The Lollapalooza envy is still powerful with us!
For the past two years, every concertgoer in the world has missed the luxury of gathering together and seeing favorite acts live. Concert producers tried going virtual, but it’s not like festivals and shows where there's an exchange of energy between crowds and performers. So, when we got the greenlight to attend live concerts and music festivals again, many of us rushed to get tickets. And so it rekindles our fear of missing out on international music festivals. And most recently, Chicago’s Lollapalooza 2022 took the crown of “Best Festival To Be In.”
Aside from a stellar lineup of artists of different genres, pop culture moments happened behind the scenes. Stranger Things’ Joe Quinn meets Metallica, jams for a while and receives a signed guitar. They also played his scene from the show on their LED screens as they played Master of Puppets. Tomorrow X Together brings iann dior onstage to perform Valley of Lies, while Green Day invites a fan on stage for their cover of Operation Ivy’s Knowledge. The girl also gets sent home with a guitar—talk about luck! At least the organizers live streamed the event on Hulu for those who wanted to enjoy the sets from home.
It’s been a while since the eventful weekend at Grant Park, but we’re still seriously stewing in our FOMO. So ahead, we list the stages at Grant Park we hoped to catch IRL.
J-Hope
We’re kicking this list off with J-Hope’s headlining set for Lollapalooza 2022, fondly dubbed Hobipalooza by ARMY. The serotonin-filled set has a ton of landmarks worth remembering. But the songs that made it a set worth watching IRL would be Outro: Ego and Hope World. Put together J-Hope’s electrifying energy with hype performances by dance crew The Lab, we’re seriously suffering from major FOMO right now. Luckily for those who missed it (and maybe want to relive it), you can watch his entire Lollapalooza performance on YouTube.
RELATED: Nine New Tracks to Check Out on Spotify: August 2022
Dua Lipa
View this post on Instagram
Another headlining set we hoped to catch with our own set of eyes was Dua Lipa’s. After several supporting stages, she finally gets her headliner moment for Lollapalooza 2022. Getting a crowd of 120,000 people singing to her songs like Physical, Love Again and One Kiss decked out in her sparkly Mugler number and out-dancing herself from years ago definitely makes this Lolla stint a milestone for the singer. Add this to her brand new title of Honorary Ambassador of Kosovo, and it seems that 2022 is shaping up to be a good year for the pop star.
MUNA
View this post on Instagram
There’s a reason why MUNA’s eponymous album makes it to our mid-year roundup. The record signifies the queer trio proudly making queer music for themselves and their community. Yes, minus all the expectations to fit in a certain box. So imagine how empowering their Lollapalooza set was, especially with the palpable energy brought by the live performance of What I Want. If anything, MUNA and the entire audience were rightfully taking up their space for that entire set. Honestly, that video thoroughly fuels our need to let loose with MUNA commanding the audience from the stage.
Tomorrow x Together
Another K-pop act makes history in Lollapalooza. J-Hope and BTS’s juniors, Tomorrow X Together, also conquer the Solana x Perry stage. While their image continuously plays on their emo boy concept thanks to Good Boy Gone Bad, their Lollapalooza set also breathed a new air of joy into their happier songs. The live band version of the funky, all-English track called Magic makes it a song worth vibing to at the festival. The moment they happily yelled, “Everybody, clap your hands! / If you’ve got a broken heart, just take a chance,” best believe we did the same at home, too!
Djo (Joe Keery)
View this post on Instagram
Joe Keery might’ve gotten his major break from Stranger Things, but it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have time for other things. Before landing the role of Steve Harrington, the actor was the guitarist and drummer for the psychedelic band Post Animals until 2019. Now, he rocked Lollapalooza 2022 as his solo music project Djo, singing tracks like Tentpole Shangri-La and a new track called Gloom. He fully transforms into a different person onstage, making us want to jam with him IRL. And TBH, his dreamy set would’ve been much better had he and his band played at night. So take notes for next year, Lollapalooza!
RELATED: Shawn Mendes Cancels His Entire ‘Wonder’ World Tour Due To Mental Health Struggles
Which Lollapalooza 2022 stage did you want to see IRL? Let us know in the comments!
Photos Lollapalooza on Twitter
Art Macky Arquilla
