Lollapalooza Day 3 – Ready to Celebrate

Early during his headlining set on Day Three of Lollapalooza, Colombian reggaeton star José Álvaro Osorio Balvin, better known by his stage name J Balvin, talked about the significance of being the first Latino to headline the festival. “I’m proud to be Latino,” he said. “This is our time to make our dreams come true.” His concert had a celebratory vibe — horns sounded throughout the set — and Balvin made his way up and down the multi-tiered stage as he interacted with various dancers (some of whom wore puffy white cloud outfits that made them look like the Michelin Man).  Balvin, who has been playing festivals all summer long, opened with “Reggaeton,” a tune that benefited from pounding percussion, and kept the party going with “Machika” before paying homage to the OG reggaeton artists that inspired him. Balvin has had a handful of No. 1 Latin singles and is currently supporting his most recent album, Vibras.

Prior to Balvin, Tenacious D brought a good dose of humor to the day with a set that found singer-guitarists Jack Black and Kyle Gass backed by a three-piece band that capably kicked out the jams on songs such as “Rize of the Fenix” and “Low Hangin’ Fruit.” Black encouraged fans to dance during “Sax-A-Boom,” a song that found him playing a toy saxophone and then having to take a mid-song breather after grooving a little too vigorously. The set concluded with the one-two punch of “Tribute” and “Fuck Her Gently,” a song that Black dedicated to the “ladies.”

AJR, another highlight from the day, delivered a high-energy performance that found the band’s three frontmen Adam, Jack and Ryan Met, running onto the stage to deliver “Next Up Forever.” The three Met brothers all wore skinny shorts and “danced” (well, enthusiastically skipped, spun and hopped) to their synth-driven indie pop tunes. “Burn the House Down,” a song that featured rapping and woozy horns, came off particularly well as the audience exuberantly sang the refrain along with the band. Their frivolous set included a cover of The Office theme song.  

Playing for the first time ever at Lollapalooza, Yaegi, a Korean-American electronic music artist based in Brooklyn, performed to a backing track during her set that commenced with “Feel It Out,” a song that found her nonchalantly rapping lines like “Shit is Crazy/Shit is Yaegi.” Watching her walk back to her laptop to start each track and then return to the front of the stage to rap and sing made for a rather awkward presentation. Jittery songs such as “Guap” often had great hooks, and she would’ve benefited from a more sophisticated presentation.

To see photos from Day 3 of Lollapalooza, check out our Flickr album and follow us on Instagram.