Lollapalooza 2014 Day 2: Women who rock and men who rap

The highlight of Lollapalooza Day 2 was clearly the performance by OutKast. The hip-hop group reunited at the end of 2013 and has spent the better part of this year playing festivals. Wearing flamboyant outfits, the duo — André “André 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton — traded rapid fire rhymes while a live band featuring horns and female singers backed them up. Their set had excellent energy and the two had great chemistry on stage. When they delivered “Ms. Jackson” in the middle of their set, they didn’t even have to sing all the lyrics because the massive audience clearly knew the tune ad was singing along. Another of the day’s bright spot swas a performance by Fitz and the Tantrums. The group’s popularity has soared in the three years since it last played the festival and it didn’t disappoint. Songs from last year’s More Than Just a Dream mixed nicely with older tunes such as “MoneyGrabber” and the band played a spirited cover of the Eurythmics tune “Sweet Dreams.” Playing a few songs from their new album They Want My Soul, indie rockers Spoon also sounded sharp during their hour-long set, and singer Kate Nash deserved an award for her terrific outfit, a designer dress that with a cape that made it look as though she had giant wings on her back. She and her all-female group ripped through a set that focused on the Riot Grrrl side of her music. The day’s line-up also featured terrific performances by a few other women too, including alt-rocker Meg Myers and indie pop star Jenny Lewis, looking sharp in a bright suit. And The Last Internationale, a new band featuring Rage Against the Machine/Audioslave drummer Brad Wilke played a solid set before a small but appreciative audience.

Here are few photos from a sunny second day at the fest.

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