Miley Cyrus and Foo Fighters conquer Chile in the return of Lollapalooza

Santiago de Chile, 20 Mar The show by singer Miley Cyrus was the icing on the cake of the second and most powerful day of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chile, which concludes this Sunday after two years without being celebrated due to the covid-19 pandemic. The American took to the stages of the Bicentennial Park in Cerrillos, south of Santiago, and captivated with her voice the hundreds of thousands of attendees with her legendary “Wrecking ball” and “We can't stop”, as well as other songs from the new album, “Plastic Hearts”. There was also time for his usual tributes to old rock divas like Blondie, of which he sang “Heart of Glass” or for imitations of Cher, with “Bang Bang” or a revision of “Jolene”, a piece by country star Dolly Parton. Wearing a blue latex suit and wearing eccentric sunglasses, Cyrus took the stage of virtuosity with his mix of rock, country and pop, in which it was the most applauded concert by the masses alongside that of Foo Fighters. On the eve, the band led by Dave Grohl put on a show with time for classics and returned rock to the festival and to Chile, which since the pandemic began had not had the opportunity for a great concert of this genre. The band toured songs such as “This is a call” or the powerful “All my life”, as well as a handful of songs from “Medicine at Midnight”, their last album for which they won three Grammy nominations in 2021. In total, a hundred musicians shone in Cerrillos Bicentennial Park, south of the capital, with seven stages and a crowded venue in one of the most massive events in Chile since covid-19 hit. A HUNDRED ARTISTS The festival kicked off on Friday with dozens of artists on the national and international scene, including Foo Fighters, Dutch DJ Martin Garrix and the British Idles and The Wombats. On Saturday, rapper A$AP Rocky, Swedish DJ and producer Alesso, American punk band A Day to Remember, fellow Argentine rapper Tiago PZK and Chile's Javiera Mena, among others, took to the stage. The festival is closed on Sunday The Strokes, with Los Angeles (California) -born rapper Doja Cat, her Texas-born colleague Machine Gun Kelly, electronic music producer and author Chris Lake, and Argentinian Nicki Nicole, exponent of urban music from the city of Rosario. The crowds and long lines to enter and exit the festival were common, which this year had to adapt to a new location after leaving behind the possibility of being held in the central O'Higgins Park. TWO YEARS WITHOUT FESTIVAL Founded in 1991 in the United States and recognized as one of the most important mass festivals on the continent, Lollapalooza arrived in the South American country for the first time in 2011 and this weekend celebrates its tenth edition in Santiago after two years without deploying due to the covid-19 pandemic. As detailed by the organization, the event has a sustainability plan to reduce its environmental impact (as in previous editions), as well as health measures to prevent the spread of the virus. These include the obligation to have a complete vaccination schedule (with 95% of the Chilean population having it) or the permanent use of masks. The festival took place just as the country, with 3.3 million infections and more than 44,400 total deaths, left behind a serious third wave due to the omicron variant that raised infections to record highs. For experts, artists and cultural professionals, the event represents a litmus test for the release of future mass events, restricted for two years in Chile, one of the countries with the toughest policies in the world against covid-19.