Another year passed, and another incredible Lollapalooza in the books. For years, Lollapalooza has been Chicago’s premiere music festival. Year after year they book some of the hottest talents spanning across all genres while taking over Downtown Chicago for what is now a four-day festival. Run The Trap had the chance to make it to Lollapalooza 2018 and with four days packed with music it’s almost impossible to catch everything you want to see – but we tried our hardest to pick some of our favorite sets. Check them out below. Here’s to 2019.
Tycho
As the sun set on day 1 and audience members settled in at their headliner of choice’s stage – there was one crowd that displayed a certain amount of peace more than the others. Tycho took the stage at the newly named American Eagle stage a bit after 9:00 and created one of the most beautiful sets I have ever been a part of. The crowd was small in size, but not lacking in passion at all. They had no problem playing over the controlled chaos that was Travis’s Scott stage as they played through a myriad of their electronic inspired jams. People danced, sang along and swayed as they closed the book on the first 25% of Lollapalooza 2018.
Big Wild
If you have never been to Lollapalooza – there is something special about the first set after 5 pm on Friday. Yes many people take off work the entire day to head to Lollapalooza, but there is still a huge crowd of people that can’t make it until they are done with their 9-5’er. For many it is the true start to the weekend to come. Big Wild was tasked with holding down the American Eagle Stage on Friday at 5:15 PM for a blissful 45-minute set. Minute by minute the stage seemed to multiply in size. The crowd climbed trees to get a better vantage point as the music-hungry crowd bounced to every single note. The weekend has begun.
MALAA
Chicago is for house music – and Malaa was going to make sure that crowd at Perry’s knew that. The crowd was relatively tame for a 7:15 set at Perry’s, but that didn’t slow Malaa down one bit. Amongst a sea of Juul-Wielding teens Malaa trucked through his analog nicotine while presenting his aggressive take on house music with a Chicago sunset backdrop. And no – the ski mask never came off.
Borns
Admittedly, I know very little about Borns besides his few radio hits – but as I walked by his stage to go catch some of Bruno Mars – it is impossible to argue his ‘rockstar’ status. The majority of the crowd sang along in glee to every single word coming from Garrett Borns’ as he controlled every inch of The Lake Shore stage.
Bruno Mars
Lollapalooza has always excelled in booking at least one chart-busting act a year. They’ve booked the likes of Lady Gaga at the peak of her career, Paul McCartney and Metallica. Bruno Mars took the stage and immediately reminded everyone why he is performing at Super Bowls and selling out arenas. Him and his full band took the stage in Chicago Bulls Gear in a show loaded with fireworks, sing-alongs and of course, choreographed dance routines.
Melvv
My grandma always said – nothing like some light afternoon future bass to get your night going. (Author’s note: It’s my word against yours and you guys don’t know my grandma like I do, so you can’t argue) Covered by the shade of the trees, Melvv played a light-hearted set which led to a perfect introduction to the rest of Saturday. Some people were up and dancing, others took shelter under the shade while sitting down – but everyone was vibing.
Illenium
I had no idea what kind of set Illenium would play going into the fest. Would he stick to an all original Illenium set or take it a bit on the heavier side? His set was a perfect combination of the two – which in my opinion was perfect for a Perry’s Stage set. It gave Illenium a chance to introduce what could be new fans to his music while creating a place to, for lack of a better word, rage. The stage filled with a mix of die-hard Illenium fans, and Perry’s resident fans just wanting to dance while Illenium played a wonderful slew of throttling dubstep and his beautiful melodic bass originals. He was joined by Daya for live renditions of his remix of “Don’t Let Me Down” and his collab with Gryffin, “Feel Good.”
Ekali Directly into Chris Lake
I know this one might be cheating – but in all my years of going to Lollapalooza this might have been one of the most fun 1-2 punches in Perry’s history. Did I mention it started at 2pm? Ekali took the stage after playing two different sets at Hard Summer the day before. But don’t let the lack of sleep trick you into thinking Ekali would sleepwalk through his set – his passion and urge to give the crowd everything they paid for shined, even amidst the sweltering heat. He was joined on stage by the Chicago Bulls Drumline as he closed out his set with his tribute to Porter Robinson’s “Language.” But there was no time to rest with Chris Lake right afterwards. It’s hard to put into word the energy that Chris Lake brought with him on stage – so I will let one video do all the talking for me. Either way – I needed a 4 pm break.
I want you… #HOWSLA #Lollapalooza @lollapalooza
📽 @bretta9 pic.twitter.com/lgktbV71Rb
— Chris Lake (@chrislake) August 12, 2018
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