Throughout all four days of Lollapalooza, you could tell what the most anticipated show of the weekend was. No, it wasn’t Tenacious D’s or even Shaquille O’Neil’s DJ set… It was the Queen of Lollapalooza 2019, Ariana Grande.
It is a very big deal to me that Grande was the Sunday night headliner. There are hundreds of music festivals all over the world and many that try to emulate or duplicate the success of the biggest ones in the world. But way too often the same names are seen at the top of the lineups, and those names nearly 100 percent of the time belong to men.
So for arguably the biggest North American festival to put her at the very top of the lineup and let the weekend build to her Sunday night set is a huge compliment, and so well very deserved!
And on Sunday night Grant Park belonged to Ariana.
Ariana Grande
During her Coachella set, Grande had guests ranging from *NSYNC, Nicki Minaj, and P. Diddy. But her Lolla set saw just her and her unbelievable vocal talent.
I would have loved to see those names come out, but this is a moment that should be celebrated and I am glad she took the time to own her own show, and her own spot at the top.
Grande brought her deep collection of hits that got the crowd singing, screaming, and dancing. She had several outfit changes, and the show had a smooth flow to it.
But the best moment of the night was probably the beginning when she opened with “Dangerous Woman.” She announced her presence in a massive way and proved AriPalooza was where you wanted to be.
Kacey Musgraves
There is a very good chance that the next female headliner could be this Grammy award-winning superstar.
Musgraves is unbelievably talented but so damn relatable and likable on stage. During her set, she made reference to the extracurricular smells coming from the crowd and was super funny.
Her range was on full display as she covered “I Will Survive,” and her wonderful cuts from Golden Hour.
But the most present moment was her reaction to the horrific shootings in the US that occurred the day before. Musgrave dedicated her beautiful balled “Rainbows” to the audience for being “brave enough to show up to a music festival,” and urged the crowd to join her in yelling “Somebody F’ing do something.”
It was powerful and important and perfect.
Shaquille O’Neal aka Diesel
Words can’t express how excited I was for this set. One of the greatest basketball players of all time, behind the turntables and in front of the biggest Perry’s audience I have ever seen.
While he definitely wasn’t even close to being the best DJ of the fest, he brought the energy and goofiness he is always known for. He included a lot of his cuts from his ’90s hip hop albums, had several arena rock jams, and even played Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” with an actor dressed as Jesus.
It was random as hell and everything you could ever want.
JID
This rapper is the real deal. With the stamp of approval from J.Cole and the flow and rhymes reminiscent of a young Kendrick Lamar, I am buying all of the stock possible for this rapper from Atlanta.
His aftershow last night at the Concord was unbelievable. The energy, the connection to the crowd, and his flow were captivating and exhilarating. One of the greatest things in the world is seeing someone on the cusp of something so great. It’s like knowing a secret that you can’t quite tell anyone about, but it’s the best thing in the world to know you knew before anyone else. This is JID. The secret is out a little bit thanks to the Dreamville collaboration recently released. And there was no secret Saturday night and definitely not on Sunday.
JID’s Lolla set today included appearances by Smino and Earthgang that brought the crowd into near chaos. His talent from his Dicaprio EP’s translate flawlessly to the stage. I absolutely loved every minute of seeing him perform this weekend and I can’t wait to catch him again.
I would bet anything that JID will be back doing much bigger things at Lolla very, very soon.
