Lollapalooza 2022: A Massive Hit For The Chicago Festival

At the end of April, the lineup of more than 170 artists who would perform in a new edition of Lollapalooza to be held in Chicago with eight stages available for the four-night show became official. The event would be one of the largest to be held since the resumption of massive events after the pause caused by Covid-19. Despite being one of the most important music festivals in the world, Lollapalooza still had tickets available for sale a couple of days before its start in the city of Chicago. Ultimately, packages spanning multiple days sold out within hours to completely sell out tickets.

Event security

It has been reported that, to enter the Grant Park facilities, the logistics have been similar to those of an airport. The entry of backpacks that exceed 14 centimeters in length has been prohibited and those who did not attend the festival had to stay away from the surroundings of the park due to the blockades that have been placed on the surrounding avenues.

First night

The opening of the event was highlighted by the presentation of Metallica, the monstrous and veteran metal band has had a sensational night where they have amazed audiences of all ages in an electrifying presentation that has been praised by fans of the group led by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.

One of the most special moments of the first evening was the appearance of actor Joe Quinn, who has enchanted the world after his appearance in the most recent season of the series Stranger Things, where he represents a young fan of the band and performs the theme "Master of Puppets" in an iconic scene from the most recent episodes that has catapulted him to stardom. The Metallica concert has allowed Quinn to share with the band at a time that has stood out on social networks.

Second night

The second night of the festival continued in vibrant fashion with performances from Dua Lipa and Machine Gun Kelly, who headlined Friday night's lineup. The British superstar was considered by many to be the best performance of the night, performing in front of more than 120 thousand people on the main stage of the park. Her choreographies and interpretation of her best songs cast a spell on those present and the singer took the opportunity to thank her loyal fans for their support, in addition to using her platform to confront social injustice, supporting the LGBTQ community and women's rights in all the world.

Dua Lipa's presentation made the audience dance and sing fervently and concluded in an exceptional way with the interpretation of “Don't Start Now” accompanied by pyrotechnics that confirms her as one of the icons of current pop culture.

For his part, the rapper turned into a rocker, Machine Gun Kelly, closed the second night with the intention of making himself known as the artist of the punk rock genre that he has shown in his recent works, although he performed a couple of rapped songs such as “ Floor 13” and “Devil”. In addition, the Ohio native had the appearance of guests, where the singer Avril Lavigne stood out, who even gave a presentation that overshadowed MGK when they played "Bois Lie", a collaborative song that is part of Lavigne's most recent album.

Although Machine Gun Kelly was not the brightest act of the second night, his performance demonstrated his evolution as an artist and leaves an expectation of what he will be able to do in the near future.

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Third night

The international artists stood out on the third day of the festival, where the participation of the Mexican-American, DannyLux, stood out with a bilingual participation accompanied by his acoustic guitar that has enchanted the audiences despite his lyrics in Spanish. Also featured in the preliminary acts were Spanish rock girl group Hinds and South Korean boy band Tomorrow X Together.

The closing of the night and one of the most anticipated artists at the festival was rapper J Cole, who performed several of his most recent songs to start his presentation and gradually interpreted songs from his first albums to finish turning on the audience, which was very active throughout the repertoire of one of today's most important rappers.

Another standout performer from Lollapalooza's penultimate night was Willow Smith, the daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett. Her recital based on a mixture of R&B with pop-punk and even presented a new song worthy of a bizarre opera entitled "Hug Her Like a Goddess" and despite being a brief performance that barely exceeded half an hour, Willow has left great sensations for his talent for mixing both genres.

The first incident at the festival came on day three, when rapper Lil Durk was hit in the face by his own fireworks while doing his own presentation. But a few seconds later he rejoined and concluded his show with high energy. In general, the event has had few altercations that have not gone beyond intoxicated people and theft of objects. In addition, good management of the public was reported to avoid suffocation problems.

Fourth night

The last day of Lollapalooza closed with great artists. Performances by BTS rapper J-Hope and punk band Green Day attracted groups of all ages to wrap up Sunday's activities. Among the preliminaries, the appearance of the Italian band Maneskin stood out, which has remained unstoppable since winning the Eurovision contest in 2021 and has amounted millions of followers globally.

J-Hope's performance was the highlight of Sunday's evening, receiving multiple compliments from the media and fans in attendance. With his presentation that closed Lollapalooza, he has shown that he can maintain his shine despite not sharing the stage with BTS after leaving his body and soul in front of the thousands of spectators who did not stop chanting his name throughout his repertoire of 18 songs and even featuring with Becky G for the track "Chicken Noodle Soup." With the performance of the South Korean artist, the festival had a spectacular close and leaves good feelings for future editions to be held in the following years.