Lollapalooza 2025: Day Two Highlights

8/1/2025

Photography by Bobby Talamine
Writing and Editing by Fiza Javid

Grant Park - Chicago, IL
Friday - August 1, 2025

Day two kicked off with a line of raging fans in Korn and Olivia Rodrigo shirts ready to sprint post security line. Considering the immense heat of Lollapalooza 2024, the cooler breeze kept this incredibly excited and heated crowd ready for a day of incredible performances.

Bobby and I were reeling from day one, but were completely lit up for the highlights of day two: Jane the Remover, Old Mervs, Winyah, Isabel Labrosa, Otoboke Beaver, Gigi Perez, Bunt, Foster the People, Bleachers, Wallows, and Olivia Rodrigo!

We started things off with Jane the Remover, whose dreamy-yet-gritty sound filled the early afternoon air like a hazy daydream. Her set was raw, vulnerable, and impossible to ignore—perfect for easing us back into the festival flow. From there, Old Mervs brought the surf-rock vibes with enough guitar fuzz to make even the most heat-dazed crowd member start headbanging.

Winyah and Isabel Labrosa were two artists we didn’t plan on seeing but were so glad we did. Winyah’s vocals were buttery and commanding, and Labrosa’s genre-fluid set left us buzzing—equal parts alt-pop and witchy R&B. Otoboke Beaver, on the other hand, turned everything up to 100. That set was pure, glorious chaos—tight, fast, unrelenting punk rock that made everyone question whether we were sweating from the sun or the energy alone.

Gigi Perez and BUNT brought the kind of emotional release only live music can deliver—one moment you’re dancing like no one’s watching, and the next you're wiping away a tear. Foster the People gave us a perfect mid-evening pick-me-up, running through hits like “Pumped Up Kicks” but also dropping material that had the whole park grooving.

Bleachers? Nothing short of cathartic. Jack Antonoff knows how to work a crowd, and between the sax solos, Springsteen-style anthems, and his all-heart performance, it felt like the most communal singalong of the weekend.

Korn’s set was pure, undiluted chaos in the most satisfying way possible. They hit the stage like a thunderclap. Jonathan Davis stormed out, bagpipes in hand, and within seconds the pit had erupted. If anyone thought nu metal didn’t have a place at Lolla 2025, Korn shut that idea down fast. The crowd closest to the stage became a seething wave of limbs, screams, and cathartic release—metalheads and curious onlookers alike throwing themselves into the noise like it was therapy.
They tore through classics like “Freak on a Leash” and “Got the Life” with a brutal precision that left you both breathless and wide-eyed. There was no gimmick—just power, sweat, and a band that’s been perfecting the art of sonic assault for decades. I looked around and saw people laughing maniacally, eyes wide, fully alive. It was that kind of set. Even Bobby, who swore he was just going to “pop in for a few songs,” ended up headbanging until his sunglasses flew off.

I ran over to the other side, and like a complete 180, came the glow-up: Olivia Rodrigo taking the stage, and the world felt like it tilted into some dreamy, glittery, emotionally volatile dimension. Grant Park was packed shoulder to shoulder, with fans draped in purple, handmade shirts, and eyeliner running from preemptive tears. The sun had set, the skyline was twinkling, and her stage lit up in soft pastels like a coming-of-age movie climax.

From the very first note of “bad idea right?” Olivia had the crowd locked in. You could hear every lyric being sung back to her in full voice—no phones in the air for content, just thousands of fans screaming like they’d waited their whole lives to belt this stuff out with her. She moved between aching ballads like “drivers license” and pure punch-in-the-gut bangers like “vampire” and "deja vu" with ease, showing off not just vocal range, but emotional range.

There was a quiet moment during “traitor” when the entire crowd went still—just her voice, soft guitar, and the collective sound of hearts breaking. And then moments later, she flipped the switch into full pop-punk princess mode, bounding across the stage, flipping her hair, and winking into the camera like a seasoned rockstar. You could feel it in the crowd—she wasn’t just performing, she was living it in real time with us. It was intimate and explosive all at once.

Then it freaking happened. She called Weezer on stage to do "buddy holly" and "say it ain't so" which sent the crowd into a screaming jolt of happiness, myself included.

Standing there after midnight, still humming “vampire,” it hit me: Korn and Olivia Rodrigo in the same night sounds ridiculous on paper. But that’s the beauty of Lolla. It’s the chaos. The collision. The genre whiplash that somehow works perfectly. Where one moment you're screaming out your angst to detuned guitars, and the next you're crying under city lights to the sound of teenage heartbreak.