Every year I cover Lollapalooza, and every year I have reams of notes leftover after writing the main recap. This time I’m going to reheat all those leftovers for anyone still hungry for more.
This has to be done kind of quickly (if you’re confused why, just google “state of independent media,” and maybe pour yourself a drink) so in the interest of transparency, I’m going to add grades next to the notes. This is because sometimes I only wrote a joke that sounds mean but I actually liked the set; I contain multitudes.
Consider a B to be “gave the audience a good show for their money,” even if I’m not the target audience. And yes, it’s mostly Bs. Also, I’m not grading on a curve, because a worse show in the rain or a difficult venue (Tito’s) is still a worse show. And as always, I try to see at least 15-20 minutes of everybody interesting. In chronological order:
Emptying the Notebook on Lollapalooza 2026: Thursday
SB19, photo by Dusana Karam for Lollapalooza Festival
SB19 — B
P-pop, Filipino group. Blinded in the sunlight, popping and twirling with their eyes half closed. Less polished crowd work than the K-pop groups, but more genuine, too.
Boys Noize — B
Audience surprisingly drunk for early Thursday. Perry’s Stage bullshit.
Tally of people who bumped into me in 15 minutes even though it wasn’t crowded: IIII IIII
Tally of people who somehow managed to step on the bag I was literally holding in my hands, a thing that has never happened before and will never happen again: II
Lazy Fashion Notes, 2026:
Lot of boys in jersey, lot of girls in bra.
5 Seconds of Summer — B
Music kinda sucks but that’s a good drummer right there. Crowd size, this is when it started to feel like a real festival.
Blood Orange — B+
Gorgeous sunset set for two audiences, tight peloton at the front and the rest lying on the lawn. I tried a bit of both, and I think the horizontal had the right idea.
Little Simz — B
Sunset at Tito’s, oof, that’s as hard as it gets [Editor’s note: This dumbass should have checked the weather report]. Blood Orange crowd did not stick around. Word perfect, in a nice groove with live band, mini DJ set intermission to conserve energy so she could go hard again.
CMAT — B
Aesthetic somewhere between Chappell Roan, Stevie Nicks, and Little Red Riding Hood. Great whistle register control. Hard to pull off the Chappell bits; the point and “Lesbian?” crowd bit went nowhere.
Sombr — C+
God he’s just a child.
Backing vocals up awfully high, his mic is practically unnecessary.
God he’s annoying.
Barely singing.
Petulant, acting more like my five-year-old than a rocker.
7:10 is kinda close to your bedtime, buddy, maybe use your inside voice.
Dressed like The Stooges, fucking Iggy Pimple over here.
10 minutes of running along the barricade but forgot to coordinate with cameras, so 10 minutes of nothing happening. Is this over yet? Can I see anything else and get back in time for Wet Leg?
“Chicago! I’ll see you at my arena show in Chicago. I forgot the venue, but it’s in Chicago.”
Wet Leg, photo by Josh Druding
Wet Leg — B
Sombr wrapped as a cloud of smoke appeared over the other end of the field. Wet Leg’s fans are ready.
Wet Leg has one showy performer and one shy performer. Better than last time I saw them, more engaged, less visibly stoned. Rhian still fun, even if I’m getting auto pilot vibes.
Snow Strippers — C-
This was recommended by my colleague Paolo. 2/3 of his recommendations I totally get, and the other third I wonder if the mic is even on. Snow Strippers are more of a Perry’s Stage band. We actually perform our vocals over here at the [checks notes] AirBnB stage? Yet another new name this year? Are they having trouble keeping sponsors? What what was I — aw fuck, Snow Strippers are still on.
Lorde — B
Great energy, very present, backing track really high, vocals underwhelming. Pared down version of the touring show. “Witch from New Zealand” has an old Hollywood vibe, it’s all in the face.
Charli xcx extremely expected “surprise” performance. Charli sounded off at first and looked lost on stage, maybe ear piece issue or lack of rehearsal with the song. Warmed into it, ended strong.
Viagra Boys — A-
“What’s up, Coachella?” lol. Everything here is majestic: his beer belly, his upper ass cheeks sticking out of his jeans. “Thank you, fellow 19-year-olds. It’s great to be back. So many fond memories.”
He’s better live than on the albums, all the same ferocity with an element of surprise. Amazing between songs, too. To Platinum section: “Why is everybody so far away from me except for these nine rich assholes? It’s a joke, it’s just a joke, relax.”
Friday
Overheard:
A young gal in a gold-sequined knit cap, Gatsby meets Woodstock, loudly complaining about her nemesis at a recent Olivia Rodrigo concert: a dad and his six-year-old daughter. Sounded like GA. Dad put daughter on his shoulders, our hero (?) in the gold-sequined cap told him to move. He apparently said, “I paid for a ticket, too,” and she looked at her friends like, can you believe the audacity? “Like, you’re straight,” she said. “And why are kids here?”
Slayyyter, photo by Joshua Druding
Slayyyter — B
Big ol’ voice, fresh face (ba dum tsss) with a very old-fashioned skillset. Similar time slot and crowd size to Carly Rae Jepsen from a few years ago, except Slayyyter did it in a drizzling rain. Similar to CRJ in that she was kind of a veteran before she broke out, too.
Mother Mother — B
Tito’s. Good stagecraft for the world’s worst venue, lightly choreographed, frequent cover song interludes in between their own songs that locked the crowd back into the set. Venue proof performance. If only the originals were as memorable as the covers.
Finn Wolfhard — C+
Committed performer, but in a way that feels like he practiced in front of a mirror. Not much stagecraft or even gestures towards stagecraft, I bet he doesn’t go to many concerts. For many in the audience, it seems their curiosity cannot withstand a light rain. “Not much to say but thanks for coming out,” we can tell you don’t have much to say.
Skye Newman — B
Caught the last 10, stomped on her boots through the rain like a trooper but her set sure ended early.
Cancelation
Communication could’ve been a bit better here. Lil Uzi Vert canceled due to “travel complications,” and on their birthday, what a coincidence. Lolla IG blamed it on weather. I bet whatever they were up to last night, they were making it rain.
Zara pushed back, Suki pushed up.
Suki Waterhouse — B
Full set and band, backup singers and horns, Suki spent headliner money on this afternoon set, respect. That single sexy backup dancer is so much more awkward than two sexy dancers, especially when she went down to just a bra. Suki doesn’t have much of a voice, but she finds ways to put on a show.
Loathe — B-
Fell into the classic Tito’s trap, just played their songs and didn’t do enough to keep the audience engaged through the crap acoustics and uncomfortable flooring. Like three dudes tried their best to start a pit on the knee-crushing concrete. Loathe encouraged a Wall of Death for their last song, and did muster a Ring of Not Feeling Great. Probably would’ve killed in the woods at AirBnb but the God of Festival Booking said, “Not today.”
YUNGBLUD, photo by Joshua Druding
YUNGBLUD — B
Very much not for me but he’s got charisma. Fun vocalist, pitchy but so emotive it doesn’t matter. Maybe this comes from Gen Z brainrot, which starts from the assumption that everything has been done, and so the only thing you can do is a fresh remix. Goth plus Jonas Brothers is a fresh remix, but why?
Oklau — B
Just a gorgeous sunset set in the woods. Peak Lolla afternoon.
Nettspend — D+
I let out an audible “Oh, fuck,” as soon as he began. One of those rappers that doesn’t even attempt their own lyrics, just shouts, “Let’s go!” and “1, 2, 3, 4!” until the show mercifully ends.
Horsegiirl — B
Furry rave in the woods, Horsegiirl and her surprisingly realistic horse head, plus a couple of backup dancers that started as snails but stripped to slugs.
Chappell Clone alert, “HOT TO GO!” dance but it’s “Eat, Sleep, Slay, Repeat.”
The horse can open her mouth!
Smashing Pumpkins with Olivia Rodrigo, photo by Tyler Curtis/@tyliner
Smashing Pumpkins — B
Billy Corgan has an iconic voice but he does not blend at all with Miss Olivia Rodrigo. Nice set, a background of intimidating and old-fashioned toys (doll, top). Olivia, Yungblud, and Melissa Auf der Maur, good guest list, and they mostly played the hits.
And I missed Charli xcx this year because I was on video assignment for the Pumpkins guest list, but you can check out my colleague Jonah’s recap here.
Saturday
Rain Delay
Doors open at 3 with the Star Wars theme from A New Hope. At the main entrance, a single sprinting influencer started a panic and everybody ran. It was pretty funny to walk from the sprinting south up to the normal north, where everyone behaved like they had previously been in public.
Audiences huddled along the metal barrier in all varieties of wrong shoes.
Die Spitz — A-
Vocal performances muscular and athletic, full of a dirty metal grind. Bassist can walk on her hands and is leaping off amps, drummer slamming those thangs. Every single member talented, every single member gives a sense of surprise, of wanting to see what happens next.
Quadeca — B
Pretty music in a swampy fog. Energetic and a bit odd, he had gimmicks like sprinting back and forth between funhouse mirrors as the music swelled.
Momma — B
Tito’s. The space almost swallowed them but a group of hard-core fans fucking rocked out the whole time and the band fed off that energy.
Clipse, photo by Josh Druding
Clipse — A-
Late-period Scorsese kinda performance, perfectly plotted out and consistently interesting. Phenomenal breath control, not a dull moment.
Frost Children — B-
Fun beats, weak on the mic, most of the credit for it not being a disaster goes to the crowd.
Ethel Cain — B+
Lovely voice, great set pieces with the tall grasses and power lines. During the freak-out-the-squares portion from her ambient album, the dry ice mingled with the fog and it was just so fucking beautiful.
Geese — B+
Cameron Winter has some impressive dynamic control, one of the better rock voices of the weekend.
Blank stage. “You can thank united for the set this evening. It’s up in the air, so to speak.” Audience and band passed the drizzle pop quiz.
Olivia Dean — B
Not much of a voice when she’s moving, and she’s often moving. Thin and breathy instrument. Before TikTok you never heard a voice like this headlining.
She’s got a Selena kind of joy to her, easy to smile right back.
Brass and backup dancers, flower petal set, a very old-school kind of class.
Jennie, photo by Josh Druding
Jennie — C+
Not much on the mic. She’s probably a better dancer.
Not much of a dancer, either.
A perfectly meh 4:30 pm set. Pretty disappointing as one of the eight headliners.
Sunday
Cruz Beckham and the Breakers — C-
I really wanted there to be breakdancers but it’s just a soccer nepo baby with some boring songs and a fraction of the charm to get over. Lots of people sitting and watching. Not a little bit of getting up and leaving between songs. Two lone gals at the front losing their mind after every track, I wonder if they know him or are just hoping to. Boring and sad, nobody here likes music.
Water from Your Eyes — B
Drummer and bassist are above-average performers and Nate is a young guitar god. Could be special but singer does not have the same chops. The mixing board had a lot of trouble balancing levels because she wasn’t consistent in her volume range; her quieter stuff was inaudible but the loud stuff would come in too hot, leading to spikes. I was standing near the board, and after one spike I saw the dude grimace and shrug at the other guys.
Adela — B
Breathy, bit of spectacle, benefiting from a time slot with low expectations.
Turnstile, photo by Joshua Druding
Turnstile — B+
Biggest pit of the fest that I saw at Bud Light. Maybe not quite as electric as when I saw them a few years ago in the woods at AirBnB or whatever it was called at the time, but still, a really high-floor live act, they don’t put on bad shows.
aespa — B
There’s the machine precision I keep expecting from the non-Korean x-pop groups. Even if you don’t like the music, it’s mesmerizing when done well.
Tate McRae — B
Interesting mix, she’s prioritizing vocals but then she’ll take a break to bust out a few quick moves of some of the smoothest dancing of the weekend. Shades of Britney Spears when she’s moving, but she’s aiming for a more comprehensive live show.
The xx — B
The best parts are the hybrids between classic songs and Jamie xx’s solo work. I can’t believe how many people are still up and dancing. Aren’t you tired? I’m tired. I’m done.
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