They say all good things must come to an end, and sadly that also holds true for this year’s Lollapalooza festival, which once again transformed Chicago’s Grant Park into an epic entertainment mecca of great music and beautiful people in a way that only Lolla can. It had no doubt been a fun, action-packed first three days of the festival, but did Lolla save the best for last? With Mr. Lollapalooza himself (aka Perry Farrell) on the billing Sunday, along with a special guest or two, and of course the always fantastic Green Day on tap to close things out, Day 4 promised to be nothing short of legendary.
So, one more time, let’s take a trip through some of the highlights on Lolla’s final day, shall we?
Buffalo Nichols – Although the first three days of Lolla were certainly very entertaining and eventful, as you might imagine, they were also more than a little exhausting, particularly for this reviewer. Between bouncing around Grant Park trying to check out as many live acts as possible, headbanging to Metallica, jamming with the tweakers at Perry’s, to going slightly apeshit at Turnstile, your humble narrator was feeling a smidge tuckered-out Sunday afternoon, which is why taking in Buffalo Nichols’s set at the BMI stage proved to be a bit of a godsend of sorts.
In a nutshell, Buffalo Nichols’s brand of low-key, acoustic-centric blues really was the perfect way to settle into the final day of Lolla, especially considering Sunday afternoon proved to be the toastiest day of the festival, but not bad by any means for late July (mid 80s). Nichols’s style is tailor-made for relaxing under a shady tree on a hot summer’s day, just soaking in the vibes, which this reviewer found to be refreshingly authentic, deep, soulful, and, well, nourishing (for lack of a better term). There was a certain solemness to his music that seemed to touch a nerve, as his gruff vocals conveyed a genuine sense of weariness and experience to them. In other words, this dude understands what the blues is all about, and his music seemed to be coming from a very real place. For fans of stripped-down acoustic/folky blues, check out Buffalo Nichols, a relative newcomer on the blues scene whose self-titled debut album came out last year. Good stuff.
Måneskin – Getting back to the music, your humble narrator was only vaguely familiar with Maneskin coming into the festival, but after witnessing most of their late-afternoon set Sunday, have to say they were pretty kick-ass live. If the band name is not ringing a bell, one listen of their hit song “Beggin” (Four Seasons cover) should refresh 99% of everyone’s memory out there. It certainly did for yours truly, as a little lightbulb went off in my head when they started jamming that said: “oh, ah-hah, so that’s the band that sings that song” (the more you know).
Anyway, not only did “Beggin” positively rip live, but really most of their set was straight fire, as they bring that kind of old-school, somewhat sleezy variety of loud-ass rock’n’roll to the table, that was frankly a little refreshing to hear after maybe taking in one too many mildly insipid acts over the prior days of the fest. There is something to be said for just stacking up the amps and cranking out some fun/sexy (kind of cliche, but whatever) loud AF rock music, especially in a live setting, and Maneskin certainly delivered the goods on that front. They were fun and got the crowd into it. Lively set!
ATLiens – As much as one tried to stay away from the allure of Perry’s electronica mayhem, your humble narrator was once again drawn in (like a Moth to the Flame) by the dopeness emulating from the stage courtesy of ATLiens (not to be confused with the classic Outkast album). It was almost like closure, you could say, as yours truly felt the need to swing by Perry’s one last time, almost as a way of giving thanks for all the good times provided (mostly) Friday afternoon/evening. And once again, the tweaker stage did not disappoint, as ATLiens (who looked the part with their menacing anonymous-esque masks) delivered all the hyped-up earth-shattering beats you would come to expect from acts at Perry’s. Thanks for the memories tweakers. It was real.
Porno for Pyros – Porno for Pyros’ performance (who this reviewer generically labeled “The Lollapalooza guy’s band” for my daughter’s sake). and someone who might rank “Pets” in the Top 25 of personal favorite 90s songs of all time, it was certainly very cool to hear that classic live, performed by the Godfather of the festival himself, Mr. Perry Farrell.
The rest of Porno for Pyros set was hitting on all those crusty/hazy/decadent cylinders, as Farrell was in a seemingly serene mood, which casted a generally laid-back spell on the audience at large. Their performance felt a little weird, but in a good/spacey way, overall. And as much as this reviewer enjoyed marinating to the sweet sounds of “Pets” live, the real highlight of their set came when Billy Corgan himself surprisingly joined the band for a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks”, which was, how to say, kind of fucking awesome?! Gotta love little surprises like that. Very cool set overall.
Green Day – The last (and only other time) this reviewer had the privilege of seeing Green Day live was about 12 years earlier at the exact same spot they were about to take the stage (Lolla 2010). Indeed, many things have changed since 2010, but Green Day’s ability to deliver a world-class/ridiculously fun/high energy rock’n’roll performance definitely isn’t one of them. Opening with “American Idiot” (still waiting for that song not to be pervasively relevant all the time), they kicked things off in fittingly spunky fashion, which set the tone for entirety of their fantastic set.
Obviously, the nature of Green Day’s music certainly translates to a fun time live, but they always seem to go the extra mile to get the audience involved in their performance, be it through call-and-response chants, leading hand-claps (which this reviewer is generally averse to, but can make special exceptions for Green Day), to inviting kids up on stage, and doing it all with such high-energy and enthusiasm, it’s truly a beautiful thing to behold. Put it this way: Green Day is hands-down one of the most purely fun/entertaining bands to see live. Oh, and they have some pretty great songs too (“Brainstew”, “Holiday”, “Welcome to Paradise”, “Longview”, and “When I Come Around” were just some of the many highlights).
Hard to imagine a better band to close out an incredibly awesome four-day stretch of truly fantastic music, and Green Day did so in resounding fashion Sunday night, putting the proverbial exclamation mark on a pretty epic Lollapalooza 2022.
Final Tidbits:
Cool somewhat obscure band t-shirt sighting: Firehose
Favorite obscure NBA jersey spotted: Eduardo Najera (Nuggs)
Number of people holding a sign advertising their singleness with instructions to add them on Snapchat: 1
People that complimented my War On Drugs t-shirt: 1…just 1…
Mayor of Chicago sightings at Kidzapalooza: 1 (Lori was in the house!)
Favorite overheard phrase: “I’m 10 out of 10 recommending the chubby wieners” (possibly in reference to the food vendor on site, but we’ll never really know now will we?)
Cumulative 4-day steps total for your humble narrator: 74,213
