Lollapalooza 2026 - Day Two Report

by Anthony Kuzminski

Friday July 31, 2026 - Grant Park, Chicago

Overcast skies hung over day two of Lollapalooza. Everyone was sure sets would be shortened, rain would be imminent and the threat of a cancellation or evacuation hung in the air throughout all of Friday. Despite a handful of moments when the rain came down, it never developed into a full throttle storm and was mostly pleasant as good as you could ask for. The quiet rainy days where it drizzles all day is what was on the menu weather-wise but the team at Lolla cooked up something bigger and brighter for all of us that brought its own warmth. Women stormed the stages of Lollapalooza on Friday in a way I've never seen before. From Slayyyter to Zara Larsson to Charli XCX, they brought more than mere entertainment, but a deep sense of substance to the festival. While many may bemoan the loss of alternative music at the festival, I would argue they're not looking hard enough. Many of the artists performing have been deeply influenced by the Lollapalooza line-ups of the nineties and an Olivia Rodrigo guest spot during the Smashing Pumpkins set is an easy testament to the endurance of that music but what they women brought were deeply personal stories often wrapped up in boisterous and bouncing beats that made our hearts swell.

Day We Ran 12:40
Day two of Lollapalooza started with this Australian four piece. Under cloudy skies they delivered a series of head-nodding indie rock once again giving credence to my belief it's important to get to Lollapalooza early in the day. Once you become an established artist you are often trapped by success, and the energy one brings early in their career is tough to match. Singer Matthew Lough sang with passion while guitarist Michael Lough slashed glacial and ethereal chords while bassist Daniel Lough and drummer Tane Cullen helped the band soar to the skies.

Valencia Grace 1:05
The British born singer took to the BMI stage with props, no musicians and a bevy of attitude. Her music is filled with hooks and big pop beats and a profound sense of theatricality. Despite performing on one of the smallest stages of the day she danced, swayed and made an impression. Grace was dressed in a wavy skirt and silver bikini top. With her dark curly hair, she danced and swayed. "Lucky You're a Star" began a dance part at 1:15 in the afternoon under the beautiful landscaping of the BMI stage.

High Vis 1:40
The London-based post-punk band brought volume and distortion to the second biggest stage of the festival early in the day. Vocalist Graham Sayle gripped the microphone stand like his life depended on it while delivering an impassioned performance. Despite the distortion and force, High Vis was very accessible and by the time they reached their finale of "Trama Bonds" they had secured a flock of new fans.

Julia Wolf 2:00
Dressed in a white top and black pants, Julia Wolf brought her alternative indie aesthetic to Tito's. Hailing from Long Island, New York, Wolf played a thoughtful set heavy on her 2025 album Pressure but the bedroom confessionals from her earlier work was on display standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her darker and heavier songs. The pining "In My Room" could be felt to anyone within an earshot of the stage with Wolf channeling heartbreak and pain into a deeply lovely ballad that is hard to forget.

Slayyyter 2:45
There are artists where you hear the albums and the music engulfs your soul. Then you go to see them in concert, and they proceed to melt your brain like Slayyyter did at Lollapalooza. There has been a buzz around her for several years, she has a devoted fan base, and her songs appear in my playlists regularly, but nothing could have prepared me for the real, fun, and deeply moving set by the St. Louis native. Born Catherine Grace Garner she hit the Lollapalooza stage in shorts with lures around her waist, a hat with fish on it and a strategically cut flannel on a set that looks like the backwaters of Missouri.

There was an enormous headliner attendance for her set at 2:45 in the afternoon with numbers in the range of 50,000 which is more than any ballpark concert. This was a headline worthy set on every level which captured the audience's hearts in the process. Slayyyter was originally scheduled to perform on a smaller stage, but festival organizers saw the enthusiasm for her and smartly moved her to the second biggest stage of the festival where she delivered a knockout performance worthy of the best of the festival.

Her mother, a devout Polish Catholic, who raised her in St. Louis, could relate to a huge part of the Chicago population, with three-quarters of a million Polish descendants but this set, with a heavy focus on her latest album, Worst Girl in America the songs dug deep into her upbringing focusing on the good, the bad and the chaotic. Belting out every lyric like her life depended on it, Slayyyter went deep for a connection with the crowd & found it. This isn't someone looking for mere celebrity but an artist wanting to share something more profound beneath the spastic beats and guitars.

The stage leaned hard into a middle America aesthetic. She emerged from the door of a house who had seen better days much like a shack in the middle of America where life had not gone as planned for its inhabitants. Surrounding it was a giant cooler, a cross and plastic chairs that draped themselves in front of the house. This wasn't a gimmick or schtick, but a nod to where she came from, which the audience loved her for even more.

Experiencing these songs via vinyl or steaming is what led me to the show but watching her in concert was nothing short a thrill ride. "Yes Goddd:, Cannibalism" and "I'm Actually Kinda Famous" rocketed off the stage. It's one thing for an artist to engage their audience with a high energy set, and it's another for them to be taken deeper into who the artist by watching them tell stories from their past in the most electrifying way imaginable.

She was backed by an actual band, which is something some pop stars have been forgoing in recent years as the cost of touring begins to skyrocket. This group of musicians took her music and did something we don't talk enough about; they made it better. Every song felt elevated into this untouchable stratosphere where the stories Slayyyter was sharing became more crystallized in the audience's minds and hearts. Taking the audience through lots of twists, turns and detours, she was relentless in her connection with the audience throughout her entire set. Closing out her set with the double whammy of "brand new chanel$" and "BEAT UP CHANEL$" which left the audience in a state if euphoria. Despite being an early afternoon performer, Slayyyter is going to be heading festivals around the world soon.

Skye Newman 4:00
Coming from South East London, Newman brought her Neo soul voice to Lollapalooza. Despite only being twenty-two years old, she excluded her charm on the audience with her British accent performing songs from her double EP SE9. Newman sang songs about being a young woman in the modern world. There is a streak of genuineness running through her songs that reminds many of Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Adele. Shifting from finding her internal power to showcasing vulnerability, you can wrap your arms around this music. The set's most startling number was an unreleased song, "Survival Mode". Standing at the microphone and belting the song out about what one can only assume is a deeply personal experience, Newman showcased lamenting range and hope in her set.

Suki Waterhouse 5:20
Hitting the stage in white sunglasses, boots, a bikini bottom with a flowery and shiny elongated coat. Suki Waterhouse wasted no time in making an impression. The insistent and heart racing rhythm of "Supersad" kicked things off with Waterhouse centerstage with her arms to the air welcoming the crowd. The alternative-pop songstress and former model stands out wherever she is. She performed at Lollapalooza a few years back and last fall headlined theaters and opened for Laufey. Having seen her open for Laufey in an arena last year, she was freer on the festival stage roaming with ease & immense confidence. Waterhouse has been worldbuilding throughout her entire career and with her latest album Loveland, where she conjures up romance, desire and dreams of love. Never wallowing in extended jams, she keeps the pace moving and the latest songs, "Notting Hill", "When I Get Drunk (I Want You Boy)" and "Weirdo" capture the dreamiest images of a world we want to embed ourselves in.

Her songs are short and straight to the point while being simultaneously picturesque and piercing. The early evening is often a make-or-break time for many acts; there is crowd fatigue and as a result you may see a quieter response, but Waterhouse delivered fifteen songs of love and hope no one will forget anytime soon.

Zara Larsson 6:20
The greatest aspect of any music festival are the surprises. Acts you may never otherwise know or could afford to see in concert. Zara Larsson is precisely that artist for me, I did not know her game, but I will not underestimate her again. Despite enjoying her pop drenched songs whenever they come on the radio, I've never connected with the music on a deeper level, until now. The Swedish popstar was originally scheduled to go on at 4:30 but her set was moved back to 6:20 when Lil Uzi Vert had to cancel due to travel issues. The delay pumped up the crowd and anted up the anticipation which overflowed when she emerged onstage to perform "Midnight Sun". Despite the grey skies, Larsson brought a set full of sun, summer and reminders of us all living our best lives. Backed by an all-female four-piece band and a multitude of dancers, Larsson delivered the escape everyone came to experience. Her presence was jovial and dressed in short jean shorts, boots and a pink top with yellow stripes, she exuded escape while delivering some of the most shimmery songs of the day.

Larsson last played Lollapalooza in 2017 and while she has never left the industry, her profile seemed to pop in 2025 with a new remix of "Stateside" and the Midnight Sun album which entered the pop zeitgeist. She's been a regular presence on pop radio ever since, with a new audience not just discovering the latest music, but her entire discography. Her set was meticulously choreographed and paced. The one-hour set felt longer in the best way imaginable and hit its stride towards the end with "Pretty Ugly", "Stateside", "Eurosummer, "Lush Life", "Symphony" and "Midnight Sun". On "Lush Life" she brought up a fan named London to dance with her matching the choreography to roars of approval from the crowd. The simplest way to sum up Zara Larsson's set was it was pure unadulterated joy. There was a reason this was the biggest crowd Larsson had ever performed to; she brought endless summer vibes. Her set was a reminder that a reinvention is always just around the corner, where one may rise and dance their heart out to the fullest of their capacity.

Charli XCX 8:40
The biggest conflict of the weekend headliners occurred on Friday with original Lollapalooza alumnae the Smashing Pumpkins and pop goddess Charli XCX performing simultaneously. While I missed the Pumpkins set, which featured appearances by Olivia Rodrigo and Yungblud, but Charli XCX would be performing her first major show featuring music from her just released album Music, Fashion, Film. I first witnessed Charli XCX in 2015 at Lollapalooza where she was supporting Sucker and riding a wave of success from the hit single "Boom Clap", writing "I Love it" for Icona Pop and elevating "Fancy" from Iggy Azaela into the pop stratosphere. Post-2015 she refused to follow trends and created this vital discography bursting at the seams with creativity. She opened for some of the biggest artists around in arenas and stadiums and was always a great festival set.

The sun had just set on Chicago when the stage went dark and flames began firing into the sky before Charli emerged in a black skirt and jacket backed by a three-piece band as she tore through "Rock Music". The opening cut was blistering and this is the part of the review where I tell you she struck rock poses galore as she gripped the corded microphone as its stand tilted with her as she belted out "Yeah", "Wink Wink" and "Card Declined", but it wasn't a pose so much as an extension of her and her art.

Two years ago, when BRAT emerged, it didn't just enter the cultural zeitgeist, it became pop culture personified. She went from a star to a superstar. Between the unadorned lime green album cover to the videos to the concert tour in support of the album, everyone was focused on the music and just how infectious and fun it is, but there was something more lingering at the heart of BRAT, her vulnerability. BRAT confounded expectations and she would often hit the stage with just herself a couple of video operators and an obscene amount of strobe lights. Every night she strutted the stage with supreme confidence and wowed every audience. Deep down beneath the fashion and arena sized crowds was an artist who was saying the quiet parts out loud, but everyone was having such a good time, few noticed. She tackled getting older, the yearning of past lives, friendships made and lost and what the future holds. It's a lyrically deeply vulnerable collection of songs. While the fans danced along screaming along to every word what many didn't grasp is how confessional the songs were, things you scream at someone amidst bass and beats because your soul needs to get it off your chest but simultaneously hoping your friend is too buzzed to remember your openness. For the fans paying attention, it's what makes BRAT so rewarding, there is substance matching the style.

The set was heavily focused on BRAT and Music, Fashion, Film with the latter
performed with the band. She went without live musicians on the last tour and this time around, they helped open her sonic template by channeling many of the post punk indie bands who have performed at Lollapalooza over the years. This portion of the show was an unrelenting tour de force. The band built up the tension before the show turned into a runway with models and a dance floor exorcism. The lighting was bright white, and the screens were black and white, given a spooky alternative universe vibe with the rain and clouds hovering over Chicago. It matched the black and white album cover and served as a contrast to the BRAT era where colors were vibrant.

An underrated aspect of Charli XCX's performances is the camera work and video projections for the audience, which is some of the best in the industry. Instead of posing for a camera hundreds of feet away, she has operators who follow her on the stage, and she looks right into their lens, which in turn makes the audience feel like they're looking right into their eyes. In a field with possibly 75,000 people, this is startling when you see it. She continually tries to make those further her seat feel like they have a front row seat.

Every time I saw her, over a half dozen times between 2014 and 2019, you could always sense she was destined for something grander, which she attained with BRAT. The memes, the videos, and the pop goes are phenomenon with something that couldn't have been planned, but a truly organic reaction to not just the vibes, but the music. It may have made sense to make a follow-up that sounded similar or to disappear for a few years, but inspiration struck, and here she is with a new album and concert tour. This is a bold reinvention and on the heels of BRAT, it's veers towards madness in the same way Prince followed up Purple Rain with a new album less than a year later. Music, Fashion, Film is a brave statement and even though it's only been out a week, fans are digging in looking for hidden messages and meaning. As she brought her Lollapalooza performance to a close with "No One Lasts Forever", the album's final song. As filmmaker David Cronenberg's narration could be heard throughout the crowd, Charli and her backup dances poses and stood still as Cronenberg's words repeated in a haunting manner as the video camera slowly moved away as the point was honed and driven home before "Oblivion is Freedom" appeared on the screen and just like that, she was gone. Is the art of today eternal? Will it live on years, decades and centuries later? None of us know and the point of it all is to simply make the best work you can while you are here and enjoy it.

Charli XCX isn't your average pop star. She's profoundly innovative artist who tackles everything like an art project. Everything from the album art to the music videos to the pseudo-documentary she made earlier this year (The Moment) to interviews she's doing talking about films that inspire her, you can see she's channeling and pulling from all these different forms of art and her music is better for it. When you're an artist, there must be input as much as output, and I think that's what makes Charli XCX one of the defining artists of our time, not just in music, but the entire world of creativity. Her Lollapalooza set was more than mere entertainment, but a profound experience that will stay with everyone long after they have seen it. Charli XCX delivered one of the greatest headline performances in the festival's history.

Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMUSIC Network. His daily writings can be read at The Screen Door. He has seen over 1,000 concerts in his life and has covered Lollapalooza in depth for fifteen years. He can be followed on Twitter

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