By Christopher David<\/p>\n
The final day of Lollapalooza 2022 saw some of the heaviest hitters on the bill, from the most up-and-coming to one of the biggest bands on earth.<\/p>\n
First up was Chicago\u2019s own Horsegirl, who have made a sudden and wicked splash on indie-rock radio as of late with their unique blend of alt-pop and noise rock, calling to mind Sonic Youth\u2019s overall approach to arrangements with the focus and brevity of the best garage rockers; were this thirty years earlier, the trio would have been right at home on the Touch & Go label.\u00a0 The slow build of \u201cBallroom Dance Scene\u201d was a standout, and the band\u2019s friends were on hand to assist with kettle drums and a literally banging of pots and pans, bringing a unique vibe to the whole performance.<\/p>\n
Goth Babe\u2014really three energetic men in matching white jumpsuits\u2014set the bar high for audience interaction just a couple of songs into their set.\u00a0 Seeing a fan with a sign that read Wanna Crowd Surf With Me?,<\/em> vocalist Griff Washburn brought her onstage, helped situate her in a giant watermelon floatie, and cast her into the sea of people to be ferried around as the band played\u2014a bucket list fan moment if ever there was one!\u00a0 Closing out a punchy set of their funky, catchy tunes, Washburn asked the crowd if they could fulfill a childhood dream, closing the set with The Killers\u2019 \u201cAll These Things I\u2019ve Done.\u201d<\/p>\n In perhaps the most talked-about set of the day, Italy\u2019s Maneskin brought their blend of glam rock, funk, and garage crunch to the T-Mobile stage for a set that didn\u2019t slow down for a sec.\u00a0 Vocalist Damiano David already has tremendous command of a Lolla-sized crowd, slinking about the stage like a seasoned pro, while guitarist Thomas Raggi and bassist Victoria De Angelis played off of one another for every money-shot live photo one could want.\u00a0 The band\u2019s well-known cover of the Four Seasons\u2019 \u201cBeggin\u2019\u201d was an obvious crowd pleaser, but the band\u2019s real heft comes from their original material\u2014not to mention the fact that there were never four people who looked more like rock stars together.<\/p>\n Back to Chicago we went for a foray into some of the best alt-rock out there: Lili Trifilio\u2019s Beach Bunny.\u00a0 Fresh on the heels of their new album Emotional Creature, <\/em>Trifilio\u2019s bright vocal style calls to mind of best of the \u201890s alternative girl-groups (Velocity Girl being the most obvious) while still staying fresh.\u00a0 New single \u201cOxygen\u201d is a summer anthem if ever there was one, and Trifilio\u2019s enthusiasm was infectious for the entire set.\u00a0 \u201cI lost my voice yesterday and I\u2019ve been on a 24-hour moment of silence,\u201d she joked early in the set, though you certainly wouldn\u2019t have known it\u2014she has one of the most recognizable voices in the contemporary alt-rock scene, put to strong use on \u201cGood Girls (Don\u2019t Get Used)\u201d and \u201cProm Queen.\u201d<\/p>\n Porno for Pyros, Perry Ferrell\u2014what more can be said of Lollapalooza\u2019s founding father in all his late-afternoon glory, sipping from a bottle of wine?\u00a0 A lot, actually, as the band blazed though a perfectly-curated setlist that pulled equally from both Porno albums, with \u201cCursed Female\u201d and \u201cGood God\u2019s Urge\u201d among the highlights.\u00a0 Another highlight?\u00a0 A surprise appearance by The Smashing Pumpkins\u2019 Billy Corgan, who lent his guitar skills to a stomping cover of Led Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cWhen the Levee Breaks.\u201d\u00a0 Corgan and Ferrell were all smiles, their renewed friendship on full display\u2014and is the special guest slot a harbinger for the upcoming Jane\u2019s Addiction\/Pumpkins tour this fall?\u00a0 Who knows, but on their own, Porno for Pyros brought one of the most musically interesting sets of the weekend\u2014it\u2019s easy to forget just how diverse Ferrell\u2019s style has always been until pitted against the wide swath of genres on display throughout Lolla; his music has a timeless quality that pulls from too many influences to name and always ends up sounding wholly unique.<\/p>\n Like Metallica before them, Green Day drew a stadium-sized crowd in their own right and burned down a 21-song setlist in what felt like the blink of an eye.\u00a0 Opening with the one-two punch of \u201cAmerican Idiot\u201d (which feels even more appropriate now than the time of its release, which ice saying something) and \u201cHoliday,\u201d guitarist\/vocalist\/ringmaster Billie Joe Armstrong, drummer Tre Cool, bassist Mike Dirnt and touring guitarist Jason White provided a perfect cocktail of politics and partying, from a straightforward cover of KISS\u2019 \u201cRock N Roll All Nite\u201d to beloved anthems like \u201cBasket Case\u201d and \u201c21 Guns\u201d to the blazing finale of \u201cJesus of Suburbia\u201d and a solo acoustic \u201cTime of Your Life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was a kid,\u201d Armstrong noted early in the set, \u201cI lived outside of the city, where a lot of bands didn\u2019t play.\u00a0 But I still got to see all the great bands like Nine Inch Nails, the Chili Peppers, and the Pumpkins thanks to Lollapalooza, a traveling circus back then, and one guy\u2014Perry Ferrell.\u00a0 So, thank you, Perry!\u201d<\/p>\n That about sums it up, so let me say it, too: thank you, Perry.\u00a0 See you at Lollapalooza 2023!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Christopher David The final day of Lollapalooza 2022 saw some of the heaviest hitters on the bill, from the most up-and-coming to one of the biggest bands on earth. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47493,"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-47492","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\/47492","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=47492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/beintheloopchicago.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}