Lollapalooza 2026 Delivers an Electrifying First Day Filled With Powerful Debuts and Triumphant Returns

By: Alina Pawl-Castanon and Shawna O’Hara – Lorde by Dusana Karam for Lollapalooza Festival 2026

The sun was hot and unforgiving to kick off Lollapalooza 2026, bringing in hard hitters of various genres across the stages, from Grammy award-winning artists like Lorde to techno house icons like John Summit and all the talent in between. Chicago Music Guide spent the early afternoon onsite for the big names and the names-you-should-know, marked by interviews with Irish band Amble and Chicago’s hometown indie-rockers, The Braymores, both making their Lollapalooza debut.

Festival grounds remained in constant motion as fans moved between stages, crowded around water stations, and searched for pockets of shade. Chicago Music Guide took in morning performances from Kim Theory, Faouzia, and The Braymores before settling in for headliners.

The excitement became paramount over the sweltering sun, setting the tone for a weekend built around major performances, devoted fan communities, and the spectacle of beloved live music against our beautiful city skyline. Let another Lollapalooza begin!

Lollapalooza 2026 Delivers an Electrifying First Day Filled With Powerful Debuts and Triumphant Returns 1 — Between Friends by Charles Reagan for Lollapalooza

Between Friends

Between Friends rocked the socks off a brutal, humid day for their Lolla debut. Known for their hyper synth beats, they opened with their newest energetic anthems from the album WOW, described by the band as “laptop-dream pop.”

The LA-based sibling duo Brandon and Savannah Hudson tackle the massive stage together, sweeping their respective corners back and forth. Savannah stomps the stage in a pink floral two-piece adorned with a pair of fishnets, in contrast with her brother’s heavy leather and tassels.

As they dive into a dreamy bedroom pop song, Savannah dances like she knows people are watching; falling into perfected poses and sending flirtatious smiles and waves to the camera as a mix of techno synth pop erupts from Brandon’s mix board, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

Brandon throws in a playful “You guys know this song?” Before throwing his guitar into the mix.

Fans fluttered in unison above as a lone blue butterfly flutters over the encompassing crowd.

“You look beautiful,” Savannah said before putting a peace sign over her head and slamming into the next chorus.

“This is our first Lollapalooza… this feels like a dream,” Brandon said before playing the iconic song “Affection” that gets the crowd jumping until the lights went down.

Amble Comes Home to a Piece of Ireland in Chicago

Amble’s debut at Lollapalooza was celebrated not just for their honest, traditional-sounding Irish folk rock, a departure from nearby stages, but for the feeling that met them at the stage. With an atmosphere akin to an Irish community gathering, soccer jerseys filled the front row as an enthusiastic crowd sang, swayed, and moved together (some attempting Irish step-dancing), giving the performance the warmth of a family party.

“We’re Amble. And we’re Irish,” frontman Robbie Cunningham proudly announced, before settling into their distinctive blend of melodic rock and traditional Irish folk.

The connection between the band and the audience felt especially natural in Chicago, where Oisín McCaffrey has an extensive family network, and Amble has already built a loyal following through performances at venues including Schubas, Lincoln Hall, and Park West. The group’s sincerity and easy humor translated effortlessly onstage, while the debut of “Last Rites,” due August 14, offered a glimpse of what is next. Amble brought a piece of Ireland to Lollapalooza, and they found plenty of it waiting for them at the barricade.

Everyone is a Star for 5 Seconds of Summer

Australian schoolmates turned pop-rock band brought the boyband craze back to Lollapalooza, opening their T-Mobile set with a limo video montage making a grand entrance before jumping into one of their classics, “NOT OK”.

Millennials and older Gen Zs alike were pulled back in time as they set the tone with energetic drum rhythms, the screaming crowds roaring the lyrics back in contrast to the electric dancing guitar, pulling from their alternative pop roots.

“I can tell you want to hear some old shit,” Lead singer Luke Hemmings says before diving into their iconic “She’s Kinda Hot,” which sends the crowd that becomes more dense by the minute into a frenzy.

The screens fade into a short comedic film with an interview with the band, featuring an old footage montage of the members at the start of their careers. “We were just teenagers making music, man,” Calum said.

Halfway through the set, the band disappears, only to emerge on large mobile pillars that erupt from the center of the crowd- to those in the back’s loud delight- to finish off their risque song “Evolve”.

As we get close to the finale, the group slows it down with a rendition of “Amnesia”, Ashton Irwin stepping back from the drum set to join his bandmates with a guitar. With the crowd settling into a stillness, the group closes the set with the well known “YoungBlood” that pulls the energy back and gets people jumping for more.

Sombr brings the theatrics to his Lolla debut.

Sombr’s T-Mobile set opens with a live feed of a black boa, Valentino Military jacket, and a Margarita in hand ( little umbrella and all) as he saunters out of a blue Cadillac, brimming with confidence, to the stage.

He places the spilling drink somewhere off camera, throwing the boa off before running into the crowd’s view and going headfirst into his debut album I Barely Know Her.

The performance is as grande as his full band’s sound; full of dance breaks, microphone swinging, black lace, and big expressive movements.

The New York-based artist sneaks in a crotch grab as he closes the final chorus of his opening song, his band pushing the indie tones as Sombr stomps up and down the stage.

On theme with the night, the singer takes a music break to storm on the platform behind the drummer and rip the guitarist’s shirt open, crawling under his guitar and pulling him in an intimate embrace that almost knocks them both down, before flicking his tongue at the camera.

“Let me take a sip of water before I shake shit up real quick,” Sombr says, before welcoming 5SOS to the stage, his previous members fading to the back as the band opens “She Looks so Perfect” for the second time that day; just with an extra, taller member in black. The 21-year-old artist shared a voice crack or two as they closed the song.

As the boy band heads off to the sides, Sombr brings a wine bottle to the mic before jumping into his bedroom poppy hits.

His jittery energy could be felt by the crowd for his Lolla debut, dropping the microphone three times with a few “thwacks” of feedback, jumping back up with a smile of disbelief before launching into a new song.

Halfway through his set, he stumbles into a speech of appreciation, unable to hold in his nervous eyes as he looks across the crowd. “If you had told me my album at 18 years old would have taken me here, I would have punched you in the face,” He said before going into the song that put him on the map, “Back to Being Friends”.

In a theatrical moment, Sombr takes 10 minutes to spray paint a black flag “sombr lollapalooza” and sprint down the center of the crowd, dropping the flag on his way back, before screaming a silent message to the camera, a sea of people behind him.

“I’ll see you for my arena show in Chicago… I forgot where it is, but it’s somewhere in Chicago.”

Sombr ends the night with 12 to 12 that had unnaturally repeated, elongated segments of large swelling guitar and drum breakdowns, which unfortunately lengthened his finale an extra 4 minutes, forcing the Allianz stage across to be behind. As the guitar closed on Sombr set, not even a half step passed before alternative female-fronted band Wet Leg opened their 7:30 set at 7:34

Lollapalooza 2026 Delivers an Electrifying First Day Filled With Powerful Debuts and Triumphant Returns 2 — Wet Leg by Chad Wadsworth for Lollapalooza 2026

Wet Leg Commands the Crowd in Pre-Closer Spot at Lollapalooza Day One

After waiting nearly four minutes for Sombr to finish his second encore on the neighboring T-Mobile stage, Grammy Award-winning duo Wet Leg came out swinging before a crowd of eager—and increasingly agitated—fans at the Allianz Stage. The audience spanned generations, from little girls perched on their guardians’ shoulders to older men sporting an assortment of punk-rock logos, all awaiting the band’s first Lollapalooza performance since its 2022 debut.

Wet Leg emerged through its signature haze, a dreamy visual effect that swallowed the stage before lead singer Rhian Teasdale stepped forward to deliver the opening lines of “Catch These Fists.” The fog had also enveloped the band during its sold-out pre-Lollapalooza aftershow at The Vic the night before, but against the scale of the festival stage, it felt even more dramatic. Teasdale used the space theatrically, stalking, posing and flexing her way through the set as the crowd jumped along despite the lingering evening heat.

Alongside guitarist Hester Chambers and their touring band, Teasdale powered through a 15-song set featuring “Chaise Longue,” “CPR,” “Davina McCall” and “Wet Dream.” There was little chatter between songs; instead, the group moved briskly from one tightly wound burst of indie rock to the next. That restraint only amplified Teasdale’s presence. Few performers can command a crowd with such quiet force, whether she is standing nearly motionless beneath the lights or prowling the stage in football padding.

Her delivery provided an especially compelling contrast to the music’s blunt, bold and gleefully cheeky lyrics. Teasdale often crooned the band’s most provocative lines with an almost delicate sweetness, allowing each joke, innuendo and deadpan declaration to land even harder. During “Wet Dream,” the crowd erupted into a communal chant, while every flex of her arms prompted screams loud enough to compete with the crunch of the guitars.

The audience’s enthusiasm never appeared limited by age. Children wearing protective headphones pumped their fists from atop shoulders. At the same time, longtime fans shouted along to nearly every word. Their liveliness matched the band’s unrelenting rock presence, transforming the field into something playful, strange and wonderfully unruly. At one point, Teasdale sweetly noted she’s going to ask the crowd to scream. Once she signaled, the group, which now spilled over into the T-Mobile stage, let out a collective, cathartic scream to Teasdale’s delight.

Wet Leg closed by inviting the crowd to “get lost forever” with “mangetout,” a standout from the group’s highly anticipated sophomore album, moisturizer. It was a fitting conclusion for a band that thrives on contradictions: dreamy yet abrasive, understated yet commanding, and capable of making its most outrageous sentiments sound deceptively sweet.

Lollapalooza brings a homecoming to Lorde

Lorde graces the stage at Lollapalooza for the first time since her cut-off set in 2017, taking the crowd by storm as she opens with an eerie ambient vibe of synth and vocals, easing into an iconic song from her breakout album Pure Heroine.

Decorated in a hot pink crop sweater and a slick back ponytail, the New Zealand artist takes the minimally decorated stage by storm, using her whole body within performance and intentional movement in front of a large LED screen. The contrast created by the lights makes the pink of her sweater glow as Lorde pulls into one of her newest synth pop hits, the movements growing into a strong intensity as the crowd screams the lyrics back to “What was That”.

Contemporary dancers slowly make their appearance, crawling and creeping across the corners of the stage as the camera pans to Lorde’s band, sitting in the shadows, popping out in soft harmonies as Lorde explores her newest album of bedroom pop and experimental synths.

She takes a beat throughout the night to tell security a concertgoer needs help before jumping back into the songs, saying “I can talk for as long as you need.” Multiple people reportedly passed out during the heat and long festival day.

Lorde tells a heartfelt story of the failed show from 2017 Lolla due to thunder and rain, before diving back into the decorated set honoring the songs of the past and creating space for a new sound. Taking off her pink sweater to reveal an even pinker bikini top, Lorde slams into renditions of her hits from albums across her 10+ year music history, taking this Lolla as an opportunity to reflect on her previous performances on the Grant Park stage.

“I had no idea that 17 years after my first show (at Lolla) I had no idea that I would sing these songs, and you would sing back”

Lorde screamed for lolla; and lolla screamed back as the sun set across the city skyline.

“Ask yourself every day: are you acting trapped or are you acting free?” Lorde screamed before

Lorde slips into a leather jacket and jumps into “Man of the Year.” With large synths.

Not long after, Charlie made her guest appearance to perform their duo after having a signing at Reckless Records in Wicker Park earlier that day.

In her finale, Lorde stands in the center of the stage; a large flag banner “I don’t belong to anyone” is draped across a large section of the crowd.

With a heartfelt thank you to the crowd, Lorde jumps into “ribs” to close the night, leaving the stage to interact with fans, climbing onto a platform in the center of the crowd before throwing herself into her song, written by a more uncertain lord. But as she screams “you’re the only friend I need” above the sea of moving bodies, it was like a meeting with an old friend from 2013, just with a few more crow’s feet.

Conclusion

Lorde and John Summit turned the crowd into frenzies as the humidity gave the concertgoers a reprieve. For Lolla Day One, a powerhouse of women took the stage, decorated with a large tech house synth presence that took the festival by storm. The energy was alive and vibrant to end the first day of Lollapalooza 2026, the skies never going completely dark against the Chicago lights, marking only the beginning of the festivities to be had.