By CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer
THURSDAY
Though rain clouds and light
showers plagued Grant Park
on this year’s opening day, the
energetic atmosphere could not
be dampened. This impervious
spirit was embodied by the day’s
early
performers
—
namely
Melanie Martinez and Wavves.
Commanding one of Lolla’s
largest stages, Martinez strutted
and cooed to the damp masses.
The rising Voice star sounded
impeccable, working the large
stage like a seasoned veteran.
Sticking
with
her
childlike
imagery, the pastel stage was
littered
with
larger-than-life
alphabet blocks and an adult-
sized crib. Against the gray sky,
Martinez’s colorful performance
shone.
Creating
an
opposite
atmosphere,
California
punk
band Wavves stepped onto the
much smaller Pepsi stage shortly
after Martinez wrapped. With
high energy and even higher
volume, Wavves egged on the
thrashing crowd. The mountain
of sound fueled the audience’s
fervor and made for the best punk
performance of the weekend.
Drawing in much younger
crowds, especially compared to
the festival’s other headliners,
were The 1975 and Lana Del Rey.
Performing on the large Bud
Light stage that Martinez graced
earlier, The 1975 delivered exactly
the show one would expect from
the British indie-pop group.
Singer
Matt
Healy
flounced
around the stage, prompting the
young female throngs to swoon
and shout every word even louder.
But the intensity of The 1975’s
crowd looked like child’s play
once Del Rey took the stage hours
later. Sauntering and crooning,
Del Rey moved through her set
with grace and nearly perfect
live vocals. Her set was retro and
dreamy, mimicking the singer’s
on-stage persona. Though the
set largely catered to Del Rey’s
more mainstream successes, the
audience drank in every song,
light change and movement with
rapt adoration.
FRIDAY
Again, a mass of rain clouds
rolled over the festival grounds.
Again, the potential storm in the
sky did nothing to darken the
day’s festivities. With headliner
Radiohead
on
the
horizon,
crowds once again flocked to
Grant Park and enjoyed the day’s
entertainments before swarming
the Samsung stage that night.
Early in the day, amid a steady
rain and splatters of mud, MØ
absolutely
crushed
her
set.
Performing hits like “Final Song”
and “Lean On,” MØ had the
crowd dancing despite water-
related
technical
difficulties.
Even during less well-known
tracks,
the
poncho-wearing
masses could not stop moving.
She killed it. Abolished it. Any
and all phrases for rocking a
performance can and should be
applied to MØ’s set.
But for the older sector of
Friday’s crown, all sights were
set on Radiohead, who played a
two-hour set to end the night.
Opening with “Burn the Witch,”
off its latest release A Moon
Shaped Pool, the seasoned group
rolled through its set list with
ambition and oddness aplenty.
Thom Yorke, in his usual fashion,
gyrated
and
grooved
about
the stage. The band’s sound
— melodic, otherworldly and
droning — steadily washed over
the eager crowd, prompting new
cries of enthusiasm with each
new song. Though long, the set
was never dull or dragging. The
stage lights and big screens were
flickering and fantastical, often
projecting the band members
upside-down or disjointed. After
two encores, the set wrapped
with “Karma Police,” which
resonated with the masses well
after the final chord sounded.
SATURDAY
For those souls brave enough
to take on all four days, Saturday
marked the halfway point of their
Lollapalooza experience. But the
crowds were not quelled — they
continued to rage on, even if the
blisters on their feet were doing
the same. The highlights of this
midpoint included Grimes and
Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Grimes took the stage sporting
Lollapalooza 2016
shines through rain
WARNER MUSIC GROUP
Post-Splash Bash 2016.
patched pants, a sheer top and,
not one, but two sprained ankles.
She told the crowd of her injury
and warned them that she may
not be able to dance as much as
usual. She then proceeded to
jump, bop and roll about the stage
for the remainder of her hour-
long set. Grimes embodied many
roles on that Lakeshore stage;
one of producer, singer, dancer
and art angel. Focusing mainly
on material from Art Angels, the
Canadian opened with “Realiti”
but mixed it up with the inclusion
of “Be a Body” and a cover of
“Ave Maria.” Her passion and
prowess were unmistakable. This
passion was especially palpable
during “Scream.” Singing the
verses in Russian, the chorus was
marked by Grimes flat on the
stage, shouting. Every aspect of
the set oozed Grimes’s ingenuity
— from the lights to the stark
stage setup, to the fluid, languid
motion of her dancers. Wrapping
with “Kill V. Maim,” Grimes had
the mass gathered in front of
her writhing. She was not some
holier-than-thou figure, but rather
an artist who gets just as much
enjoyment out of performing her
art as her fans do listening to it.
Undoubtedly, Grimes’s set was one
of the best of the weekend, if not
the top performance.
Directly after Grimes stepped
off Lakeshore, the Red Hot
Chili Peppers walked onto the
Samsung stage. Opening with an
introductory jam that bled into
“Can’t Stop,” the Chili Peppers
made it evident from the first note
that they are still going strong.
Singer Keidis has maintained
his chops, as has the rest of the
group, performing with the zeal
of a group fresh to the rock scene.
Their large sound and even larger
stage presence made the Chili
Peppers the perfect choice to close
out the penultimate Lolla evening.
SUNDAY
Sensing the end, the clouds
parted on this final day and
brought sunshine and heat to Grant
Park. The early half of the day was
smattered with groups ranging
from FIDLAR to Years & Years.
The latter brought a bouncing
energy, enticing audiences with
their electropop sound. Singer
Olly Alexander flexed his pipes,
spitting of riffs with ease. Upping
the energy, Yellow Claw took the
stage at Perry’s shortly after. Ever
the party spot, the Perry’s stage
is known for hosting some of the
rowdiest of Lolla’s acts — with
Yellow Claw being no exception.
The bass was reverberating and
the sweat was dripping.
Drawing in a much more
subdued,
but
nonetheless
enthusiastic, crowd was Halsey.
Opening with “Gasoline,” the
21-year-old commanded the open,
industrially designed stage from
the first note. Taking the time
to talk and joke with the crowd,
Halsey connected with her fans
rather than running through the
set nonstop. Her performance
made clear why this young artist
has had such exponential success
with her debut album.
Following Halsey was Flume
— an EDM artist that found
himself outside the Perry’s realm.
Stepping onto the large Samsung
stage, Flume was accompanied
only by his equipment and a
geometric stage design. But the
music spoke for itself. Washing
over the human sea gathered
there, Flume’s mixture of EDM
beats and other genres and voices
had the crowd moving for the
entirety of his set. Showcasing this
diversity, Vince Staples also made
an appearance to perform the
artists’ collaborative song.
Ending the four-day marathon
was
LCD
Soundsystem.
The
expert group took the same
stage earlier graced by Halsey
and Flume — a testament to
Lollapalooza’s assortment of ages
and genres. Though its songs are
relatively long in length, LCD
performed with such feeling that
the crowd never lulled. The funky
jam band vibe given off prompted
unabashed dancing, even during
some
of
their
lesser-known
songs. The sprawling sound of
LCD
Soundsystem’s
layered
instrumentation seeped over the
grounds and onto the surrounding
streets of downtown Chicago —
calling listeners to return to Grant
Park next summer.
CONCERT REVIEW
MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW
Kanye West premiered (to a
fair bit of surprise) the music
video for his
deep house-
inspired song
“Fade” at the
latest itera-
tion of MTV’s
VMAs. After
unintelligibly
rambling for
four-ish minutes, his appear-
ance falling far from the
expectations MTV tried to
drum up, West wiped minds
and memories with one of the
most jarring (and captivating?)
music videos this year.
The video strips (pun
definitely intended, you
busters) quite a bit of its
aesthetic from the ‘80s dance-
drama “Flashdance,” starring
frequent Kanye collaborator
(and GOOD Music roster
member) Teyana Taylor
dancing around in an empty,
misty gym. The video is largely
a string of clips showcasing
Taylor and her risqué dancing,
coupled with a sensuously
candid cut of her and her
fiancé, Cleveland Cavaliers
player Iman Shumpert,
presumably having sex in a
gym shower before ending
with a puzzling scene in which
Taylor finds herself cat-faced
perched atop a eerily gazing
Shumpert amid a large flock of
sheep. It’s bizarre, confusing,
intriguing and a smorgasbord
of anything and everything in
between. I don’t really know
what to make of it. I think I
enjoyed it? I dunno. All in all,
it’s quintessentially Kanye,
and that’s really the only apt
descriptor for it all.
- ANAY KAYTAL
B
Fade
Kanye West
DEF JAM
4B — Thursday, September 8, 2016
the b-side
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com