Power and production closed out Lollapalooza on its second day at the T-Mobile stage with SZA’s performance, which completely blew away the fans who were there. The earthy stage setup saw SZA sitting on an ant, in a cave and atop a crooked tree throughout the set.
Starting off with “Seek & Destroy,” SZA came on just a couple minutes after her start time of 8:45 p.m. With energy and passion, she performed more songs including “Broken Clocks” and “Ghost in the Machine” in front of a green-lit TV background with vines hanging from the sides.
Working with a colorful theme of nature, SZA sang and talked to the audience on many different parts of her stage — starting with an expansive one with a staircase that evolved throughout the show.
“F2F,” “Drew Barrymore” and “Blind” were all crowd favorites: The entire floor of T-Mobile’s audience area was flooded with dancing people and phones up to record the experience.
SZA sang “Kill Bill” and “Low” — two of her most popular songs — toward the end of the performance. What seemed to be the peak and end of the show pleasantly surprised the concertgoers, as she did not stop there.
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She asked for her glasses later in the show, and when she received them, she exclaimed it was “Time for me to be a human,” introducing her song “Normal Girl.” The crowd screamed at the introduction alone, all singing along as the lyrics flooded in.
While she was introducing “Nobody Gets Me,” a heartbreak R&B ballad about an ended relationship, she explained how it was dedicated to her ex-fiancé, who she was together with for over a decade.
As she was sitting, almost nonchalantly on a tree setup singing “Nobody Gets Me,” audience members were featured shedding tears and singing along with their eyes closed. A heartbreaking, bittersweet performance signaled the end of the night.
SZA also sang “Rich Baby Daddy” and “Kiss Me More” — two songs she was featured on during actual production but did not write herself. Heavy rounds of applause came from the crowd, arms up and screaming the words along.
The energy in the field was unmatched; these songs were easily the most fired up of the set. Audience members who began to leave turned right back around to scream and dance more. Sexyy Red, another feature on “Rich Baby Daddy” and also performing at Lollapalooza on Friday, did not join the stage with SZA — a missed opportunity.
She then ended the set with “Good Days,” and onlookers could see groups of girls swaying together throughout the crowd in friendship and love. A “The End” sign lit up the screen, but SZA had other plans.
“Wait, Chicago, do you wanna hear ‘20 something?’” she asked. People who were leaving turned right back around as the crowd screamed yes. She noted that they only had three more minutes, and toward the end where the lyrics say “God bless these 20 somethings,” she pointed at the crowd, blessing each section of the audience.
Lastly, she thanked Chicago and Lollapalooza, and in the middle of her outro, 16 minutes past the closing time of 10 p.m., her mic was shut off. Crowds cheered for her exit, and the ethereal, fiery night came to a close.
