Xdinary Heroes are no strangers to lighting a fire on stage with their performances, but the Korean rock band brought the heat to Lollapalooza in Chicago, closing out the Grove stage on July 31. Since debuting in 2021, the band, consisting of Gun-il, Jungsu, Gaon, O.de, Jun Han, and Jooyeon, has made their mark on the Korean rock scene with their debut single “Happy Death Day” and has continued their steady rise in the industry.
Ahead of their first-ever U.S. festival appearance at this year’s Lollapalooza, Kpopconcerts.com spoke with Xdinary Heroes about their excitement leading up to the event. The Kpopconcerts.com team was able to catch up with the band again shortly before their milestone set.
Xdinary Heroes’ dark visual concepts and heavy alt-rock and pop-punk sound were offset by their lighthearted and goofy energy behind the scenes. The members engaged in friendly teasing with each other throughout the interview, imitating each other’s answers and making silly noises. The group was carefree as they opened up about preparing for their momentous Lollapalooza performance, their favorite songs to perform, and who they were most excited to see at the festival.
KPC: Lollapalooza is your first U.S. festival appearance. How does it feel to be here performing at one of the world’s most iconic music festivals?
Gun-il: We are very excited because when we first heard that we were going to Lollapalooza, it felt like a dream. It has always been one of our dream stages since we debuted, and we’re finally here. We’re looking forward to tonight’s show because we just did our rehearsal. I have a good feeling that tonight’s gonna be very fun.
Jun Han: Last night, I was so excited for our set that I could barely sleep. I took a nap today to recharge, and now I’m ready to have a lot of fun.
KPC: How have you been preparing for your Lollapalooza set?
Jungsu: It’s such a big festival, and we are truly grateful for the opportunity. We put a lot of effort into preparing songs that will best present our band and where we can have the most fun with the audience. And today on stage, we want to show you what we’ve got!
KPC: You mentioned you chose songs that are going to be the most fun. What songs are you most excited to perform?
O.de: For me, “Fire.”
Jooyeon: “iNSTEAD!”
Gun-il: I’m very excited to play “Beautiful Life” and “Fire.” Wait – and “Diamond!”
KPC: We can’t wait to hear them later! There are a lot of really cool artists on the Lollapalooza lineup this year. Is there any artist on the lineup that you want to see?
Gaon: Cage The Elephant!
Jun Han: I want to watch Tyler, the Creator! I love him.
Jungsu: They’re not performing today, but I really like wave to earth. So I want to watch them!
Gun-il: You can’t miss them: TWICE!
Jungsu: Our sunbaenim! [does “ta-da!” hand gesture]
Gun-il: And KickFlip, of course!
Jungsu: Our hoobaenim! [does “ta-da” hand gesture again]
KPC: Is there anyone on the Lollapalooza lineup that you would ever want to collaborate with?
Gaon: TWICE!
Jooyeon: Korn!
Jungsu: Elaborate!
Jooyeon: K-O-R-N, the band. Not the food.
KPC: After Lollapalooza, you’re embarking on the U.S. leg of your Beautiful Mind world tour. How has it been preparing for both your first big festival and your tour at the same time?
Gun-il: The Beautiful Mind tour actually started a few months earlier than Lollapalooza. We’ve been to a couple of cities now. So we started preparing for the Beautiful Mind tour at the beginning of this year. Lollapalooza is happening right now, so we started preparing for it just a few months ago. Thankfully, it didn’t overlap too much. For the setlist today, a lot of the songs are actually from the Beautiful Mind tour, so we didn’t really have to practice a lot more for Lollapalooza. So, it wasn’t that bad preparing for both.
KPC: Lastly, what message do you want to send to Villains (your fans)?
Jungsu: It’s an honor to be on such a big stage at Lollapalooza. We will continue to travel anywhere Villains are. We love our fans who continuously show their support! Thank you!