By Maya Liquigan and Sofía Oyarzún

August 4, 2024

Chicago’s Lollapalooza music festival finished its final day on Sunday, Aug. 4, paying homage to the city’s musical heritage with local artists performing all four days of the festival.

The festival featured over 170 artists and groups including Sunday’s lineup of Pierce the Veil, Slow Pulp, Knox and more, along with headliners Melanie Martinez and Blink-182. Multiple local Chicago musicians were also in the mix. The homegrown artists showed off the diverse range of Chicago’s music scene and what makes the city a place where music thrives. Chicago Made, a showcase supported by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, also had a designated time that featured Chicago locals as well as a Columbia alum at Lollapalooza. 

Chicago-raised Godwill Oke, known by stage name Godly the Ruler, went wild at the Bacardi stage at their first-ever Lollapalooza on Friday, Aug. 2. One minute they were building the set and the next, Oke was running up and down the stage, high off the adrenaline of playing the festival scene. 

“From the very first song, I was really in there,” Oke said. “I forgot people were even in the crowd.” 

The artist walked off the stage floating on air after an hour of singing, dancing, chanting and connecting with the audience. They were surprised to see people recognize their songs as a smaller Chicago artist. 

“It was cool to see it resonating with people and see that it wasn’t people’s first time seeing me… That was a really pleasant surprise, the people that were there for Godly the Ruler,” they said.

At 14 years old, Oke began making music on the music platform SoundCloud in the school cafeteria. Ten years later they took to the big stage at Lollapalooza. They felt like it was a “full circle moment” to be back playing in Chicago after attending college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They found out they were playing the festival 30 minutes before class, but were ecstatic once it all settled in. 

Playing at one of Chicago’s biggest festivals was a solidifying moment for Godly, as people typically asked them if leaving Chicago helped them find their sound. They mentioned how New York, Los Angeles and Atlanta are recognized as popular music hubs, but there’s no reason to leave Chicago. They described Chicago as a “good cross between all of those other cities.”

“When I think [of] Chicago as a cultural spot or just the people and resources… It’s all here and if people focus their energy here, I think we have more than enough. We just need to pump it back into the city,” they said.

David Fuller, bassist for Friko and Ohio native, also found a unique community upon moving to Chicago that he’s yet to see anywhere else.

“The community in Chicago, being so varied, I think is a really special thing about the city,” Fuller said. 

The band Friko first formed in 2019, as a three-member-group for a project in their time at Evanston Township High School, where they released their first demo “Burnout Beautiful.” The indie rock band, currently consisting of original members vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger, as well as newer members Fuller and guitarist Korgan Robb, since has continued releasing singles and EP’s. 

Fuller and Robb first performed with Friko at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. One year later, they took the stage at Lollapalooza on Saturday, Aug. 3.

“It’s definitely very exciting,” said Minzenberger. “This is my first time at Lolla, but I’ve been hearing about it for my whole life. So, to get to be here is really special. We all feel very lucky; it’s been a really good experience.” 

The band’s set consisted of songs from their most recent album, titled “Where we’ve been, Where we go from here.” With multiple references to Chicago, Kapetan was inspired by his admiration for bands that incorporate geography into their music to include “direct lyrics” about their experiences in the city. 

Fuller said the experiences and community he’s gained in his time in Chicago has influenced both his writing and outlook on music.

“Chicago has really made me look at music in a more holistic way,” he said. “There’s a lot of states and a lot of cities that have a sound. Chicago has such a diverse set of artists; nobody really sounds the same, and I think that’s what makes it really special.”

The Chicago Made showcase of Chicago-based artists is set to play at Tito’s Handmade Vodka stage later today offering a stage to eight local artists creating the eclectic music scene in Chicago. 

Megan Hammond, also known as stage name m.e.h, is a Columbia alumni and is performing with Chicago Made. Originally from Maryland, Hammond came to Chicago to study Contemporary, Urban and Popular Music at Columbia College and graduated in 2022. In the same year, she released her first single and has worked nonstop since then. Now, she performs all around Chicago and has a chance to share her passion with a bigger audience at the Chicago Made event at Lollapalooza.

Hammond finds that Chicago Made allows smaller artists to have an opportunity to reach bigger crowds to not only support their music careers, but to support the “genre-bending vibes” she described Chicago to have.

“It just puts on people who maybe have needed to get on a bigger stage but haven’t had the resources or haven’t had the opportunity,” Hammond said. “So many different people from so many different walks of life come to this festival. I think it’s important to be putting underground artists on a platform like this.”

Artists of the underground music scene commonly spend their beginning years by playing small venues and shows, working towards an opportunity like Lollapalooza, like the group Scarlett Demore.

The alternative indie rock band from Chicago had their set today, leaving fans electrified in the early afternoon heat. The band consists of vocalist Cat Ayala, guitarists Alex Gonzalez and Joel Smith, bassist G Passaro and drummer Angelo Santayo.

The group is used to playing in smaller local venues and had dreams of playing other Chicago festivals like Wicker Park Fest and Riot Fest. They didn’t expect to be playing one of the biggest festivals in the city. 

“We never thought Lolla would be something that was within our reach,” Ayala said. “I think with festivals, it’s just a lot more intense. You kind of feel like you have something to prove.”

The band of five, first formed in 2017, put on a lively show and played their hearts out on stage, excited to perform after getting a lick of the adrenaline at the official Lollapalooza Aftershow with the Destroy Boys on Friday, Aug. 2 at the Subterranean venue. As fans rocked out with them at their Lollapalooza debut, Scarlet Demore noted the village it takes to support a local band. 

“It’s just a huge win for the Chicago scene because we’ve been playing DIY shows and smaller shows for years,” Ayala said. “We love our scene. We’re a very in-house kind of band, everything we do is because of our friends in Chicago and our scene.”

El festival de música finalizó el cuarto día, el 4 de agosto, con una exhibición de artistas de Chicago, incluyendo a Godly the Ruler, Scarlett Demore, Friko y la exalumna de Columbia Megan Hammond, también conocida como m.e.h.. Los artistas expresaron su agradecimiento por realizar su música y representar la escena musical ecléctica de Chicago. Los asistentes disfrutaron de la exhibición y de los artistas principales Melanie Martinez y Blink-182.