Lollapalooza celebrated its 20th anniversary over the weekend, turning Chicago’s Grant Park into a musical mecca that saw roughly 100,000 people gather each day in extreme heat and, at least on Sunday evening, torrential rain. In keeping with founder Perry Farrell’s original vision, the festival lineup was thrillingly diverse, featuring everything from hip-hop to dance to stadium rock. Highlights included a blistering set from Muse, a storm-defying performance by the irrepressible Foo Fighters, and a number of the non-headliners we knew you would love, from Tinie Tempah to Fitz & the Tantrums.
Our favorite fresh act to these shores was easily Australia’s Boy & Bear, the antipodean answer to Mumford & Sons, while the most memorable moment came from the full-on chaos of LA-via-Mexico’s Le Butcherettes — a band that channels Karen O via the Kills, only with a lot more screaming and fake blood, and in this case, onstage vomiting with its own theme song. The only real disappointment came from a bizarre set by a spiked and studded Cee-Lo that opened with a Danzig cover and featured numerous Girl Talk-esque breaks for snippets of songs by Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, and Journey. Check out our photo gallery from the fest featuring all those artists and more, including Lykke Li, the Naked and Famous, and Ellie Goulding.
Cee-Lo. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
The Naked and Famous. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Le Butcherettes. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Ellie Goulding. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Lykke Li. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Muse. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Fitz & The Tantrums. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Tinie Tempah. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Boy & Bear. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Foo Fighters. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.
The Kills. Photo by Cezary Pietrzak.