DOWNTOWN — Lollapalooza saw soldout crowds for a second day in a row as K-pop superstars Stray Kids took the stage to close out Friday night.
It’s the third year in a row K-pop artists have secured a headlining spot at the annual music festival, with more K-pop and Korean artists performing every year.
Lollapalooza leapt into world of K-pop fandom in 2022 by adding J-Hope, rapper and main dancer of BTS, as a headliner for a solo performance. J-Hope made history as the first Korean artist to headline a major U.S. music festival.
His performance drew fans from all across the world who also lined up hours before the gates opened to save their spots near the stage. Fans even renamed the festival #HOBIPALOOZA on Twitter, which went viral, highlighting various videos and photos from his 70-minute performance.
Tomorrow X Together performed last year headlining the third day of Lollapalooza. The group also performed in 2022 with a 45-minute set list.
NewJeans, Korean indie-rock band The Rose, co-founders of Korean label Dream Perfect Regime DPR IAN and DPR LIVE, and Asian American EDM duo ARMNHMR also took to the stages at Lolla last year.
This year Stray Kids is the leading K-pop group performing at this year’s festival. IVE, a six-member girl K-pop group, will take the stage Saturday at 5 p.m. This will be their first appearance at a major festival since their debut in 2021.
The eight-member group consists of Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin and I.N. Stray Kids is fresh off a new album release titled Ate, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Fans traveled from all over the country and the world to see the idols perform. Super-fans Jazmin Cabrira and her sister flew from Paraguay to see the group for the first time.
“Just being here is amazing,” Cabrira said.
The sisters woke up early, getting to Grant Park at 7 a.m. When the gates opened, they ran to get a spot at the barricades and stood there the whole day to save their premium spot.
Stray Kids fans lined the barricades at the Bud Light stage all of Friday. Fans were seen with their official light sticks, signs and photo cards.
When the eight-member group took the stage at roughly 8:30 p.m., they were welcomed by a sea of fans screaming their names. A giant Stray Kids banner dropped, revealing the members behind it dressed in black goth-inspired outfits.
The group opened with the song “S-Class,” which was immediately recognized by fans by the signature whistle that started the song.
For an hour and a half, fans were treated to hard-rock renditions of Stray Kids’ most popular songs. A live band also joined the group, in addition to flashy pyrotechnics and fireworks.
Felix, a member known for his luxurious deep vocals, shocked fans when his jean vest popped open revealing his lean, toned physique.
“Oh my god,” screamed several fans from the audience.
Stray Kids went on to perform hits “Back Door,” “MANIAC,” “God’s Menu,” “Chk Chk Boom,” “LALALALA,” “Victory Song,” “MIROH” and more.
The idols appeared to have fun with the audience as they joked several times about the set coming to an end, even leaving the stage at one point before popping back out for a few more songs.
“You were fantastic, super-duper amazing,” Bang Chan said to the crowd.
More photos from the Stray Kids set:
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