Whether you tactfully avoided the internet so you didn’t catch a massive case of festival FOMO or you’ve just been living under a rock these past three days, Chicago’s incredible Lollapalooza Festival has been in full-swing over the weekend. And as you’d expect, it looked insane.
This year’s lineup was headlined by Eminem, Outkast, Kings of Leon, and Arctic Monkeys – but more importantly, it featured a 10-strong Aussie artist contingent, who by all reports, killed it.
With the final day of this amazing urban festival coming to an end, we’ve taken a look at some of the biggest moments thus far, and to no surprise, our homegrown artists have soared to the top of the ranks in making Lollapalooza 2014 one for the books.
The Temper Trap Nailed “Best Crowd Sing-A-Long”
These four Melbournians may not have released a great deal of new material lately, but why worry when they’ve got such a platinum catalogue of indie pop brilliance and a new record set for later this year?
Performing on the Lake Shore stage in the sunny afternoon, the band tore through their hour-long set as thousands of punters sung ‘Sweet Disposition’ in glorious unification. These are the kind of moments that make your heart yearn for sun, mates and live music. All together now: “sweeeeeeeeeet…”
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Rihanna Joins Eminem On Stage, Lolla Loses It’s Mind
Marshall Mathers took the coveted headline position of Lollapalooza’s Samsung Galaxy stage Friday night, pitted against the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Phantogram and Zedd. Those that chose the Detroit-bred rapper were treated to something truly special, as the emcee was joined on stage by Rihanna for not one, not two, but three tracks.
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The pair blew the minds of Lolla punters with renditions of their collaborative tracks ‘Love The Way You Lie’ and ‘The Monster,’ however, in what is being hailed as the festival’s true show stopper, Rihanna filled in for Dido on Eminem’s pop-crossover track, ‘Stan.’
Iggy Azalea Pulls One Helluva Crowd
The only way is up for the Mullumbimby-born turned-LA hip hop artist. We probably don’t need to remind you of her cataclysmic domination of the US with latest single ‘Fancy,’ which has proven that sitting at #1 on the charts definitely pulls an enormous crowd.
Despite performing an afternoon set, Azalea drew one of the largest audiences of the whole damn Lolla, as she whipped around the stage in a pair of trackies and crop top, demonstrating that she doesn’t need some elaborate stage show to bring in the hoards. Dig Iggy as she drops ‘Fancy,’ don’t mind the amount of “woo-girls” on shoulders taking selfies. Also, check Billboard for a full live review.
Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes Attacked By Security Guards
Unfortunately, it was not all roses in Chicago over the weekend. Despite putting on a killer set early on Friday, Dev Hynes (aka Blood Orange) and his girlfriend Samantha Urbani alleged they were assaulted later in the day by three security guards on festival grounds. As Noisey point out, Hynes took to Twitter to detail the nasty altercation:
Samantha and I just got assaulted by the security. We are about to press charges — Devonté Hynes (@devhynes) August 2, 2014
They grabbed her I asked what they were doing and they grabbed my neck and threw me to the ground, then two others joined in on me — Devonté Hynes (@devhynes) August 2, 2014
Lollapalooza have now addressed the issue, as NME (via Pitchfork) report, issuing an official statement that read: “we learned of an incident involving an artist and a security guard on site. We have been in contact with those involved and the authorities, as we work together to resolve the situation. As always, our top priority is to ensure the safety of everyone at the festival.”
Cut Copy Shine Against The Headlining Odds
Can you imagine how incredible it would be to close a stage at Lollapalooza? Well, that’s exactly what our own indie dance pride and joy Cut Copy did on Saturday night. And wanna know what makes this beam of pride even bigger and brighter? The Melbourne boys’ set clashed directly with the freshly reformed Outkast and the biggest name in EDM, Calvin Harris, and they still pulled a mega crowd.
Dig this fan-filmed footage of ‘Take Me Over’ and goofily smile along as the audience scream in gratification. Fuck. Yeah.
Bill Murray Was… Everywhere!
There’s no question that Chicagoers love their prized possessions, and there simply couldn’t be a more adored Chicago native than the legendary Bill Murray. In an Instragram shot courtesy of user jasonlipshutz that popped up on Billboard, Bill Murray face cut-outs were scattered around the festival, coming together at the pit of Brooklyn knockabouts, Parquet Courts.
We can’t help but wonder if the real Bill would find himself bashing around in a punk mosh, he is after all, a very big fan of live music – especially when he’s the man performing!
Courtney Barnett Gives Hilariously Aussie Interview
Courtney Barnett is just about the hardest working Aussie rocker at the moment. The Melbourne songstress, alongside her band, has been on the international road for what feels like forever (nearly a year, to be precise.) After her her stellar Friday performance, Court and Co. kicked up their feet as they gave a classic dry-wit interview with radio crew WXRT.
From joking about sharing just about every single minute of their lives together to who wears Courtney’s bra on what days, this is 5-minutes of viewing you can’t afford to miss. We won’t give it all away, check out the interview right here:
Grouplove Covered The Beastie Boys And Beyonce, Punters Lost Their Minds
The indie-rock, all-round insanely crazy crew that are Grouplove gave what surprisingly may be the best and most excitable set of the entire Lolla weekend. The eclectic five-piece electrified the audience with their energetic performance, including a cover Beastie Boys’ classic ‘Sabotage’ and then Beyoncé’s ‘Drunk In Love’.
Thanks to the folk at Fuse TV, you can join the crowd chorus from the comfort of your computer screen, but be warned, you may turn a nasty shade of green in the process.
Jagwar Ma Partied A Little Too Hard
Sydney’s psychedelic-soaked electronic maestros flew the Aussie flag with pride, taking to The Grove stage straight after Courtney Barnett as thunder cracked and the skies opened onto the crowd. After giving a characteristically hypnotic performance, the three lads indulged in all the niceties that come with Lollapalooza.
Here are the boys after giving Lolla a massive crack, it appears transit is the only sleep time for the ‘Howlin’ artists #lollaposnoozers
