Lollapalooza officially returns to Grant Park this week for four days of music and good times despite concerns about how bringing together over 100,000 people each day will affect the ongoing pandemic.

The festival, which opens Thursday with vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test required for entry, represents the largest public event to date held in Chicago since the emergence of the coronavirus last March. Despite worries over the virus’ Delta variant and rising caseloads nationally, the show will go on this weekend.

Huge acts will be in town luring giant crowds to the park, including Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Post Malone and Tyler, The Creator. Many surrounding streets will be closed through Sunday night.

The Sun-Times will be there all four days covering the big shows and big crowds. Keep this page bookmarked for updates throughout the festival.

Photo highlights

DAY 1: Sights and sounds from Thursday

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Check out more sights and sounds captured by our photographers on the first day of Lolla here.

Day 1: Musical act reviews

Lollapalooza is bringing live music is back to Chicago in a big way. The Grant Park festival is one of the country’s first large-scale events post-pandemic, and it was ushering in the tunes — and the good feels — from the start on Thursday afternoon.

Here’s how the lineup — from Orville Peck to Miley Cyrus — stacked up.

Read the full reviews here.

First Lolla fans optimistic as 2021 festival kicks off amid COVID-19 precautions

Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last year’s iteration of the 30-year-old music festival. While some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapalooza’s new protocols.

But not everyone knew about the vaccine mandate in order to attend the music festival.

Read the full story here.

Lolla signs warn attendees they assume risk for COVID-19

The thousands of people entering Lollapalooza on Thursday are being greeted by signs explaining something that’s not included on their public health and safety website: By attending the festival, “you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19,” which they mention “can lead to severe illness and death.”

Read the full story here.

Must-see acts to check out

Some of the names on the Lolla lineup are a lot bigger than others. Selena Fragassi parses through the dozens of bands and artists to break down 10 must-see acts that attendees won’t want to miss this weekend. Here’s what Fragassi says about one of the festival’s earliest performers, Orville Peck:

No one exactly knows who this incognito Canadian country singer is (his trademark look is a long, fringed mask and cowboy hat) but the boudoir-looking John Wayne has heaped tons of due praise in his few years on the scene. Both for crafting a highly contagious psychedelic outlaw sound that refreshes the genre and for being an LGBTQ iconoclast whose work with Trixie Mattel and Gaga will soon put him in a new league.

Check out all of our recommended shows here.

How to watch performances live online

Unlike past years, Hulu is the exclusive live streaming partner for Lollapalooza 2021. All Hulu subscribers will be able to watch live performances for free as part of their subscriptions. Complete streaming schedules for all four days are already up on Hulu’s website, although they warn that set times are subject to change.

How will COVID-19 affect the festival?

With coronavirus case figures rising across the country amid lagging vaccination rates and the emergence of the Delta variant, Lollapalooza put in place security measures to help make the festival safer.

For those attending the festival, a vaccination card or proof of negative COVID-19 test will be required for entry. Get more information on how that’ll work here.

Chicago’s top health official, Dr. Alison Arwady, said Tuesday that the city’s virus situation is in “good control” ahead of the festival. However, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said recently that she would not hesitate to impose measures in Chicago such as face covering requirements if the city’s daily caseload keeps rising — and Arwady said she expects “some cases” of COVID-19 to result from the festival being held.

Lineup and schedule

Complete daily schedules for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be found here.

The after-show lineup includes Modest Mouse, Journey, Jimmy Eat World and Freddie Gibbs. Check out the complete list of official Lolla after-shows here.

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As legislation to protect the Earth from climate change stalls in Congress and the Illinois Legislature, large cities have stepped up with their own pro-environment policies, but that gets us only so far.

Now, Chicago’s suburbs are getting into the act along with Chicago, and environmentalists say their strategies are solid.

The suburbs laid out their plans in a report earlier this month, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus’ 124-page “Climate Action Plan for the Chicago Region.” The mayors caucus, which includes leaders from the region’s 275 cities, towns, issued the report to lay out guidelines for every community to follow.

The idea behind the Climate Action Plan, which received input from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other climate change experts, is that smaller communities can do a lot to mitigate the effects of climate change if they work together. The plan lays out goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from 2005 levels by 80% within 30 years, boosting clean energy, getting people to drive less, making buildings more energy efficient, sequestering carbon in ecosystems and doing a better job of managing water and waste.

If all the communities act together to meet these goals, it can make a big difference.

“I think it’s huge,” Highland Park Councilwoman Kim Stone, who also is co-chair of the Transit Electrification Task Force of the Climate Reality Project Chicago Metro Chapter, told us. “Each municipality can take actions that collectively have a much bigger impact than we have on our own.”

It’s encouraging that local leaders are rolling up their sleeves on climate change without waiting for stalled reforms in the Legislature and Congress. Environmentally-minded lawmakers in Springfield have been trying to pass a major climate bill for years, but have been unable to do so. Congress can’t seem to agree on enacting anything comprehensive.

They are running out of time. Somebody has to act. Just look around.

AFP via Getty Images

The American West is the driest it’s been in four centuries. Heat domes this summer have spread misery around the country. People have died, and another triple-digit heat dome is expected next week, nicknamed “The Ridge of Death.” The magnitude of Europe’s floods earlier this month stunned scientists. A storm last week poured a year’s worth of rain on Zhengzhou, China. As of Saturday, 86 wildfires had scorched 1.5 million acres across the country.

Lake Michigan’s rapid rise in six years from a record low to a record high last year raises questions about whether Chicago can cope with steep swings in water levels. No place is safe.

‘Untold suffering’

On Wednesday, almost 14,000 scientists released a climate emergency paper warning the human race faces “untold suffering” if people don’t get serious about global warming immediately. Emissions of greenhouse gases are at an all-time high, and glacial ice thickness is the lowest on record.

Environmentalists say the action plan’s call for local collaboration is a big deal because so many policy decisions happen at the municipal level, including building regulations and land-use policies. That makes municipal leaders collectively significant figures addressing climate change. Collaboration is especially important in the Chicago area, which is fragmented into many municipal governments.

That said, some environmentalists say they wish Chicago would assume a stronger leadership role in the effort. They say that after Rahm Emanuel took the helm, Chicago stopped being as active in the mayors caucus as it was in the days of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, which may be why Highland Park, Evanston and Geneva, for example, have been doing a better job of building up infrastructure for electric vehicles. Chicago also has disbanded its Department of the Environment.

The suburban mayors don’t have the financial resources to bankroll big projects, such as vast solar installations or meaningful subsidies for electric vehicles. Funding for those has to come from the Legislature and Congress. But there is much they can do acting as a unit.

The Climate Action Plan, which took about two years to draw up and will take years to implement, is important at a time when fires, flooding and extreme heat are showing the effects of climate change are already here, not something that will happen far in the future. Municipalities that were built up in a different era are not ready.

The mayors caucus have laid the groundwork for a greener metropolis. It’s an important step, but they need to follow through.

Send letters to [email protected].

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3 deals that the Cubs need to get done with 24 hours until deadline by Vincent Parise

It finally happened. We knew it was coming. Joc Pederson, Andrew Chafin, and Ryan Tepera were signs that a Chicago Cubs teardown was imminent. It wasn’t going to feel real, however, until some of the core that won the World Series in 2016 were gone. Now, that time has come. Anthony Rizzo has been traded to the New York Yankees in a deal that will send shockwaves across the league. This is as big of a trade as the Cubs have ever made.

Rizzo is one of the greatest players in the history of the Cubs. He was the leader of the team when they won in 2016. It was a great moment for him personally and the city of Chicago because the Cubs finally did it.

The fact that the Yankees are the team that landed Rizzo is incredibly surprising. They aren’t close to a playoff spot and aren’t playing well as a team. They also made a big trade for Joey Gallo the night before. Clearly, they believe that they are still in contention for a spot in the American League playoffs. Now, they are adding a first baseman that is on an expiring contract.

Rizzo is currently slashing .248/.346/.446 for an OPS of .792. He also has 14 home runs, 40 RBIs, and 41 runs scored. He is going to be a valuable piece to the Yankees as they try to come back from the hole they have dug themselves into. With big bats in the lineup like Aaron Judge, Joey Gallo, and Giancarlo Stanton amongst others, they might be able to.

The New York Yankees are finalizing a deal to acquire first baseman Anthony Rizzo from the Chicago Cubs, sources tell ESPN. First on the scene was @JackCurryYES.

In the last 24 hours, the Yankees have gotten Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo, two high-OBP lefties. Big moves in Bronx.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 29, 2021

The Chicago Cubs were given everything and more by Anthony Rizzo in his time there.

Chicago owes Anthony Rizzo a lot. He has been an amazing player both on and off the field. It is hard to remember a player on any team that has had the same level of impact in the community that he has. He has been amazing for them in that aspect in addition to being an All-Star caliber first baseman for years.

In return for Rizzo, the Cubs are getting two of the Yankees’ top 15 prospects. Alexander Vizcaino (RHP) is their number nine prospect. Kevin Alcantra (OF) is their number 12 prospect. We don’t know if they are ever going to mature into MLB players but the Cubs are certainly going to try their best to develop them.

The pitcher, Vizcaino, might be the biggest key to the trade because the Cubs really need to start getting better at developing pitching. Anthony Rizzo is certainly going to be missed by Cubs fans. We all knew that this day was coming but it still doesn’t feel real.

Related Story: The Cubs need to make some big deals before the deadline

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Joe Cassidy was welcome on stages and in recording studios from London to Los Angeles to Chicago.

With his musical talent and gentle Irish greeting of “Hey, lovely fella,” the Belfast native made other performers believe in themselves.

“Working in the studio with Joe Cassidy was a very positive experience — he was a creative and generous producer,” said legendary composer Jimmy Webb, who wrote “Up, Up and Away,” “Wichita Lineman,” “MacArthur Park” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” “But more importantly, he was a creative and generous friend.”

A musician, singer, producer, manager and prolific composer of ethereal songs infused with longing, Mr. Cassidy died of congestive heart failure July 15 at Saints Mary and Elizabeth Medical Center in Chicago, according to his family. The Humboldt Park resident was 51.

Bob Black/Sun-Times

“He had a beautiful, pure, bell-like singing voice, with a gorgeous lilt and an ache to it that would rip your heart out,” said musician Jonny Polonsky. “His music was always emotional, romantic and cathartic; never, ever saccharine, trite or contrived.”

Mr. Cassidy — who played guitar and keyboards — was frontman and lead songwriter for the band Assassins, which got signed by Antonio “L.A.” Reid at Arista Records. He also founded the one-man project Butterfly Child, in which he invited collaborators to make music.

As his career shifted to producing and managing others, “He would lend parts or help mix or do string arrangements. He did so much more than manage an artist,” said Assassins co-founder Aaron Miller. “It is a giant, irreplaceable loss to have lost this ‘mind palace’ of his.”

“The amount of stuff he is credited on is just a small amount of the work he actually did because he was recklessly generous,” said Justin Webb, a son of Jimmy Webb and member of the Webb Brothers band, which backed Mr. Cassidy on his song “Holding On.” “He was just constantly helping people — ‘In case of emergency, call Joe.'”

Mr. Cassidy managed drummer-producer Cal Campbell, who played on “Holding On,” and singer-songwriter Ashley Campbell, children of the singer Glen Campbell. On Instagram, Ashley Campbell mourned, “My bold, wonderful, kind, passionate friend and manager.”

“I’d never seen a man so committed to service — the service of others,” said Michael McDermott, another singer-songwriter he managed. McDermott wrote liner notes for Mr. Cassidy describing him as a “Belfast Byron” — “cool, handsome, brilliant, talented, respected, dreamy and kind.”

“So many artists benefited from his production skills, his songwriting . . . his wise advice on how to navigate the music industry,” said Metro owner Joe Shanahan, who loves the Butterfly Child song “Drunk on Beauty.” “He connected people. If he knew you were looking for a publishing deal, he might know someone. . . .he could listen to a song and say ‘Oh, you’ve got something there.”

“He would work very quick and very spartan, although his sound would end up being massively layered, Brian Wilson-type work,” said Brian Liesegang, a former member of Nine Inch Nails and co-founder of Filter.

He played at Metro, Schubas Tavern, Debonair Social Club and Lollapalooza. With Assassins, he opened for Muse at the Double Door. In 2006 they opened for Duran Duran at the old Sears Centre Arena. At Shanahan’s suggestion, New Order booked Assassins as their opener at the Aragon Ballroom in 2005.

Mr. Cassidy had loved the band as a teen, so “opening for New Order was kind of a high point,” Miller said.

Young Joe grew up in Belfast, the son of civil servants Anne and Michael Cassidy. “There was always music in the house,” said his brother, also named Michael.

He listened to My Bloody Valentine and the Police, especially the guitar of Andy Summers. The Troubles were at their height so he immersed himself in sports, idolizing John McEnroe and playing tennis and making music.

After hearing his recordings, the Manchester, England, band BFG recruited him to perform on their 1987 release “Western Sky,” said his friend, Sarah Marmor.

The duo A.R. Kane, who helped create the hit “Pump Up the Volume,” later signed Butterfly Child, which received ravishing reviews over the years. Neil Kulkarni wrote in Melody Maker in 1995 that Butterfly Child’s “Honeymoon Suite” LP was the “record the term ‘perfect pop’ should have been invented for.”

Mr. Cassidy moved to London in the “Cool Brittania” era of the ’90s and hung out with Oasis, Blur and Pulp. For a time he lived in a flat with Alexander McQueen. Mr. Cassidy answered the phone when David Bowie called for the fashion designer. He didn’t believe it was Bowie and hung up, according to Marmor.

“He had this kind of soft swagger,” said his sister Frances Macklin. “He had this walk and he had this way of standing in a room, it wasn’t like anybody else.”

After moving to the U.S., a stranger approached him on a New York City street and invited him to a party at his home. When Mr. Cassidy arrived, he realized the stranger was Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the other guests included Jeff Buckley, Debbie Harry and Patti Smith.

Later in life, he was a successful commercial composer for Hidden Valley Ranch, Lexus, McDonald’s and State Farm, said his former girlfriend Merritt Lear, a member of Assassins and collaborator with Butterfly Child.

Mr. Cassidy also worked on music for TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.”

He collaborated with NOISE, a musical project with Lear, John Goff and artist Shepard Fairey, creator of the Barack Obama “Hope” poster.

And the Vienna Symphony Orchestra recently recorded one of Mr. Cassidy’s compositions.

Mr. Cassidy said on his website, “I usually work with people who have a very open mind about what they are looking to achieve with a song, an arrangement or the type of production necessary. Artists or clients who are not ‘boxed in’ to a genre are the ones I usually find knocking at my door.”

He loved animals and they loved him. When Mr. Cassidy visited a friend’s garden, Marmor said, a crow flew down and rested on his shoulder.

He once rescued a dove that somebody left inside a storage closet filled with film props. “He walked by and heard the ‘coo-coo,’ ” Lear said. He called his new pet Dovey, and “Dovey ended up happy and loved. The dove would come when Joe called.”

If Mr. Cassidy saw a bug in his house, “He would insist on picking it up and putting it outside and wishing it well on its journeys,” she said.

His rescue dog, Fozzy, made an appearance at the end of Coldplay’s “Strawberry Swing” video.

Jamie Golitko

Mr. Cassidy collected Star Wars figurines and enjoyed hunting at yard sales for midcentury modern treasures.

In addition to his parents, sister and brother, he is survived by a nephew, William Macklin. A July 31 funeral is planned in Belfast.

“He was the person who taught me the religion of making music,” Miller said. “You have to work on it every day, and sometimes it winds up in the trash or winning a Grammy or ending up in a commercial on TV.”

“What he brought was beauty to our world,” Shanahan said.

After he died, the sign at Metro was changed to reflect what Mr. Cassidy used to say in greeting.

“You lovely fella.”

Kelly Wey

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Joey Votto set a Reds franchise record by homering in his sixth consecutive game as Cincinnati beat the Cubs 7-4 on Thursday at Wrigley Field.

The 37-year-old Votto homered six times in the four-game series at Wrigley Field, and the big first baseman has eight home runs in the six-game streak for a record that dated back to 1900.

Votto’s 20th homer of the season was a two-run shot in the first, when he hit a fastball from Alec Mills (4-4) into the center field bleachers.

The Cubs went ahead 3-2 lead before the Reds roughed up Mills in the sixth to go ahead to stay. After loading the bases with no outs, Tucker Barnhart drove in two runs on a soft ground ball that went through the middle of the infield for a 4-3 lead.

The Reds have won five of their last seven games to stay in second place in the NL Central behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cincinnati added three runs off the Cubs bullpen in the seventh, with Kyle Farmer and Aristides Aquino each driving in a run and a Chicago error allowing a third to score.

The Cubs scored three runs off Luis Castillo (5-10), who had only given up three runs total in his first four starts. Patrick Wisdom hit his 16th home run in the fourth, and Wilson Contreras belted a two-run shot in the fifth.

Castillo finished with eight strikeouts in six innings, allowing seven hits.

Ian Happ hit a home run in the ninth off Reds reliever Heath Hembree.

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Bob Costas doesn’t have outlandish goals for his new talk show. He’s at a point in his career where he isn’t concerned about the size of his audience or how often he appears on TV.

He just wants it to be good.

“What I hope to achieve is something pretty simple,” Costas said. “Somebody walks away from it, or goes to bed thinking, ‘That was interesting, it was in its own way entertaining and it was done well.’ That’s all.”

For Costas, that’s eminently attainable, and given his abilities, easily exceedable.

The 29-time Emmy winner returns to HBO with “Back on the Record with Bob Costas,” which debuts at 10 p.m. Friday. The hourlong show, which also will be available to stream on HBO Max, will air monthly through October. Beginning next year, it will air four episodes quarterly.

Costas, 69, worked with HBO from 2001 to ’09, when he hosted “On the Record with Bob Costas,” which morphed into “Costas Now” in 2005. His new iteration includes two lengthy interviews with guests, a panel discussion and a concluding commentary from Costas. His guests Friday are basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and Olympic gold-medal gymnast Aly Raisman.

ESPN’s Bomani Jones will add commentary and contribute to the panel discussion. For the first roundtable, he’ll be joined by former pitcher David Cone and former WNBA player Renee Montgomery. The show’s executive producers are longtime HBO producer Jonathan Crystal, former HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg and author and ESPN senior writer Howard Bryant.

They’ll cover big issues across the sports landscape that transcend sports. But Costas said his guests won’t always be sports figures.

“The first time around on HBO, just going off the top of my head, we had Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Billy Crystal, Tina Fey,” Costas said. “I particularly like comedians who are interested in sports because it adds some balance to the program. Bill Burr is gonna be on. If you said to him, ‘Just do an hour only about sports,’ he could easily do that because he’s got so much sports material.”

The same holds true for Jones, who hosts the ESPN podcast “The Right Time with Bomani Jones” and regularly appears on ESPN TV and radio. Costas didn’t know him personally before but had been impressed with his work.

“He can go in any direction and comment on almost anything that comes up,” Costas said. “He’s a very good and very self-assured television performer with a strong point of view. If I pick 10 sports subjects at random, he would have a knowledgeable take on all of them. And it doesn’t matter whether I agree with all of them. I don’t want an echo chamber. I want a good discussion.”

Costas continues to have a significant role at MLB Network and contributes on occasion at CNN. But he’ll be remembered most for his career at NBC, where he covered practically every major sporting event. To Chicago sports fans, he’s likely best-known for calling the Saturday MLB “Game of the Week” in the 1980s, following the Bulls’ NBA title runs in the 1990s and hosting 12 Olympics.

With the Summer Games going on in Tokyo, you might think Costas feels out of place being home.

“It’s not strange for me at all,” he said. “I had decided many years before the Rio Olympics that 2016 would be my last Olympics. I just didn’t announce it publicly. So there isn’t much to get used to. I did a dozen. I felt like that was enough.

“I’m very, very glad I did it. I’m glad that it’s an important part of my career and that people still seem to appreciate it. But not even for one second have I ever felt, Oh, if I was there, I would have said this or I would have done that. It’s completely behind me, as it should be.”

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Bears radio voice Jeff Joniak can empathize with the baseball announcers who are frustrated being tethered to their home broadcast booths, calling road games off monitors because of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

Joniak and analyst Tom Thayer faced the same challenge last season, when they called one road game on site (they drove to the season opener in Detroit) and called the others from the culinary studio at WBBM Newsradio 780. As great as their setup was, it couldn’t replicate being at the stadium.

“Everybody wants to be there. That’s why we do it,” Joniak said. “We know we’re open for criticism because everybody analyses everything these days. But we had to do it.”

This season figures to be less challenging. Most important, Joniak and Thayer will return to the road. WBBM cleared them to travel, though the traveling party will be leaner. Also, sideline reporter Mark Grote will return to the field for home games.

“Things are returning to some semblance of normal,” director of news and programming Ron Gleason said, “but we continue to take many precautions to ensure everyone’s safety.”

That’s also true at training camp, which opened to a limited number of fans Thursday after being closed to the public last year. What won’t change is Joniak and Thayer’s camp coverage, which remained extensive last year despite interviews being moved to Zoom rooms.

“It’s a long list,” Joniak said. “You almost invest the most time of the season in training camp.”

The pair will post videos on the Bears’ platforms in which they break down each position. For WBBM, they’ll shoot daily videos about practice for the website. Their show “Bears All Access” airs at 6 p.m. Thursdays on The Score, barring a Cubs game, and Joniak will host the “Bears Coaches Show” on Monday nights on WBBM.

This season marks Joniak and Thayer’s 25^th together on Bears broadcasts and Joniak’s 21^st as play-by-play voice (he previously hosted the pre- and postgame shows). Joniak is looking forward to a more normal season, and it started with fans back at training camp.

“Training camp is a lot more fun when fans are there,” he said. “And I think it is that way for the players, as well. I think it does ratchet up their competitiveness. It’s gonna feel normal again.”

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday hinted strongly that Chicago will follow New York City’s lead by requiring city employees to either show proof that they’ve been fully vaccinated or get tested weekly for the coronavirus.

Already, city employees must wear masks in “common areas” of City Hall and other city workplaces too tight to maintain social distance and wear masks full-time if they’re not vaccinated — not only for their own protection, but also to safeguard their colleagues.

Asked Thursday about the possibility of vaccine and testing mandates, Lightfoot said it’s “been on our radar screen for quite a long time — really going back into the spring.”

She left little doubt vaccine and testing mandates for the city’s 33,000 employees are coming in response to a troubling spike in coronavirus cases tied to the “Delta variant.”

“We’ve had more recent conversations about it. We’re starting the conversations with public unions that represent city workers and we’ll be making an announcement soon,” she said.

Lightfoot doesn’t “have a particular date” for the announcement because negotiations are ongoing. But she plans to announce the new policy “shortly.”

“We’re looking at what’s been done [around the country]. New York was probably the first big city to come out with a mandate there. It’s mandatory vaccines or weekly testing for those who are not vaccinated,” she said.

“The federal government … has or will soon be making a declaration about mandatory vaccine. So we’re looking at what’s happening in other circumstances and crafting a strategy that works for Chicago.”

Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter was asked about the status of those negotiations.

He issued a statement saying only that the federation is “currently reviewing our affiliates’ positions on workplace vaccinations. … However, we encourage everyone to make the decision to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their co-workers and their families.”

The Chicago Federation of Labor has an ownership stake in Sun-Times Media.

Earlier this week, the mayor and city Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady sent mixed messages about the troubling risk in coronavirus cases.

Lightfoot said she wouldn’t hesitate to return to a mask mandate and other safety mitigations if the daily level of coronavirus cases in Chicago “consistently go over” 200.

Arwady said the she would sound the alarm and tighten the screws if the daily case level tops 400.

Both women expressed no second thoughts about green-lighting Thursday’s start of Lollapalooza, which Lightfoot proudly declared as the “largest music festival in the world” to be held since the pandemic.

Thursday, the mayor was asked about the discrepancy.

“The goalposts haven’t moved. Our metrics have been consistent … certainly over the last year-plus, but we’re concerned about this steady creep up,” she said.

Chicago’s daily rate of coronavirus cases stands at 190. That’s up 63% from 117 cases-a-day just one week ago. Lightfoot acknowledged the city is poised to blow past her benchmark of “200-plus-cases-a-day.”

But she said “other important metrics” the city follows “do give us some reason for optimism.”

“That is, we’re not seeing a huge surge in hospitalizations. That’s important. Or ICU beds or people on ventilators. However, the people who are getting sick with the Delta variant — 97-plus percent of them are unvaccinated. And they’re getting very sick,” the mayor said.

“We need people to get vaccinated to protect themselves against the variant. Without that protection, you’re playing Russian roulette. This variant is real. It is deadly. It is devastating.”

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Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last year’s iteration of the 30-year-old music festival.

With COVID cases on the rise nationally and growing concerns about the virus’ Delta variant, Lollapalooza organizers this month introduced added precautions for entry to the festival grounds.

Concert-goers were asked via the festival’s website and social media accounts to present a copy of a COVID-19 vaccination card or proof of a negative COVID-19 test at the festival’s gate if unvaccinated.

Ahead of Lolla’s 11 a.m. kickoff, dozens of fans lined up outside the festival’s Ida B. Wells Drive, East Harrison and Monroe Avenue entrances off Michigan Avenue, wearing outfits featuring cutoffs, jerseys, body glitter, tie dye and more. Festival volunteers stood nearby offering masks to anyone interested.

Passersby going down Michigan Avenue glanced at the small crowds as Chicago police officers began to position themselves in different locations around the perimeter of the festival.

And while some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapalooza’s new protocols.

Clutching physical copies of their vaccination cards, 20-year-old J.D. Lopez and his friends waited at the front of the line on Harrison Street, ready to make a run for the T-Mobile stage where Miley Cyrus would be performing the Day 1 closing set at 8:45 p.m. The group said Lollapalooza couldn’t have been more prepared in terms of safety protocols.

“We’re glad the festival is doing everything they can to be safe by checking vaccination cards and tests, Lopez said.

Once the gates opened, fans steadily made their way to where security personnel quickly checked printed papers and phone screens — a process taking less than 10 seconds in most cases.

Matt Moore/Sun-Times

“It was super easy — there weren’t even any lines and there were a lot of stations for people to get through, so there wasn’t any backup,” said 24-year-old Chicagoan Danielle Polk. She and her friends said getting into the festival felt surprisingly easy and efficient — a far cry from previous years, where it could take an hour to get through.

But for 18-year-old Lake Villa resident Damon Sagel and his mother, the process was not so smooth — the two were turned away because they were not vaccinated. They said they did not know they needed to be and were angry that they potentially wasted nearly $500 on tickets.

“I didn’t go to get a vaccination, so we can’t get in — we weren’t aware that you need to have a vaccination card,” Sagel said. “They didn’t say anything about a refund, but we’re still going to try going over there and get one,” he said, following his mother who bolted to the box office. “She’s not in a good mood.”

Inside the park, maskless fans ran to stages where they planned to camp out for headliners, while others stopped for food and selfies at the many Instagrammable sets set up throughout the park.

Also walking the park were staff members from the Chicago Department of Health, who also staffed an informational table. Their goal they said is to connect with unvaccinated fans and show them where they can get the jab, whether at home or at a nearby downtown location.

Sitting on the grass in front of the T-Mobile stage, 23-year-old Christine Tuscano surveyed the festival grounds and smiled.

Matt Moore/Sun-Times

“It hit me here,” she said, explaining the feeling of being at a large-scale event for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

“I sat here at the T-Mobile stage and was like, ‘Wow, we’re back!’ It seems so surreal. I didn’t feel like we were ever gonna get to this point.”

The festival will continue through Sunday.

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Lollapalooza officially returns to Grant Park this week for four days of music and good times despite concerns about how bringing together over 100,000 people each day will affect the ongoing pandemic.

The festival, which opens Thursday with vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test required for entry, represents the largest public event to date held in Chicago since the emergence of the coronavirus last March. Despite worries over the virus’ Delta variant and rising caseloads nationally, the show will go on this weekend.

Huge acts will be in town luring giant crowds to the park, including Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Post Malone and Tyler, The Creator. Many surrounding streets will be closed through Sunday night.

The Sun-Times will be there all four days covering the big shows and big crowds. Keep this page bookmarked for updates throughout the festival.

Photo highlights

DAY 1: Sights and sounds from Thursday

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Check out more sights and sounds captured by our photographers on the first day of Lolla here.

First Lolla fans optimistic as 2021 festival kicks off amid COVID-19 precautions

Thousands of fans streamed into Grant Park Thursday marking the return of Lollapalooza after COVID-19 halted last year’s iteration of the 30-year-old music festival. While some fans said they were slightly worried about COVID-19, many expressed confidence in Lollapalooza’s new protocols.

But not everyone knew about the vaccine mandate in order to attend the music festival.

Read the full story here.

Lolla signs warn attendees they assume risk for COVID-19

The thousands of people entering Lollapalooza on Thursday are being greeted by signs explaining something that’s not included on their public health and safety website: By attending the festival, “you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19,” which they mention “can lead to severe illness and death.”

Read the full story here.

Must-see acts to check out

Some of the names on the Lolla lineup are a lot bigger than others. Selena Fragassi parses through the dozens of bands and artists to break down 10 must-see acts that attendees won’t want to miss this weekend. Here’s what Fragassi says about one of the festival’s earliest performers, Orville Peck:

No one exactly knows who this incognito Canadian country singer is (his trademark look is a long, fringed mask and cowboy hat) but the boudoir-looking John Wayne has heaped tons of due praise in his few years on the scene. Both for crafting a highly contagious psychedelic outlaw sound that refreshes the genre and for being an LGBTQ iconoclast whose work with Trixie Mattel and Gaga will soon put him in a new league.

Check out all of our recommended shows here.

How to watch performances live online

Unlike past years, Hulu is the exclusive live streaming partner for Lollapalooza 2021. All Hulu subscribers will be able to watch live performances for free as part of their subscriptions. Complete streaming schedules for all four days are already up on Hulu’s website, although they warn that set times are subject to change.

How will COVID-19 affect the festival?

With coronavirus case figures rising across the country amid lagging vaccination rates and the emergence of the Delta variant, Lollapalooza put in place security measures to help make the festival safer.

For those attending the festival, a vaccination card or proof of negative COVID-19 test will be required for entry. Get more information on how that’ll work here.

Chicago’s top health official, Dr. Alison Arwady, said Tuesday that the city’s virus situation is in “good control” ahead of the festival. However, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said recently that she would not hesitate to impose measures in Chicago such as face covering requirements if the city’s daily caseload keeps rising — and Arwady said she expects “some cases” of COVID-19 to result from the festival being held.

Lineup and schedule

Complete daily schedules for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday can be found here.

The after-show lineup includes Modest Mouse, Journey, Jimmy Eat World and Freddie Gibbs. Check out the complete list of official Lolla after-shows here.

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