Closing her set with a cover of "Bette Davis Eyes" and "American Teenager" Cain made the crowd take notice of her ghostly expressiveness that yearns to be heard.

Deftones 6:45
Throughout Grant Park on Saturday, you could tell the fans who came to the festival to see one band, and only one band, the Deftones. The number of shirts on display throughout the day made it evident that there is still a desire for rock n' roll at the festival despite its shift to more dance oriented and pop music. The Deftones are more than a rock band, but a world building band. They always stood out from what was popular at the time and decades into their career, they filled the southside of Hutchinson field without a new album. With more than half of the set from their 1997 album Around the Fur and 2000's White Pony, the Sacramento, California band hit a sweet spot for many in attendance. While the nostalgia rush was sincere and real, the alternative/metal/experimental music transcends time and space and feels current and relevant in 2024. Lead singer Chino Moreno spent their hour long set intensely singing every note like his life depended on it.

Hippo Campus 7:45
Returning to Lollapalooza, the St. Paul band had a late day set heaving on jangly guitars and indie pop riffs. At times, their arrangements are melodic, simple, and nostalgic. The breezy guitar riffs and durable rhythm section thicken the sound in such a way that their music is welcoming and pure for a summer evening. "Way It Goes," "Buttercup," "baseball" and "South" were accentuated by lead vocalist / guitarist Jake Luppen with a beaming smile while the band seduced the crowd through their sincere and airy delivery.

The Killers 8:45
The Killers understood the assignment of headlining huge festival; play the hits. The last time the Las Vegas band made their way through Chicago, they played the United Center in a staggering show proving why they are America's greatest arena band and at Lollapalooza, they may have also proven they are America's best festival band. Despite crafting two of their best albums of their career within two years of each other (2020's Imploding the Mirage and 2021's Pressure Machine) the band crafted a set focusing on their catalog rather than recent work, but it had something for everyone whether it be nostalgic radio hits, surprising covers, new songs and even fan participation. Brandon Flowers was sincere and showed how happy he was to be at the festival, which the band has now performed at four times, including the first time Lollapalooza set up shop in Chicago in 2005.

Opening with five straight hits, "Somebody Told Me", "Enterlude/When You Were Young", "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" and "Smile Like You Mean It", they could have called it a night and few would have complained, but the band knew they had more tricks in their back pocket. A surprise was "Shot at the Night", a bonus track on their first greatest hits album more than a decade back that worked splendidly due to Flowers ability to keep the crowd involved and when it came to the chorus, he stood on the edge of the stage and raised his hands to the air and demanded the audience "put your hands up" and they swung them just as he commanded. "boy" which was released as s single and part of their Rebel Diamonds hits package from last year owes a major debt to the new wave dance music of the eighties which became apparent when the song segued into Erasure's "A Little Respect" which the entire crowd rapturously responded to, and it was not just a snippet but the full song.

The band then did something that took the show into overdrive. Before playing "For Reasons Unknown" from 2006's Sam's Town they picked a fan from the audience, named Oscar, to play drums.
Ronnie Vannucci Jr. stepped away from his kit and strapped on a guitar while Oscar sat behind the kit and nailed every note of the song. By the end of the performance, more than 50,000 fans were chanting "Oscar! Oscar! Oscar!." From this moment on, the band owned the crowd and the communion between band and fan was strong. "Human", "All These Things I've Done" and "Runaways" were all extended showing how far the Killers have come in the last two decades, by letting the sings linger just enough to keep the audience seduced and wanting more. The evening's biggest surprise was a cover of "Very First Lie" by the Chicago band Material Issue, proving Flowers at his core is a fan at heart, which endears him not just to the Lollapalooza audience but to Chicago as well, that he took time out of a streamed festival and shortened set to play a deep cut from a cult album by a power pop band he admired but few have probably heard before this set.

Towards the end of the show, Flowers pronounced "We're the Killers and we are in the service industry." While this may have gone over the heads of the audience, in a day and age where being a live music fan is often a traumatizing experience between price gouging and often not playing to the fans, the Killers did the best of both world's delivering a set that had a few nuggets for long time fans, but also enough of a pull to turn casual fans into diehards. So many acts misread audiences at festivals, but the Killers understood their assignment on day three of Lollapalooza; play the hits & hit them hard at the start & end of the set. When the band launched into a remix version of "Mr. Brightside", Flowers strolled the stage in his purple suit coat with his arms to the air encouraging the crowd to take the lead on the chorus, which they did, before he made perched himself behind the giant "K" on the stage to play keyboards before touring guitarist Ted Sablay began the infamous riff to "Mr. Brightside" allowing the audience to revel one of the most well-known and streamed songs of this century in any genre. With the skyline of Chicago in the background, the Killers showed the mighty Lollapalooza crowd what it means to be a festival headliner and how to work a crowd. You didn't have to be a fan of the Killers to enjoy their headline set, but chances are you were a fan by the end of it.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMUSIC Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He has seen over 1,000 concerts in his life and has covered Lollapalooza in-depth for over a decade. He can be contacted at tonykAT antiMUSIC DOT com and can be followed on Twitter

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