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VIBE/ Stacy-Ann Ellis

Lollapalooza 2015: The Great, The Good And The Meh

August 4, 2015 - 1:23 pm by Stacy-Ann Ellis & Eboseta Christine

The last weekend in July was a busy one. We spent ours at Lollapalooza in Chicago, and here's what we took away from performances good, not so good and in between.

The end of July and first few days of August were undoubtedly a very busy time for music lovers. There was the Osheaga Festival in Montreal as well as Caribana and Drake's OVO Fest in Toronto. For those who opted to stay within American borders, Chicago's Lollapalooza 2015 proved to be an exhausting three days packed with acts to both mellow out and turn up to.

READ: Style Score: The Soundtrack To The ‘Fits Of Lollapalooza

Although this year's lineup boasted over 100 artists and bands from all over the globe, VIBE zeroed in on a select few that especially garnered our attention. Most performances got one or two thumbs up, but there were a few shaky spots to be noted.

Here, dive into the 13 most memorable sets from the weekend and why they caught our eye.

VIBE/ Stacy-Ann Ellis
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Sam Smith
VIBE/ Stacy-Ann Ellis
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Sam Smith

Sam Smith truly proved himself to be a wonder at Lollapalooza. From the moment he entered from stage left beaming at the thousands of people before him, it was Sam's world and we were just living in it. The London gem ran through favorites like "Leave Your Lover," "Restart," "I've Told You Know" and "Stay With Me" from his claim to fame, In The Lonely Hour. His background singers and band members got solo shine time during "Like I Can," proving that there's not a single weak link on his team. From Sam to his drummer, alto, soprano, tenor, guitarist and bassist, soul oozed off the stage. They kept the momentum going with an auntie shuffle of sorts and a medley of Amy Winehouse's "Tears Cry On Their Own" and Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Aint No Mountain High Enough." Not one note faltered.

 

"Don't have direction, I'm just rolling down this road..." @samsmithworld at @Lollapalooza #Lolla #GalaxyLife #VIBEonSite

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 1, 2015 at 10:18pm PDT

Paul McCartney
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Paul McCartney

Although attendees at Lollapalooza had to make a hard choice and pick between seeing Flying Lotus, The Weeknd and Paul McCartney, it's a rewarding feeling to know that after picking the latter, you walked away having seen one of music's largest living legends. McCartney, one of two surviving originators of The Beatles, put on one hell of a show. His renditions of "Hey Jude," "Blackbird," "Can't Buy Me Love," "Let It Be" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" were all joined in triumphantly by the audience, who had their signs and voices ready. McCartney vibrant pyrotechnics and fireworks display during the middle of his set put Drake's Jungle Tour light show to shame. As an added plus, he brought out Brittany Howard, front woman of the roots rock band, Alabama Shakes.
 

#VIBEonSite | Beatles legend @PaulMcCartney closing out Day 1 at the Samsung Galaxy (@samsungmobile) #Lollapalooza stage #HeyJude #GalaxyLife #Lolla

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Jul 31, 2015 at 8:14pm PDT

DJ Mustard
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DJ Mustard

DJ Mustard brought the heat with a high-energy, turn up vibe that any human body couldn’t resist moving to. Set at Lollapalooza’s Perry’s main stage, the Los Angeles producer appeared at the top of a multi-screened stage, lit with animated graphics, including that of his self-produced debut album 10 Summers. The Roc Nation artist jam-packed his too short of a set with classic, nostalgic tunes like the West Coast anthem “Nuthin’ But a G Thang,” 2 Chainz’s “I’m Different” and self-created joint “Down On Me.” Of all the various DJ sets that billowed in the hot Chicago air, Mustard’s was unmistakably The Coolest.

 

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Jul 31, 2015 at 3:45pm PDT

Zebra Katz
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Zebra Katz

Brooklyn’s own Zebra Katz came to The Windy City with one mission in mind: to have a musical session in the school of fierce. With head-nodding, body-winding, bass vibrating tracks like “Renegade” and “Last Name Katz,” the independent rapper performed with edge that was sure to cut into your mind’s attention on the dimly lit BMI stage. One highlight of his set included a call & response with the audience during his popular “I’m not the one to eff with” anthem, “Ima Read.” The next best moment: his impromptu walk into the crowd, intensely challenging hyped fans to dance with him. Not one body stood still or walked away not feeling ready to run the world.

 

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 2, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT

Kid Cudi
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Kid Cudi

No one was happier to be up on a Lollapalooza stage than Scott Mescudi—and it showed. Kid Cudi's megawatt smile was the first thing the thick crowd saw when he ran out from the wings with his arms spread out. Front row fans dangled huge vinyls of Satellite Flight and Man on the Moon II over the barricade. Huge cardboard cutouts of Cudi's face were thrusted into the air. The audience was never below a roar. And he ate it all up as he performed faves like "Pursuit of Happiness" and "Day 'n' Night" as well as brand new jams from his forthcoming LP, Man on the Moon III. You can tell he missed all of this.
 

#VIBEonSite | #KidCudi bringin' the noise with "Soundtrack 2 My Life." @Lollapaloza #GalaxyLife #Lolla

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 1, 2015 at 9:43pm PDT

A$AP Rocky
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A$AP Rocky

Once fans were finally graced with by the energetic presence of the one & only “Pretty Flacko,” it was clear that the show was going to be the ultimate Lollapalooza party. With some of his A$AP Mob family in tow, Rocky brought the energy and enthusiasm of any person ready to celebrate life with his crew. From a wheel-chaired man crowd-surfing to the front of the stage, to excited fans jumping around and creating body-pushing mosh pits, multi-thousand person party was definitely a lit situation (lituation). In between performances of A$AP Mob joints like “Hello Hoes” and “Purple Swag,” the Harlem-native showed Chi-town love with a surprise performance of “U Mad?” with Roc Nation’s newest signee Vic Mensa. With a performance of rock classic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” thrown in the mix, Rocky’s set was definitely one of the most unforgettable ones of the weekend. As the rapper said, “Nobody was safe.”

 

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 3, 2015 at 6:50am PDT

Young Thug
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Young Thug

 Young Thug has a naturally quiet(ish) demeanor, but don't let that fool you. Birdman's new it kid knows how to rock out a stage. Although his set was tucked off to the side on Lolla s tree-covered BMI Stage, the surrounding area was thick with high, go hard fans sipping things, smoking things and rapping along to Thugger's often indistinguishable lyrics. Thug gave that energy right back, getting close to the crowd to pass out many a handshake and high five during performances of "Uno Dos," "Check," "With That," "Stoner" and "Danny Glover." During the song "Hookah," he fittingly shared a blunt with one lucky front row Rich Gang supporter.

 

#VIBEonSite | Guess who turned up the dark #Lollapalooza @bmi stage? Hint: Carter. #GalaxyLife #Lolla

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Jul 31, 2015 at 5:58pm PDT

Raury
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Raury

As the sun blasted its bright heat from the clear blue sky, fans patiently waited for the young singer to hit the Pepsi stage. Before the clock struck the second hour of the afternoon, the 19-year-old singer emerged dressed in a sun hat, an open-buttoned clay shirt and ripped stone-washed jeans. Before he asked the crowd if they were ready to enter his world, he asked everyone to raise their hands and send positive energy his way. And that energy made its way through his empowering set as he performed songs like “God’s Whisper” and “Cigarette Song.” His youthful tone carried a sense of comfort that did not exist anywhere else in Lollapalooza’s Grant Park. His strong energy was a spiritual feeding of sorts, offering words of encouragement to those attending from the younger generation. At the beginning of his performance of “God’s Whisper,” he shared some words that had no generational limit: “If you want to be in the Arts, whether it’s culinary arts or gardening, you have to follow your dream.” Raury is indeed a mental & musical gem before his time.

 

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 1, 2015 at 11:34am PDT

Logic
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Logic

Chicago holds a special place in Logic's heart. The Maryland rapper made sure to tell his crunk crowd this midway between his set, reminding them that Chi-Town was the site of his first sold out show and would be the last festival stop of this year. So it was only right that his fans reciprocated the energy he gave to them. Logic darted back and forth across the stage and teepee'd the audience with the rolls of toilet paper they threw at him as he delivered bits from his critically-acclaimed debut album, Under Pressure. It was easy to tell he was getting his entire life up there on that stage.

Lion Babe
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Lion Babe

Lion Babe has yet to put on a bad show, and as of right now, the sentiment still stands. However, technical difficulties at Lollapalooza made it a challenge for the funky duo to maintain their perfect score. For the first couple songs, Jillian Hervey's mic was either off or really, really low. As visibly irked as she was, like a true professional, she powered through the audio mess ups, entertaining her intimate crowd with twirls, body rolls and high kicks instead. Luckily for the Jillian and Lucas Goodman's fans, the volume bumped up right in time for favorite songs "Wonder Woman," "Fire" and "Jungle Lady."

 

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 2, 2015 at 1:34pm PDT

FKA Twigs
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FKA Twigs

"I honestly can't deal with what Twigs is doing right now," one front row fan said over the thundering music. "Yasss, f**k it up, Tahliah," said another. It's pretty safe to say that FKA Twigs' fans were more than satisfied with the singer's closing Lollapalooza performance. The quirky UK artist, writhed and shrieked through her debut album LP1, performing cuts such as "Two Weeks," "Pendulum," and "Closer." And even if folks in the crowd weren't quite into her brand of music, the stage lighting and her intricate choreography were quite entertaining.

 

#AboutLastNight | @fkatwigs took Chicago into a red world @lollapalooza #Lolla #GrantPark #GalaxyLife #VIBEonSite

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 3, 2015 at 6:58am PDT

SZA
VIBE/ Stacy-Ann Ellis
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SZA

Fans in Chicago's Grant Park got to witness SZA pop her Lollapalooza cherry. TDE red-haired songstress was all smiles, sass and energy up on stage as she ran through her impressive EP, Z. "Child's Play," "Babylon," "Sweet November" and "Warm Winds" had listeners all in their feelings. It's just a same she was one of the first acts up to bat for the weekend, so her crowd wasn't as robust as it could've been, but those who were there left satisfied.

Travi$ Scott
Instagram
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Travi$ Scott

Travi$ Scott pissed a lot of people off at Lollapalooza, namely the organizers of the fest. First, during the course of his 45-minute long set time, he had his DJ play around on stage for 30 whole minutes. Granted, DJ Chase B played some killer tunes and got the crowd live in the beginning, but the marvel wore off as people started to look at their watches and wonder where the Days Before Rodeo rapper was. He finally made his way to the stage, half-apologizing for his lateness (he says the tardiness was due to him doing drugs backstage). He performed a fragment of one song before staring dead-eyed into the crowd and demanding his real friends disregard the security and rush the stage. Obviously, things didn't end well. Not only did the rest of his set get shut down after five minutes, but Scott was reportedly arrested afterwards. Hours later, he took to his Instagram with a picture with him in front of the Lolla crowd and a caption that read: "Love to u fans. Thank u lollapalooza Learned a lot from this."

 

#VIBEonSite | @travisscott before he told his real diehard fans to jump the baracades. Set length? Less than 10 minutes. #Lolla #Lollapalooza #GalaxyLife

A video posted by VibeMagazine (@vibemagazine) on Aug 1, 2015 at 5:19pm PDT

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A$AP Rocky Turns Up Samsung's Owner's Galaxy Lounge At Lollapalooza

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