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

