LOLLAPALOOZA 2026 RECAP
i survived my first lollapalooza ever!!!!!!!! i survived my first 4 day music festival ever. previously i did boston calling but i worked shifts in exchange for a free ticket and also that was 3 days. i learned so many things (like the right shoes are really really important) and i saw SO MANY ARTISTS I LOVE and new artists i will listen to! here is a list of everyone i saw, bolded are artists i have seen before: pearly drops, ninajirachi, 5 seconds of summer, sombr, wet leg, lorde, the army the navy, slayyyter, balu brigada, oklou, horegiirl, charli xcx, wolf alice, momma, frost children, ethel cain, the neighborhood, geese, dj trixie mattel, squirrel flower, new constellations, adela, muna, beabadobee, jade, stella lefty, and the chainsmokers. shoutout eva mcnally for coming with me and being a barricade baddie and letting me join her at the front every time. fit check. i wore my 5sos shirt that i thrifted months ago (by pure luck i found it by the checkout). and i made the infamous decision to wear my jadon max doc martens that give me 2inches of height. i had nasty open blisters on the backs of my heels the entire weekend, but i persevered. the soles of my feet genuinely hurt more throughout the weekend than my heels.
the first act we saw was pearly drops! they are opening for slayyyter so thought it would be cool to check them out. i like their producer tag a lot. we also hit up the listerine and comfort colors brand activations. they were whatever burger. i went to the dunkin pop up and got a free bag (remember this for later).
second act of the day and lwk the set of the day was NINAJIRACHI. i blame her and her album i love my computer for getting me into electronic music/hyperpop so i was soooo excited to see her. she is so cutie patootie and i got to jump and dance the entire time. #needed.
nina and 5sos set overlapped a bit and i was having too much fun at nina to leave early so i got to 5sos set halfway through and why were they in the air when i got there. they are so fucking weird i love my favorite band. they had a crowd pleaser set, some songs from the new album i didn’t really listen to but also the hits (she looks so perfect, amnesia, youngblood). more importantly they covered teenage dream which they haven’t done in yeaaaaaaars. ugh. yay.
i found eva again after 5sos and we sat for a while before getting a spot in the sombr pit to get a better spot for lorde. sombr is sombr. he sang his little tumblr rip off songs and ran around. it was fine. we could also kind of hear wet leg from our spot in the lorde pit so i will count it.
i did not expect to fuck with lorde’s set as much as i did. wow. incredible. made me consider and ponder how much concerts should be viewed as performance art. genuinely incredible. the visuals were so good. i was worried bc i haven’t seriously listened to lorde since melodrama but she played SO MUCH MELODRAMA it was awesome. greenlight and hard feelings AND THE LOUVRE. hello. and also 400 lux and buzzcut season. yeah be jealous it was incredible.
day 3
no fit check today because i forgot but here’s a picture of me and eva at frost children barricade. wore a super normal fit and my camo cargo shorts because the lack of pockets with a broken bag was genuinely traumatizing. also day 3’s start was pushed back until 3pm due to severe rain and flood so one of the sets i wanted to see got cancelled :( i just wanted to see lucy bedroque bc i know they would have brought out jane remover and i would have loved to be there for that. but alas.
first set was wolf alice, they were very awesome and idk who the main woman is but she is so beautiful. i had a good time at their set even though i only knew one song. then i stuck around to see momma, a band i had never heard of but eva said i’d like and i did. originally my plan was to see leon thomas and spacey jane, but with the rain, frost children’s set got pushed back so i opted to skip both of those (where i would tbh just stand and listen) and get to frost children barricade with eva.
i listened to frost children’s newest album maybe twice before this set but one of the songs made it onto my playlist so i was semi familiar. genuinely i had a blast, i was jumping and dancing the entire time but i did have to keep my sunglasses on the whole time because their flashing lights were kind of insane. also they did bring out lucy bedroque at the end of their set which was awesome. also. once again i could see jane remover on the vip side stage in sunglasses and a hoodie. so funny. i kind of had a bit going where at every set i would ask eva do u think theyre gonna bring out jane remover so it was funny to see they were actually there. ok also i broke a third bag at this set but this time it was my own crossbody bag that snapped. i guess i went too hard.
after frost children i saw maybe 2 minutes of ethel cain (im so sad to have missed her set i would have cried probably) but i sprinted to the other side of the park to catch geese. i googled what side is emily green on before coming and i still got it wrong. sad. im also morally against supporting white men bands even if it is cameron winter so i wanted to at least side with the only woman in the band. either way i had a good view of her and also mr winter. i love geese but the men in this pit were so fucking annoying. god i hate naperville. whatever. i got to hear au pays du cocaine live so i win.
none of the headliners on saturday were appealing so we went to see dj trixie mattel, but tbh my standards for djs are so much higher now post underscores aftershow. so we got bored and left early which was welcome tbh i was tired.
final thoughts
despite my feet hurting the whole time and breaking 3 different bags, i had a fucking fantastic time at lolla and i will be going again next year (bank account willing). my key takeaways are that i need new shoes, a new bag, better ear plugs, and to grow 3 inches in height. i had a lot of fun bouncing around between stages but also barricading early in the day was fun, and i got to chat with so many new people. also got to hang out with eva for four days straight. it was so seredipitous to hear ribs live together with one of your best friends and then go home and share a bed like little kids just like lorde intended. i also think i might choose what shows i see based on performance/ artistry/ and also who tf is in their pit. i can’t go back into that tate mcrae pit. but also i think i would much rather watch someone with like fun visuals/effects than a band performing. not that one is better than the other but just something i think im starting to prefer.
fit check again. the charli shirt was so fucking funny i had to do it. i did have to fake that i have been a charli stan since 2017 and i think i convinced several people. but no i just met her and fell off until brat. im sorry. it also wasn’t even my idea to meet her i didn’t wanna go my friend made me. i hate meeting celebrities theyre just people. also my ass was out in these shorts which was fun but i got stared at by men on the train (ew). anyways. i wore my timbs this day which i learned are incredibly uncomfortable long term. but it was gonna rain and i didn’t want to get muddy so.
starting the day with the army, the navy! i have wanted to see them for a while but they always do small shows that sell out so fast. i still don’t know if they are lesbian or sisters or what. but very good soft music and beautiful stage presence. love them.
i ran back to the slayyyter stage with eva where she had secured a barricade spot. SLAYYYTER WAS SO FUCKING FUN. however. remember the bag i got at the dunkin pop up? i was using it as my only bag for day 2 because it matched my outfit more. first note of slayyyter’s first song (it was dance btw) the strap breaks off the bag and rips the bag apart. i tied it up in a bandana i had gotten earlier at toyota music den and held on for dear life. and then i danced of course. god she ate i love slayyyter. ALSO jane remover walked past us at barricade omfg i screamed.
these two girls from the slayyyter stage tagged along with us for the next hour and every 5 minutes they asked us if it was ok to be tagging along/ if they were being annoying bc they couldn’t tell bc they were on molly. they weren’t annoying until they kept asking. we went to go see zara larrson but they announced that lil uzi had cancelled and they pushed her set back two hours. so i didn’t get to see zara unfortunately... also at some point here we lost them.
then popped over to airbnb stage for a minute to see balu brigada, oklou, and horsegiirl. i dipped from this crowd twice, once bc i thought i was gonna pass out (i hadn’t eaten, feet hurt bad, forgot to put electrolytes in my water bottle), second time bc THE REPLACEMENT DUNKIN BAG I GOT BROKE DURING OKLOU. its ok though i got to hear harvest sky live. but i left after oklou and sat near the pit during horsegiirl bc my feet were killing me and i couldn’t dance with a broken fucking bag, my shit would’ve gone everywhere and i had no pockets. oklou’s set was beautiful and i also loved her visuals and she has a great voice/ambience idk how to explain. i got fomo during horsegiirl but wtv.
however i got much needed rest before seeing charli bc i danced and jumped probably for the entire set. it was crazy. she played so much of music, fashion, film AND two songs off wuthering heights. and some brat ofc. oh and pink diamond and track 10. loved her set so much wish i was closer so i could see the visuals better.
eva and i also went to an afterparty after this which was definitely a choice. i had fun but again my feet were so dead. and also it was a very gay party in the gay man way and not the lesbian/trans way which is ok but def not my scene. we saw 2charm which was genuinely the gayest thing i have ever seen in my life and i felt so out of place watching this happen. like it was two buff men doing corny choreo which people can enjoy! but i had fun observing. and the dj after was good too.
day 4
final fit check! also i caved and wore sneakers and got them all muddy. WORTH IT. MY FEET WERE OK. also i lucked out this day because there weren’t too many artists i wanted to see and they were all on nearby stages. yay.
first set of the day was squirrel flower! i love their cover of so hot you’re hurting my feelings (caroline polachek) and i’ve seen them open for annie dirusso in boston, but i know they’re a chicago local artist so i was hyped to see them again in the city! also they weren’t originally on the lineup so it was an awesome surprise. they did do the cover and it was beautiful and i will be checking out their new album in a few weeks.
i stayed at the same stage after their set and saw new constellations (never heard of them before, they were ok! not my vibe not super interesting but not awful), adela (katseye reject (not a diss she was the first girl booted off dream academy)), MUNA, and beabadobee. however i do have to mention that this was the day and stage tate mcrae was headlining, who i do not like in the slightest and tbh being in the pit with her fans for hours did not help that case. they were so rude and pushy and judgy.
i was genuinely the only lesbian in this pit. i was jumping and dancing the entire set and everyone around me was dead still. so annoying. but muna always puts on a great gay show i love them so much. im seeing them again in october thank god ill be able to dance with lesbians there. i could have stayed for beabadobee after but i wanted OUT. i got some food and sat in the dirt instead. worth it.
beabadoobee and adela were great. adela put on a real show with ballet dancers and everything it was very cool to watch. i couldn’t see much of beabadobee but what i heard was great. i realized i knew much less of her music than i thought lol. i also caught some of jade’s set (of little mix) and she did perform a little mix song.
again none of the headliners stood out this night but we ended up at the chainsmokers who lowkey actually were kinda good. oops. and also saw ado, a j-rock singer. they killed it tbh i really fucked with it.