Melanie Martinez kicked off her headline performance on the Bud Light stage at 8:45 p.m. with a lullaby playing from the speakers, which soon transitioned into a deep bass.
Fireworks illuminated the sky and lasers beamed toward the audience.
Martinez, a singer-songwriter from Astoria, Queens, gained recognition following her 2012 appearance on The Voice and released her debut album in 2015.
Martinez is recognized for her baby-doll style and for incorporating child-like themes to highlight more mature topics.
Her performance was divided into three segments: the first dedicated to her 2015 album Cry Baby, the second to her 2019 album K-12, and the third to her 2023 album PORTALS.
The large screen displayed a nursery scene before Martinez appeared on stage in a frilly baby-pink dress, starting her set with “Cry Baby” from her 2015 album.
As the song shifted to “Dollhouse,” her backup dancers, donning unnervingly large bunny masks, moved around her.
The crowd sang "D-O-L-L H-O-U-S-E" while Martinez held out her microphone and jumped around the stage.
Her backup dancers seamlessly joined in a dance behind her, gliding across the stage as Martinez’s voice filled the speakers.
She began “Carousel” by sitting on an elaborate prop bunny carousel, with the crowd cheering loudly as the camera zoomed in on it.
Her soft, whispery vocals drove the song while she infused the stage with an undeniable energy.
After approximately thirty minutes, Martinez exited the stage, and dramatic, otherworldly sounds filled the space as the screens bathed in blue light.
After roughly five minutes, the screens lit up with messages about the war in Gaza, accompanied by the song “Always the Principle.”
Messages such as “End the Genocide,” “F— Colonization,” and “Your Silence Won’t Protect You” appeared on the screen, provoking loud cheers from the audience.
Martinez was brought back on stage on a stretcher while the song “Nurse’s Office” played, now dressed in a babydoll dress instead of the pink frills.
As the song concluded, she mouthed “Help me” to the camera before covering it with her hand.
She did not speak to the audience until almost the very end of her performance.
“Thank you so much Chicago,” she said, as pink and purple fireworks lit up above the stage.
“Thank you guys so much I love you so f—— much.”
A Palestinian flag fluttered behind Martinez as she asked the audience to do one last thing before they departed.
“If you could, scream as loud as you possibly can ‘Free Palestine,’ on the count of three.”
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