Yesterday I was blessed enough to be present at one of the most iconic live performances of Stray Kids, and by far the most important in Europe - the headlining appearance at Lollapalooza in Paris 2023, on the first day of the festival. Here is my (un)biased review, from someone who has experience at concerts/festivals, and having seen Stray Kids at Music Bank a couple months ago. Grab some cheese dominos pizza and a drink of your choice, because this will be long. 
From the start it was evident that the vast majority of the festival goers were there for Stray Kids. The lightsticks, the SKZOO plushies, the "I'm only here for the music, my wife and Changbin" shirts worn by adult men, the photocards hanging from people's bags and belts, they all indicated it was going to be a crowd of epic proportions. However, you could still see a lot of people who were casual festival goers, people who were there for the fun, or people who had bought the 3 day pass for the Festival. I overheard locals mentioning that the queues were bigger than expected "because of a kpop group that is headlining". A guy I was talking to in the queue didn't even know what Kpop was. So really, you had two completely opposite types of people coming together to enjoy that night.
Getting to the venue was tough since the queue was km long. It took me 1 hour to get in and find my friend who was already inside. By 6pm we were already at the Main Stage West, where SKZ would later perform (at 10pm). Main Stage East was right next to West, and the acts would take turns each hour for their set in each stage, with everythig ending before the Stray Kids set. This meant that the crowd from the East stage would move to stage West for the headlining act, thus making the crowd the largest it had been for the entire day.
I can't start this review without mentioning the acts that performed before Stray Kids. The Lathums, bringing the traditional indie rock seen at festivals, who gave the crowd a shout out and thanked them for being "a happy bunch". Lindsey Stirling was absolutely mesmerizing. It was incredible how she grabbed the crowd (of which probably 80% were not there for her) and made it her own. Not an easy job when your set doesn't include vocals (since she is a violinist/dancer). I strongly recommend everyone to check her out because she is a monster on stage. I became a fan and would pay to see her one day again, for sure.
"I have a very important job today. And that is to get you guys ready and hyped up for STRAY KIDS!" she said, as she approached the end of her set. In mine and my friend's opinion, she very much succeded in that.
The Stray Kids set started with their new intro "SKZ anthem", usually used at the beginning of their concerts for their entrance on stage. To everyone's shock and excitement, the robotic legs of a giant spider prop appeared on the stage and the concert had started, with VENOM as opener. I confess it was impossible for me to listen to this song since I had my ear drum in pain after a girl screamed super loud right in my ear. It would take a good while to get it back to normal. 
Me and my friend kept looking at each other with our mouths open. From the first 5 min of their set you could tell there was BUDGET. And also, a live band, which made everything sound even better!
After Venom came one of the fan favorites, Maniac. The entire crowd was singing along so loud that you could barely hear the members' voices. But from what we could hear, it was all live singing, as usual from this group.
The members then stopped to give a short round of introductions (for the very few casual festival goers who did not know who they were, I guess).
After a quick outfit change, they performed Thunderous and Domino, and the crowd was even more lit than before. I have to say I lost my mind at Hyunjin's center part in the Domino dancebreak. I could clearly see his facial expressions from my spot. It hit me that he was a real person. I really needed a moment (he's my bias). 
Then came the iconic God's Menu, so the moment I desperately needed to take everything in had to wait for a little longer. There was no time to rest or take a breath. It was bop after bop, banger after banger. Not only are the songs perfectly made for live crowds, but the boys really know how to get a crowd going too. The energy was off the charts.
I finally got my moment to rest when the Kids came together for a short talk before introducing the next song: this time it was only 3Racha, with HEYDAY, the song they made for Street Man Fighter, and one of my favorite slightly less known songs from them. It was noticeable that not everyone knew the lyrics as they did with the previous songs (except the girl behind me who was screaming along to everything, including those little bed squeaky sound effects they have in the song - I couldn't stop laughing).
It was time for the new songs - S Class, Topline, Superbowl and ITEM. This was probably the most awaited section of the concert. The crowd sang along to everything and at some point even the members would give up and let the crowd sing their parts. The highlight? Chan's "cause we don't give a..." followed my 50k people screaming FUCK at top of their lungs while he pointed the mic to us. Iconic. I'm sure it was a highlight for him too. 
It got very intense at this point. Some people had not been feeling well for the whole evening and had to be taken out of the crowd by security. At the end of the 5 Star set, and while the members were talking, a girl two rows behind me suddenly fell unconscious to the ground. Fortunately, she came back to her senses 3 minutes later while people gave her space, lied her down legs up and poured cold water on her face. Me and everyone were jumping calling for security, our phones lit up to indicate our spot, which was more to the middle. The members noticed us, kindly stopped their talk and spread the word to the entire crowd that we were calling for help. The security took a bit to get to our spot, but then the girl was safely taken out of the crowd and we were all very relieved. It was a very big scare, especially for us who were next to her and saw how she really was. It took some time until we were all back to the energy we had before this incident.
Which is why Lonely St. felt a bit dead in our section. Especially because it was finally hitting us that we were hungry, in pain and dehydrated. After some time, we were slowly getting back to being hyped up, and certainly the members energy and SUPERBOARD helped us.
At this point I turned to my friend and we sang along to each other because we had talked about this song being one of our favorites before the concert. It was a nice personal moment we shared.
Much to my surprise, the next song was CHEESE, and the crowd went wild again. This song is perfect for live setting and I am glad they included it in the setlist.
I checked the time, and realized one hour had passed since the start of the show. I was in shock. I thought we were only half-way through the concert. But unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for all our physical well-being), there were only 3 songs left. They were My Pace, MIROH and Haven (the traditional concert closer), with special session of fireworks to finally close Day 1 of Lolla. This 3-song section was when me and my friend went bananas, because we realized it was coming to an end. So, we grabbed each other's shoulders and jumped like crazy for the entire thing. We were dying, but it was absolutely unforgettable to experience that and be part of such a big and hyped up crowd. I had little voice left, but enough to still shout along to the songs.
After it ended and Stray Kids went off stage, the first words I exchanged with my friend was "unbelievable", to which she replied "I will sell my flat for VIP seats for their inevitable stadium tour in the future, and you're coming with me". It was her first time seeing Stray Kids, and I noticed during the concert she would stare at the screen in shock, mouth open, because she couldn't believe it was happening. I was very happy for her.
To me, this concert was a confirmation of what I already knew: SKZ are a global phenomenom and one of the biggest kpop groups not only of 4th gen, but EVER. Atp, it doesn't make sense for them to tour in Europe in arenas. They are at stadium level. I'm already in worry thinking of how the ticketing will be for their next European tour.
The production team, band and staff should all be congratulated for their huge hard work. But most of all, I congratulate the 8 amazingly talented guys that gave their absolute ALL to us, in this quite hot Parisian summer night. They were sweaty, heavy breathing, hair messy, taking pieces of clothing off, and it was clear they themselves were overwhelmed by the reception they had.
My friend and I discussed after the show about how and what exactly made SKZ become this huge. We concluded it is a balanced mix of memorable and original songs, feeling of gratitude for their fans, true friendship bond between the members, the members making their own music, and each and every member having their own special flavor/role in the group, coming together in a perfect Super Bowl of talent, chemistry, vision and visuals. No special ingredient needed. They make it all work themselves.
I am so happy for them and hope this experience was as memorable as it was for me. They deserve this crowd, and the crowd deserves them.
Last night was a once in a lifetime experience for both me and everyone there and a memory I will cherish for a long time. I'm pretty sure even the people there who did not know SKZ were impressed, because, how could you not? SKZ 2024 European tour, bring it on!! (just not in Paris again because I loathe this city 
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