Lollapalooza 2021 Review: Chicago Festival Makes Its Raucous Return
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At the 30th anniversary of Lollapalooza a Chicago mega-fest attended by 385,000 the mood feels a little different. Perhaps its just proximity to Fred Dursts new dad look, but returning to live music at full throttle after almost a year and a half away is sure to cause a shock to the system. Despite rising concerns around the fast-spreading Delta variant of COVID-19 in the US, the large-scale festival goes ahead, with no emergency brakes. While introducing Black Pumas on Thursday, Chicagos Mayor Lori Lightfoot proudly proclaims that Lollapalooza is the largest music festival happening anywhere in the world this year. At times, the atmosphere feels slightly apocalyptic given the backdrop.
As a result, some bands listed on the bill seem simply willing to put their name to potential calamity. First and foremost, Limp Bizkit, who recently enjoyed their resurgence as villains in the recently released HBO documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love and Rage. While Fred Durst declares on stage that Lollapalooza isnt that festival, youd be forgiven for feeling the same sense of foreboding. Journey, meanwhile, take the leap from their usual state fairs, and attempt to win over younger fans squeezing Dont Stop Believin in right at the very end.
After staking their claim over 2019s festival season, both JPEGMAFIA and Rico Nasty delight the faithful with levelled-up performances on the Grove stage sets which promise theyll be on mainstays in short order.
Notable Features Of Grant Park
Millennium ParkThe northwestern corner of Grant Park was renovated between 1998 and 2004 to become Millennium Park, a contiguous area with a variety of artistic features by architects and artists. Millennium Park features some of Chicago’s most popular attractions, including the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain and the Lurie Garden. The park is connected to Maggie Daley and the east side of Grant Park by the BP Pedestrian Bridge and the Nichols Bridgeway.
Maggie Daley ParkThe former Daley Bicentennial Plaza site was transformed into magnificent Lakefront recreation center now called . The park features an ice skating ribbon, a fieldhouse, a massive playground apparatus and a climbing wall. The Skating Ribbon at Maggie Daley provides a skating experience unlike any other. With the Citys skyline as a backdrop, park patrons can skate along a ribbon of ice integrated into the landscape for a multisensory, alpine in the city experience. The ribbon’s winding path provides twice the length of a lap around a traditional skating rink. Complementing the ribbon are places to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, rent skates and scale the climbing wall. In the summertime, the ribbon is used for roller-skating and scooters, gallery exhibitions and special events.
Hutchinson FieldMuch of the southern end of Grant Park is given over to Hutchinson Field, an open space for large events and a dozen baseball or softball diamonds.
Lightfoot Takes The Stage: Thank You For Masking Up And Vaxing Up
Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has been outspoken about her decision to keep Lollapalooza as scheduled despite the uptick in cases of COVID-19 and numerous variants spreading around the country, made a not-so-surprise appearance on the festivals opening day.
Wearing a Black Pumas T-shirt, she introduced the groups midday set at the T-Mobile Stage and hailed the Pumas as one of the greatest rock bands of today.
The rate of vaccination in this crowd is off the charts, she said.
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Dababys Performance Canceled Amid Backlash Over Homophobic Comments
Rapper DaBaby was pulled from Sundays Lollapalooza amid a brewing controversy over homophobic comments he made during another festival performance last week in Florida.
DaBaby, real name Jonathan Kirk, has come under heavy fire after he went on a controversial rant last Sunday at the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami Gardens, Florida, that targeted gay people and those living with sexually transmitted diseases.
The Court Of The Presidents
The Court of the Presidents is located directly on the north and south side of E. Ida B. Wells Drive, west of S. Columbus Drive and east of S. Michigan Ave. Manicured gardens and art work help define the Court of Presidents. South President’s Court, until recently, has primarily been gardens. However, within the past decade the city has decided to use the area to showcase art work by Chicagoans. While unique artwork has long been a tradition of Chicago’s parks, South President’s Court had the added benefit of showcasing “in house” art as its first newsworthy collection, entitled “Artist and Automobiles.” The collection, organized by the Public Art Program and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, consisted of sculptures composed entirely of parts found on old automobiles.
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Chicagos Biggest Music Festival: Lollapalooza 2019
Lollapalooza is a music festival that takes place annually in Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. This year from 1st- 4th August 2019 , the city of Chicago will be swamped with 100,000s of people prepared to have a great time.
Conceived and created by Perry Farrell, the lead singer of the band Janes Addiction in 1991. The festival was revived in 2005 and has continued since then. With a line up of over 180 artists this year and genres ranging from alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, hip hop, and electronic music, and eight stages, lollapalooza is a super loved and awaited music festival of the year.
This years lineup includes artists like, Ariana Grande, Childish Gambino, The Chainsmokers, Twenty one Pilots and many more coveted artists. The location of the festival, makes it even more appealing to the travelers hoping to extend their trip in Chicago. The music scene is huge in Chicago and Lollapalooza is just a part of it. So while you are there you can check out the music and art scene in the city.
Parking / Pick Up / Drop
Convenient and security patrolled, 24-hour parking is available near Grant Park. If you decide to rent a car, it is advisable you also reserve a parking spot for the vehicle, to avoid last minute delays.
Parking is not available on the festival grounds. The Millennium Park Garage and the Millennium Lakeside Garage located at 5 S. Columbus Dr. and the Grant Park North Garage located at 25 N. Michigan are all fully accessible.
The designated ADA Pick Up and Drop Off location is on Monroe at Columbus Dr. Pick Up and Drop Off Only. No Parking.
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How Do I Get To Grant Park
Grant Park is right in the heart of the city, with many transport options available. If you’re not driving, you could try ride sharing, or else public transportation options are very good.
The Chicago Transport Authority has train and bus routes to Grant Park, from across the city and from both both major airports.
First Lolla Fans Optimistic As 2021 Festival Kicks Off Amid Covid
Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last years iteration of the 30-year-old music festival. While some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapaloozas new protocols.
But not everyone knew about the vaccine mandate in order to attend the music festival.
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A Visual History Of Lolla Acts
Though originally a small, crazy, travelling rock festival, Lollapalooza chose Chicago as its permanent home in 2005. From that first Saturday in Grant Park, Lollapalooza became the city’s favorite summer event. Every year there are more acts and more stages, and over the last ten years the Lollapalooza has transformed from a Chicago-local weekend to one of the biggest and most popular music festivals in the U.S. We took a look at the ways in which the demographic of Lollapalooza has changed since its settlement in Chicago, to explore how the festival has developed since becoming a part of our city. What once was a bastion for ’90s alternative has diversified with greater numbers of hip-hop, pop and electronic acts. Genre of Lolapallooza artists | Create Infographics It’s no suprise to see the continued dominance of indie and alternative rock from 2005 to 2014. In 2014, though, hip hop and electronic music are much more heavily feautured, and are placed higher up in the lineup. Lollapalooza 2005 saw an entirely rock and alternative rock-based headliner list with the Pixies, Widespread Panic, Weezer and The Killers. This year, The Kings of Leon share their space with Eminiem, Outkast and Skrillex. Gender of Lollapalooza frontmen | Create Infographics So. Lollapalooza is still not quite up to date on gender equality. Still, female representation has slowly increased over the years, and this year a female solo act, Lorde, features just seventh on the lineup. Nationality of Lol
Lollapalooza Returns To Grant Park July 29august 1
The City of Chicago is encouraging festival goers to enjoy the 4day premier event safely and responsibly while following health and security precautions
Lollapalooza returns to Chicago on Thursday, July 29Sunday, August 1, 11am10pm daily in Grant Park. The highly anticipated festival is expected to draw hundreds of thousands to Chicagos lakefront for the four-day event featuring over 170 performances on eight stages. As the festival gets underway, the Office of Emergency Management and Communications encourages those attending to enjoy a fun and safe event by adhering to all security precautions and health guidelines in place.
Public safety remains our top priority for the event, and the city has worked closely with the organizers to plan and prepare for the safety and security of festival attendees, performers and staff, said OEMC Executive Director Rich Guidice. We also want to encourage those inside and outside the festival to report any suspicious activity by calling 9-1-1 or notifying onsite security.
The festival in Grant Park boundaries are from Michigan Avenue to the Lake Shore Drive and Roosevelt Road to Randolph Street. All motorists, pedestrians and residents in the area are reminded of the street closures and traffic impacts throughout the weekend.
ADA DropOff: ADA drop-off is located at the eastbound curb lane of Monroe just east of Michigan Avenue.
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Festival Tickets And Pricing
Tickets to the flagship and original Lollapalooza edition, in Chicago, usually sold out extremely quickly. For the 2016 event, the four-day general passes sold out in about one day after the sale began. The one-day passes sold even more quickly: they were gone less than three hours after organizers revealed the lineup for the four-day music festival. Because of this phenomenon, people who cannot buy the passes try to get them through alternatives sources such as Craigslist and StubHub. This is a common practice, although the prices tend to be significantly higher on these websites. In 2018, the festival experienced unusually slower sales, so they released the lineup about eight hours earlier.
In its earliest editions, the official passes cost $31.50. However, with its growth and prominent relevance in the music world, Lollapalooza pass prices have increasing substantially over the years. Comparing the weekend passes for Lollapalooza 2016, which cost $335, with the ones for Lollapalooza 2015, at $275, the increase was more than 20%. The price for weekend passes from 2016 to 2018 remained the same. In 2020, a slight increase of five dollars was added to weekend passes, making them $340.
Do You Need A Negative Covid Test To Enter Lollapalooza Next Weekend
But University of Chicago epidemiologist Dr. Emily Landon warned earlier this week that “a lot of people” are going to contract COVID at the festival.
I think a lot of people are going to get COVID at Lollapalooza, she said in an interview. The real problem is not so much that a bunch of young people who come into Chicago getting COVID at this event. The real problem is them taking it back to places that have very low vaccination rates.”
Lolla has let us down with respect to how vigorously theyre restricting people based on the things that they sort of initially told us were going to be really strict and now its like theyve lightened up quite considerably on checking vaccines and negative tests, she continued.
Lightfoot disagreed with Landons assessment of the situation, calling the physician a critic standing on the sideline and saying that she trusts the medical team put together by the city and festival organizers.
Lollapalooza’s lineup for the 2021 festival in Chicago’s Grant Park this summer includes headliners like the Foo Fighters, Post Malone, Tyler the Creator and Miley Cyrus.
Chicago’s average daily number of new cases was up to 185 per day early Monday – a 62% increase over last week.
Hospitalizations in Chicago are up 10% from last week, though deaths are down 33%, while the positivity rate in testing is up to 2.9% as of Thursday, up from 2.2% Monday, 1.5% last week and 1% the week before.
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Potential For Spread Far Beyond Chicago City Limits
Critics of Lollapalooza are worried that the festival spread COVID-19 in two dimensions: first in the Chicago area, and second, everywhere people travel back to after the weekend ended. Lollapalooza is a commuter festivalset in the middle of downtown Chicago, with many festivalgoers arriving by public transit from other parts of the metropolis. This weekend, buses and trains on the Chicago Transit Authority were jam-packed with a mix of unvaccinated festivalgoers and essential workers returning to in-person work, every day of the festival. Many people who rely on using public transportation are essential workers who dont have remote accommodationsand theres going to be a domino effect, where theyre going to be on the same CTA car or bars and restaurants as all these people coming in from outside the city, says Elena Gormley, an organizer for Social Service Workers United-Chicago.
If the festival turns out to be a superspreading event, there could be significant trickle-down effects. Mayor Lightfoot told the New York Times Kara Swisher that if Chicagos daily case rate jumps over 200, she would consider reimplementing a mask mandate as well as other measures. Jim DeRogatis, a longtime prominent Chicago music journalist, told the Washington Post that the impact of another shutdown on Chicagos independent venues could be catastrophic. If infections start again in a serious way and the city has to start shutting down again, I dont see how they survive, he said.
Relaxed Safety Requirements In The Face Of Rising Cases
Lollapalooza has been a Chicago institution for 15 years, regularly drawing 100,000 people each day of the typically four-day event. This year, the lineup included Miley Cyrus, Tyler the Creator and the Foo Fighters, and marked the first major cross-genre festival to return to the U.S. since the pandemics start. Lollapaloozas parent company, Live Nation, worked closely with public officials, including Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady, to implement safety guidelines, including a system to check if attendees have valid COVID-19 vaccine cards, vaccine records or negative tests upon entering, and to advocate that everyone wear masks while on festival grounds.
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