{"id":42678,"date":"2021-07-31T10:49:34","date_gmt":"2021-07-31T15:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=42678"},"modified":"2021-07-31T11:04:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T16:04:19","slug":"lollapalooza-30th-day-1-recap-eclectic-youths-rock-v-rap-battles-and-a-stay-puff-dj-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/?p=42678","title":{"rendered":"Lollapalooza 30th, Day 2 Recap: Eclectic Youths, Rock v. Rap Battles And A Stay-Puff DJ Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christopher David<\/p>\n

Day 2 of Lollapalooza brought the eclectic yet again, ebbing and flowing between rock and hip-hop before arriving at one of the biggest electronic artists on the planet.<\/p>\n

Grandson, the moniker and project of Jordan Edward Benjamin, took one of the day\u2019s two big rock slots, offering a high energy set and some special guests. One of Lolla\u2019s hallmarks this year has been the rapid popularity of artists who are only a few years into their careers, and while the fest has always cultivated new talent, the size of the crowds at several key sets this weekend are evidence that the move toward streaming and away from mainstream radio has had a tremendous impact on the rise of next-generation headliners. Such was the case with Grandson\u2014having only released a handful of EPs and one full length album (2020\u2019s Death of an Optimist), the size of the crowd betrayed Grandson\u2019s longevity, and Benjamin had no trouble commanding the masses like a seasoned pro.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve spent the last year on your phones overthinking shit,\u201d he noted at one point with a grin. \u201cLet me take over for a while, how\u2019s that?\u201d Musically, Grandson is a hodgepodge of rap and rock, with hints of early \u201890s rock alongside Benjamin\u2019s nasal vocal delivery, calling Eminem to mind at times. Singer Jessie Reyez joined the band for a wobbly run-through of \u201cRain,\u201d the co-written theme song for the forthcoming Suicide Squad<\/em> movie, and while much has been made of Grandson\u2019s political bent, that aspect of the band\u2019s approach wasn\u2019t as much in evidence on Friday; as a result, their set didn\u2019t have quite the impact one might have hoped for, though closer \u201cBlood\/Water\u201d found Benjamin crowdsurfing and riding the high of his band\u2019s high-profile slot through a solid hook to close things out.<\/p>\n

As with any festival, each day has its major wins, and Friday\u2019s belonged to White Reaper.<\/p>\n

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Over the course of a much-needed hour, the Louisville quintet delivered hooky garage rock and power pop melodies as if they\u2019d been at it for decades, with an ease and attitude that lots of bands show off but few own naturally, which makes sense given that the band has been playing together since high school. Vocalist\/guitarist Tony Esposito and guitarist Hunter Thompson were fully at ease cracking jokes between tunes, and as a whole, the band was an oasis of pure rock n\u2019 roll in a festival day with little guitar in sight. Songs like \u201cMake It Right\u201d and \u201cMake Me Want to Die\u201d would be blasting from every car radio on earth in a just world; indeed, White Reaper\u2019s greatest strength is the timeless quality of the music, and their songs could have been a radio staple any time over the last four decades. The band\u2019s growth was evident on 2019\u2019s You Deserve Love<\/em>, their third full-length outing, and their set on Friday showed why all three of their albums belong on your shelf. In an interview before the show, the band teased that new music is on the way – whatever comes next, rock fans take note!<\/p>\n

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The rest of the day saw numerous hip-hop and pop acts that drew respectable crowds, though balance between genres was far less than most days at the fest. Closing out a mercifully temperate Chicago night on the lake, Marshmello (DJ Christopher Comstock) ended Day 2 on an energetic high note, rousing a massive crowd through a set punctuated by frenetic lights, color and sound, evidence of just how massive DJ culture has become on a global scale: when you\u2019re headlining Lollapalooza, you\u2019ve doing something right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Christopher David Day 2 of Lollapalooza brought the eclectic yet again, ebbing and flowing between rock and hip-hop before arriving at one of the biggest electronic artists on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,41,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-features","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}