(Photos by Hillary Higgins, RedEye)
Chance the Rapper took time to reflect during his headlining set Sunday night at Lollapalooza: “I used to go to school over there.” He pointed west, toward Jones College Prep, the high school that suspended him for 10 days a few years ago, culminating in his first mixtape “10 Day” and leading him directly to that Lolla stage. The hometown hero narrative is always a hit with fanbases, but the act still needs to execute when given the spotlight. Did he measure up? Results are varied.
A major issue with the show was the overall vibe. This was the time to unleash the energy, and the smoother show, while executed well, left some fans feeling limp.
The whole event took place at Perry’s Stage, a setup somewhat tailored for EDM acts that don’t have much in the way of live stage performances. That means no huge screens and a sound system that picked up all the big notes but missed the funky underbelly of the show. The crowd was so big that if you didn’t have a clear vantage point, you might have missed notable highlights like the well-suited backup singers (including the incredibly talented Eryn Allen Kane and Lili K., whose voice is the first thing you hear on “Acid Rap”) and Chance attempting the largest Juke Slide (a variation of the Chicago-created Cha-cha Slide) in recent history. His showmanship was lost on a decent percentage of the younger members of the crowd, who promptly beelined for Skrillex and a presumed insane finale to the weekend instead of a well-crafted show. Sucks for them, because they missed what was one of the huge moments of the weekend. Chance casually brought out none other than R. Kelly to give the audience a jolt. He only stayed long enough to perform crowd favorite “Ignition (Remix)” before disappearing back to wherever it is R. Kelly comes from.
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All in all, the show seemed to be a culmination of the past 16 months of Chance the Rapper’s career. Blog buzz act turns into fan favorite turns into the next big thing.
A final thought: In the weeks leading up to Sunday night, Chance tweeted repeatedly about being able to catch the show via the livestream, moreso than any other act performing this year by my check. I sincerely believe the show was crafted for a crowd that wasn’t in attendance at Perry’s Stage, but was watching online. If my assumption is correct, then that mentality is absolutely mind-blowing considering they had easily 60,000 people in the palm of their hand and still chose to go for the supposed wider audience the band was able to reach via stream.
Regardless, it says a lot that an artist without a major label release headlined one of the biggest shows in the country in one of the biggest cities on Earth. Kids these days, am I right?
No one will miss my set tonight. I've teamed up with @redbull and @lollapalooza to stream my set worldwide!! http://t.co/vYAw6Bq1z2
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) August 3, 2014
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That live stream almost felt like I was there @chancetherapper #Lollapalooza2014 #LollaLive #RKelly pic.twitter.com/FV63B3cCee
— Alex The Rapper (@KrazzyKranz) August 4, 2014
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Chance and crew were apparently ill for the show, too?
We're all sick, some in worse positions than others but we held our composure yesterday and threw a worldwide concert. U all deserve it
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) August 4, 2014
