Beautiful weather, a hygienically-sound populace, and a smattering of eye- and ear- grabbing acts infiltrated all corners of Grant Park during Lollapalooza 2010. The three-day Chicago music fest is, putting it lightly, quite different than stay-and-camp fests like Bonnaroo or Coachella, the dirty, red-eyed and spaced-out denizen replaced by an odd smattering of grown adults (boat shoes, anyone?) and holy-shit-too-young kids, amongst many others. [All photos by Tracy May.]

With the difference also come merits. The weather was fantastic (by obnoxiously hot Floridian standards); 80 degrees throughout the day, and an insanely refreshing drop in temperature at night, with the glowing skyscraper backdrop making for some great eye candy for those moments when your gaze isn't fixated on the stage(s). Grant Park is stinkin’ beautiful, even speckled in a layer of mashed plastic and aluminum, and getting to sleep in a bed under a roof each night is quite ace.

And the music. Oh, the music. The unifying factor possessing us all to stand, sweat, and slurp down our trough-drawn tap water liked the tagged-and-banded festival cattle we all are. A cross-section of some of today’s best and up-and-coming took the multiple stages and each presented their case of why, exactly, we should tune into what they’re doing both Lolla-wise and beyond. I caught a lot of them; here are a few that unexpectedly captivated, reinforced their greatness, or just provided for a righteously fun time.

This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2010.