Thousands of cheers rang out Thursday night as John Walter Schuster, aka John Summit, a Naperville-raised DJ, took to one of Lollapalooza’s largest stages while accompanied by performers, fireworks and pyrotechnics powerful enough that the heat could be felt at the crowd’s edge.
“I saw him at The Cosmopolitan in May of 2023,” in Las Vegas, said 32-year-old Michela Bailey, a resident of Chicago’s South Side. “He’s, like, made so much more music now. It really is like a homecoming.”
Along with Summit as the Bud Light headliner on Day 1, this year’s Lollapalooza lineup is notably filled with DJs and electronic dance music, in past years mostly just on the Perry’s stage. DJ sets consistently saw high turnout during the festival’s first days, with fans saying they enjoyed the absurd themes and opportunities to dance.
“If you’ve ever been to a frat or a college party, it’s basically like that, but bigger,” 22-year-old Rosa Galvan said of Summit’s music. “He likes including everyone of all ages.”
Galvan, who travelled from Louisville, Kentucky, said Summit has a “California style” that emphasizes intense partying. Part of what makes him so popular is his mashups, she said, referring to when DJs combine elements of one song with another and add effects, live on stage.
“Any song that they’re mashing up, if that’s from TikTok or anything, people love it,” Galvan said.
Summit mostly stayed behind his equipment table throughout the set and rarely spoke. The German DJ HorsegiirL, on the other hand, moved around her stage dancing Friday night while wearing a realistic horse mask and singing. She alternated between this and standing behind a workstation draped in green cloth.
“I wanted to break out of being stuck sitting or standing behind the decks,” HorsegiirL told the Tribune before her Airbnb stage set. “It was one form of my creative expression, but I am a performer, you know, so I love to do more than just press buttons.”
HorsegiirL’s identity is not public knowledge. Instead, she presents to fans and speaks to media under the persona of “Stella Stallion,” a horse with the ability to communicate in flawless English. During Friday’s set, HorsegiirL appeared in her mask, a white skirt and a red shirt with polka dots.
Fans loudly chanted along to her songs and danced while an inflatable horse was being tossed around in the audience. Avery Gerstenberger, 32, and Joseph Timp, 36, attended together. They identified as “huge” fans of the artist, in part due to her mysterious persona.
“I like that we don’t know anything about her,” Gerstenberger said. “She has a whole life outside of DJ’ing.”
Timp also said HorsegiirL’s music does a good job of getting people into electronic dance music.
“I think it’s such a high energy; it’s a good segue style of techno,” Timp said.
HorsegiirL said her music connects with people due to the fast-paced nature of modern society; many of her fans listen while at the gym. She said she hopes listeners will come away with a respect for nature.
“Take care of each other and lead with love. That’s it,” HorsegiirL said before loudly neighing.
Another DJ that HorsegiirL said she enjoys was Nina Jo Wilson, known as Ninajirachi. Listeners crowded her Thursday Airbnb set all the way from the stage into the street.
“I literally came to Lolla Thursday specifically for Nina,” said River Evans, 31. “That was my non-negotiable.”
Evans said he’s a big fan of Ninajirachi and has tried to get others from his hometown of St. Louis to enjoy her music. Part of what makes her DJ sets unique, he said, is how she incorporates into her lyrics technology from the early 21st century, such as iPods or older computer models.
“I think she has more of an industrial feel,” Evans said.
Near the end of her set, festivalgoers threw up their hands and chanted along to the words “I wanna (expletive) my computer” as Wilson danced on stage.
Many of Lollapalooza’s electronic sets featured similarly absurd themes. Accompanying DJ duo Know Good’s performance were videos of 3D emojis with limbs chasing after flying dollar bills.
Bobbing along in the pit, 3-year-old Stetson Chase sat atop the shoulders of Luke Chase, his father. Luke Chase said his son loves electronic music. His June birthday party was even a rave featuring music by Subtronics and Skrillex, both DJs.
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The two of them drove all the way from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Stetson Chase got into electronic music by watching recordings of past sets, his father said, some from previous Lollapaloozas.
“He’s fallen asleep to watching Skrillex from three years ago,” Luke Chase said.