We’re still feeling the body aches of a 4-day celebration of the 25th anniversary of the staple music festival, Lollapalooza… But it turns out those battle wounds also serve as a reminder of the absolutely dope experiences we had during the extended weekend. During these 4 days we got to see acts in all sorts of different stages in their careers, from established international performers to local superstars in the making. It’s almost too difficult to narrow down a list of our favorite moments in a concise manner, but it’s our job to let the world know what’s dope, and lucky for us, we got plenty to choose from.

So peep below for the dopest sights of the fest, along with highlights from sets by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Joey Purp, Vic Mensa, Jane’s Addiction, and Sir The Baptist, among others.

*All photography is credited to, and comes courtesy from Sarah Hess. She’s the dopest, so show her some love and follow her on Instagram and Twitter!

Dopest Festival Photos

These all speak for themselves honestly… So I connected with Lady Hess about highlighting her notable shots from the fest on our platform, and lucky for us what she sent over pretty much mirrored a lot of what I saw at Lolla! Dopeness recognizes dopeness…

I sifted through these and picked out the pictures that encapsulate all that was cool and grand about Lollapalooza, while also shining a light on how magnificent photography can convey and through a single image. Check out the top 5 below.

Highlights

Chicago Artists Outshine Spotlights

One thing that seriously, deservedly should get praised about Lolla is that its organizers have continued their tradition of honoring the local scene and this year was probably its best example of that yet. Saba, Smino, Towkio, Joey Purp, Sir The Baptist and a headlining set from Vic Mensa, Chicago was well-represented on the lineup and the Lolla stage is best marquee to show off just how fruitful the Chi scene continues to be.

From Purp stepping up to the challenge of delivering though being a late addition (and to the Perry’s stage no less), to Saba and Sir The Baptist coming down to crowd-level to give their respective audiences a closer taste of what ascending stardom looks like, to Vic graduating into the professor of political science role in Hip Hop and projecting his conscientious views with a theatrical performance, Lolla 2016 was owned by Chicago music.

Perry Farrell Made It Weird

Weirdly, one of the most “heartwarming” moments of the fest came via Jane’s Addiction sub-headlining set on Saturday night… I use the word heartwarming because I legit got happy when I finally get shocked and thrilled at a music event! Lolla founder and JA frontman Perry Farrell made a nod to the festival’s freaky past by putting on quite the spectacle towards the end of their show: a couple of women sporting bondage garb were pierced through the skin of their shoulder blades with hooks… and before we knew it they went up in the air! The lovely ladies happily swung back and forth as Farrell, Dave Navarro, and co. rocked on. People gasped, threw their hands in the air, jaws dropped, and screeched “oh my God” multiple times. I couldn’t believe this completely mainstream festival had gone back to their alternative roots! It was an awesome thing.

FWYH, Legacy Acts Can Kick Ass

A common sentiment that revolves around a lot of major festivals is a bit of a surge in disdain for the legacy acts that are headlining, as the blogosphere assesses what’s cool or not this year. A lot of the time this becomes an opportunity to talk smack about the headliners, or voice concerns about how fest organizers always play it safe, and so on and so forth. Well here at POD we’ve always gone with what we like and what we think is worth talking about, whether they’ve been in the game since before we were born or if they just appeared on the map.

So because of that, we had no problem devoting some of our time at Grant Park to relive our younger years and check out bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead. Songs we’ve heard and sang out loud for decades, sounded just as good as when we used to play them on our portable CD players. And you know what? No ragrets.