[Review] Lollapalooza celebrates 25 anniversary in a big way
The Chicago staple of music festival excellence brought forth yet another unforgettable weekend of music and stellar performances. Lollapalooza celebrating it’s 25th anniversary in the biggest way possible. Extending the festival to four days created a marathon of incredible musical moments.
Lollapalooza had many highlights that came from inside and outside the music festival. Chicago transformed from the city with broad shoulders into, during for the four-day festival, music mecca.
The first two days had rain showers that spanned over a few hours. The temporary muggy start didn’t effect the mega celebration of the 25th anniversary. In fact, the only set backs to the festival were the uncontrollable rain and that the festival is already over.
Over the years Lolla grew not only in size but it also grew in multiple genres. It first started as an alternative rock festival in 1991 as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction. Now with over 170 acts and an extended four-day festival, Lollapalooza provided many history making moments.
It was announced by Lollapalooza that next year’s music festival will also be a 4 day festival.
Thursday, July 28 (Day 1)
Lollapalooza fixed up this problem from past years. The clear winner to the first night was hip-hop. Hip-hop actually had a deeper impact throughout the festival but it made a bold statement the first night with performances from Chicago’s own Towkio, G-Eazy, and J. Cole. Danny Brown also gained many fans with his energetic performance. Towkio brought out Chicago’s Joey Purp and Vic Mensa in a complete Chicago music takeover. Towkio from sneaking into Lollapalooza before his musical break to now setting the stage definitely was a crowd pleasure.
Another Chicago artist made headlines closing off the Perry’s stage this time from the electronic music duo Flosstradamus. They didn’t disappoint bringing their signature non-stop thrill ride of electric beats. They also brought out surprise guest Chance The Rapper, Michelle Williams, and Dwyane Wade.
From “Wet Dreamz” to “Work Out”, J. Cole stole the show with non-stop performance of hit after hit. With no back track, fans matched Cole jumping and rapping along with the Dreamville rapper. It’s important to note that Cole was the only rapper to close off the Samsung stage throughout the weekend. The others were Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and LCD Soundsystem. The biggest stage at Lollapalooza was the perfect fit for J. Cole’s unforgettable set.
[Album] Trillwave: "Trap Godz Vol. 3"
Trillwave, the dance music DJ duo of Michael "Twerkle" Cutrone and Brooks "TrapLee Jones" Jones have been making a name for themselves since hitting this year's SXSW hard and gaining the attention of listeners with their trap-heavy production and turned up live shows. The pair began working together in early 2012 with a shared passion for cross-genre tinkering and, on the strength of their performances in Austin, have established themselves as one of the premier dance music acts to emerge from the growing Chicago and Midwestern scenes that are beginning to re-discover dance elements after creating the genre a generation ago.
Their latest release, Trap Godz Vol. 3 is the latest installment in Trillwave's continuing "Trap God" series that has paced Cutrone and Jones as they work on their upcoming full-length project, due out in the Summer of 2014. It is a continuation of earlier work, that is for sure, but with unique tweaks and renderings that explore cosmically different atmospheres than earlier releases. The project was held back two months due to finagling and tinkering and the result may be one of the strongest to come from Trillwave to this point. Catch Trillwave coming through your city sometime soon, or at their monthly residency at SoundBar in Chicago's Loop.
[iframe id="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/playlists/13285692&color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true" mode="normal" align="center"]
[Album] Nicky Romero & Krewella: "Legacy Remixes"
Nicky Romero and Krewella represent a young generation in dance music that is working with new aesthetics to take things beyond just pressing buttons onstage. Romero and the trio of Krewella teamed up for this remix project titled the "Legacy Remixes". The "Legacy" track that was produced/created by Krewella and Romero has since gone on to peak at No. 1 on the Beatport charts and spawn the myriad re-makes that pushed the release of a project like "The Legacy Remixes". Vicetone, Wildstylez, Don Diablo, and Candyland are all enlisted to craft the new feels. Overall, the brief project is a killer mix of takes on the Dutch DJ and Chicago EDM team. Check it out below and pick up the full release via iTunes.