Screams echoed throughout the mile-long Lollapalooza grounds as a jam-packed crowd gathered around the Grant Park stage. The madness beckoned the triumphant homecoming of none other than Chicago's own Chance The Rapper, who headlined the festival on Saturday night.
This massive turnout was a far cry from the GRAMMY winner's original Lollapalooza debut at the BMI stage in 2013 — fans were climbing fences and pushing their way up just to get a glimpse of their hometown hero.
The huge crowd — reportedly north of 100,000 — was not disappointed with the 24-year old's energized set. Hitting the stage seven minutes late, the Jumbotrons showcased video clips highlighting his Chicago-based philanthropy efforts, and news reporters and celebrities singing Chance's praise. Perhaps the funniest moment was when they played a clip of "Jeopardy," in which Chance was the answer to a question. The video then finished up with his big night at the 59th GRAMMY Awards.
At last, Chance emerged to kick off his set with "Mixtape" as fireworks illuminated Grant Park. In between songs such as "Juke Jam," "Angels" and "Chain Smoker," Chance promised this would be his "greatest show of all time." His pride and humility were written all over his smiling face and his sure-fire rhymes and infectious energy got nearly everyone in the sea of thousands up and grooving, even after a long Lollapalooza day.
At one point, Chance even got the entire crowd to sing the ABCs, and the hometown crowd became so in tune with him that anytime Chance made a cuckoo noise in between songs they would repeat it back in unison.
In an evening full of highlights, the biggest was when Chance brought out fellow Chicago rapper Vic Mensa to perform "Cocoa Butter Kisses," which whipped the crowd into a frenzy. The duo then followed with Mensa's song “Didn't I (Say I Didn't)." The performance seemed to subside rumors of a rift between the two young talents.
"The world will take you a lot of places," Chance told the crowd as he stood next to Mensa onstage. "Never let it take you away from fam."
With the entire audience in his grasp, Chance closed his set with "Blessings" from his Best Rap Album-winning Coloring Book. The sound of tens of thousands of voices singing along together over an ocean of cell phone lights was truly a magical and humbling experience.
On his big homecoming night, Chance The Rapper delivered and it surely seemed like blessings fell in the lap of the entire city of Chicago.
