Credit: Sam Penn
Fri 31 July 2026 15:00, UK
Lollapalooza Chicago is now firmly underway, with Lorde bringing the curtain down on the first day of the festival on July 30th.
While Lollapalooza was originally a touring event and now also takes place everywhere from Chile to India each year, Chicago has been its main home for more than 20 years.
It’s one of the highlights of American festival season with eight huge headliners across the four-day event, which runs this year from July 30th to August 2nd.
In addition to Lorde and her co-headliner, John Summit, Grant Park in Chicago also welcomed acts including Wet Leg, Empire of the Sun, Kettama, Blood Orange, Little Simz, Viagra Boys, CMAT and 5 Seconds of Summer on July 30th.
Lorde is now a seasoned festival headliner with four albums to pick and choose from when curating her sets, which she duly did in Chicago.
Just like she did during her headline set at Governors Ball in New York last month, Lorde kicked things off with her unreleased track, ‘Don’t Look For Me When I’m Gone’, before bursting into ‘Royals’ and ‘What Was That’.
She then kept the Virgin theme going by playing ‘Broken Glass’, and also aired tracks from the 2025 album such as ‘Favourite Daughter’, ‘Shapeshifter’, ‘Hammer’, and ‘Man of the Year’.
The biggest surprise of the night came when Lorde was joined by Charli XCX, who is set to headline Lollapalooza Chicago tonight (July 31st) to perform their 2024 collaboration, ‘Girl, So Confusing’.
While Lorde’s most recent album did contribute heavily to her set, in addition to ‘Royals’, she also performed Pure Heroin classics like ‘Team’, ‘Buzzcut Season’, and ‘Ribs’, which closed her set.
Melodrama was represented strongly in the set too, performing a total of six songs from her second record in Chicago, including the hit singles ‘Supercut’ and ‘Green Light’. However, only ‘Oceanic Feeling’ from 2021’s Solar Power made the cut.
After this weekend, which will also see Lorde headline Hinterland and Osheaga, the Kiwi star will leave North America for European festival season.
In the UK, she is set to headline All Points East in London on August 22nd, with the line-up also including PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson and Djo. Additionally, she will top the bill at Forwards in Bristol and headline Edinburgh’s Summer Sessions.
For fans with tickets to see Lorde in Europe next month, see her setlist from Chicago to get a taste of what to expect.
Lorde – Lollapalooza Chicago (July 30th) setlist:‘Don’t Look For Me Now That I’m Gone’ ‘Royals’‘What Was That’‘Broken Glass’‘Perfect Places’‘Shapeshifter’‘Buzzcut Season’ ‘Favourite Daughter’‘The Louvre’‘Current Affairs’‘Hard Feelings’‘Oceanic Feeling’ ‘Liability’‘Hammer’‘Supercut’‘Team’‘Man of the Year’‘Girl, So Confusing’ featuring Charli XCX‘Green Light’‘David’‘Ribs’ ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.