Here are more than 200 photos of the beautiful bands and people at Lollapalooza 2018

It was hot in Grant Park this weekend and Chicago temperatures soared to the high-90s during the four days of Lollapalooza 2018. Tracy May continued CL's long-tradition of making it to the Windy City for the festival, and he has some photos to share.

Have a look and read Mady's review below.

I turned 21-years-old exactly one day before Lollapalooza 2017 and spent the weekend surrounded by friends, while a coming of age soundtrack featuring Chance the Rapper, Grouplove, The Killers and more accompanied my shenanigans. This year I went back to the Windy City to enjoy the four-day festival through a more mature (and slightly more sober) lens.

From day one we were all sweating due to conditions up to 97 degrees and constantly standing way too close to 105,000 other perspiring “Lollapaloozers” that showed up in Grant Park last weekend — but if you couldn’t stand the heat then you had to get out of Grant Park because the artists were also on fire: Charming british frontman, Alex Turner, of Arctic Monkeys recently ditched his iconic greaser hair for a buzz cut yet still brought Tumblr-famous rock anthems for hipsters along with intense guitar solos.The Weeknd was too cool for encores, but it was easy to forgive him due to an angelic voice that hit every high note on songs like “Secrets,” “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills.” Bruno Mars’ audience even surpassed hometown 2017 headliner Chance the Rapper’s for giant Lolla crowds (it’s probably because Mars and his smooth moves are the closest thing to Michael Jackson that we have right now). Gucci Mane (or his clone) started late and left early, but his flashy veneers sparkled like the ice around his neck, making everyone else smile as the words for songs like “Lemonade” flowed out like the “Trap God” was singing his ABC’s. Self-proclaimed “greatest boy band on Earth” BROCKHAMPTON brought its high energy performance and perfect melodies to the American Eagle stage and the next day 23-year-old, Canadian Ashton Simmonds (A.K.A. Daniel Caesar) graced the same stage with calming vocals and lyrics that could make anyone fall in love.

At the true heart of anything Lollapalooza you’ll find its dedicated fans, but the festival’s demographic is really young. At times, waiting to see your favorite artist was like standing in line for a roller coaster at Disney World (if a majority of the preteens at amusement parks were drunk, smoking JUULs and asking my boyfriend for Molly he didn’t have). Speaking of theme parks, the first night of Lolla was a big one for Travis Scott and fans due to his newest album AstroWorld dropping at midnight. On Thursday night, a random kid in the crowd rushed the raised stage to get close to Scott. Feeling interested and merciful, Scott asked security to allow the teen on stage. When asked by Scott to come “rage with [him]”, the kid used this once in a lifetime opportunity to… take a selfie. Scott politely asked the fuckboy to put his phone away several times. Scott finally had enough as the kid persisted.

“I fucking hate cell phones”, Scott said while having security remove the defiant stage crasher.

Lollapalooza also catered to the young crowd by streaming famous gamer, Ninja, playing Fortnite backstage. People cheered the gamer on but booed once the giant screen switched to Paul McCartney playing his 2015 Lolla set. It’s like this younger crew doesn’t get it, they’d rather be at home playing video games and scrolling through Instagram instead of looking at what is right in front of them.

Despite being a year and a day older and wiser, I still just wanted to have no responsibility and feel as if I was in a haven on vacation. Instead, I saw whippersnappers being arrested for attempting to sneak in the festival, minors with bloody noses from mosh pits and juveniles hammered with their eyes rolling into the backs of their heads. But it’s only fair, if we get to pretend to be children with no responsibilities for the first weekend of August, shouldn’t kids get to do the same?

Owned by LiveNation since 2014, Lolla has changed a lot since its start in 1991. The festival that began with its roots in alternative and classic rock now represents a popularity contest trying to sell as many wristbands as possible to those who will buy them: the number of attendees mattering more than the quality of the experience. In my experience, my favorite festivals have been all about relaxing, hearing new bands that I’ll listen to when I get back home, meeting new people and most importantly, getting back to my family and friends safely. Now it seems kids just show up at festivals to get Snapchats of them “raging” or doing dangerous things to show later to their friends or filming the entirety of a set, I’m learning from this younger generation the importance of living and enjoying the moment. The best experiences truly happen when we stop recording.