Every year I cover Lollapalooza, and every year I have reams of notes leftover after writing the main recap. This time I’m going to reheat all those leftovers for anyone still hungry for more.
This has to be done kind of quickly (if you’re confused why, just google “state of independent media,” and maybe pour yourself a drink) so in the interest of transparency, I’m going to add grades next to the notes. This is because sometimes I only wrote a joke that sounds mean but I actually liked the set; I contain multitudes.
Consider a B to be “gave the audience a good show for their money,” even if I’m not the target audience. And yes, it’s mostly Bs. Also, I’m not grading on a curve, because a worse show in the rain or a difficult venue (Tito’s) is still a worse show. And as always, I try to see at least 15-20 minutes of everybody interesting. In chronological order:
Emptying the Notebook on Lollapalooza 2026: Thursday
SB19, photo by Dusana Karam for Lollapalooza Festival
SB19 — B
P-pop, Filipino group. Blinded in the sunlight, popping and twirling with their eyes half closed. Less polished crowd work than the K-pop groups, but more genuine, too.
Boys Noize — B
Audience surprisingly drunk for early Thursday. Perry’s Stage bullshit.
Tally of people who bumped into me in 15 minutes even though it wasn’t crowded: IIII IIII
Tally of people who somehow managed to step on the bag I was literally holding in my hands, a thing that has never happened before and will never happen again: II
Lazy Fashion Notes, 2026:
Lot of boys in jersey, lot of girls in bra.
5 Seconds of Summer — B
Music kinda sucks but that’s a good drummer right there. Crowd size, this is when it started to feel like a real festival.
Blood Orange — B+
Gorgeous sunset set for two audiences, tight peloton at the front and the rest lying on the lawn. I tried a bit of both, and I think the horizontal had the right idea.
Little Simz — B
Sunset at Tito’s, oof, that’s as hard as it gets [Editor’s note: This dumbass should have checked the weather report]. Blood Orange crowd did not stick around. Word perfect, in a nice groove with live band, mini DJ set intermission to conserve energy so she could go hard again.
CMAT — B
Aesthetic somewhere between Chappell Roan, Stevie Nicks, and Little Red Riding Hood. Great whistle register control. Hard to pull off the Chappell bits; the point and “Lesbian?” crowd bit went nowhere.
Sombr — C+
God he’s just a child.
Backing vocals up awfully high, his mic is practically unnecessary.
God he’s annoying.
Barely singing.
Petulant, acting more like my five-year-old than a rocker.
7:10 is kinda close to your bedtime, buddy, maybe use your inside voice.
Dressed like The Stooges, fucking Iggy Pimple over here.
10 minutes of running along the barricade but forgot to coordinate with cameras, so 10 minutes of nothing happening. Is this over yet? Can I see anything else and get back in time for Wet Leg?
“Chicago! I’ll see you at my arena show in Chicago. I forgot the venue, but it’s in Chicago.”
Wet Leg, photo by Josh Druding
Wet Leg — B
Sombr wrapped as a cloud of smoke appeared over the other end of the field. Wet Leg’s fans are ready.
Wet Leg has one showy performer and one shy performer. Better than last time I saw them, more engaged, less visibly stoned. Rhian still fun, even if I’m getting auto pilot vibes.
Snow Strippers — C-
This was recommended by my colleague Paolo. 2/3 of his recommendations I totally get, and the other third I wonder if the mic is even on. Snow Strippers are more of a Perry’s Stage band. We actually perform our vocals over here at the [checks notes] AirBnB stage? Yet another new name this year? Are they having trouble keeping sponsors? What what was I — aw fuck, Snow Strippers are still on.
Lorde — B
Great energy, very present, backing track really high, vocals underwhelming. Pared down version of the touring show. “Witch from New Zealand” has an old Hollywood vibe, it’s all in the face.
Charli xcx extremely expected “surprise” performance. Charli sounded off at first and looked lost on stage, maybe ear piece issue or lack of rehearsal with the song. Warmed into it, ended strong.
Viagra Boys — A-
“What’s up, Coachella?” lol. Everything here is majestic: his beer belly, his upper ass cheeks sticking out of his jeans. “Thank you, fellow 19-year-olds. It’s great to be back. So many fond memories.”
He’s better live than on the albums, all the same ferocity with an element of surprise. Amazing between songs, too. To Platinum section: “Why is everybody so far away from me except for these nine rich assholes? It’s a joke, it’s just a joke, relax.”
