Three musical acts who made merriment at Lollapalooza

Since 1991, the music festival known only as Lollapalooza has explored all types of music with a diverse lineup. Although the musicians have changed over the years, the message is still the same. Gathering together to discover new music and listening to it conveyed in the great outdoors never gets old.

Grant Park in Downtown Chicago became a sound stage for blossoming talent from August 3-6, 2023. Three bands that are growing quickly stopped backstage to talk about their artistic expressions and creations.

The rock band from Hamm, Germany, Giant Rooks moved to Berlin six years ago and have toured to Chicago four times. Their version of Suzanne Vega's “Tom's Diner” had them collaborating with AnnenMayKantereit and was eventually met with approval from Vega after release. Lead singer Frederik Rabe said backstage, “We are very excited to play Lollapalooza because it's right in the heart of the city and it's incredible.” He went on to say that he wanted to see Fred Again play at the festival and gushed, “He's got a great name!”

Rabe explained the band's name came from Finn Schwieters bicycle brand Giant and Rooks was found randomly on the Internet. They just finished recording their second record and Rabe described it as “the best thing we have done!”

Visit giant-rooks.com and say “hallo” today!

Californian band Finish Ticket talked about their single “Changing” and singer Brendan Hoye described it as their “reintroduction to the public and sums up what we have been through. The song is about us growing older with anxiety and the differences in our lives now. Our fanbase is the same way and we have all been through things. It is the first song after taking a break and we will have a whole new record coming out.”

When asked if “Changing” represents the entire album and Hoye said, “In some ways, it does just because it is very personal. It is a look into our brains and where we are at.”

Guitarist Alex DiDonato explained their sound as “music you can dance to and also cry to with friends.” The band is planning a return trip to Chicago soon.

Race over to finishticket.com for more on the trio and upcoming tour.

New Jersey pop band The Happy Fits formed in high school similar to Finish Ticket. After releasing an EP in college for friends and family their career took off. They mentioned being excited to play Lollapalooza and specifically seeing Canadian indie group Alvvays play at the festival.

When questioned about balancing lead vocals and playing the cello at the same time, Calvin Langman said, “Once the adrenalin kicks in I am there for the fun. Sometimes my cello is out of tune or there are no frets, but usually people don't notice!”

For their video “Little One” they used a puppet and Langman described it as “a response to January 6 and the uprising of otherism. It should be a simple concept that everyone belongs and we are all the same in many ways. We thought a symbol for that would be an alien puppet named Bilfo who crashes down to earth. I produced the video with my friend Chris Pasi. It took two months and we were up until 4 a.m. shooting it. Shout out to T.J. Jacobs who designed the puppet and made him come to life.”

More on the band can be found at thehappyfits.com check out the video here: