By Rachel Bui
As festivals are operating back to normal, KTRU decided to explore more festivals outside of Texas.
Lollapalooza 2022 was KTRU’s first festival outside of the Southern region. This festival was incredibly
well-ran, with chipped wristbands, cardless payment, and few, if any, technical issues on the stages.
Some general tips:
- Do NOT play with your wristband, especially the chip – it will break!
- Treat it like SXSW and pace yourself- it’s a long festival, even if you don’t go the full 4 days
- You’re probably not going to see all the acts you want (this festival spans across Grant Park in
Chicago), so use this time to explore other acts you’ve been curious about - Bring a reusable water bottle and stay cool and hydrated – even in Chicago, heat exhaustion is a
dangerous possibility you want to avoid
Day 3 Review:
Griff had a “girl next door” charm to her performance, and her powerful-yet-easy-to-listen-to vocals
made for a pleasant afternoon experience. I look forward to seeing her more stateside. Song
recommendation: “Forgive Myself” and “Walk
DJ duo Sidepiece brought on Survivor guitarist Jim Peterik to perform “Eye of the Tiger” live with
Sidepiece, which was a genre-blending treat on the EDM stage.
TXT was added to the lineup in June, putting their placement on the Solana x Perry stage. The group
provided strong performances, but with a crowd so large, it was difficult to watch the elaborate
choreography. Their performances in particular would have benefited from big screens or being on a
different stage other than Solana x Perry, a prominent EDM stage.,
Acts that were regrettably missed:
- J-Cole
- Crawlers
- Duckwrth
- Big Sean
- Mariah the Scientist
Day 4 Review
Audrey Nuna had a fun setlist with her “cool girl vibes.” You can see our interview with her here.
Charli XCX performed chart-hits and iconic songs with energetic choreography. Song recommendations:
“Yuck” and “Good Ones”
Kid Laroi’s set was alright, but general lack of audience engagement made for a bland experience. I think
it would be fair to say that his and Charli’s set should have switched timeslots
J-Hope was an act that I was looking for to the most. His stage was a highlight for me personally (a long-
time fan of BTS’s works). Of the shows I saw during Lolla, his stage presence was unparalleled. His setlist
was well crafted, combining his mixtape tracks and his album tracks, despite both works having vastly
different colors. Even though this was his solo stage, the setlist still had BTS’s presence woven in, like
BTS’s hit Dynamite and J-Hope’s verse from Cypher 1. The consensus was that even if you weren’t a BTS
fan, you couldn’t help but be wowed by the man’s performance and stage presence.
During the festival, the mayor of Chicago announced that Lollapalooza will be staying in Chicago for 10
more years. With this news, I am looking forward to see the artists and genres that Lolla will bring in the
future.