“If you’re feeling good, I want to see your hands in the air,” Calvin Harris yelled to the fans as he took Perry’s stage at Lollapalooza. The smoke machines turned on and bright neon lights glowed through the massive crowd, highlighting the pastel balloons bouncing from hand to hand. His music brought the festival back to life after the grounds were evacuated for a few hours due to severe thunderstorms.

Harris opened with “You Used To Hold Me.” He was mixing his tracks and singing live with an earpiece for the songs he sang vocals on. One of the fans, Vandana from Chicago, said “This is an excellent set to have in downtown Chicago, and to have such a dynamic crowd showing so much comradery is amazing.”

(Jason Shaltz)

Multiple concert-goers decided to sit on their friend’s shoulders. This was immediately discouraged, and ultimately halted, by security throwing water on them from the Eco-friendly paper cartons. 

Harris was building up momentum with tracks with his 2009′s “Flashback,” Swedish House Mafia’s “Save The World” and the Chemical Brothers’ “Block Rockin’ Beats.” He reached the ultimate crescendo of joy when he brought in his biggest hit to date, “We Found Love.” At this point, all that was seen in the crowd was a sea of American flags and mascots on sticks waving in the air while everyone sang along in unison to Rihanna’s vocals.

When he dropped his track with Rihanna, the bass was so intense the the earth was shaking. He yelled out, “Chicago, if you’re feeling good, make some noise,” and mixed in Daft Punk’s “Around The World.” His music kept getting faster, and the crowd reacted accordingly by bouncing up and down. “Let me see you folks, up and down,” he told the audience to keep them going.

The entire muddy field was completely full, and the party extended into the street, where fans were dancing body to body. It was pretty hard to avoid the people who decided to go roll around in the mud piles and were completely covered from head to toe.

In spite of the havoc the weather caused to the day and the muddy grounds, Harris managed to create an EDM haven of peace after the storm.

-Danielle Clasing, B96/Chicago