Each year as the summer comes to a close, Chicago’s very own Grant Park hosts hundreds of thousands of people for the world renowned music festival, Lollapalooza. With over 170 artists performing, ranging from Rufus Du Sol to Tyler The Creator, “Lolla” is a 4-day-long, eclectic festival that attracts all sorts of people. As a result, the food selection is extremely versatile, handpicking the best of the best— restaurants, bakeries, and ice creameries from around Chicago that satisfy the mouths of all who choose to enter the park.
Each day was its own entity, my exhaustion levels determining my excitement. As a journalist who believes that day 1 of the festival was the most eventful, I feel that it is my obligation to give my honest review of the ins and outs of the 9 hours in which I attended on Thursday. Before I begin, I would like to preface that my perspective on Lollapalooza may differ from others who attended. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by a good group of friends who looked out for each other, I had a charged phone to call home if needed, and none of my belongings were stolen. My biggest issue that I came across was the dilemma of whether I should see Tyler The Creator or Dom Dolla— which was solved by the end of night one. Without further ado, I would like to give you all an inside look at Day 1 of Lollapalooza: the good, the bad, and the awesome.
Pre-Lolla
I can recall it like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my chemistry class– room G203– my brain anywhere but the complex balancing equations on the board. Every minute passing on the clock inched towards the moment of truth: would the presale tickets would become mine? The bell rang and I knew it was go-time. Shuffling alongside the students flooding into the science corridor, I opened my Chromebook shamelessly, ignoring the confused stares I received as I walked through the halls with a screen in my face. When the clock struck 12:00, I raced to the Lollapalooza website, frantically searching the screen for the “sign up here” button. This process was strenuous, but after multiple phone calls with my parents, one late pass to class, and an endless amount of commitment, I had done it; I acquired the tickets.
Transportation
Months later, the day had finally come… Lollapalooza 2025 begins! As I approached Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago, a sense of excitement emanated through each train car. The walk from the station to Grant Park was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact- almost none of the treachery that I saw on social media regarding Lolla was true. The waits in line were easy, the amount of kleptomaniacs were limited (but definitely still existed), and the access to water was plentiful.
Perry’s
After getting through security, I slowly made my way through the crowd to get to Perry’s, a stage that sits at the very end of the park that is extremely popular with teens and young adults. What makes this stage so unique is that Perry’s hosts predominantly EDM and house music artists that come to share their music with the newest generation of Lolla attendees. On this day, DJ’s such as Cloonee, Mau P, and Dom Dolla took the stage. I had heard some talk about Perry’s in the past, oftentimes seeing it featured in older friends Tiktok’s and Instagram posts. What surprised me was that in the right hand corner of this stage, quite literally every familiar face from the North Shore of Chicago could be found. Throughout the night, my friends and I found ourselves in this region, switching off between enjoying the music in the crowd and socializing with friends, old and new.
Dom Dolla
As the sun began to set, I found myself pushing through barricades of people in order to find a good spot to jam out to the sound of Dom Dolla taking the stage and making it his throne. After standing neck and neck with strangers for about an hour, the laser beams began to flash, the lights dimmed, and in that moment, everybody knew what was coming. Dom came out with, “How we feelin’ Chicago?”, and the crowd roared with adoration. Personally, my favorite part about his set was how he never kept us off of our feet. One song after another, the crowd was dancing continuously without any reason to stop. About 20 minutes into his set, it was time for me to weave my way through the audience (dancing while weaving, of course), so I could run and see Tyler The Creator. It was a miracle, actually, that I was able to see the majority of Dom’s most famous songs while still making it in time before Tyler’s set.
Tyler The Creator
Let me just say, Tyler The Creator was a dream come true. He opened the show with “Big Poe”, and “Sugar on my Tongue”, from his new album, “Don’t Tap The Glass”. He followed his grand opening with various tunes from his albums, “Chromakopia” and “Call Me if You Get Lost.” It truly took the audience by surprise when he began to file through his older music, looking for the best songs to play. Personally, I have been a Tyler superfan since the age of twelve, so his less recent discography is usually what I gravitate towards. He ended up performing songs such as “She”, “New Magic Wand”, and my personal favorite, “IFHY”. The song, “IFHY” is rarely performed at its full length of five minutes and nineteen seconds in concert, so this pleasantly surprised those in the audience. Tyler’s stage presence was incredible, precisely equalizing his dancing style with the textures in his music. This performance was one in million, and I am so glad to have had the privilege of seeing him live.
Getting home
To be completely honest, getting home is the only part of Lollapalooza that I would consider exasperating. It is relatively easy venturing out of the park, but I always recommend that holding hands with your friends ( kind of like preschoolers lined up on a field trip), is the best way to keep everyone together. What I found miserable was the tedious walk that Google maps decided to take me on in order to get back to the train station. As a result of this, my socks were engulfed by blood, my shoes were ruined by dirt on the ground, and frankly, a small portion of my dignity was left on the rampant streets of Chicago. My advice to all of you who may be attending this festival next year: please wear comfortable gym shoes, not Dr. Martens. Aside from this slight malfunction, I can confidently say that I was able to make it on the 11:03 PM train in one piece and at that point, the functionality of my feet was tomorrow’s problem.