It’s arduous to clarify what it’s about Lollapalooza makes it sit proper within the US musical competition candy spot, nevertheless it undoubtedly does. It’s not as influencer-focused as Coachella, however everybody’s nonetheless dressed of their festive finest, taking pictures in entrance of a towering fountain in the course of Chicago’s Grant Park. It’s additionally only a quick stroll from a metropolis transit cease identical to New York Metropolis’s Governors Ball, however not like the Massive Apple competition’s line-up, which veers in the direction of a youthful viewers focused on DIY bed room acts and TikTok viral hitmakers, Lollapalooza has one thing for everybody, drawing in as many bunnies desperate to see NewJeans dance to ‘Hype Boy’ as hip-hop heads seeking to rap alongside to ‘If You Know You Know’ with Pusha T.

It’s additionally nothing like Bonnaroo, the place followers camp out in an effort to see their favorite acts, forgoing showers even after they’re encountering a number of mud puddles on a Tennessee Farm. Right here, you’ll be able to nonetheless end up balancing to your life in a puddle of mud – very similar to followers did throughout Pink Sizzling Chili Peppers closing set on Sunday (August 6) however at Lollapalooza – however you’ve gotten the sleek choice of rinsing your self off at a lodge close by afterward.

Maybe it’s the mid-west hospitality of festival-goers that makes it stand out amongst different fest, like the lady who informed NME  “You look so good” on the identical day of The 1975’s headline set on Friday (August 4). She appears to don’t know she is lifting lyrics from one of many band’s greatest songs, ‘Robbers’, contemplating she’s carrying Kendrick Lamar merch and the rapper is about to play hits from ‘Mr. Morale & The Massive Steppers’ to an overflowing crowd concurrently the Manchester band.

It may very well be founder Perry Farrell’s penchant for highlighting new genres and making historical past with the competition’s alternative of headliners, whether or not it’s Karol G’s show-stopping reggeaton efficiency as the primary feminine Latina headliner to tackle the fest or Tomorrow x Collectively’s sharp and youthful, rockstar status-confirming set as the primary South Korean group to high the invoice after proving their credentials on a smaller stage only a yr earlier. Nonetheless, the competition doesn’t wander too removed from the place it got here from as a Jane’s Habit farewell tour again in 1991, with burgeoning rock acts like LoveJoy drawing giant crowds to the identical stage Lollapalooza veterans RHCP shut out the competition on.

However even within the midst of acts giving their finest on the competition, there’s nonetheless an undercurrent of imperfection that makes all of it approachable and actual. Lollapalooza isn’t attempting to be something it’s not, and by returning annually with a brand new plan to prioritise range in sound in addition to a steadfast dedication to highlighting contemporary acts (like on its BMI stage, the place up-and-coming acts like Annie DiRusso and Magnificence College Dropout are met with followers who sing alongside to each single phrase) the competition proves its dedication to simply placing the music first, and the followers Lollapalooza attracts in mirror that effort.

Sunday evening is the proper manifestation of this, as Lana Del Rey takes over the Bud Gentle stage. Ladies in white attire and pink coronary heart sun shades are crowded beneath her within the post-rain mire, their faces coated in black mascara tear streaks and their legs splashed with grime. As cameras pan the group, displaying their smiles and cries on LED screens, what makes Lollapalooza so particular begins to grow to be clear. It’s messy and clear, immaculately deliberate however with area for chaos. Very similar to the followers that swarm again into town after competition gates shut, their drained and excited our bodies dashing to their beds or off to the subsequent present below the clear strains of Chicago skyscrapers, Lollapalooza embodies the disarray, magnificence and promise of music in 4 thrilling days.

Del Rey embodies it too as she sings about life and dying and love in a white classic costume, and the group returns the phrases of ‘Summertime Unhappiness’ again to her like a choir. She jokes about being dragged off the stage due to curfew (once more) because the final minutes of her set play out. Similar to Lolla, the efficiency is messy and clear, immaculately deliberate however with area for chaos, and as she closes the competition’s 2023 providing down with “Hope Is A Harmful Factor For A Girl Like Me To Have”, it’s secure to say she – and the competition – are proper there in that candy spot.