Nothing could have prepared me for Lollapalooza, and I mean that in the best way possible. The festival is huge, the crowd is there to soak up every moment, and the performances were electric on the first day.
[Scroll to the bottom for my gallery from Thursday at Lollapalooza.]
The scale really is wild, if you haven’t been to a festival of this size. This is easily the biggest festival I’ve ever covered, and it’s a dream getting to step into the photo pit with some of the biggest artists out there right now.
Chappell Roan put on an amazing show, dressed for a Lucha Libre match, with the matching mask for the first song, and surrounded by seriously impressive body builders. She owned the stage, and the crowd went wild.
Opening with “Femininomenon,” it was the biggest crowd that I’ve ever seen for a concert. Once I left the photo pit, it took me a long time to walk to the edge of the space, and the crowd looked like it filled the entire space between both the T-Mobile and IHG stages. I heard a Lollapalooza pro say it was the biggest crowd she had ever seen at the festival.
If Roan wasn’t the fastest rising artist in North America before this set, I would guess that she’s on her way. She’s a bad-ass on stage, but she’s so much more. She switches between pop and bubble gum, and attitude with monster energy and sass.
For anyone tired of the current reigning pop princess, Roan is the anti-hero, channelling rock and some kind of faerie magic into her pink, glittery performance.
While Roan was the biggest performer for the day, my favourite was Benson Boone. He’s a star, with the power and attitude of a superstar. I’ve enjoyed his tracks for a while, but his stage presence is so much bigger than what you hear on the albums.
The crowd practically swooned when he stepped on stage, as he sat down behind the keyboard. He’s mesmerizing and his voice is bright and charismatic. He has rock swagger that’s impossible to fake, like he was born for this.
He reminds me so much of the pop and rock stars from the 70s, with a raw sex appeal that you can hear in his voice.
Labrinth is one of the most talented people working in music today. He’s a phenomenon, his music is orchestrated with an approach like a modern day composer, and he’s a true performer, with a stage presence like you’re watching an opera.
All of those things would turn off a lot of younger fans, but the key to his style is that it feels like he’s taken so much and made it new again. In a world filled with musicians who sound a lot alike, Labrinth is totally unique, refreshing, and bold. He’s old school, with beats and rhythms from classic R&B and Hip Hop, blended through rap and pop, and rock.
It was wild experiencing “Mount Everest” with a massive audience that were all singing, shouting, and dancing along.
I wasn’t prepared for d4vd. I had listened to his music, but I hadn’t seen what he was like live, and he’s a force to be reckoned with. In one song, he did two back flips, and if you looked at some of my shots, you would think he could fly.
But his live shows are so much bigger and badder than “Feel It” and “Here With Me”. He can absolutely slow it down when he’s playing those songs, but I was blown away by his presence, power, and ferocity.
I can’t wait to see what’s next for d4vd, because I think he’s going to be a huge star.
All photos: W. Andrew Powell/The GATE.
